Just One Summer

Chapter Two

"Evan, nice to meet you." He said, the same smile still on his face. I just starred at his hand, refusing to take it. His put his hand back in his pocket and chuckled. "Sorry if I creeped you out, you looked kinda stuck so I thought I'd help you out." I just kept quiet, a scowl on my face, not saying anything back. "Look, I'm not here to get laid or anything. Can you at least tell me your name?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, taking a step back. "It's Kriss." He smiled again, satisfied with my answer. His smile. His dang eyes and the way he smiled made me want to smile with him. I bit my lip, keeping my mouth shut.

"Pleasure to meet you Kriss. You wanna beer?" Before I could say no, he walked over to the cooler, pulled out two drinks, and motioned for me to sit on the deck rail beside him.

I hesitantly hopped up on the rail, keeping a large gap between the two of us. He handed me my beer and I hesitantly took a small sip from the bottle. I flinched at the bitter taste. Evan chuckled, taking a sip from his own bottle. "You not much of a drinker?"

I shrugged, "I guess you could say that." I slowly lifted the bottle to my lips again, taking a small drink and trying to control myself.

"Where you from, Kriss?"

"Um... I don't live too far from here."

"Ah, I see. You come here alone?"

I turned to face him, genuinely confused. "Why are you talking to me? Not to be rude or anything, but I don't even know who you are."

He laughed again, the smile returning to his face. "I told you! I'm Evan. We know each other now. I brought you out here cause you looked lonely. And to be completely honest, I really just want to get to know the pretty girl at the party, that's all."

My cheeks grew hot and I knew I must look pretty flushed. He grinned at me, taking another sip of his beer. "Now, did you come here alone?"

Emma had always joked about how guys at parties would never be able to stop flirting with us if we dressed up enough, is that what was happening right now? Was this flirting? I finally decided I was overreacting and that he was probably just trying to be nice. "No, I came with my best friend, but she kinda ditched me after a few drinks."

"I know how you feel." He nodded towards the two guys by the cooler. One of them was looking at his hand through an empty beer bottle pressed to his eye and the other was punching the wall for "running into him."

"They get drunk pretty fast at parties, which leaves me to go find other sane people to hang out with." He nudged your shoulder, grinning at me, "thanks for being sane with me."

I laughed and took another sip of my beer, which was starting to taste a bit more barrable. "Anytime." I laughed, nudging him back. Maybe it was just the alcohol, but I was beginning to feel a lot more comfortable with Evan. He just had this easy-going personality that made him feel freeing.

"You mean that?" He asked, smiling down at me.

"Mean what?" I asked, playing over my words in my head.

"Will you be sane with me anytime I want?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

I just gave him a shove and laughed, not really wanting to answer that question.

"So tell me more about yourself, Kriss."

I just shrugged and sipped my beer. "What do you wanna know?"

"Anything," he smiled, "anything you have to say, I'll listen to it."

I blushed again at that, and looked down at my lap. "Ok, you ask a question first, then I'll ask you one."

"Deal," he said, and put his finger to his chin. "Ok, how old are you?"

"Sixteen, seventeen next week." I looked up at him now with more confidence, "How old are you?"

"Seventeen, my turn." He said, a smile playing on his lips, "What's your favorite thing to do?"

I thought for a bit, would he think I was childish if I said I liked pranks? I decided to just be honest. "I love pranking people with my best friend." He laughed, throwing his head back before looking me up and down.

"I defiantly would not have guessed that." He said, smile still painted on his face. I realized that my own smile hadn't left my face either.

"well what's your favorite thing to do?" I asked.

"Oh photography for sure. Taking pictures is what I want to do for the rest of my life." He gazed down at his hands as I studied his face. Passion seamed to oze out of him and I just couldn't get enough of it. He coughed and brought his attention back t me again. "Favorite color?"

"Mmm, blue. Yours?"

I sat back and thought for a minute, "Probably orange, brings out my eyes." He said, batting his lashes. I laughed and swatted at his shoulder. "Ok, favorite place to travel?"

"I've never actually left the state..." I said, looking down again

Evan sat straight up at my words, eyes wide, he grabbed my shoulders and stared me in the eyes. "What do you mean you've never left the state?" He said, his voice was laced with concern.

"Yeah, my parents both work at big companies and they don't like taking time off. I'm not allowed to travel alone so I've just never been able to go anywhere." He let go of my shoulders, a soft expression on his face. "But, when I'm older, my dream is to travel everywhere. I want to see the world more than anything else."

Evan just looked at me, a grin on his face, eyes not leaving mine. I coughed to break the silence. "Where do you like to travel to?"

"My favorite place to go is Thailand." He said, "I love going through the rice fields and eating on the floor with the people who live there. Everything is so different; it feels like another world." I could sit and listen to him talk about traveling for hours, but Emma interrupted our deepening conversation.

"Krissy! Where are you? You were supposed to come with me." Emma called, stumbling outside.

I stood up from the rail and linked my arm with Emma's steading her.

"It was nice to meet you, Evan, but I should probably get her home." I said, smoothing out the tangled mess of Emma's hair. Evan chuckled, getting up to come closer to us.

"Yeah that's probably a good idea. Can I walk you out?" I nodded and he gestured for me to follow him. We weaved through the crowds until we reached the front door.

"Thanks, you don't have to walk us to the car though, it's pretty far from here." He just nodded, looking at his feet.

I waved goodbye and started out the door, until I felt a hand grip my shoulder. "Kriss wait." Evan said, turning me around. "Can I have your number?"

I smiled and took his phone from his hand, putting my number in his contact list. "So you won't forget me?" I asked, handing it back.

"I won't forget you." He said. "You're interesting and different and... I like that." He said, making me blush yet again. I just laughed it off and waved goodbye, walking Emma out the door.

"Who was that guy?" She asked, slurring her words. I patted her head softly.

"I'll tell you when you've sobered up." I whispered. She laid her head on my shoulder and continued to walk with me.

I felt my phone buzz and I pulled it out of my pocket.

Unknown User:

Hey it's the guy from the party😊

Kriss:

Hmm... which one? I gave out my number quite a few times tonight...

Haha very funny

😉
———————————————————————————
Authors note:
So, are you team Caspian or team Evan?😏