sour | outer banks

c h a p t e r / t h r e e

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

b r i e l l e

"Dad, we're home!" I shout into the house as Sarah and I walk through the door after another painfully long day at school. We leave our shoes at the door and drop our bags on the vacant couch, wandering further into the house after receiving no response from dad. I call his name again, and venture down the hall when I notice that the light in the laundry room is on. I peek my head into the room and simply wave at dad to let him know we're home to avoid speaking over the loud noise of the washer and dryer.

Sarah and I make our way back to the kitchen, hungry after six hours away from any sort of real food, so I open the fridge and pull out the big container of watermelon that we try to keep full at all times. I slide the container across the top of the kitchen island to where Sarah is already sitting, and pour two glasses of pink lemonade for us to enjoy with our fruit.

Neither of us say anything for a few minutes as we recover from the exhausting day we just had, and I watch as Sarah takes a cute photo of herself while holding up a piece of watermelon for the camera, and her cheeks immediately go pink at the sound of my suspicious giggle. "Who's that going to?" I ask her even though the answer could not be more obvious.

"No one." She fibs, putting another piece of fruit into her mouth to hide her guilty smile.

"'No one' my ass, Sarah Cameron!" I call her out in a funny accent, the two of us breaking into a fit of loud laughter after six hours of quietness at school. "When are you just gonna ask him to be your boyfriend?" I press, only half kidding, and she simply shrugs in response as a dreamy look comes across her face like she's just witnessed the most beautiful sunset on earth.

"I dunno," She begins after a moment, shrugging again to express her uncertainty. "Is it weird for me to ask him? Should I wait for him to ask me?" I can tell that she's becoming increasingly nervous, but this seems like a question that she's had bottled up for a long time, afraid to ask, so I answer without pulling any more jokes.

I shake my head as I finish the piece of watermelon in my mouth. "I don't think so. I mean, it's pretty obvious that you both like each other, and I guess he's proving to be more of a chicken than I thought, so I say go for it. Not like there's a rule or anything." Sarah doesn't say anything just yet but nods her head in agreement, so I decide to propose a solution. "I'll talk to him about you and get a read on him if you want." I tell her genuinely, willing to do just about anything to get the two of them to finally confess their feelings.

"Will you really?" She asks with a twinge of hope in her voice, her eyebrows shooting up and the pink tint of her cheeks returning.

"Course!" I tell her happily. "Can't promise he'll give me anything to work with, but it's worth a shot."

"You can't tell him we schemed this, though! You can't."

"I won't." I say confidently, but at the same time I grab my phone and open my message with John B, quickly typing up a sarcastic message before showing Sarah my screen.

john 🐝

hello john booker routledge are you in love with sarah yes or no be honest i won't tell her she is not sitting next to me right now

Sarah only lets out a nervous squeal at my joke, causing both of us to laugh hysterically again as I erase the text without sending it. "I would never!" I assure her, despite the many pranks I'd like to pull just to get the two of them to admit that they're head over heels for each other.

We go quiet for a few minutes as we finish our snacks and catch up on anything we might've missed on our phones during school, until Sarah puts hers down soon after and clears her throat before speaking. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"