Lesson 35: Never Regret Pranking The Playboy
On Sunday Joe came again. But thankfully, I wasn't moping around when he knocked, so I didn't have to make myself presentable again.
"Amber! Your boyfriend is here for you!" I heard Chloe call as she opened the door. I quickly stood up from the couch and walked up to her.
"Chloe! You're not meant to open the door! And he's not my boyfriend!" I scolded.
Yet.
Wait, what?
"Amber, are you busy today?" Joe asked, making me stare at him and my heartbeat quicken. Was he asking me on a date?
"Uh, I don't think so. Why?" I replied casually, but inside I was freaking out. How could one guy do this to me?
"Well, I heard there's going to be a funfair in a few hours, not too far away from here. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?" He asked, and he almost seemed... Nervous.
Aww.
"I'd love to Joe!" I squealed, but quickly composed myself and cleared my throat. "I mean, yeah, sure. That's cool." Joe nodded, smiling a bit.
"Alright, I'll see you later." He said, and I nodded, saying goodbye to him.
"Who was that?" My mum asked, appearing with Hugo.
"Joe. He asked me on a date!" I squealed, and started jumping up and down. My mum squealed and started jumping up and down. Chloe did as well even though she didn't know why.
"That's great! I'm going to walk Hugo, even though he's your dog, so keep an eye on Chloe, yeah?" She said, and I nodded and then she left with Hugo. I looked at Chloe.
"How about we watch TV in the living room? You can get some candy." I suggested, and she shook her head.
"What do you want to do then?" I asked.
"I wanna play with John." She said, and I did a double take.
"John?" She nodded. "The boy Sarah always babysits?"
"Yeah!" Chloe grinned. "We go to the same school; he's my boy best friend." She stated, and then gestured for me to come closer. I did and she whispered in my ear:
"He doesn't have cooties."
Aww.
"That's... Lovely. Alright, you can go and play with him. But we have to wait till mum comes back, she won't be long." I said, and Chloe groaned.
"But...." She whined, and I gave her a look.
"Okay!" She exclaimed, flopping on the couch and grabbing the remote.
I sat on the couch as well, and brought out my phone. I had loads of texts from different people, Selena, Alice and of course, my ex-boyfriend.
He just can't take a hint, can he?
I decided to reply to Selena's before talking to Alice. We needed to catch up, since we were kind of enemies for the past two months.
Me: So, have you made up with Selena yet?
Alice: Yeah, yesterday at homecoming. It was after Joe took you home.
Me: That's great! Everything can go back to normal now.
Alice: Yeah! We should totally have a sleep over, catch up.
Me: Uh, remember what the last sleepover we had caused?
Alice: Haha yeah. But if Joe didn't break my heart, you guys would have never talked! Then you'd be with that jerk, Danni.
Me: Derek.
Alice: Oh. Sorry hehe.
Me: Wateva. So, what about you and Maria?
Alice: Ugh, don't talk to me about that cow. I can't believe I was ever friends with her!
Me: Me either.
Alice: She's pretty angry at you, ya know. Stealing 'her man' and all.
Me: Yeah. I wish there was someway I could get her off my back.
Alice: Shrug.
Me: Hey, I know!
Alice: How? Don't do anything stupid...
Me: I won't! Ttyl xx
I kept my phone away when I heard the front door opening and my mum come inside with Hugo.
"Hey mum, can we go next door?" I asked her quickly. She looked at me confused.
"Uh, sure? Chloe, go get your shoes and jumper, it's chilly outside." My mum ordered, and Chloe did as told.
Soon we were outside their house, knocking on the front door. Sarah opened it and beamed at us.
"Hello there! What can I do for you guys?" She asked.
"Could Chloe play with John?" My mum asked, and Sarah smiled again.
"Why not? Come in!" Sarah said, and Chloe giggled, running into the house.
"Oh, Amber! Long time no see!" She giggled, and I smiled awkwardly.
"Yeah. Uh, is Joe in?" I asked, and she smirked.
"Yeah. He's up in his room. But leave the door open! I have a six and seven year old in the house." She said, and I groaned while my mum laughed.
I walked inside their house, taking off my shoes and went upstairs. I knocked on the door I thought was Joe's room.
