The sky was painted black, dotted with twinkling stars as the eight of us sat around a roaring fire. Alex was sitting cross-legged on the cool, white sand, strumming a mellow tune on his guitar. Lisa was next to him, beaming as he hummed her favorite song, their eyes meeting every so often. Kara and Rian were snuggled up close to each other, lost in their own little universe. Meanwhile, the rest of us were just fooling around as usual and roasting marshmallows.

"Dammit!" Jack griped, pulling yet another flaming marshmallow out of the fire.

"Hey, watch where you wave that thing!" Jane jumped back from him as he continued to flail the flaming marshmallow around, trying to blow it out. When he had managed to finally put out the little fire, all that could be seen was a crispy, black lump stuck at the top of his skewer.

"That's the fourth one!" he whined, staring at the burnt marshmallow with a somber look on his face. We all laughed as Jack pulled the gooey mess off and chucked it.

"Uh-uh!" I snatched the bag of marshmallows away from him before he could take another. "You're gunna waste half the bag before you get a good one!"

Defeated, Jack went back to his spot and pulled his hood up over his head to hide his face. I watched as he chewed on the strings out of habit and I tried to hold back the smile on my face. Sometimes he just acted like such a little kid. I pulled another marshmallow out of the bag and speared it with my skewer. I shoved in deep into the flames and waited until it was a nice, golden-brown color. After I had constructed one kick-ass s'more, I took a bite of it and let the sweet mix of chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker dance on my taste buds.

I noticed the music had stopped playing and my eyes shifted towards Alex. He had put his guitar aside and now had his arms occupied by Lisa, who was resting against his chest with her head buried underneath his chin. His head was tilted to the side and his eyes were fixed on her face. Normally, I would have said something about how disgustingly affectionate they were being and how it was making me sick, but I held my tongue. There was something so genuine and innocent about the two of them. As I continued to watch the two, I felt a big knot tightening up in my stomach and I finally turned away.

A weird feeling seemed to wash through me after that and even the s'mores couldn't help it. I need a drink, I decided and got up to grab a beer from the cooler. Most girls I knew hated the taste of beer with a passion, but I don't know, I didn't have a problem with it. I popped it open and took a swig, letting the cool refreshing drink run down my throat.

"Uh-oh," Alex laughed, his brown eyes on me now. "Brooke's already started, beware everyone!"

I flipped him off and set my bottle down next to me, suddenly feeling self-conscious. I wasn't sure why, but he didn't seem to notice and turned away.

"How about we play a game!" Kara suggested, sitting up off Rian now.

"What kind of game?" Zack asked from across the circle pit. Kara had a mischievous gleam in her eyes as she looked around at all of us.

"How about spin the bottle?" she said, arching an eyebrow.

"You definitely just want a piece of this," Jack said, showing off his physique. "Don't deny it!"

Kara rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yes, Jack! You figured me out! Please just give me a piece of that fine, skinny ass!"

"Well, no need to beg," he winked at her.

"Why don't we just start the game?" Rian interjected, wrapping his arms around Kara's waist protectively. Alex grabbed a bottle from the cooler and set it down in the middle of our circle.

"So, who goes first?" I asked, looking at Alex.

"I'll go," he shrugged casually. Alex gripped the bottle loosely and spun it round. It came to a stop at Rian.

"So…I'll just redo that," Alex said and reached for the bottle again.

Laughing, I shook my head, "Oh no, you only get one spin. Now go over there and lay one on him!"

Everyone else agreed and Alex glared resentfully at all of us. "You guys are fucking perverts." With a heavy sigh, Alex crawled over to Rian and kissed him quickly.

"Alright, I'm gunna need another drink after that," Rian joked, grabbing another beer from the cooler.

"Dude, what are you trying to say?" Alex asked with a pout. "Are you saying I'm a bad kisser?"

Everyone laughed and now it was Rian's turn to go. He picked up the bottle, placing it in the center and spun. To no one's surprise, it stopped at Kara.

"Oh come on, that can't count!" Jack argued.

"Boo!" Zack jeered jokingly.

"Hey, hey!" Rian held up his hands innocently, "like Brooke said, we only get one spin."

Without another complaint, Rian pulled Kara into him and kissed her lips tenderly.

"Alright, alright, that's enough you two," I teased and the couple pulled away from each other, both their cheeks turning slightly pink.

"I guess it's my turn then," Kara said, grabbing the bottle. She spun it hard, watching it go around and around until it came to a halt.

Fucking cool story, bro. I thought bitterly as I saw the bottle pointing directly at me.

"Oh-ho-ho yeah!" Alex busted out laughing. "Bet you wish you gave me that extra spin now, huh?"

