Inside

Zack walked into the cabin and started shouting Chloe's name. He didn't hear a response, so he continued to walk through the cabin and shout for her. Finally, as he started towards her room, he could hear something from inside. He walked up to the door and knocked "Chloe, are you in there?" He heard some shuffling in the room before Chloe responded "Yeah, I'm her Zack. Come on in and laugh". Zack wondered why he would laugh, when he opened the door and saw Chloe sitting on the bed. Zack had to physically restrain himself by covering his face with his hand from laughing at Chloe's appearance. Chloe was as red as a tomato, and was peeling pretty bad from a nasty sun burn.

"Yeah, yeah. Just let it all out" Sulked Chloe. Zack walked over to the bed and sat beside her

"That looks like it hurts Chloe"

"It does, it burns whenever I touch it."

"Don't you have any Aloe Vera gel, I heard that helps"

"Damn Zack, you're a genius!"

"I try." He laughed. Chloe got up and got the gel from her bag, and took it into the washroom where she started to put it on in front of the mirror. "Hey Chloe, you mind closing the door a little, seeing you do that is causing me pain"

"Yeah, sure no problem." She said as she looked at him through the mirror and kicked the door closed a bit. "So, what happened with Vicky? I had to run away before I found out." Zack collapsed onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"I let her go Chloe, I feel so free and light, like a feather" Chloe poked her head into the room and looked at him carefully.

"You OK with that decision Zack, it's been Vicky for you for ages. Now what?"

"I'm fine with that decision Chloe, I was never going to be able to act on my feelings, you know me. Maybe now, I can live my life as a guy who isn't hopelessly crushing on someone. That would be nice."

"Hey Zack, I didn't want to bring this up because of Vicky, but Lisa texted me."

"Lisa?" Zack sat up on the bed. "What did she say?"

"She's coming to her family cabin here around the lake with her mom and dad" Zack groaned and leaned back on the bed.

"Hopefully I don't bump into her. What would I say to her? I ruined a perfectly good relationship for a crush that I never acted on and eventually I just let go? I'm pathetic"

"You aren't pathetic Zack" Chloe said as she came back out of the washroom with her gel on her face. She sat on the bed beside him and said "She loved you, you know. I don't know much about love, but when you love someone, that feeling doesn't magically disappear, at least that's what I've heard."

"It's always the best talking to you Chloe." He said, as he looked at her. "Well I guess what this all means in the end, is that I can widen my horizons with the girls here, and not just focus on Vicky."

"Yeah, you could. You never know, the right girl for you could be right in front of you" she said, while looking down at her buzzing phone. Zack stared at the ceiling again thinking about what Chloe had just said, was she talking about Heather? Do I actually have a chance with her? Nah, it's Heather we're talking about Zack. The fact that I don't have to focus my attention on Vicky all the time now, is probably going to my head. "Hey Zack, did you know that Hannah and Taylor were coming over here?"

"Yeah, I heard something like that from Taylor. I didn't actually think she was serious. Why?"

"Well, she just texted me saying that she and Hannah were on the road." Zack loomed up at her.

"Where do they expect to sleep?" He asked questioningly. He got up and told Chloe that he was going to go tell Heather about the impending arrivals. Zack couldn't help but feel a little excited with the fact that Hannah was coming. She had always been the perfect woman in Zack's eyes, he hadn't seen her in a while, but seeing Ashley's sister again would be amazing. He was also excited to see his sister again, it had been a while since he had seen her also, and it was always great with her around. With those thoughts going through his head, he headed back out to the lake.