Zoey checked her phone for the seventh time in the past fifteen minutes. This was the place Gia had said they were meeting. This was it.

She slipped her phone back into the not quite big enough pocket of her jean shorts, sighing heavily to herself. It was already 8:43. Gia had told her that they were all meeting here at 8:30.

Where were they?

She felt a mosquito bite at her ankle and swatted at it, flinching at the delicate but just slightly painful tickle. She knew her legs would be absolutely covered in itchy read splotches tomorrow morning and regretted not allowing her mother to coat her arms and legs in bug spray like she always had when Zoey was little. Turn around and cover your eyes! Her mom had always instructed. And Zoey would place both hands over her face and do a clumsy pirouette as her mother sprayed every surface of her skin and clothes with the chemical smell of summer – paying special attention to get the back of her neck under her ponytail.

Fireflies flickered and danced around the beach in the humid July evening, and Zoey could hear the bullfrogs croaking to each other on the lake in the last glimpses of twilight. Just past that, she could faintly make out the sounds of laughter and shouting echoing from across the lake.

It was the 4th of July, and everyone in town was out for the night. The popular spot to watch the fireworks from was on the other side of the lake - the side that wasn't completely covered in nearly impassible underbrush and vines. That was where families took their children and laid out picnic blankets and beach chairs and bought snow cones and ice cream sandwiches from the Ice Cream Truck and wore glow bracelets and necklaces.

But Zoey was too old for all of that now. Fifteen – a sophomore in high school. Way too old.

This side of the lake was where the high schoolers watched the show from – or at least the cool high schoolers. And Gia had invited her to join them this year – Zoey!

Zoey had told herself – if they offer me a cigarette, I'll take it. If they offer me a beer, I'll take it. Even pot, even that. I'd try that. This was her chance. Her chance to finally get in with the cool kids. The cool kids... and Zack. (Their names even started with the same letter – Zack and Zoey, they were meant to be! She could sing it in her head. Zack and Zoey, Zack and Zoey, Zack and Zoey. Just thinking about him made her feel giddy! Giddy!)

Zoey had been so excited to get Gia's text inviting her to watch the show with them that she hadn't even really thought about it. Had she ever really heard from anyone other than Gia that this spot was where the cool kids came to watch the fireworks? Had she ever even heard of people going to "the other side of the lake" before Gia started texting her about it?

She couldn't remember.

She pushed her humidity and sweat soaked hair out of her face and back behind her ears and checked her phone one more time. It was already 8:50. She had texted Gia at 8:40:

Where are you guys?

Still no response. She ground her teeth together, trying to fight back the tears she could feel welling up hot under her eyelids.

They weren't coming. They weren't coming. They had tricked her. How had she not seen this coming?

She should be on the other side of the lake right now – the other side with her mom and her dad and her little brother Chris. She should be sitting on the picnic blanket with them and eating ice cream and letting the vanilla and chocolate swirl with rainbow sprinkles drip down her hands, laughing with her family.

But no – she had stood them up. Told her mom she was too old for that now. Too old for family. She could almost laugh at how silly she felt now. Stood them up for this? To be left alone on the buggy side of the lake for the Fourth of July fireworks show? And for what? Gia? And some stupid boy named Zack?

No. Not stupid. Zack wasn't stupid. He was... he was... (perfect)... he was probably making out with Gia behind some tree on the other side of the lake and making fun of how stupid Zoey was.

She hated Gia. She hated her. But she didn't hate Zack. She couldn't hate Zack. No matter what. No matter...

"Hey," a voice suddenly called from behind her, the sound of it almost getting lost in the heavy night air and the dull hum of mosquitos.

Zoey swiveled around, startled, half expecting to see Zack standing there.

But it wasn't Zack. The boy that stood behind her was around her age, but she had never seen him before.

"Oh, hi," Zoey said, her voice shaking just a little from nerves.

"What are you doing down here?" the boy asker her, navigating his way through the thick undergrowth down towards the lake until he was right in front of her. He flashed her a smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. He was gorgeous – his bright blue eyes twinkling in the moonlight, the sharp angles of his face shadowing his cheeks in just the right way, the softness of his pale skin, the way his dark hair fell so gently over his forehead – everything.

Gorgeous.

"I, I was supposed to be meeting some friends down here," Zoey finally answered his question, stuttering slightly after a pause that was just a little too long. "But I got..."

"Stood up?" the boy finished the sentence for her. "I know the feeling." He smiled at her again, and Zoey thanked God it was dark enough out that he wouldn't see her blush. "What's your name?" he asked her.

"I'm Zoey."

"Zoey," he mused. She loved the way he said her name. No one had said it like that before. Zoey.

"I'm Nick," he finally said.

"Nick," Zoey repeated his name. "Where are you from? I don't think I've ever seen you at school before."

"I live one town over," Nick replied. "But my family comes down to the lake every year to see the firework show. They're on the other side over there," he gestured to the other side of the lake. "But I snuck off. I was supposed to meet my girlfriend here to watch the show, but I haven't been able to find her."

"Oh," Zoey said, suddenly feeling remarkably embarrassed about how much she had been lusting after him. He had a girlfriend. Of course he did. Fifteen-year-old boys that looked like him didn't not have a girlfriend. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

He shrugged. "It's fine," he said, grabbing on to a smooth, bark-less tree branch and swinging on it a bit. "I'd only gone on one date with her anyway. I was kind of expecting she might do this."

"Oh," was all Zoey could manage say.

"But hey, since we're both stood up tonight, maybe we could watch the show together."

"Sure," Zoey said distantly, unable to fathom the sudden sway in luck she'd just had. "Sure, yeah. That would be great."

He smiled at her, looking directly into her eyes. "Hey, hold still for a second," he said. Then, he reached to her face with his hand, and Zoey was near certain he was about to kiss her, and she was ready for it, practically puckering her lips. But he didn't kiss her. Instead, he just whipped his thumb gently under her eye lid.

"You had a little mosquito under your eye," he smiled at her. "Got it for you."

Zoey blushed again, embarrassed by what she had just been thinking. It was just a mosquito, of course. Of course he hadn't been trying to kiss her. Of course. Things like that didn't happen to Zoey.

"Thank you," she nearly whispered.

"Come on," Nick said, placing his hand on her lower back and leading her toward the sandy bank of the lake. "I think the fireworks are about to start."