"Yeah?" I heard him call out, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. Focus, Amber. Just ask him.
"It's Amber, can I come in?" I asked, and I heard a loud bang, like someone fell down. Then I heard lots of cluttering, and Joe finally answered.
"Yeah, sure. Come in." He said, and I opened the door. I looked around. The walls were painted dark blue, and there were band posters instead of those typical posters of half-naked woman.
"Uh, hey. What are you doing here?" He asked, and I felt a pang in my chest. Did he not want me to be here? He saw the look on my face and quickly said:
"Not that I don't want you to be here, I'm just wondering." He corrected, and I nodded, feeling better.
"Okay, I have a huge favor to ask, it's kind of weird though." I explained, and he nodded.
"I want you to drive me to Maria's house."
"What?!"
"No, it's not what you think!" I quickly said.
"Explain, please." He gestured to a seat so I sat down.
"Listen, I want to make things up with Maria. I don't want to have to deal with her forever, so I want to try and... Fix whatever problem we have." I explained.
"I would have asked someone else, but I want you to be there." I added softly. I swear I saw his cheeks turn a bit pink.
Aww.
"Alright, I'll take you." He said, and I grinned, hugging him when he stood up.
"Thanks Joe! Oh, and what time are we going to the funfair?" I asked.
"It starts at 7, so we'll leave at 6, because it's a 40 minute drive and it'll take long to get the tickets and all." He replied, and I nodded, suddenly feeling brave.
"Joe?"
"Hmm?"
"Is this a date?"
He froze, and looked at me with wide eyes.
"For me, it is. For you, it can be whatever you want to think it is." He said slowly.
"I want it to be a date." I said confidently, and his blue eyes twinkled.
"Then it's a date."
******
"We're here." Joe announced, stopping outside an average-looking house.
"This is her house?" I asked in surprise. I was expecting a mansion or something.
"Yup." Joe said, popping the 'p' and I thought of something.
"Joe, how do you know where her house is?" I asked him.
"Remember we used to date before, so sometimes we'd come to her house and make out."
"Ugh, too much info." I snapped, getting out of the car. Joe smirked at me.
"Do you have any peanut butter?" He asked me, and I looked at him in confusion.
"No. Why?"
"Because we have loads of jelly right here." He replied, smirking and gave me a pointed look.
"Haha. I'm dying from laughter. Please, stop. You are too funny." I said in a flat voice, making Joe chuckle.
I knocked on her door, bracing myself and going over what I planned to say to her in my head. The door opened.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" Maria asked, and then looked at Joe.
"With him?!"
"I-I need to speak to you." I said, mentally slapping myself for stuttering. Maria smirked.
"W-what do you want?" She mocked, and I glared at her.
"Can I come inside?" I asked patiently, and she scoffed.
"Uh, no,"
"Maria?" A new voice called, and Maria rolled her eyes.
"What, mum?"
"Who's at the door?" Her mum asked.
"Just two losers from school." She replied, snickering at her joke.
"Well, invite them inside!" Her mum snapped, and Maria rolled her eyes again.
"Alright!" She shouted, and turned back to us with a frown. "Take off your shoes and come in."
I smiled sweetly at her, and did as told. Joe did the same, not doing anything but glaring at her, and we both went inside. Maria closed the door and walked into what looked like the living room and sat on her sofa.
"Okay, you have 5 minutes. I have an appointment at the Spa." Maria said rudely, and I rolled my eyes.
"Look Maria, I know we're not friends, and probably won't be," I started, ignoring her when I heard her say, 'you've got that right.'
"Can you just listen to her?" Joe suddenly snapped, making us both look at him in surprise. "She's trying to make things right, so stop being such a brat and listen."
Maria scoffed and rolled her eyes, but said nothing. I grinned at him and squeezed his hand then turned back to Maria.
"Okay, I don't want to be 'enemies' with you forever, so I just want to apologize for everything I've done. For the video, for whatever I did to offend you, for everything and I hope maybe, just maybe we can ignore what has happened in the past." I said, taking in Maria's reaction.
"Look, I don't like you, I never did. Oh, and apology not accepted. But, I'll leave you alone, not because of that speech you gave, because you're not worth my time." She told me. "Now, get out. Your five minutes are over." She deadpanned.
