Toasted Marshmallows (A Sweetly Novella)

1 | Water Balloons

1 | Water Balloons

~☁☀☁~

A giggle that sounded far too evil woke me from my dream of dancing with Channing Tatum in his Step Up days.

"Go away, Megan," I grumbled, burying my head under a pillow.

"But it's the first day of summer!" I heard my best friend's voice accompanied with a cheer from my little sister. "Sunshine," Reyna addressed Megan, "I think it's time for a Ferra-pile."

I threw the blanket aside and rolled off of my bed, which was a far better alternative than being crushed. "Don't you dare."

"And she's up!" Reyna gave Meg a high five and sent her off to the kitchen for breakfast.

I rubbed my eyes to clear the sleep out of them since I obviously wouldn't be getting more of it. Reyna's bright tank top blinded me so I had to look away. It was too early for such vibrant colors and she had three sources with her top, the straps from the swimsuit she wore underneath, and her sandals. At least her blue jean shorts toned down the outfit. The sun was too bright for the morning too, but a certain someone opened my curtains.

"Get dressed," she ordered. "Ian is waiting outside. It's time to initiate Operation: H2O Attack on Wesley Black."

"I hope that's a working title," I muttered, searching for some clothes in my closet.

"Nope. I spent all night on that one," she admitted proudly.

I rolled my eyes and smiled while pulling a simple one-piece swimsuit off of its hanger. Then followed that with a loose-fitting scoop neck white shirt. I spent most of last night unpacking my summer clothes for the warm season and stuffing my cold weather clothes into the back of my closet.

"Skit?" I called Reyna by the nickname I gave her years ago due to her obsession with Skittles.

"Yes, Ferra?"

"Get out."

"I'm out," she held her hands up and backed away. "Bring a change of clothes. We're taking Wes shopping for swim trunks afterwards. He doesn't have any for our trip to the water park next week."

After she was gone, I grabbed a pair of leggings and made a small pile on my bed for the second outfit.

I quickly changed and put my hair up in a bun. I wanted to try to protect it from getting completely soaked, but it was unlikely to stay dry. Checking myself in the mirror, I gave my reflection a nod of approval before going to brush my teeth.

I didn't usually care so much about my appearance, but I found myself wanting to show off a little around Ian. After that kiss, nothing changed between us. Deep, deep...deep down, that kind of bothered me because it meant that he wasn't so affected by me anymore. And he damn well should have been playing it on repeat in his thick skull for months since my lips graced his and he was not worthy.

Otherwise, I was happy to spend the summer with our relationship the same as it had always been; him, the annoying big brother of my best friend, and me, the snarky best friend of his little sister who picked on him. Unfortunately, along with that came the usual flutter of anticipation whenever I knew I was going to see him. That was something that never really went away, so I was used to it by now.

I went into the kitchen to tell my parents where I was going and that I would be home later. They were busy eating breakfast and denying Meg ice cream for her meal, but their attention turned to me when they said to have fun.

"I get to throw water balloons at my bestie's boyfriend and Ian," I grinned. "I will most definitely be having fun."

"Ten points for hitting Ian in the face!" My dad called out as I walked to the front door.