Sorry for the wait. I had exams and a project due right after my exams. And, I had a bunch of homework to catch up on because I was sick. This chapter is probably also really bad, and you have all rights to throw potatoes at me when you're done reading it. cx
-Chapter Thirty Five-
Later on, we decided to go swimming out back. Well, everyone else decided to go swimming. I, on the other hand, opted to give the sun a chance. I was sprawled across a pool chair, giving an occasional sip to my strawberry smoothie. I was trying my best to get a tan. Why would I come to California without even trying? Honestly, it wasn’t that bad. It actually felt somewhat nice. Gotta try something new once in a while, eh?
I watched as the others splashed around in the pool. Danielle and Mason were goofing around; she was trying to pull him down, but she ended up being the one submerged in the end. Jake, London, Jacob, and Lily were racing across the water, each of them trying to beat their opponents.
“How come I have never seen you swim whenever you’re at a pool with me?” Sophie asked from the adjacent chair lying beside me.
I peeled my eyes from the others and turned to face her. “I don’t know… I’d just rather watch, I guess,” I told her.
“You’re not going to get anywhere in life just watching. Join the fun!”
“I don’t wanna…” I moaned, letting the sun sooth my body with its radiating heat.
“Well, you do know that’ll have to change one day, right?” she asked, smirking at me.
“Sadly, yes I do know. But that day is not going to be coming anytime soon,” I declared. I pulled my sunglasses down from the top of my head so they were covering my eyes.
“Actually, it’s going to happen today.” She stood up and towered over me. Her body was casting a shadow across the middle of my stomach. I didn’t like that. She’s blocking my sun! “You are going swimming today whether you like it or not.”
“No, I am not!”
“Yes, yes you are.”
“Nope,” I told her with the most serious tone of voice I could muster. I crossed my arms over my chest. “There is nothing you can say or do to make me get in that pool today. Uh-uh. It’s not happening. I am trying to tan for the first time in my life, and I would like to actually accomplish that.”
The next thing I knew, Sophie was dragging my chair to the edge of the pool. “So here’s the deal, you can either be forced in, or you can jump in.” She began tipping the back of the chair up. “Five, four, three―”
On three, I realized that she was serious. “Fine, alright!” I still had my smoothie sitting on my chair, and I didn’t exactly want all of its contents to be spilled out into the pool. Especially when it’s so good! Plus, I wanted her to stop ruining my tanning session.
I stood up and placed my sunglasses and my smoothie on the small table that was next to the spot my chair was in moments before. Sophie gave me a sardonic grin.
“So, are we like going to jump in together, or―” I was cut off when Sophie pushed me into the warm pool, taking me completely by surprise. She jumped in right after me, slicing through the water’s already rippled surface.
I came up; my lungs were craving air. The fact that I inhaled underwater from surprise didn’t help at all. I held onto the side of the pool as I coughed rapidly.
Sophie came up laughing. “That was funny.”
“I could have died.”
“Stop over exaggerating. You’re fine,” she claimed. “Now, I will be over there.” Sophie pointed to the others. I nodded to her, telling her ‘okay.’ I swam over to the shallow end so I could stand up.
“Oh my gosh! No way!” London called from across the pool.
“What?” I questioned. “Did something happen?”
“Alex Turner is actually in the pool with us? I can’t believe it!” she exclaimed sarcastically.
“Oh look at that, she is.” I smiled. A few minutes of nothingness passed. See, this is why I don’t get in the pool that often. I always end up getting so bored!
Jake suddenly popped up right next to me. I let out a startled gasp as I jumped a little bit.
“It’s okay, it’s just me.” He chuckled.
“Right. Who else would it be?”
“Have I ever told you how amazing you look in a bikini?” He raised his eyebrows; his green eyes burning into my hazel ones. I could really get lost in those green pools of wonderfulness.
I blushed with a goofy smile on my face and came up with a comment of my own. “No… But, have I ever told you how good you look without a shirt?”
“No, you haven’t, but there’s a first time for everything.”
“Well, too bad, because I’m not saying anything about how good your upper body is.”
“Not even if I tickle you to death?” He chuckled.
“How do you know I'm ticklish?” I mentally cursed, noticing what I had done. Why would I give up that information.
Jake raised his eyebrows. “Oh, so you are ticklish?”
Truth is, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m dangerously ticklish. I literally mean dangerously. I accidentally elbowed my dad in the cheekbone once when he brought out The Claw, the tickling monster known as my dad’s right hand. Oh, and that was only when I was five years old. Over the years, I’ve become better at handling that minor problem, but I can’t make any promises if I’m tickled.
Taking my silence as a good enough reply, he answered, “good to know…” Jake dragged out his last word, smirking evilly at me. Knowing Jake, he is probably going to use my ticklish problem as an advantage. He then changed the subject quickly. “So.. What, you decided to jump in with the rest of us today?”
“I did not jump,” I clarified. “I was pushed. There is a difference.” Being pushed in was not the best way to get into a pool.
“But you’re in now, so it doesn’t really matter how you got in.”
“So now what?” I questioned. I looked at the others who were still splashing around and having fun.
“What about you get the kiss that you were supposed to get this morning that you were supposed to get last night but didn’t?” he suggested, placing both of his arms on either side of my head, caging me.
“Can you repeat that in English, please?” I let out a soft laugh. “And we can’t, Lily’s here, remember?”