I decided not to say anything, just gave her an annoyed look. But I was happy on the inside because she'd agreed to leave me alone.
We left the house after putting on our shoes again and walked towards the car. When we'd started moving that's when Joe decided to say something.
"That was a really brave thing to do, Amber. I'm really proud of you." He said, and I laughed slightly.
"Gee, thanks, Dad." I joked, and Joe's nose wrinkled.
"That would be disgusting if I was you dad and we liked each other." He stated and I nodded in agreement. I decided to turn on the radio, and the song playing made Joe groan.
I started singing along to 'Night Changes' by One Direction. I started sniffing when Zayn started singing his solo.
"I-I just cannot believe Zayn left!" I wailed, and Joe looked at me in surprise.
"Since when were you a fan of One Direction?" He asked. I shrugged, shaking my head.
"Can we not talk about it? It makes me upset." I pleaded, and he nodded, laughing. I turned up the music, enjoying their beautiful singing.
Soon we were back in the neighbourhood, and I had to say bye to Joe, well until the fun fair which was in a few hours, unfortunately.
I went back into my house, deciding it would be good to meet up with Alice and Selena and tell them what happened. I called both of them and asked if we could meet up in the nearest park. Selena said that she would be there in 7 minutes, and Alice said she would be there in 5.
"Mum! I'm going out to meet Selena and Alice!" I shouted.
"Okay!" She replied, sounding distracted.
I left the house and started walking to the park, excited to see my friends in person again. I saw Alice sitting near the duck pond on a bench, and ran behind her.
"Boo!" I screamed in her ear, and she shrieked, falling off the bench. I started laughing, as in the clutching-your-belly-with-tears-in-your-eyes laughing, nearly falling down.
"Oh, my gosh!" I wheezed out, and Alice scowled at me, hitting my arm.
"What's going on then?" A new voice asked, and we turned around to see Selena walking towards us, grinning.
"Okay guys! I have two things to tell you!" I squealed, and we all sat down.
"Okay, first, Joe asked me on a date! We're going to the funfair at six!" I exclaimed, and we all squealed.
"Oh, and Alice, you know how I said I wish there was a way I could get Maria off my back?" Alice nodded. "Yeah, well I asked Joe to drive me to my house, and I said a few words to her, and now she's decided to leave me alone! No more Maria!" I explained, and they both whooped.
"So she's gonna leave us alone?" Selena asked, and I grimaced.
"Uh, I asked on my behalf, you guys have to deal with your own problems." I said teasingly, and they both scowled.
"For that, we're not gonna help you get ready for your date." Alice said, and I shrugged, grinning.
"I'll just ask my mum and tell you guys how it goes! Bye!" And we went our separate ways.
*****
"Ugh! I don't know what to wear! Mum!" I screamed, and I heard her footsteps. She slammed the door open with a worried expression.
"Honey! What is it?!" She said, frantically looking around the room.
"I don't know what to wear!" I exclaimed, an she sighed in relief.
"Don't do that again! I thought you were in trouble or something happened!" She scolded.
"Can you help me?"
"Alright."
She walked over to my wardrobe and looked through the clothes, and then she brought out something, one by one. There were light blue high-waist skinny jeans, a white crop-top and light orange cardigan.
"Oh my gosh! It's great!" I exclaimed and my mum beamed. "Can you help me with my make-up?" I pleaded, and she sighed then nodded.
"Alright. Sit down." She commanded, and I did so. She did my make-up then straightened my hair and braided it into a loose fish-tale. When she was done I hugged her and grabbed my purse with everything I'd need inside it, and then went downstairs to wait in the living room.
A few minutes later, I heard knocking on the door and the butterflies started in my tummy. I stood up and walked over to the door and opened it.
Standing behind there was a nervous-looking Joe, dressed in a light blue plaid-shirt and jeans. His hair looked combed but still had that 'I-just-got-out-of-bed-with-the-hair-of-the-god' look.
"Hey." He said with a half-smile that nearly made me melt.
"Hi. Are you ready?" I asked.
"Yeah, let's go." He replied, so we went to his car and climbed inside.
***
"Amber, Amber." I heard a voice whisper.
