I was rudely woken up by a hand smacking me across the face. My eyes shot open and I realized Carly had rolled over and flung her arm towards me, her hand connecting with my cheek. I groaned at her loudly.

"Caarlyyyyy!"

"Yes, I want donuts!" She shouted, still asleep. Uhm, okay.

I rolled over and glanced at my phone, checking the time. I shot straight up.

"Carly! It's 1 o'clock, get up! We missed breakfast!" I paused. "And lunch!"

"Ugh, five more minutes, Mom..." She mumbled, still mostly asleep. I grabbed a pillow and smacked her with it. She jerked and threw herself right off the bed. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"We missed breakfast and lunch, dude. It's 1 o'clock. We need to shower and start getting ready."

I threw the covers off, stood up and stretched.

"Why don't you go see what's left over from lunch, grab us something and come back. I'll go take a shower first while you eat, and then you can shower after me. I know the party isn't until 5, but it's gonna take me a while to get ready. I'm not looking like a bum if there's a chance..." I didn't finish that sentence. Carly knows what I didn't say. My heart start to thunder in my chest. There's a chance I find my mate. There's a chance it's Cameron. There's also a chance it's not Cameron.

"If there's a chance you might end the night in my brother's room?" She said, wiggling her eyebrows at me. "Ew, that's a mental image I didn't want. ANYWAY, yea, I'll go get us some food. be right back."

I wasted no time heading to the bathroom. This is going to be an everything shower, I'm pulling out all the stops. I turned on the shower to warm up while brushing and flossing my teeth. With the water hot, I stepped in and sighed. Nothing like a scalding hot shower to calm the nerves. After shampooing twice and conditioning, I shaved, exfoliated, washed my body, rinsed everything again, and turned off the water. Stepping out, I grabbed my towel and dried off before putting on my lotion and wrapping myself in my robe.

Walking out of the bathroom, I saw Carly on the floor, eating a sandwich and chips. And, of course, making a mess of chip crumbs. I swear, that girl is the messiest person I've ever met.

"It's about time you came out, you've been in there for like 45 minutes. This is my second sandwich and I was starting to eye the ones I made for you." Honestly, I'm probably too nervous to eat anyway. "But also..." She reached behind herself and pulled out a cupcake, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She yelled.

Stolen story; please report.

"Thank you! But where did you find that cupcake?"

She shrugged before answering. "I stole it from one of the containers they have set out for tonight. I figured they're for your birthday anyway, so why not." I can't say I'm surprised at that. If there are food or desserts, Carly will take them. I don't know how she stays in shape with how much she eats.

"Of course you did. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you didn't only take one?"

"Who, me? Psh, I don't know what you're talking about. It's your birthday, why would I take one? I didn't take one. There might be two missing but it wasn't me."

I laughed loudly. I knew it. "Okay, Carly, I believe you." I said, shaking my head. "Thank you again. I appreciate you." I took the cupcake from her, and took a bite. It's my favorite: red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing, the best combination. I walked over to the window and opened the curtains to let in the sunlight. I might as well start getting ready. I can't put it off forever.

I finished my cupcake and walked back over to my vanity to start on my hair. I have my hair dried and straightened when Carly finally wandered out of the bathroom, done with her shower. She's lucky she has naturally gorgeous curls and doesn't have to do anything except brush it. I'd kill for hair like that instead of my naturally frizzy disaster. She plopped down in front of my mirror to start her make-up.

I decided to just go with a natural look. I don't normally wear much make-up, it feels too heavy on my face. So I ended up with just a light smokey eye with mascara, light blush, and nude pink lipstick. It should match my dress. I decided on an ankle length white dress with a black curvy line all over it. The spaghetti straps and cut out sides shouldn't be a problem, since it's late May and fairly warm in the evenings now. I paired it with a set of strappy black wedges.

I looked over at Carly after exiting my closet and took in her outfit for the night. She decided on a baby blue romper with a scoop neck and long, lace sleeves. The bottom half had ruffles, and she paired it with white, strappy sandals. She's bigger on make-up, so she had some dark blue glitter eyeshadow on her lids, with white shimmer above it, winged eyeliner and mascara, contoured cheekbones with light blush, and dark nude/pink lipstick. I went to stand beside her in the mirror.

"We look amazing! Now let's go!" She was bouncing with excitement, but my stomach was in knots.

We headed out to the party. It was a nice evening, not too warm but not chilly either. There were maroon and silver directions everywhere, our school colors. The tables to the right of the field were covered with all different kind of food, and the tables to the left of the field were surrounded by chairs. a stage was set up at the front, with speakers for music, and tons of room for dancing. There was a bar set up somewhere, but I'm not a drinker, so that wasn't a concern for me.

We were walking through the dance area when I noticed Cameron standing near the stage on the left. Well, here goes nothing. As we walked towards him, a slight breeze came from behind us and I watched Cameron freeze. He turned to look around, and his wide eyes met mine. I was faintly aware of Carly stopping in her tracks beside me, but I didn't care.

I finally reached Cameron, and stopped right in front of him. It was like we were the only two people there, everyone else faded from around us. My heart was pounding and I could hear his racing, too. We stood there staring at each other for at least a full minute before we both opened our mouths to speak at the same time.

"Mate."