Late Nights & City Lights (Connor Franta / O2L)

Chapter 20

“Good.”  I let out a sigh of relief.  “Because I don’t think I could remember any more names.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Jc said, shaking his head.  “It’s not like we’re going to quiz you on it or anything.  I just thought you might want to talk.”

I shrugged.  “I’m not really sure what I want.”

Jc dropped my hand and took the drawstring bag off his back.  I followed his lead and we sat down in the sand, far enough up the shore so that the tide wouldn’t soak our clothes.  We sat in silence for a few minutes, simply watching other teens running around in the water.  More people had started gravitating towards the ocean, in desperate need of a relief from the intense July sun.

“Look, I know it seems impossible, but don’t worry about Connor,” Jc said.  He turned to look at me.  “Or Paige.  You’ll just cause yourself unnecessary stress.  You might not believe me, but everything will work out.  I promise.”

“Honestly, Jc, I just don’t even care about that,” I admitted.  “I don’t know if I ever really cared that much.  Sure, I like Connor, but I never expected it to turn into anything.  If he wants to be with Paige, let him.  I just want to make the rest of my time in California the best it can be.  Feelings or no feelings, Connor’s still one of my really good friends and nothing is going to change that.”

I stood up, brushing off the back of my shorts.  I looked around the beach, trying to locate one of the few people I actually knew here.  A light breeze picked up, blowing a few loose curls in my face.  I tucked them behind my ear and grabbed my bag.

“What are we doing?”  Jc asked.

“Having fun.”  I took his hand and attempted to yank him to his feet.  Jc had to help, but we quickly gathered our things, depositing them in Alexa’s house with all the other guests’ belongings.  The two of us found Ricky and Jenn (Trevor was apparently hiding from them) and the four of us took off for the water, shedding clothes as we went.

Jc and Ricky dove right under, splashing each other when they resurfaced.  Jenn and I took our time, only going in as far as our knees in order to adjust to the colder-than-anticipated water temperature.  Jc and Ricky returned to the shore, trying to drag the two of us in.  Eventually Jenn gave up and jumped onto Ricky’s back, letting him carry her deep into the ocean.

“Well?”  Jc asked, holding out his hand.

“Nope,” I said defiantly, fervently shaking my head.  I crossed my arms.  “I’ll go in when I’m good and ready to.”

“Oh, come on, Allison!”  Jenn yelled.  “You’ve got to come in!”

“Yeah, come on!”

“Allison, you’d better get in here!”

“No!”  I shouted, planting my feet in the ground.

Jenn cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed, “Connor!” at the top of her lungs.  Connor, who had been racing Trevor to the water’s edge, skidded to a stop and looked at her.  Jenn pointed at me.  “Get Allison in the water!”

A wicked grin spread over Connor’s face as he started advancing towards me.  I jabbed my index finger towards him.  “Connor Franta, don’t you dare try anything!”

“Oh come on, Allison, don’t you trust me?”  Connor held out his arms as though waiting for a hug.  I tried to back away, but Jc stepped in behind me and shoved me forward.  I caught myself before I fell on my face and shot him the dirtiest glare I could.  He just grinned and hopped back into the water.

“Connor, please,” I pleaded with him.  “I’ll go in, I promise, I just want to take my time.”

Connor gave me a look that clearly read, “Oh really?” as he lunged forward and grabbed me by the arms.  He bent over and wrapped one arm around my waist and the other around my thighs.

“What are you—AH!”  I screamed as he hoisted me into the air bridal-style.  I threw my arms around his neck and clung on for dear life as he strode towards the others, who were cheering madly for him.

Connor grinned mischievously at me as the water got deeper and deeper to the point where it ran up over my legs with every swell.

“I know what you’re thinking,” I said, “and I’m not saying ‘put me down’ because then you would drop me and then you’d end up getting punched.”

“That’s not very lady-like,” Connor pointed out.  “Besides, what if I just—”

Connor dropped his arms to his side.  I tightened my hold around his neck and used all the ab strength I had to keep myself up.  Unfortunately, Connor had not been expecting that, and he toppled forward with the change in weight.  I was swallowed by the waves, Connor falling on top of me.  I kicked off the sandy bottom and broke the surface, coughing and sputtering.

“You suck!”  I yelled at Connor as he popped up next to me.

“Me?”  He asked, pointing at his chest in shock.  “You were supposed to fall, not hang on!  Where did you get that kind of muscle anyways?”

“Gymnastics,” I answered with a smirk.  “I competed up until high school.  I’m not as defined as I used to be, but the abilities are still there.”  I patted my stomach.

“Show off,” Connor muttered as he dove underwater and propelled himself towards Ricky, Jenn, and Jc with a perfect breast stroke.

“Who’s showing off now?”  I called after him.  Shaking my head in disbelief at his antics, I set off after him.  He was such an idiot sometimes.