Cody was smiling down at us when I looked up.

"Oh, hey, Cody! What's up?" I said.

"I was just heading to the library to meet my friends," he said. "I saw you guys while I was passing by, so I thought I'd say hi."

His eyes darted to Ashley for a split second before returning to me.

"Hi," Melissa said.

Derek nodded at him. "Hey."

"So, a secret mission? Sounds fun," Cody said.

Melissa shot me a panicked look, and I said, in as reassuring a tone as I could give, "He's cool. We can tell him."

"Are you sure?" Derek said, looking concerned.

Cody had been joining Ashley and me on our study sessions in the past week, and he was really cool. When we weren't brainstorming story ideas or offering ways to improve each other's work, he helped us with our homework. It turned out he was really good at math, and under his corrections and guidance we managed to complete our homework in record time.

Besides, he was willing to trust us with his secret that he wrote fan fiction. I was pretty sure he wouldn't tell on us.

"I think he's cool too," Ashley said, nodding.

"We're going on a hike in the forest Saturday morning," I told Cody. "Obviously, don't tell anyone."

His light-brown eyes widened. "Seriously? The forest?"

Laughter tore out of me. "That was what I said when I first heard that, too."

"That sounds really fun," Cody said, and his gaze flicked to Ashley again.

I knew it! In the past week, whenever he joined the two of us in our study sessions, he had been sneaking glances at Ashley whenever he thought I wasn't looking.

"Right?" Derek said. "These two keep complaining, though."

Ashley was really pretty, so I didn't blame him. Her silky, shoulder-length blonde hair shone in the sun, and her light-brown eyes sparkled with warmth. It probably helped that she'd been nice to him ever since she met him.

Unfortunately, she was denser than a block of leadwood when it came to romance. She had noticed absolutely none of his glances; as her best friend, I was certain of this.

I was even more certain of this: they would look so cute together.

In that moment, as I straightened up in my seat and looked Ashley—who blinked unwittingly at me—in the eye, I decided that I was going to set them up.

Chelsea Arnold, Matchmaker of the Year.

It was going to be perfect.

I would be invited to their wedding five years down the road, and it would be beautiful.

"Hey, Cody, why don't you join us?" I said, fighting the scheming smile that was threatening to surface.

Face, behave!

"Good idea." Melissa beamed. "I'd love to have another person, who won't keep reminding me of what a terrible idea it is, join us."

"You know, you saying that just makes me want to flood you with even more 'gentle' reminders," I told her.

Derek laughed. "As if everyone else hasn't sneaked in there at least once."

"As if you have!" Ashley said with a disapproving stare.

"I have," he said, snickering. "I went there last year with the guys I play soccer with."

Boggled, Ashley and I looked at him like he had two heads.

"Well," Melissa announced, sitting up straight, "that settles it. Now we absolutely have to do this. There's no way I'm getting shown up by Derek."

I couldn't believe Derek hadn't told us that he'd been there without staff supervision before.

"This isn't a competition," was all I could say.

Cody gave us a tentative smile. "It sounds exciting. I'd like to, if you don't mind."

"Of course not," Ashley said, smiling up at him. "If you have nothing to do on Saturday, we'd be happy if you came with us."

"Great," he said. "I can't wait."

"We'll text you the details tonight when we have them hammered out," I said.

I'd have Ashley text him. What a perfect setup for them to have their first real conversation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The trees were absolutely gorgeous.

My eyes were glued to the surroundings as I followed dazedly after Melissa and Derek, who were leading the way down a trail.

The numerous green waxy leaves that hung from the multitudes of branches were a refreshing sight to behold. Some of the leaves were paler in shade and the myriad of hues were just delectable. The red maple trees interspersed among all the other different trees around were marvelous to look at even though fall hadn't arrived yet.

And—that was a quaking aspen tree! It looked even more gorgeous than in books. I wanted to run up to it and touch its bark. Too bad there were bound to be insects on it. Still, my fingers itched. Should I take the risk ...?

"Oh, sorry!" Ashley's shocked voice broke my train of thought.

I looked back over my shoulder. Cody was gripping Ashley's wrist with one hand, and he was holding the front of her shoulders with his other forearm. Ashley quickly straightened up from her off-balance stance, clearly having stumbled over something.

"It's no problem," he said kindly, withdrawing his arms when he saw that she was fine.

"Thank you," Ashley said, reaching up to smooth her already smooth hair.

Cody nodded. "Be careful."