"5 more minutes." I mumbled, snuggling into my bed.
"Amber, wake up, we're here." The voice whispered again, and I mentally rolled my eyes.
Who wakes up someone whispering?
"Amber! We're at the funfair!" The voice said, louder this time and shook me a bit. I opened my eyes, glaring at the person who disturbed my lovely slumber.
I sat up and looked at my surroundings, confused. Then I remembered where I was, and blushed, looking at my date who was smirking.
"Had a nice nap?" He asked, and I rolled my eyes, hitting his arm.
"Shut up." I muttered, and he chuckled climbing out of the car so I did the same thing.
"I was going to leave you in the car and buy the tickets, but there's lots of creepy-looking people here." He told me, glaring at an old man who was eyeing me and wrapping his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to him. I blushed a bit and nodded.
"Thanks, for not leaving me alone in the car," I said and he grinned at me.
"But I kinda wish you bought the tickets now, because the cue looks massive." I told him.
"Well, we're gonna have to wait." He said.
"Hey, I've got an idea!" I exclaimed. "Let's cut-in." I whispered, and he looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"Excuse me?"
"With my," I flipped my hair and smiled. "Good looks, and you charm, we can easily cut in!" I told him.
"Amber...."
"Come on! You need to trust me!" I said and he sighed.
"You go ahead, I'll wait here." He replied, and I pouted.
"You're no fun." I whined, but started my plan anyway.
I tied my hair in a slightly messy ponytail and rolled up the sleeves of my cardigan. Then I walked up to a young-looking couple with a confused look on my face.
"Uh, excuse me?" I said in my best Southern-cowgirl voice, tapping the woman's shoulder. She turned around with a smile.
"How can I help you?"
"Well, I'm here with my boyfriend," I told them, widening my eyes and fiddling with my hands so I would seem nervous.
"And, well we're from outta town, in our old place, Texas, we didn't have these kinda things, what's it called?" I pretended to think really hard.
"Fairfun!" I exclaimed, grinning at them. They exchanged looks, and the lady looked back at me with a smile.
"Uh, how about you and your boyfriend come here in line with us, so we can tell you about how it works here." She said gently. I nodded and smiled at her.
"Thanks so much! Ya'll really nice!" I thanked them, and then ran back to Joe.
"Guess what?" I exclaimed, still using my Southern voice. I cleared my throat.
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"Thanks to my looks," I flipped my hair. "And my awesome acting skills, we can wait with a couple," I pointed at the front of the line. "Over there!" Joe looked at me with wide eyes, then hugged me, spinning me around.
"That's great! How did you do it?" He asked.
"I'll tell you later, but just speak in a Southern voice. Oh, and unbutton and roll up your sleeves." I told him, and even though he looked confused, he still did it. He followed me as I walked up to the couple, smiling.
"Hey ya'll," I greeted. "This is my boyfriend... Dan," I introduced, satisfied with the cow-boy ish name I came up with.
"Dan, this is that lovely couple I told ya about!" I told 'Dan'.
"Hey ya'll." Joe said, sounding more Indian than Southern.
Disgraceful.
I pinched him hard and kicked him when he yelped, smiling innocently at the confused couple.
"Let me do the talking." I hissed, and he just nodded, not saying anything.
"So, can ya'll explain how this Fairfun thing works?" I asked the man, and he nodded, turning to Joe and started explaining. Soon it was our turn, and Joe paid for our tickets the exact way you were meant to. So the couple wouldn't get suspicious, I thanked and thanked them, then grabbed Joe and quickly walked away with him.
"You owe me." I old Joe once we were away from the couple and walking around the Fairfu-Funfair.
Hehe.
"Okay, okay. What do you want to do now?" He asked me, and I looked around thoughtfully.
"Let's make this a really cliché date. Buy me candyfloss then win me a teddy bear! Yeah!" I exclaimed, looking at him with a wide smile. He chuckled and grabbed my hand, pulling me to where they were selling candyfloss.
He ordered two sticks of candyfloss, if that makes sense, and waited for it while I looked for where he could win me a teddy bear.
Or Panda.
Or Lion.
Or poop.
Poop?