"Oh shut up," Jane rolled her eyes, flicking sand at him. I turned to face Kara, who simply shrugged her shoulders as if to say "just get it over with". The two of us got up, kissed each other, and returned to our spots nonchalantly.

"Hot!" Jack and Zack whistled, high fiving each other. Kara and I ignored them and I grabbed the bottle now and gave it a forceful spin. My stomach clenched as the bottle began to spin slower and slower. It's not like it really mattered to me who it landed on, but I didn't want any repeats. God only knows the guys wouldn't be able to contain themselves if I had to kiss Kara again. When the bottle finally stopped, I looked up and right across from me was Alex.

"Well, well, well," Zack commented. "I can sense the tension rising already."

I glanced over to Lisa for a brief second as a pang of guilt hit me like a ton of bricks. Kissing a friend was one thing, but kissing another friend's boyfriend was a different thing entirely.

"Can you guys just do it already?" Jack moaned, clearly getting bored just watching the two of us sitting there. I looked at Lisa once more and the expression on her face was unreadable which only made me start to panic more. Fuck, should I just kiss him now or—?

Before I could finish my thought, Alex walked over and leaned in, kissing my lips softly. As soon as it had started, it had ended and he was back on the other side of the circle, snuggling up to Lisa. I sat there, frozen in place. I hadn't even had time to prepare myself for that and now here I was staring at him like a fool, wondering what the fuck even just happened. I had that knot in my stomach again and although the game had resumed and everyone was now focused on Alex spinning the bottle, I was still stuck on that kiss.

"Seriously, bro?" Jack bellowed when the bottle landed on him. Everyone's hooting and laughter brought me back into the game, my mixed up thoughts retreating to the back of my mind for the time being.

"Fuck it, come here!" Alex cackled, jumping up from where he was sitting. He ran over and grabbed both sides of Jack's face and planted one big smooch on him. Once again, everyone around the fire pit roared with laughter and sarcastic comments. I tried my best to join in whole-heartedly, but for some strange reason I felt as if something was holding me back.

***
I had been staring up at the ceiling for hours. Everyone else was fast asleep in their rooms, but I was still lying here awake and restless. My mind was a mess of jumbled thoughts that I was trying to sort out but couldn’t. All I could think about was our game of spin the bottle and Alex kissing me. He had acted so blasé about it and I wasn't sure if it was because it was just a game or he didn't mind having to kiss me. Well maybe I was reading a little too much into that. Why was I even thinking so hard about this anyway?

Everyone else had forgotten all about who kissed who once we had walked back inside, but here I was, practically analyzing about two milliseconds of a simple spin-the-bottle-kiss. I grabbed my pillow and pressed it down on my face and groaned, frustrated. What was really eating me up inside was the guilt I felt. Maybe it was just coincidence, but Lisa hadn't said another word directly to me afterwards and I was beginning to think she was mad at me. She wasn't the jealous type though, and anyone else that had been there could easily vouch for me that it was part of the game and clearly did not mean a thing. She had been there after all.

I'm definitely just over-thinking this.

With a heavy sigh, I threw the comforter aside and stepped into my Hello Kitty slippers. I figured that I wouldn't be getting much sleep anyway, so why not go downstairs and find something to do? I needed to find some kind of distraction from the things whirling around in my mind. I quietly tiptoed out into the hallway and down the staircase, careful not to make a sound. When I reached the bottom of the steps, however, I saw a light shining dimly from the kitchen. Looks like I'm not the only night owl, I thought as I stepped into the room.

And speak of the devil, there was Alex, sitting at the table with a bowl of Lucky Charms in front of him. He looked up at me and as soon as our eyes connected, I blinked and looked away.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked and I nodded silently as I made my way over to the table and sat down across from him. "Same."

Silence fell over the kitchen and for the first time I couldn't think of a single thing to say to Alex.

"Want some?" he asked, motioning towards the cereal box with his mouth full of the sugary marshmallows. I cracked a small smile and shook my head. He shrugged and scooped himself another spoonful of Lucky Charms. As I sat there, watching him, I couldn't help but feel like he was thinking the same thing I was. It was just that neither of us wanted to be the one to come right out and say it. It was an awkward situation and I hated feeling like this, especially with someone who I was supposed to be able to act like an idiot with and not give a shit about it.

"You know what I hate?" Alex piped up, his mouth now clear of any cereal. My eyes shifted from the colorful cereal box to his face as he continued with his rant. "How they put more of this nasty shit than the marshmallows. I mean, let's get real people only buy it for the marshmallows, so they should put more in! In fact, they shouldn't even put the rest in at all, it should all just be marshmallows."

"Huh, why do I feel like you've sat down more than once and thought about this?" I said chuckling softly under my breath.

