THIS LOVE | shayne topp

1.15

   Courtney was laying in the center chair, the only two others sitting on either side of her. Eleanore sighed with a smile, sliding off her sandals and sitting down next to the blonde, who seemed to be sleeping.

   Eleanore left her chair sitting up, taking off her t-shirt and leaning back, putting on her sunglasses. Now was when she realized she completely forgot both sunscreen and a book to read, but there was no use now. She was feeling too lazy to head back inside.

   The sun was hot on her skin, but she didn't want to get in the pool alone. For some reason, it felt almost embarrassing to do it in a way. Just sitting in a pool by yourself, with no one to talk to. But Eleanore had always been insecure over things like that.

   Her phone was sitting underneath the chair, her shirt sitting on top of it. She didn't want it to get overheated. Even with the sunglasses, she could barely see with how bright the sun is with not a single cloud in sight.

   Chanse ran out the back door, diving into the deep end of the pool, splashing the two girls. Courtney sat up with a gasp, taking her sunglasses off. Well, that's one way to wake someone up.

   Maybe this was a sign from the universe telling Eleanore to get into the pool. Her smile turned into a laugh as she practically threw her sunglasses to the ground and jumped in right after him.

   They laughed together as Courtney joined them, still looking a little tired from her short lived nap. Eleanore had no idea how she changed so quickly and got out by the pool and fell asleep.

"I wonder if we can get Shayne out here to play chicken." Chanse said, leaning against the wall of the pool, letting his arms hold him up on the edge.

   "Maybe. Is he still in the kitchen? I can't really see." Eleanore shrugged her shoulders, placing a hand over her eyes to block the sun. She squinted, noticing that he was no longer on the first floor. "I don't see him."

   "Hopefully he went to go change. Are Aaliyah and Angela coming down?" Courtney asked.

   Chanse nodded his head no. "Angela told me they were taking a nap. Apparently neither of them could get any sleep on the plane." Courtney and Eleanore nodded their heads in understanding.

   After a few minutes of the three of them just floating in the pool making small talk, Shayne walked outside in the same shirt, but now in a pair of swim trunks. Chanse shrieked, "I call Courtney for chicken!"

   "You're leaving me with Shayne?" Eleanore joked, splashing water at him. "This isn't fair."

   Chanse blocked his face from the water, although it didn't really do much, then just swimming over to Courtney who was laughing at the two. "Shayne, hurry up."

   "I'm working on it." Shayne rolled his eyes playfully, taking his shirt off and walking over to the steps of the pool. Eleanore blushed, hoping nobody would notice. And if they did, she was going to blame it on the sun and her naturally pale skin.

   Eleanore cleared her throat. "You're on my team." He nodded, swimming over to the rest of them.

   Chanse immediately went under water, letting Courtney get on his shoulders, so the other two followed. Eleanore got on Shayne's shoulders, and as he stood back up out of the water, she almost fell backwards with a yelp, grabbing onto his hand that was holding onto her thigh.

   "Don't fall yet! We haven't even started." Shayne said while laughing.

   But it didn't matter whether they had officially started or not, Chanse was walking over to them, so Eleanore leaned forward slightly, bracing herself for when they got close. She put her hands out, Courtney grabbing them and trying to push her backwards.

   Eleanore pushed back, but was obviously not as strong as Courtney, who was open about the fact that they lifted weights. Which, Eleanore hadn't been to the gym in a while, so, Courtney definitely had an advantage.

   And finally, not too long after the start, Eleanore did end up falling off into the water, Shayne falling back with her. She accidentally kicked him on the way down, but that was the least of her concerns right now.

   "Okay, that's not fair. You lift!" Eleanore said the moment she came up from the water.

   Courtney still sat on Chanse's shoulders, the two of them cheering. Shayne came up from the water not long after Eleanore, laughing. Chanse grabbed Courtney's ankles, pushing her off backwards.

   Courtney came up gasping for air while the boys laughed. She playfully slapped Chanse on the arm. She smiled over at Eleanore, linking their pinky fingers together. "I'll go easier on you next time."

   "You promise?" Eleanore chuckled.

   "Promise."