Anyway, soon we had our candyfloss and started walking hand in hand (yes, you heard it right) while licking/eating our candyfloss.
The thing about candyfloss is that you can never eat it without it getting all over your face, making your face sticky. It is literally impossible.
"Alright, I'm done!" I said, throwing the stick in the bin. Joe looked at me and snorted.
Then grinned.
Then smiled.
Then chuckled.
Then laughed.
Then laughed even more.
And soon he was full-on laughing, clutching his tummy as he was bent over. He was getting weird looks from people passing by and I considered walking away right there and then because it was seriously embarrassing.
He finally stopped laughing and straightened up, then glanced at me and started chuckling again. I punched his arm as hard as I could to get him to stop.
"Ow!"
No, unfortunately it wasn't Joe who shouted that, it was me. Poor hand.
"Do you eat rocks or something?!" I exclaimed, cradling for poor hand and glaring at Joe as he laughed at my pain.
How or why I liked this guy, I had no idea.
"It's called muscle, babe." He said, flexing. A group of girls walked by practically drooled, watching him and I glared venomously at them. Thankfully they scurried away.
Woah.
Wait a second.
Did I go all jealous brat on them?
Woah.
"-Hand doesn't hurt that much, right?" I heard Joe say and stared at him.
"Earth to Amber?" He waved his hand in front of my face and I slapped it away, scowling.
"I see your hand is better." He joked, shaking the hand I slapped and grabbing mine.
I shrugged.
"So, do you to go to the teddy bear thingy-mijigy now?"
I shrugged.
"Are you smart?"
I shrugged, and then realized what had happened when Joe started hysterically laughing. I tried to keep a straight face but his laughter was so contagious so I ended up laughing along with him.
"Alright, let's not make people thing we're two crazy teenagers and go to the bear thing." I told him, so we started walking there.
Holding hands.
****
"Joe, step away. Please."
"No, just one more try, I can do this- I will do this."
"Joe, it's been 38 minutes! You can buy me a teddy bear from a shop or something; can we please just go now?"
"You don't understand, I promised to win you a bear."
"Promises are made to be broken."
"Not this one."
"Joe..."
"Just one more try. Please, babe."
I nearly melted on the spot when he called me babe.
"Alright. One more. You've nearly finished all my money."
"You mean my money."
"Shut up."
"Ooh, feisty."
"Shut up and throw the ring, gosh." I said, rolling my eyes but smiling anyway. Joe grinned at me and threw the ring.
It landed on the bottle.
"Yes!" He shouted, throwing his hands in the air.
"I hate to burst your bubble, but you have two more rings to toss, then you can get the teddy." I pointed out, and his smile fell, his arms dropping by his side.
"Way to ruin the moment." He muttered, and I giggled, smiling at him fondly. He smiled back and tossed the second ring.
It landed.
"Don't start celebrating." I told him. He chuckled slightly and tossed the last ring.
It... Landed.
"Yes!" He shouted, throwing his hands in the air again then looking at me while I chuckled.
"Which one do you want?" He asked me, and I looked forward, looking at the bears.
"Hmm. How about that one." I said pointing at fluffy white and black panda which I knew Chloe would love.
I was way too old for teddy bears.
Kidding, I had my own at home in my bedroom.
"Alright. Can I have that one, please?" Joe said pointing at the panda I wanted. The person behind the stall nodded and reached for it, grabbing it and handing over to Joe, muttering a quiet 'congrats'.
We both left to go and have some food because honestly, I was starving.
"What do you want to get?" Joe asked me, and I shrugged.
"A burger and chips sounds great." I told him and he nodded, taking my hand and pulling me through a crowd of people to the food stand. Joe ordered the burger and fries for us and we sat at one of the wooden tables.
"So, where do you wanna go next? Sorry, but we can only go on two more rides, I finished practically all my money trying to win you a teddy bear." He grumbled the last part, making me laugh a bit.
He's so adorable.
Wait, did I just think that?!
"Hmm. I saw a Love Tunnel on our way here." I replied, then blushed at how that sounded. I was practically telling him I wanted to go through a romantic tunnel couples went through, but it was really an excuse to make out.
Shudder.
Joe nodded, his cheeks slightly pink. On the outside I was playing it cool, but inside I was 'awing' like crazy.