Was it just the heat, or was Ashley blushing? Being a few feet away from them, I squinted to confirm what my eyes were telling me. Nope, she had to be blushing. I knew I'd made the right choice asking Cody to join us.

I strode over to them. "Are you okay, Ash?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she grumbled. "I just tripped over some tree roots."

"Isn't it such a good thing that Cody was here to catch you?" I said, trying my best to sound casual. Was my voice inflecting weirdly? "Really, it would have been a shame if he hadn't come with us! You could've injured yourself."

She eyed me oddly. "Why are you talking like that?"

Okay, maybe I wasn't being as subtle as I thought I was.

"You guys are walking like snails!" Melissa called out to us.

Derek and she were already several feet ahead of us.

"Building stamina takes practice, okay!" I shot back at her.

"Yeah, I'm not sure you're even trying!"

I hated to admit it, but she was right. It was a lovely Saturday morning; what was I even doing here? We should all still have been lazing in bed at this time, not here fending off creepy-looking insects.

"Water break!" Derek said, jogging over to us. "You guys are clearly tired, so we'll rest for five minutes."

Yes!

"You're the sweetest, Derek," I flashed my most winning smile at him.

Behind me, Ashley coughed. "Funny, I thought that title belonged to me just two days ago."

"Oh, totally, I said you were the sweetest girl," I said, nodding. "Derek's the sweetest guy. Sorry if you got the wrong impression that you were the sweetest ever."

She laughed and shook her head.

Scratching his arm, Derek said, "We found two different trails ahead. Want to come and see? You can vote for the path you want to take."

"Nah." I opened my backpack and pulled out my water bottle. "You guys can choose. I don't really care."

"Me neither." Ashley made a face.

"I'll follow whatever you guys decide on," Cody said.

Derek shrugged. "Alright. We'll let you know again."

He returned to Melissa, who was staring out into the trees.

"Ugh, this is the worst," Ashley said, looking disgustedly at the empty water bottle in her hand. "Why didn't I bring a larger bottle?"

Amazed, I stared at it. "You finished all the water?"

"Yeah..." Her face brightened a little as she turned to me. "Chels, can I have some of your water?"

My gaze fell upon Cody, who was taking a sip from his own bottle.

The most brilliant idea I'd ever had abruptly came to my mind.

I immediately started coughing, trying to throw out the loudest and most hideous sounds I could produce. I was going to have the most raucous coughing fit that went down in history.

"I –" I gasped in between coughs, "I think you shouldn't dri - drink from my b – bottle!"

The hopefulness on Ashley's face morphed into concern. "What's wrong, are you alright?"

She started rubbing my back, and I felt guilty—but I knew she would thank me for this later!

"Actually," I said, slowing down my coughs so I could speak a bit more smoothly, "I had this cough that developed last night. I didn't think it was anything, but now it's gotten a bit worse."

"Oh, that sucks," Cody said, looking sympathetic.

I threw in a few more coughs for good measure. "You might catch whatever it is I have, Ash. I don't think you should share water with me."

"Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling well?" she said, frowning at me. "You didn't have to make yourself come. We could've postponed this until next week."

"Sorry." I smiled weakly at her, wondering if she could see through my frankly over-the-top act. "I thought I was fine this morning, honestly."

"I'll take you back to your room so you can rest," she said.

Panic rushed into my mind and stuck itself there. "No, I'm fine! I – I mean, it's not so bad I can't do this. I don't need to go back, I swear."

She eyed me skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Positive!" I added a small cough at the end.

Looking reluctant, she withdrew her hand. "Alright, then. If you're feeling at all uncomfortable, make sure to tell me straightaway, okay?"

She bought it! I almost smiled in relief, but I caught myself in time. "Of course!"

"I'll go ask Melissa if I can share her water, then." Ashley returned her bottle to her haversack.

"Um, if you don't mind, you can have mine," Cody said, holding out a bottle of mineral water to her. "Although I've already drunk from it ..."

"No, it's fine," she said, taking it from him. "Thanks, Cody."

I was positive she was blushing. Just a tiny bit. If I squinted. I was so impressed by Cody's game. I knew I'd made the right decision to help him.

While she was busy drinking from it, I caught his eye and gave him a wink. To my bemusement, Cody looked confused but smiled politely at me. Didn't he get why I was winking at him?

Feeling discouraged, I sighed and frowned at him.

"You seem okay now," Ashley commented, capping the bottle she had finished drinking from.

She stared sharply at me. Was she starting to be suspicious?

Instantly, I launched into another series of coughs.