Those three words are burning on my heart almost four months later as I walk down the halls of Clearwater Bay High School one last time. It's hard to believe that just a few short months ago I sat in my room listening to Emma's wise words. It's hard to believe that I'm graduating and moving on to college.

The flashbacks and dreams from my past also seem like they're from a lifetime ago. I no longer have them, and I'm extremely grateful for that. I can look at my uncle and see him for who he is and not as the man who looks similar to my father.

My friendship with Alli is as strong as ever. She still continues to show me wisdom every day, and I'm glad to have her around to keep me thankful. I can't say the same for Nick. I've only heard bits and pieces about him here and there. He hasn't contacted me. All I really know is that my uncle has gone to New York City a few times to promote Nick's music.

I sigh and close my locker. I'm met with Alli's smiling face. I laugh as I see her bouncing up and down with excitement. She continues to smile.

"Can you believe it's our last day? We're graduating! And, can you believe that you turned eighteen a month ago? Time has flown by!" she exclaims faster than I've ever heard her talk.

I laugh again and sigh. "You're something else, Alli. And yes, time has flown by, and no, I can't believe I'm eighteen or that it's the last day of school."

Alli giggles, and we both go to class. The last day of school goes smoothly, and before I know it, I'm officially finished with high school! I never have to walk through these halls as a student ever again. It's a happy thought.

After school, Alli and I decide to go to the public beach to celebrate. We're not the only ones who think of that. Upon arriving at the beach, we see many of our fellow classmates on the beach or in the water. Alli and I go to the bathrooms to change into our swimsuits and then settle down at the edge of the beach.

I lie down on my stomach and rest my head on my arms. I can't believe I did it. I passed high school, and I'm going to go out into the world to tackle college. I sigh with content and close my eyes. I hear Alli mumbling something, but I just let the soothing sound of the tide help me doze off.

All of a sudden, a pile of sand lands on my back. I jump up in shock and see Cassandra standing next to me with a smug smile. Now, this is a surprise. I've only had contact with her a few times since standing up for myself, and I have no idea why she would decide to bother me right now.

"You dare to show your ugly face here at the beach?" she questions, sending her clique standing behind her into laughter.

Alli begins to stand up like she wants to hit every single one of the girls, but I make her sit back down and stand up instead. "What is it now, Cassandra?"

Cassandra glares at me with her old glare. "You thought you were rid of me, but you were so wrong. You crossed me, and I'm going to make you regret it."

I smirk. "How are you going to do that? School's out. You have no power."

She smirks back at me. "Who says I don't have any power outside of school? Maya," she says as she takes a step closer to me, "never underestimate me. I have more power than you realize, and you'll see it in action very soon. I'm warning you. Stay out of my way."

I don't get the chance to respond because she flips her hair, hitting me in the face in the process, and saunters off with her clique following close at her heels. I sigh and sit back down. I put my attention on Alli because I know she has something she wants to say.

"What do you think she's talking about, Maya?" Alli asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "No idea, and I don't really care right now. I'm focusing on getting my diploma and making sure everything goes as planned with the festival. Plus, I have to meet this Nicole Hart that Nick is sending to help out with the festival."

Alli's eyes widen. "I almost forgot that he left you in charge. What all do you have to do?"

"Make sure everything gets set up correctly and that the show goes according to plan. I also have to make sure nobody tries to do something funny," I explain.

Alli slowly nods her head. "Sounds exciting."

I shrug my shoulder again. "I guess. I just want to get it over and done with so I can focus on what I want to do next year for college."

Alli laughs. "Always impatient. Oh, wait. Who's the Nicole person you were telling me about?"

"She's someone that Nick knows and is sending to help with everything. I don't know much about her. I know she's a close friend of Nick's and that they've known each other ever since Nick entered into the world of music and acting," I tell Alli.

Alli raises her eyebrow and questions, "Are sure that they might not be, you know, more than friends?"

My throat tightens at her suggestion as I go back to something I saw a couple of months ago, but I quickly reply, "No idea, and I don't really care. That's his business."

Alli nods, and we settle back down to relax. For the rest of the afternoon, we lounge on our towels, talk, and go into the ocean for the first swim of the summer. At around six o'clock, I say my goodbyes to Alli. I hurry down the familiar path back to my uncle's house.

Nicole is supposed to be arriving right before dinner. I rush inside, greet Emma and Uncle Sam, and go up to my room. I drop all of my stuff on the floor and go to my bathroom. I take a quick shower and then go to my closet to pick something out to wear.

I don't want Nicole to think I'm some small-town girl with no idea how to dress correctly. Well, I don't really know how to dress, but she doesn't need to know that. I grab a pair of jeans and a new blouse Emma helped me buy last week. I slip on some clean underwear and then put my jeans and top on.

I look into my mirror and smile at my reflection. Even with my hair wet, I still like what I see. The red top is fancier than what I usually wear, but it's just as comfortable as a t-shirt. I smile at myself again and go back into my bathroom to dry my hair with the new blow drier Emma bought me for my birthday.

I never took much effort into doing my hair or picking out clothes until about a month after Nick left. I realized that I was about to turn eighteen and that I should take care of myself a little bit better. Emma noticed my efforts and began to help me shop for more feminine type of clothing.

She even helped me find makeup and taught me how to apply it, which is what I'm doing now. As I put on the mascara, I go back to the three words she told me. I've changed even more since she told me those words, and I see that it's all a part of finding myself. I've discovered that trying a few new things isn't such a bad thing.

I am finding myself little by little, and I couldn't be happier with what's happening. I even see myself differently. I can look at myself in the mirror with a new and less critical eye. And, it's not even because of the new clothes. I can look at myself in the mirror with my pajamas on and still smile at what I see.

