Just in time for the show's return, we got the scoop on what's new with the coolest kids on MTV (sorry, Jersey Shore). 

Season two of Awkward ended just before the start of Palo Hills High's summer vacation, with Jenna dating Matty, Tamara locking lips with Jake, and Sadie pouting after finding her ex-boyfriend with someone else (karma!). 

After a six-month hiatus (if only real-life summer vacations were so luxurious!),  MTV's beloved coming-of-age comedy returns April 16th with all the teen drama, clever dialogue, and love triangles we've come to expect from the whip-smart Awkward cast. 

We talked to Beau Mirchoff (who plays the affable, adorable Matty and is every bit as affable and adorable in person) and Molly Tarlov (who plays the resident mean girl but is not at all mean) about what we can expect from season three. 

Are you as excited for the next season as we are? 

Molly Tarlov: It's the best season yet. 

Beau Mirchoff: It's the best written, and we've had a few years now to figure these characters out, so everyone's hitting their stride and firing on all cylinders.  I feel very strongly about it.  I think it's going to be a good one. 

Awkward touches on tough issues that real teens deal with.  Is this important to you? 

MT: It is important!  I believe the statistic is that half of teenagers are having sex in high school?  This is what happens when you work at MTV: You know stats like that. 

BM: When our show tackles these issues, we do inevitably have a responsibility to say something meaningful.  And we do it in a different way, which is very refreshing.  The show is funny, and then out of nowhere, it turns into a real scene.  That's why people like the show, I believe. 

What is it about Awkward that makes it so relatable to so many people? 

MT: It doesn't talk down to its audience and that's a really big part of its success.  The people who make the show want the show to be so good that everything has to be perfect.  It's come together in a pretty magnificent way where everything fell exactly where it was supposed to be—and that includes the audience. 

BM: When something is unique, but at the same time seems so familiar, it's a great recipe to have in a TV show.  Awkward does that. 

What character do you relate to the most? 

BM:I relate to Matty, definitely.  This season, you get to see more into his insecurities.  When I was younger, like in middle school, I was very insecure.  But guys hide it and that's kind of what you get to see in Matty this season.  I definitely relate to that. 

MT: I would say there's a little piece of a lot of the characters in me.  I watch the show as the audience does from Jenna's point of view, but I relate to Sadie's insecurities and I relate to Tamara's yearning to be so many different things. 

Molly, since your character is the school bully, do fans bully you on social media after particularly mean episodes? 

MT: On Twitter and Instagram, majorly.  They have this direct link to the star of their favorite TV show.  And people are mean on the internet!  It's funny, because usually when I get something really mean and I click on the person's profile, it's always, "Mother to a beautiful baby girl.  Love is everything."  I used to respond and now I'm like, "You've got to stop responding.  If you're not responding to everyone who says something nice, you can't respond to mean people." 

BM:It's a testament to how good she is on the show.  She's plays a villain and she's good at her job. 

What was your most awkward moment in high school? 

MT: I was in love with this guy.  I loved him.  I remember it so well.  I picked him out to love.  Did you ever do that?  You need to have a crush and so you find someone and then you are just so hopelessly devoted to that person.  The whole situation in general was pretty awkward.  Like... I called him, maybe stalked him a little. 

What else do you guys have coming up? 

BM: My Kickstarter project Camp Sunshine got funded and we just announced that we have Alan Thicke—I don't know if you watch Growing Pains, but he's playing the dad.  And she has a film being premiered in the Tribeca Film Festival. 

MT: It's called G.B.F., which stands for "gay best friend."  It's Andrea Bowen from Desperate Housewives, Sasha Pieterse from Pretty Little Liars, Xosha Roquemore from Precious, JoJo, Evanna Lynch from Harry Potter, Horatio Sanz from Saturday Night Live, Megan Mullally, Natasha Lyonne.  I'm gonna give you more!  It's written by this guy named George Northy, and it's his first movie, and it's directed by Darren Stein who wrote and directed Jawbreaker.