Jessie Samson never thought she'd catch the eye of Alex Anderson, her hot neighbor and childhood crush until he and his brothers came back to Culver Reef for Spring Break.
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Jessie Samson's life turned upside down when the boys next door and long...
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The party was in full swing when we got there. The number of intoxicated people in one place doubled when it was said to be hosted by the Riviera hotel. Mainly because The Riviera served the most original, iconic cocktails they came up with themselves. One of them also happened to be called The Jessie.
When Cameron, Alex and I got to the bar, they made fun of it, not knowing that having a cocktail named after you was a reward for winning the annual surfing competition three times in a row. They didn't even suspect it had anything to do with me. They shrugged it off as a mere coincidence.
The bartender who served the drinks knew me pretty well and came up to us the moment he saw me waiting. Reed was a tall dude with brown hair, brown eyes, and muscles for days. He dropped out of college when his mom died last year and stayed in Culver Reef, serving drinks at parties and managing the Riviera restaurant.
He wasn't much older than me. In fact, we went to school together and he even asked me to be his date for Prom. We were both clear from the start that we were going as friends, which is what probably made the night so fun. He needed a date and I wanted to hang out with the older crowd. I fit in easily with his friends and all the girls loved me.
"Hey Reed," I said with a big smile on my face.
"I wondered when you would to show up," he greeted me with a big grin on his face before saying hi to Alex and Cameron. Everybody knew the Anderson boys even though they were gone for a long time. They were this always this town's hottest topic because they made all the girls go crazy.
"I can't be on time for everything. People will start to expect things from me," I joked and then asked him to get me some water while Cameron ordered beer and Alex wanted to try The Jessie.
"Good call," Reed gave a nod of approval before turning to me. "Wouldn't want to insult the Queen."
Alex looked at me and I shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. In reality, I felt extra cool. After I'd gotten my bottle of water, I told the guys I was going to check on my friends. As I headed straight for the crowd, more people I knew came up to say hello. I spent a good portion to thirty minutes trying to shrug all of them off in order to find Amanda.
Instead of finding Amanda, I stumbled upon Preston, in the company of the surf team.
"Jessie!" He greeted, and the boys, in their drunken state, started chanting my name.
"Shut up," I laughed quietly.
Preston pulled me to him and planted a kiss on my head. His arm was draped around me as I looked up at him. "Have you seen Amanda?" I asked.
"Ashton took her home ten minutes ago," Preston told me. "Something to do with her dad finding out about the C- in Calculus."
"Oh," I breathed, not knowing what to say. Amanda didn't have flawless grades like I did. She had a mild form of dyslexia and taking tests was always stressful for her. It had been stressful for every other student but she didn't do well under pressure which is why her grades suffered. I hated the fact that our grades were supposed to be a reflection of our intelligence. She was easily smarter than me despite what that stupid piece of paper said.