I see a girl who is confident in who she is. I see a girl who is her own person. I see a kinder person who is continuing to grow without fear of what's next. I'm happy with my new perspective and new relationship with Uncle Sam, Emma, and others.

"Maya? Nicole is almost at the door!" Emma's voice shouts, interrupting my rambling thoughts.

I smile at myself one more time before going to my closet and pulling out a pair of nude wedges. I quickly put them on and hurry downstairs. I'm barely on the last few steps before the doorbell rings.

"I got it!" I shout as I walk down the last few stairs.

I quickly straighten my hair in the front hall mirror and take a deep breath. I tell myself I can do this and that Nicole will be nice. I tell myself everything will go as planned. A knock sounds on the door. I take another deep breath and move to open the door.

"Hello," I say as soon as I see Nicole.

She has very long and dark, almost black, hair. It compliments her dark olive skin and hazel eyes. "Hi," she greets in a sweet voice.

"Please come in," I tell her as I beckon her inside.

"Thank you," she replies as she steps inside, holding a white purse.

I lead her into the living room. She sits down on the sofa, and I sit down in the chair across from her. I fidget in my chair, trying to come up with something to say. She can sense my nervousness because she smiles at me and gives me a knowing look.

"Um," I finally manage to say. "I'm Maya Walker. Well, you of course know that. I mean, it would be weird if you didn't. And, you must be Nicole. What am I saying? Of course you're Nicole. Okay, I'm going to stop talking now."

Nicole laughs a cheery laugh and replies, "I'm nervous too, and if it makes you feel any better, I'm usually the one who rambles on."

I give her a thankful look. "Well, at least I'm not the only one."

She gives me a kind smile and then changes the subject. "You have a beautiful home. I've always wanted to have a home like this."

I smile back. "It's actually my uncle's home. Oh wow, I just now realized how that must've sounded. Anyway, it's Emma's great decorating skills that make it so beautiful."

Nicole nods and ignores my first sentence by asking, "Emma's your housekeeper, right?"

I nod. "Yes, but she's also more of a sister-mother figure in my life. She's also dating my uncle."

Nicole's eyes widen. "Really? Doesn't that worry you? I mean, they could break up, and she'll leave."

I shrug. "Not really. I think they're in it for the long haul, but if they do break up, they'll stay good friends. Okay, I'm going to change the subject and ask what we're doing for the festival."

"Good idea. So, Nick told me that you can take care of everything. I'm just here to send him updates and help out where I'm needed. Everyone he has chosen to help are arriving tomorrow at around noon, and he said that they'll be staying in his house, along with me. He says that his aunt has no problem with it," Nicole quickly explains like an expert.

I nod. "Okay. I can take you to his house after dinner. But, I do have to ask, he's put me in charge of every single thing?"

Nicole nods and pulls a packet out of her large purse and hands it to me. "I told Nick that it would be a lot, but he didn't understand me, so I took the liberty of printing out all the details. He had them all typed up. This should help, and I'm also here to help with whatever you need."

"Dinner's ready, Maya. I'm heading out to meet your uncle for dinner at his favorite restaurant," Emma calls from the kitchen.

"Okay! Do you want to come meet Nicole before you leave?" I call back.

In less than thirty seconds, Emma is in the living room. She greets Nicole warmly and then says her goodbyes again. I lead Nicole to the kitchen where some chicken bow tie pasta is waiting for us.

"This smells amazing," Nicole says as I portion out the pasta on two plates.

"Emma's an amazing cook," I tell Nicole as I place the plate on the kitchen island.

Nicole sits down on one of the stools, and I sit down beside her as she replies, "I wish I had someone who would cook for me like this every night."

I smile and realize that we need drinks. "I forgot to get you a drink. What can I get you? We have almost everything."

Nicole shakes her head and gets up. "You're fine. I'll get us drinks. What do you want?"

I thank her and then reply, "Water please."

Nicole nods, and I direct her to where the glasses are. She finds them quickly and fills up both glasses with water. She brings them back over and sits back down again. We both take bites of our dinner at the same time, and we both make sounds of enjoyment, sending us into laughter.

We soon finish dinner, so I place the dirty dishes in the sink and lead her back to the living room where we go over more plans fairly quickly. Nicole goes over the packet she gave me and explains what Nick told her before she left for Clearwater Bay. As we go over the details, I feel overwhelmed, and a question begins tugging on my mind every single time Nick's name comes up.

At the end, Nicole asks if I have any questions, and I tell her no. She nods and stands up, telling me that she should probably go over to Nick's house to settle in and meet Mrs. Caldwell. I nod and lead her out of the house and down the path to Nick's house.

"Where's your luggage?" I ask as we walk.

"My luggage arrived later than I did because it went on to the next destination instead of being unloaded with the rest of the flight's luggage. So, Nick called his friend that's near here, and his friend brought it because I wanted to be on time," she explains.

I just nod as we arrive at Nick's house, and she moves to say goodbye to me to go inside. She tells me she'll see me tomorrow. I just nod again.

Right when she's about to go inside, I gather my thoughts and stop her by asking, "I actually do have a question."

She turns and face me. "Huh?"

"From before. You asked me if I had any questions, and I said no. I actually have a question," I explain to her.

"Shoot."

"I recognize you as the girl that everyone thought Nick was dating a couple of months ago. Is the rumor true?" I ask.

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Haven't left one of these here in awhile! How are you guys doing? Please remember to point out mistakes :)

Anyway, early update because I'll be out of Internet range until Monday night. Hope you guys enjoy it and are excited to see what Nicole's answer is ;)

Have a great day!