Chapter 1: Luck
"Get out of the shopping cart, Leo!" I hissed as I tried to tip the cart in order to get my brother out.
"Why?" he asked while he sat in the cart, grabbing chips from the shelves and tossing them into the cart around him.
"Because we're going to get kicked out, that's why," I snapped.
"They can do that?" he asked stupidly.
"Yes they can do that, Leo," I barked as I stopped the cart, crossing my arms.
Groaning, my brother stood up and tried to jump out of the cart. As he lifted his leg, he lost his balance and fell, almost taking the cart down with him. I managed to keep the metal contraption upright as I continued strolling along the aisle, putting more chips and dip into the carriage. "What a great sister you are," he told me as he got up from the floor.
I just nodded as I grabbed two six packs of soda and dropped them in the cart, effectively annoying my twin brother. "You'd think that because this is your friend's surprise party that you'd be the one doing the shopping," I muttered.
"Hey, I'm paying for it," he reminded me with narrowed eyes. He walked alongside me, tapping away on his phone. "You're coming, right?"
"Yeah, unfortunately," I muttered.
"It'll be fun. Phoenix has the pool, and Avery's coming," my brother told me.
"Yeah, but I don't like swimming. And Avery's probably going to talk to guys," I grunted.
"You'll survive," my brother replied. I didn't bother to respond, mostly because I doubted his words.
As we reached the checkout, I sighed. "I forgot the nacho cheese; I'll be right back."
I left the line and jogged towards the chip aisle, scouring the shelves for nacho cheese. I saw it on the bottom shelf so I dropped to my hands and knees and reached for the back of the shelf, managing to grab the glass jar. As I went to sit back up, I felt something kick me in the side and I let out a gasp as the air was knocked out of me. I immediately looked at the person who tripped over me. I stared wide-eyed at the guy who lay sprawled on his stomach in the middle of the aisle, a loaf of bread a few feet away from his opened palm. He slowly began to get up, allowing his hands to lift him.
Breathlessly (mainly from his kick), I began to sit up. "I'm sorry about that, I didn't see you there," he began to apologize and I recognized his deep, velvety voice.
As I looked up from the unharmed can of nacho cheese, I saw my longtime crush, Aaron Washington, standing about a foot away from me. He had his arm outstretched as if trying to transfer his regret from himself to me through physical contact. It was then that I realized that his large brown eyes were staring down at me. The words on my tongue died and I began to stutter. "Are you okay?" he asked me.
"F-Fine, I, uh, I'm good, okay, great, fine, perfect. How are you? You're pretty— fell hard. I mean you fell pretty hard. That's what I meant. You okay? You just face prettied— I mean you face planted," I babbled.
He laughed and smiled at me. "I'm fine," he nodded. "How's your side? I must've kicked you when I fell. I'm sorry about that."
"Psh, yeah, I'm totally fine. I'm so fine- my ribcage has never been better. I'm so ready for gymnastic class. Not that I do gymnastics; I'm actually really inflexible. One time, I fell down the stairs trying to do a backbend and I was rushed to the emergency room. Good times—," he cut me off with a laugh. I'm pretty sure I was as red as a lobster.
"Gracelyn, right?" he asked me with furrowed eyebrows. I nodded my head quickly, surprised that he remembered me. I mean, he's on the football team with Leo and Phoenix, and I occasionally go to their games, so maybe he heard one of them talking to me. "I'm Aaron."
"I know who you are," I told him rapidly before my eyes widened. "I mean, I'm not a stalker or anything! I just remember talking to you a few times in freshman year!"
"No, I understand. I remember talking to you too," he told me with a large grin.
"Gracelyn!" my brother's voice sounded from the end of the aisle. "Hurry up with the cheese!"
I quickly looked from Leo to Aaron and the boy in front of me smiled. "I guess I'll see you around," Aaron nodded.
"Yeah, you will. Definitely! Around is where you'll see me for sure!" I jawed. Giving me one last breathtaking grin, he walked towards the abandoned bread and swiftly picked it up. I hurriedly ran down the aisle to my brother, who was busy jogging towards the checkout line to pay for the food. I stood there with a stupid grin on my face.
As we drove back to our house, my brother looked at me. "Aaron Washington? Really, Grace?"
+++
The smell of chlorine entered my nose as I stepped into the backyard of the Carson residence. The only reason I agreed to come to this gathering is because Mrs. Carson personally asked me if I was, and when I responded no, she asked why not, and saying "I hate your son" wouldn't have been a good enough answer. Speaking of Mrs. Carson, she greeted my older siblings with a kiss on the cheek before turning to me.
"Hey, Grace," she grinned at me.
"Hey, Mrs. Carson," I smiled. She pulled me in to a hug, quickly pecking my cheek.
"I feel like I never see you anymore!" she gushed. "You always used to spend time here! You and Phoenix were so close! Do you remember when I used to watch you guys?"
Yes, Mrs. Carson, I did, but that was before I was old enough to stay home alone. I only came here because my parents believed I needed a babysitter. You may not know this, but your son is the devil and I would rather not spend time with him if I don't have to. "I remember very well," I told her with a small nod.
