"Did you know that if you get to school early on the first day back you get a chicken sandwich?" Wesley asked Drew and I, as we sat out in Drew's garden on one of the final days of summer. It felt as though school had sped away from all of us and I couldn't believe that this was one of the last times we would get to see each other without the stress of exams.

"Really?" I asked.

"That's such crap," Drew said, before turning to me.

I watched as amusement flashed in his gaze.

"You would have to be so gullible to believe that, Zoe," he told me.

"Well, I don't care. I want the chicken sandwich," I said.

Drew released a gentle laugh and as a smile made its way onto his face, I felt that familiar skip in my heart beat again.

"We'll get you one from somewhere," Drew said, as the sunlight cast shadows behind him.

"Why not the school?" Wesley asked.

Drew gave a slight shake of his head.

"Listen, Wesley, there are no chicken sandwiches. The school's cafeteria barely serves sandwiches. All I got was mashed potato and something that slightly resembled a chicken. I took the risk of eating it, of course, but I'm still not sure whether I regret that," Drew said.

I smirked at the both of them.

"Anyway, the year ahead is going to be good!" Drew said, as he lay down upon the green grass beneath him.

It must be nice to not have to struggle with seasonal allergies. I felt as though another sneeze was about to happen and just tried to avoid it, as I looked towards Drew to see the sky reflected in his green eyes.

"Says you," I said.

Drew sat up again and his eyebrows creased together gently.

"Why? Do you not think that it's going to be a good year?" he asked me.

"You've always been the confident one, Drew. I, on the other hand, tend to blend into the crowd," I stated.

"Where's your optimism gone, Pine?" Wesley asked me.

I turned to him and shrugged.

"I guess I left it at home," I said.

"Hey, so much is going to happen this year. There's prom and maybe, just maybe, Drew will finally work up the courage to ask Heather to it," Wesley said.

I felt my heart stop.

"No. I'm going with Zoe. We discussed this ages ago," Drew stated.

It began to beat again.

I was relieved that Drew still wanted to go to prom with me, even if it was only as friends. The two of us had been planning on going for a long while now and I didn't want anything to spoil it, especially not Drew's feelings for Heather. I didn't mean to be such a possessive best friend but I couldn't help the fact that I had feelings for Drew, feelings that he had never known anything about.

Drew wouldn't know anything about them any time soon, either. I didn't want to ruin things between the two of us. We had been friends since elementary school and I wasn't about to open my mouth and say the words i knew could jeopardize all of that. As much as it may have hurt, I would rather have my best friend in my life than not at all, even if that meant watching him develop crushes on girls that weren't me.

"Are you okay, Zoe? You look as though you're spacing out," Wesley commented.

Drew looked towards me with an expression of concern and I felt a blush begin to form on my face, as I became aware of how intently he was watching me. He soon simply gave me an expressive smile, which revealed his perfect teeth. It made me feel slightly better, but only slightly. I still had a lot of thoughts on my mind that I knew I needed to work through.

"Zoe?" Drew asked me.

I realised, then, that I had done it again. I supposed that my thoughts occupied most of my time. I had always been known as the quiet girl at my school and most of that was due to the fact that I tended to spend a lot more time thinking than speaking.

"Yes, Archer? I'm fine," I said.

"You only use my last name when there's something on your mind. Are you sure you're all good, Z?" he asked me.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I said.

So, that was a blatant lie but I hated people worrying about me.

Girls like Heather Violets were the ones that got all of the attention. I, on the other hand, tried to hide my thoughts away and dealt with them independently. Sometimes that got difficult but all I had ever wanted was for Drew to smile. If I needed to talk to someone about my problems, then I would talk to Riley. He was only eight years old but he was a fairly good listener.

Besides, our parents were busy with work so I ended up journalling how I felt most of the time, anyway.

"I think I want to go home," I said, as I stood up from the grass.

"You always do that," Drew muttered.

I turned back to him and felt my eyebrows crease together. I knew he was right. Sometimes I would leave without much of an explanation as to why. I didn't mean to be so temperamental but I knew that I needed some time alone.

"Sorry," I said.

"It's cool. I'll see you two at school?" Wesley asked, as he stood up from the grass, too.

"We'll see you then, Wes," Drew replied with a kind smile.

Drew and I then began to make our way over to his car, which we soon sat down in.

Drew didn't drive off straight away, though. He turned to me with this thoughtful expression upon his face.

"Listen, this year's going to be great. Maybe the two of us will find people to date," he joked.

I knew that he had meant for that to make me feel better, but I felt the pain in my chest intensify.

"Yeah. Maybe," was all I could say, as Drew began to drive me home.