He was blushing because of me!
"That's a good idea. How about the Ferris Wheel after?" He suggested, and I smiled at him nodding.
"That sounds great!" I told him, and that's when our food arrived. We ate our food then started walking to the Love Tunnel.
10 minutes later we arrived, thanks to my awesome directing skills, and waited in the cue, which thankfully wasn't so long. Soon it was our turn, and Joe paid then we entered one of the boats.
"I'm so excited!" I squealed to Joe, who chuckled slightly.
"Calm down Amber, even though you're cute when you're excited." I don't think I was meant to hear the last part but I did so I blushed.
"Thanks." I told him, and he looked at me in surprise, blushing slightly.
Aww.
"You heard that?" He asked shyly, and I nodded smiling softly at him.
"Yeah. Thanks, Joe. I think you're cute as well." I complimented, and the shy look on his face was immediately gone.
"Do not call me cute. Ever." He huffed, crossing his eyebrows and pouting, making him look adorable.
Aww.
"Cute, adorable, cute, adorable!" I said teasingly in a sing-song voice as our boat started and we were gliding to the tunnel.
Suddenly Joe leaned forward, so close that our noses were, like 3 centimetres apart.
"I dare you to say that again." He growled, but not the angry type, the teasing one. It went dark as we entered the tunnel.
"Cute, adorable." I whispered. He inched even closer, if that was possible.
"Again."
"A-adorable." I stuttered. What? You couldn't judge me! He was close. Then he leaned in and...
No, we didn't have a passionate make-out because suddenly music started playing, really loudly causing us to jump in surprise and quickly go back to our original positions.
Shame. I was looking forward to that passionate make-out session.
Wait, what?
Joe wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer towards him. I smiled and leaned into him. I sniffed him.
He smells nice.
"Did you just sniff me?!" I heard Joe exclaim, and I felt my face go warm. I knew I resembled a tomato.
"Pfft. No. You wish." I scoffed, then face-palmed.
Not mentally.
I actually slapped my forehead.
"Amber, are you okay?" Joe actually sounded concerned for my well-being, and I didn't blame him. First I sniff him, and then I violently slap my forehead.
Could I get any weirder?
"I'm fine, why are you asking?" I answered breezily. He just chuckled nervously and leaned on me again.
We were getting near to the end of the Love Tunnel, so the music started playing again.
Ugh.
Even though it was meant to be 'romantic' it was just giving me a headache.
The lights went down, leaving lighted hearts and the word 'KISS!' shining brightly all around us. I looked at Joe awkwardly, only to do a double take because he was staring at me with this determined look on his face.
He leaned forward, giving me time to lean away, then looked into my eyes, smiled a bit and kissed me. When I got out of my trance I immediately kissed him back, loving the feeling of his lips on mine.
Feeling a bit brave, I kept my hands on his shoulders and tilted my head to deepen the kiss. He slid an arm around my waist, practically pulling me on to his lap. Our tongues swirled together and I ran a hand through his hair.
Soon we had to pull away, and kept out foreheads together, looking into each other's eyes.
"Amber," Joe whispered. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
I smiled so wide I was afraid my face would split in half.
"Of course!" I squealed, throwing my arms around him and hugging him. He laughed and hugged me back. I suddenly thought of something.
"Joe?"
"Hmm?"
"You know when you told me 'I would regret ever Pranking The Playboy'?" I asked him.
"Uh... Yeah." He responded, then pulled away and looked at me. "Well, do you?"
"Well..."
"No," I finally replied, putting him out of his misery.
"I don't regret pranking you."
Today's Lesson: Never Regret Pranking The Playboy
*****
I-I just CANNOT believe this is the last chapter! I-I just...
*DEEP BREATH*
I can't thank you guys enough for reading this and hope you enjoyed the book. <3
If you want something else to read, check out my other books!
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Doing it My Way: What happens when you mix a rebellious girl, a mysterious artist, a rich boarding school and queen bee together? Oh, and a case of kidnapping. Trouble, of course.
Chocolate Cupcakes: one part story, follow a girl who surprisingly finds love through baking.
Vanilla Cookies: one part story, a shy waitress and a cheeky Brit find more than just cookies in a quaint café.