"Do you want to change into your bathing suit?" she inquired when she noticed my jeans and t-shirt. I slowly shook my head.
"No, I'm fine," I told her. "I'm not much of a swimmer anymore." Since, you know, the time your son tried to drown me.
"Well, if you do decide to come inside at any point, you know where everything is. Help yourself," she smiled at me.
"Thanks, Mrs. Carson," I returned the smile before slipping outside.
+ + +
I guess the party was going okay. The food was good, and there was a nice view. But as far as conversing goes, I kept to myself and Avery. I'd occasionally talk to one of Phoenix's many sisters, the second youngest. The seven year old was with Phoenix's father, picking up her older brother, but the 12 year old decided to stay here. She'd occasionally pop downstairs for a drink from the cooler and we'd share a few words before she'd disappear back into her room. You'd think that he'd be kind to girls, seeing as he has four sisters, but I guess not. The two older ones are in college, and they were quite nice. Whenever they were around, they would make sure Phoenix didn't do anything to me. As you can probably tell, I was very upset when they left.
Phoenix didn't show up until an hour after we had arrived. His plane had landed late and he obviously didn't expect a crowd of people in his backyard. When he entered the yard, a slow smile made its way across his face as he greeted his friends. I stayed towards the back, shying away from the crowd, with Avery. I was lying down in a lounge chair with a book in my hand. I had been struggling to read for the last hour because it seemed as though every time I tried to start, someone would yell or shout and I'd have to look around to make sure that no one was drowning, not that I'd be of any help.
Phoenix eventually made his way through the crowd of football buddies and other non-athletic friends and he approached me. I didn't bother looking up until I noticed the sunlight disappear as he stood in front of me. "Grace," he spoke.
"It's Gracelyn. What do you want?" I asked with a sigh as I stared at my book.
"You haven't seen me in two months and all I get is a 'what?'" he asked and I could tell by his tone that he was smirking. "You don't call. You don't write. You can't even greet me decently."
"Hi," I grunted. "Now can you move? You're blocking the light. I can't read my book."
The book was suddenly snatched from my fingers. I looked up to see Phoenix throwing it across the yard. I watched as it landed with a splash in the pool. My eyes widened as I glared at the boy standing in front of me. "Phoenix! What is wrong with you?!"
"There's the greeting I know and love," he grinned down at me before sitting on the lounge chair, shoving my legs to the side carelessly. I jerked upward into a sitting position as he sat cross-legged in front of me.
"You're going to have to pay for that!" I told him as I stared at my book, which was sinking to the bottom of the pool. The hardcover was ruined and I could already imagine the inky smearing of the words. A frown took over my face as I stared at it. I was almost finished with it.
"You're going to have to pay for that," he mocked, earning a glare from me. "So you like blonds?"
"What?" I asked him in a confused state.
"Aaron- I'd consider him a blond, wouldn't you?" Phoenix inquired as he stared at me.
His statement caught me completely off guard. I heard my sister snort from the chair beside me and I looked at Phoenix with wide eyes. "What did you just say?"
"Aaron- you like him, right?" Phoenix asked and I simply stared at him in pure shock. "Come on, Grace, stupid isn't a good look on you."
I opened my mouth to speak before closing it. How did he know? Who could've possibly told him? "Why would you think that?" I asked and I could feel my face burning.
"I just guessed," he shrugged. "I mean, Leo told me that you were a stuttering mess around him in the supermarket. You just did the rest of the work for me by reacting the way you did."
"I don't like him!" I retorted.
"Yeah, you do," he nodded as he began to stand up. "Now if you'll excuse me..."
"Wait! Where are you going?" I hissed as I began to get up. I don't like the idea of Phoenix hanging around Aaron now that he knows about my feelings for the blond boy.
"I'm going to go kick Aaron out," Phoenix responded.
"What? Why?" I replied.
"Because I can't have you talking to him," Phoenix explained.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because he's a player," Phoenix furthered.
"And what are you?" I retorted.
"It's different," Phoenix responded. "Though, I do appreciate the fact that you consider me hot enough to be a player."
"I don't," I quickly rebutted. "But don't kick him out."
"Why shouldn't I?" Phoenix asked.
"Because that's mean," I told him.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Aren't you the one that's always calling me mean?" he asked.
"Yeah, but that's...really mean," I struggled to reason.
"Okay, I won't kick him out...on one condition," he began.
"Which is?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"Don't talk to him," he told me. I stared at him for a moment before nodding. I mean, it's not like I'll talk to him anyway. "I mean it. If I see you two talking, I'm going to call his name and just point to the door mid conversation."
"Okay, fine," I responded.
"I don't trust him, Grace," he told me. I wanted to correct him but I repressed the urge.
"Don't say anything to him," I snapped. For some reason, I know I didn't have to clarify what I meant.
"You know, you're lucky that it's him. If it was anyone else in my yard, I'd tell them right now. But it's him, and I don't like him or trust him, so you're safe...for now," he told me.
And suddenly, I didn't feel so lucky.