How to Stay Afloat

~9: Where She's Invited to a Party~

~~

"I'll need to re-chrome the rims and the bumper. The engine's going to need upgrading and the brake line needs to be replaced." Archer said as he slid out from under my car.

He had removed his shirt, once again giving me a breathtaking view of his toned biceps and veined forearms. I watched as he used the jack to lift the car off the ground and took a wrench out of the toolbox to loosen the wheel nuts. His biceps bunched when he did that. My mouth suddenly felt a little too dry.

He removed the right front and back wheels and then carried the two wheels, one in each hand like they weighed nothing.

I was flabbergasted.

He tilted his head to look at me and must've caught my expression because he gave me a confused look before asking, "Is something wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

My mind went completely blank.

"You're really fit." I blurted out suddenly.

I immediately wanted to slap myself.

Had I actually said that out loud?

Please ground swallow me. Swallow me now!

He looked completely baffled. "Uh, thanks?"

"You must spend all of your free time at the gym," I said weakly. "I've actually been looking for a good gym to join, any suggestions?" I tried to cover my word vomit pathetically.

It was a complete lie, of course.

There was no way I could afford a gym membership, and even if I could, there was no way I could juggle going to the gym between school and my part-time job.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I don't go to the gym, I work out at home if I get the time and I'm on the school's swim team so I guess that keeps me in shape."

My eyes widened in shock. "Wait, our school has a swim team? How did I not know that?"

Archer rolled his eyes. "The pool in our school has been closed for ages. The filters need repairing, we've complained about a hundred times but it's of no use. Now the team usually practices at the community pool or they come over to my house and use my pool."

I exhaled. "Wow, here I thought that the school board was just a bunch of sexists who funded the boy's teams and only the girl's teams were underfunded. But apparently, every sport except the football and basketball is a joke to them."

Archer shook his head. "Oh don't get me wrong, the school board members are definitely a bunch of sexists, the girl's teams have it even worse than us. They prefer to give most of the funds to the football and basketball teams because most of the sponsor's kids are on those teams."

"Peyton is on the girls' volleyball team and they've been trying to convince the school admin to get them new uniforms since last year but no one listens to them."

An idea suddenly popped into my head. "Hey! Why don't the guys from the swim team and the girls from the volleyball team host a joint fundraiser? I can get Peyton to talk to her teammates about it. You can divide the money you earn, hopefully, you'll earn enough to get the pool fixed and Peyton's team can have new uniforms." I said excitedly.

Archer seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Sounds interesting, I'll talk to the coach and the guys about it."

I smiled.

Suddenly my eyes caught the time on Archer's wristwatch.

My smile dropped.

Shit

I had completely lost track of time

"Oh shit, it's almost 4 PM!" I am so late for work. My manager is going to kill me!" I quickly grabbed my bag pack and made a beeline for the door.

"Fallon wait," Archer called out. "Let me just start the car, I'll drop you."

"It's no problem. I can go-"

He gave me a look that was almost pleading, the words died down in my throat. It was almost like he was desperate to spend just a little more time with me.

"I'll drop you." He repeated softly.

"Okay," I whispered.

~~**~~

Archer parked the car outside 'Antonio's Sweet Haven'.

Somehow we'd managed to reach just in time.

"I'll see you later then. Thanks for dropping me, Archer." I gave him a big smile as I started to get out of the car.

"Fallon, wait." His hand suddenly closed over mine. My pulse fluttered at the touch and something hot and heavy settled in the pit of my stomach.

I swallowed, my eyes locked on his hand.

It was so much bigger than mine.

As if he suddenly realized what he was doing he quickly removed his hand from over mine and I had to bite my lips to keep from frowning at the sudden loss I felt.

He rubbed the back of his neck, the tips of his ears turning pink.

"So there's like this charity thing this Sunday. My dad's firm hosts these huge parties in the name of charity every couple of months to make sure they uphold their good image." He ran his tongue over his lower lip. "There's going to be free food and drinks, plus we can make fun of all the pretentious rich people. I was wondering if maybe you would be willing to go with me." His eyes darted to me "If you're free that is."

I inhaled sharply.

Is he asking me to be his date?

My heart leaped with a surge of hope.

But suddenly a thought entered my mind that made all that hope vanish.

Caroline's parents were rich too. They probably hung out in the same circles as Archer's parents. We lived in a small town and rich families had their own cliques and socialized exclusively amongst themselves.

"Sure, Caroline's going to be there right? You guys must meet at such parties often?" I asked.

A part of me hoped that he'd say no. Caroline wasn't going to be at the party and he asked me because he wanted to spend time with me.

"Yeah, she's usually there at events like these. Her father almost always makes a huge donation.

I nodded. I tried to swallow the large lump that had suddenly lodged itself in my throat.

I was being completely selfish.

I was the one who'd suggested that I'd help him get together with Caroline in the first place.

Yet, every time I hung out with him I found myself completely forgetting about our deal.

He made it so easy to forget. . .

Today was Friday, the party was on Sunday.

Which meant that I had two days to get my shit together.

"Don't worry Archer. I haven't forgotten about my promise, I swear." I forced what I hoped was a bright smile on my face, "I'll be your wingman at this party. I'll make sure you sweep Caroline right off her feet."