"I'm serious. I think it would just make the world an all around happier place."

"Is that so?" I smiled at him again and he grinned back.

"Yup," he replied, making a popping sound at the "P". It was at this moment that our eyes connected and it suddenly felt like the entire room had froze up. I felt goose bumps rising all the way up my arms and a slight shiver ran through me.

What is wrong with me?

"Brooke?" Alex questioned and I quickly tore my eyes away from his.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as he continued to stare me down from across the table. A soft laugh escaped my lips and I nodded, glancing back up at him.

"I'm fine," I smiled as convincingly as I could for him. But I wasn't fine. Not really anyway. I was a big mess of jumbled, mixed up thoughts and I didn't know what to make of them. Why was I worrying so much about this? Why was he still looking at me? Why did it make me feel so uneasy? I was just so confused.

"Right…well I'm still not tired," Alex let out a heavy sigh as he pushed his chair out from under the table and carried his now empty bowl over to the sink.

"Me neither…" I said, twisting around in my chair to face him.

"Wanna watch some TV or something?" he asked and I shrugged and nodded. The two of us walked out into the living room and plopped down on the couch and turned on the big flat screen.

***
The next morning, I woke up on the couch in the living room. The television was still on; playing some morning cartoon show that was clearly meant for little kids. The sunlight shone in faintly through the blinds. The house was quiet, so I knew that everyone was sound asleep upstairs. I could distantly hear the waves of the ocean beating against the shore and the shrill sound of seagulls squawking about. For a second, I couldn't remember what I was doing down here and why. When I looked over and found Alex lying beside me, however, with his arms wrapped securely around my waist it all came rushing back to me so fast, my head was reeling.

Slowly and carefully, I slipped out of his grip and made my way over to the coffee table. I picked up the remote and pressed down on the off button. The screen instantly went black. I glanced back over my shoulder to the sleeping Alex. His hair was messier than usual and he looked strangely innocent in his sleep. The corners of my mouth turned up in a small smile and I couldn't help but think he looked kind of cute while he slept. My head snapped up when I heard light footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Jane raised her brows at me as she descended the stairs in her pajamas, her eyes alternating between Alex and me. I pulled myself together and put on a smirk as I returned her gaze. Leaving Alex asleep on the couch, Jane and I walked out onto the deck, admiring the view. The cool, morning breeze blew through our hair and I filled my lungs to their capacity with its refreshing taste. "So…" Jane turned her gaze to me. "You ditched me to cuddle with Alex on the couch?"

Just hearing her say it out loud brought me back to the night before. I could almost feel Alex's arms wrapped around me again and well…it had felt pretty nice. I couldn't lie to myself even if I wanted to. "Shut up, we both just couldn't sleep so we watched some TV," I snapped at her, much harsher than I had intended.

"Alright, alright no need to be so hostile," Jane held her hands up and jokingly took a step back from me. "I was just teasing you."

I was never one to get embarrassed about anything. My pants could split in front of my entire high school and I wouldn't break a sweat. But after acting so defensive over a light joke, I couldn't help but feel like burying myself in the sand and not being found for a few hours.

"Is something wrong, Brooke?" Jane asked, her tone changing from lighthearted to a little concerned. She was the second person to ask me that. The truth was I was trying to figure out the answer myself.

I might not seem like I'm the type of girl to worry about the little insignificant things or the kind of girl who constantly feels insecure and unsure of herself, but little things did bother me and I wouldn't be human if I always felt super confident. I didn't like to look "weak" or vulnerable to people. I personally didn't think it was attractive and I just wasn't very good at opening up to others. So I built up a kind of wall to hide behind when I felt like I was about to break. I was never fake to anyone, but I tried not to make people worry about stupid little things. It was a lot easier to laugh it off and plaster a smile on my face than it was to show what I was really feeling.

"Brooke?" she asked again, but before I could answer Rian came out through the sliding door.

"Hey guys, we're making breakfast, I suggest you come inside before Alex and Jack eat it all," he said. I guessed Jane and I had been out here longer than we'd thought. I hoped nobody had overheard us. I mean, it wasn't that big of a deal, but I didn't need all the guys making fun of me for cuddling with Alex.

"Thanks Ri, we'll be there in a sec," I called back to him. He nodded and went back inside, leaving the door open for us. After having regained my composure, I turned back to Jane and assured her I was fine.

"Alright, let's get some food because Jane is fucking hungry and if those idiots eat everything in sight I may bite someone!"

I laughed halfheartedly as the two of us made our way back inside and hoped that after I had gotten some food into my system I could think a little more clearly. Or maybe I could just try and forget about this whole mess my mind had created.

Yeah, the second option sounded better.