Say What You Mean

Chapter Six - Holy Bucket Of Oats

“Yeah well, if you haven’t noticed, I’m not a baby anymore so stop treating me like one” I say fiercely before grabbing my shit and sulking my way back to the car.

I’m only sitting in there for five minutes when the boys come around. They silently pack their boards up and hop in the car. Noah starts it up and we drive away in silence. We find a small café and wordlessly stop there for dinner. I hop out ahead of them and go straight to a booth at the back. They slip in beside me and we all read the menu silently. After making our orders, Noah finally looks at me “Did you actually like the guy Ara?”

I moan, “No Noah, I didn’t even know him. It’s just the fact you guys were douches about it”

“That was partly my fault,” Wes says apologetic, “I thought it would be funny. But I also thought the guy looked like an idiot. But yeah, I’m sorry”

I offer him a small smile, “Thanks guys, it’s nice to know you care but I’m not a 14 year old girl anymore. I’m 16, boys are gonna be talking to me whether you guys like it or not; I’m not any of your property”

Wes waggles his eyebrows suggestively, “That could easily be changed”

I clip him across the head, “You are such a punk”

Wes’ expression changes from joking to serious, “Nah but in all honesty I think it’s safe to say that you’ve grown on all of us Ara and whether you like it or not we’re always gonna be protective of you, no matter how good or long we’ve known you for”

Despite arguing against this previously I can’t help but smile, “Naww okay when you put it like that it’s just cute”

He ruffles my hair again, “Knew you’d come around”

“Yeah the ruffling hair isn’t cute though” I reply, pushing his hand away. “Oh and don’t worry, I’m gonna get at least one of you back eventually”

“I’d like to see you try” Wes challenges

“Don’t be saying that now”

Before he can respond, our food is served to us. We’re all overcome by hunger so we ditch the conversation and focus solely on our food.

--

The next day I’m doing a few of the chores Mum left me when Noah comes strolling in, “The boys invited us to a party tonight on the other side of town.”

“Whose is it?”

“Some guy who doesn’t go to our school, Wes used to be in a band with him or something. Bring Harper if you want”

“Sweet as, I’ll text her soon”

“Cool, be ready by nine because that’s when we’re leaving”

I check the time and calculate I have five hours until then. I give him a look of horror, “Oh my, how will I ever get ready in that time?!”

He rolls his eyes at me and leaves just as quickly as he came and I’m left vacuuming the lounge while he goes off and does something that isn’t a chore. I finish my cleaning and get a bit of homework in before Harper comes over. We make ice cream sundaes while I play her a few of Emblem3 songs before we eventually go upstairs to my room to get ready. She ends up wearing a plain black dress with her grey Doc Martins and a denim jacket. I ditch the shorts and singlet this time and opt for a maroon and white spotty dress I bought offline from Topshop and my acid wash vans. I straighten the tips of my naturally wavy blonde hair before putting my ninja’s beanie on and putting on a necklace and a few bracelets. I’m too lazy to put my contacts in so I just keep my glasses on. Harper and I both do our make-up and just as we’re finishing up Noah calls us from downstairs to hurry up. I shove my wallet and phone into Harper’s bag before we skip downstairs. I grin at what Noah is wearing – chinos, black vans, an Obey Hat and the Young & Reckless top I bought him for Christmas last year “God, I feel like we all walked out of Tumblr”