Cry Me A River

Chapter Four - Pool Party

{Landon}

"Landon, you've gotta step it up. This isn't enough," said Danny, holding me up by the collar of my shirt against a wall of some convenience store.

"I - I know. I'm workin' on it," I told him, my hands up in surrender.

"Well you better work faster, because you know what happens if we don't get it by the end of next week," he snapped. I nodded and he dropped me. I slouched down the wall to the ground as he walked back to his car. As soon as they were in their van, I pushed myself up off the ground and watched Danny and his possé drive off. I brushed my hands off and ran them through my hair, resting them on the back of my neck for a minute. I'm in deep crap, and I don't know how to get out of it.

I groaned, kicked a rock, and then headed back over to my motorcycle so I could go to Pierce's for the tiny pool party thing he was throwing, despite not wanting to anymore.

**************

"Hey man," Pierce said from the pool. He was leaning back, his elbows behind him on the side of the pool, watching Elle.

"Hey," I mumbled. Elle and May were talking and passing a water frisbee back and forth in the middle of the pool. Grace was sitting in the hot tub with Andi and Dillon, and Kota was sitting on the steps with her feet in the pool.

"What happened to your eye?" she asked as I sat down next to her, referring to the tiny cut I had next to it from Danny. I shook my head and moved my bare feet around the cool water.

"Nothing. I'm fine," I lied.

"Sure, okay."

"What'd I miss?" I wondered, trying not to check her out, which was proving difficult. She was in a blue bikini and looked really good, even if she did have her arms crossed over her chest self consciously.

"Honestly not much," she replied, standing up and walking over to the hot tub. I waded into the pool, stopping by Pierce who was still watching Elle.

"Why don't you say something to her?" I asked. He scoffed.

"Yeah right. My reputation isn't just a reputation. It's the truth. I can't keep a real relationship, only one night stands," he told me. I shook my head and waded back to the stairs, pulling my board shorts up as I exited the pool. I sighed and turned to face Pierce once I was standing by the hot tub.

"It's worth a shot," I told him loudly.

"What is?" Dakota wondered, standing next to me. I smirked.

"This." And with that, I shoved her into the pool. She came up spluttering a couple feet from Elle and then stood stick straight, arms straight by her side.

"Hoooooly crap," she said. I chuckled and grabbed the big floaty to relax on and headed back to the pool. After I was comfortable, I looked at Pierce. He looked amused.

"So are you ever going to tell me what happened to your eye? Who do I need to hit, man?" Pierce questioned, wading over to the floaty. I ran a hand through my dry hair.

"I don't want to talk about it, but it's fine. You don't need to hit anybody," I reassured him. Just then, the floaty was tipping, and within seconds, I was drenched. I came up, letting out a breath and running my hands over my hair, pushing the water off my head and down my back.

"What the hell?" I asked angrily, staring at Dakota. She stifled a laugh.

"What do you mean 'what the hell?' You pushed me first!" she said, obviously annoyed, but definitely still amused. Elle and May were giggling too, and I didn't even want to look to Grace, Andi, and Dillon. I scoffed and turned my back on them, trudging back up the four steps. I walked around the edge of the pool and grabbed a towel off the back of a chair.