You're Not What I Thought

Chapter Nine

"Do you have anything planned for New Years?" I ask Andalynn. 

"Nope." she says. 

"Well, Mom's going to Grandma's so I was going to go to this New Year's party the guys invited me to. I was wondering if you wanted to tag along." I ask. 

"Sounds fun. Where's it at?" she asks. 

"It's at Luke's cousin's house. She has a pool and a great view of the fireworks." I say. 

"Okay, I'll go." she says. 

***

"So who's Luke's cousin?" she asks me as I drive. We were listening to my blink-182 album. This one Andalynn knew for once. She said she's only heard of All The Small Things and I Miss You, but it makes me glad that she knows one of the bands I like. 

"She's a senior at school. Her name's Rose." I say. 

"Oh, I suspected that they were related. I mean they have the same last name." she says. "She's in my AP Bio class." 

"Yeah, she's cool. Really nice." I say. We pull up at her house and I open the door for Andalynn. 

"Wow." she says like her breathe is taken away by how grand it is. "Her house is so big." 

"It is isn't it?" I say. "Come on." I grab her hand and she tenses up, but doesn't pull away like I expected her to. We go into the house and I look for the boys. 

"Michael!" I hear a girl call. I turn around and see Rose. 

"Hey!" I say and hug her. I spin her around and put her down. "Happy New Year!" 

"Happy New Year!" she says to me. "Luke and the guys are on the patio by the pool." 

"Oh okay." I say.  

"I'm so glad you came! Oh, hi Andy." she says and smiles. 

"Hey." she says.

"Alright, have fun guys!" Rose says and walks away. I take Andalynn to the patio to hang with the guys. 

"Michael! You finally showed up!" Calum says. 

"Hey! It's cause Andy here took an eternity to get ready!" I say. She was wearing high-waisted denium shorts and a black New York City tee tucked in with white converse. She had her hair in a messy bun too. She never puts her hair up, so I never noticed how much piercings she has. She has it almost all the way up her ear. I thought it looked really hot on her. 

"I didn't know you had so many piercings Andy." Ash says to her. 

"Yeah I do. I don't always wear them cause of my parents." she says.

"Well I like 'em." I say to her. 

"Did you guys bring your swimsuits?" Luke asks. 

"Yeah we did." Andalynn says. 

"Then let's swim!" Ashton says and takes off his shirt. Luke, Calum, and I proceed to take off our shirts as well and jump into the pool. I come back up to see Andy laughing at us. 

"Don't splash me you bastard." she says while laughing. 

"Then come on in!" I say to her. She takes off her shorts and t-shirt. She had a black, strapless bikini top, and watermelon bikini bottoms. They were cute. I looked at her in her bikini, and I have to say, she was a babe. 

"Wow Michael," Calum says, "she's really, really hot." 

"I know." I say. 

"I'd tap that." Ashton says and I splash him. 

"I bet Michael fantasizes about her all the time." Luke says and we get into a big splash fight. We hear a giggle and look to see Andy watching us.

"Come on Andy!" Calum yells. 

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." she says and comes by the pool. "Is it cold?" 

"Well you have to come in to see!" Ashton says. 

"But what if it's really cold?" she asks. 

"Come on Andy!" Calum says. 

"Okay, I'm coming to get you." Luke says and gets out of the pool. 

"Nooooo!" Andy says, trying to run away from Luke. She tries her best, but Luke gets her and carries her. 

"We're gonna jump." he says. He jumps and she screams. They come up and she splashes Luke. 

"What the fuck." she laughs. 

"See it's not that bad." I tell her and she splashes me too. 

"Well I've never been night swimming before." she argues. 

"There's a first time for everything." I say. We fool around in the pool and swim around with each other. We have a chicken fight and it was Andy on my shoulders vs. Ashton on Calum's shoulders. Luke was the referee. 

"Go!" Luke says and Andy, weakly, tries to push Ashton off. Ashton laughs at her pathetic attempt and he falls off from laughing too hard. 

"Hah you lose!" she yells at Ashton. 

"I fell off from laughing to hard." he tries to convince her.

"Can we just say I beat you this one time?" she asks and we laugh. We swim a little more, but when it nears midnight, we get out of the pool. I hand Andalynn a towel and we sit on the patio. The boys decide to go in and socialize, while the two of us stay outside. 

"So did you have fun? You know, over break?" I ask. 

"I think it was one of the best breaks I have ever had." she says with a smile.

"I mean, usually at my grandparents they go to do things like golf or go to a museum and they just tell me to stay home. Once they went on a cruise and when I went into the house, all I saw was a note that said, 'Sorry hun, we forgot to tell Mom and Dad that we're going on a cruise but we left some money on the counter and the keys to the car. Merry Christmas!'" she says sarcastically and I laugh. 

"Really?" I ask as she puts on her shorts. 

"Yeah so I just did whatever." she says. 

"Well you can always come and stay with me and Mom." I say. 

"Thanks. I love Mom she's so nice and funny, and a great cook." she says. She's got into the habit of calling my mom, Mom. It's really cute. 

"Andalynn, look." I say as I watch the clock say 11:58. "The fireworks are gonna start soon." She puts on her shirt and her converse and I slip on my shirt and slip-ons. We watch the sky in anticipation. We hear everyone inside starting to count down and I get excited. 

"1!" They all shout from the inside and the fireworks light up the sky. There are vibrant range of colors from bright reds to shinning blues. They blast off ans blossom in the sky. As the firework bursts in the sky, it rains down back to the ground and leaves a trail of light. I look at Andalynn and see her eyes mezmorized by the beauty of the fireworks. It was the sight of true happiness and peace. 

"Happy New Year Andalynn." I say to her. She turns her head to look at me and smiles. 

"Happy New Year Mikey."