“She’s preoccupied. She wouldn’t notice.”
“I am not kissing you in front of her. We both know she’ll break down if she catches us, and I don’t know about you, but I am trying to make her not hate me,” I explained and gently removed his arms.
He groaned. “I will get that kiss, Alex.”
“You could’ve gotten it last night, but you were the one who gave me a hug, yeah?” I smiled and began swimming away on my back.
“The lady gets what she wants!” he called out to me.
I flipped over, rolling my eyes, and began swimming to London, Lily, and Sophie who were now engrossed in a conversation about the race they had been having. Before I could even reach the three girls, I was being lifted from the water and thrown over someone’s shoulder.
I screamed in a fit of panic before my mind could comprehend who was actually the person carrying me. It was Jake; of course it was. I banged on his back with my fists, laughing and trying to get him to put me down. But you want to know what the plus of me being tossed over his back was? I had a great view. As much as I wanted to be put down, a small part of me wanted to stay up here.
“Jake!” I cried out. “P-put me down!” I laughed as he walked casually through the water and up the pool’s steps. Everyone was watching us now… Including Lily. I bet this couldn’t be all too fun for her to watch.
“Hey, bro, mind giving me a hand over here?” Jake hollered to Mason. “This one’s a little feisty.”
“Sure!” Mason replied. He swam across the pool, meeting Jake. I bet Mason knew exactly what Jake was up to, too. After all, they are best friends, right?
“What are you guys doing?” I inquired.
“Oh you’ll see,” Jake said. “Do you want to be put down now?”
“Yes!” The larger part of my conscience decided on that one.
Jake answered me by planting my feet onto the hard ground. What I didn’t know was that my feet wouldn’t be on the ground for very long. “Are you ready?”
“For…?” I probed.
How can you ask me if I'm ready without me even knowing what you’re asking about?
“For this, of course.” He shot me his award-winning smile. Then, I was grabbed by my hands and feet. I gasped as I was swung back and forth. Mason was holding my feet and Jake was holding me by my hands.
“Put me down! This can be defined as assault!” I heard the others laughing at me as I was tossed into the water after the boys counted to three.
My body flew aimlessly through the air and landed in the warm, blue water with a massive splash.
Again, somehow being forced into the swimming pool.
I swam back up to the surface and glared at the two immature boys who were laughing hysterically.
“Who’s next?”
* * *
I glanced at my phone, reading the time. It was one forty-three PM. I rolled over onto my back, groaning.
My stomach was begging for something to eat, even if it was just a little crumb… But you know what? My stomach can wait, because one, I don’t feel like going all the way upstairs to the kitchen to get food. Two, Jake will be here any minute so we can go get a bite to eat together. And three… Well, I don’t really have a third reason…
I think I could play a game of Temple Run 2 to pass the time… In less than ten minutes, I was absorbed into the game, and I was on a roll. Seriously, I passed my record just a few seconds ago.
Why is this game so addicting? All I could think about was the game in my hands and having to time all of the jumps, slides, and turns right. And as they say, ‘timing is everything.’
You know how you get so into a game and you start leaning to the side, thinking that that will actually help you? Well, that’s exactly what I was doing when someone laughed from my bedroom doorway, scaring the fladoodles out of me.
“You do know that leaning won’t help you in any way, right?” Jake asked.
I fell off the end of the pathway and died on Temple Run. “Great, thanks to you, I just died.” I glared at him.
“You’re welcome. Are you ready to go?” He leaned against my doorframe, being as cool as a cucumber.
“Yeah, I guess.”
I smiled and stood up, walking over to him. I wrapped my arms around him and put my head on his chest. I listened to his heartbeat. It surprised me when it was beating fast. Is that because of me… ? My heart started pounding at the thought. Someone like me making his heart race?
“You do know it’s been quite a while since we last kissed, right?” I questioned.
Lily was practically glued to us during the day, and neither of us wanted to hurt her more than we already have. I’ve been craving any kind of kiss from him all day―even if it means just getting a little peck on the cheek, it’s crazy.
He put his arms around me and placed his chin on the top of my head. “I know. You could’ve gotten that kiss last night, but you decided you wanted a hug, remember?”
“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” I pulled back to let my eyes meet his.
“Maybe after I get that kiss, I will…”
“Is that you trying to persuade me in to kissing you?” I asked him, smirking. If he is, it’s working.
Jake let out a quiet laugh, his chest vibrated as he did so. “Stop asking questions, and just kiss me already,” he demanded.
I smiled, leaned forward, and pressed my lips against his gently. The familiar shot of electricity ran through my body. The sensation of our lips slowly moving together in sync made my legs turn to jelly, and butterflies―no, the whole zoo―went off in my stomach.
Just being able to kiss him, after about a day long wait, felt so good. It was as if I was carefree, and I had all the time in the world to just be here with him. No Lily to worry about at the moment. Just the two of us.
The kiss started slow; need built up with every second. His lips were like a drug I couldn’t get enough of. I was soaring high up on cloud nine. My toes curled, digging into the soft carpet.
All I could hope for was that he felt the same way when he kissed me… By the way his heart was beating, I knew―or I at least thought―he did feel the same. Could he feel how fast my heart was racing? Does he know the emotions I feel when I am with him?
Jake used one of his hands to cup my right cheek with it. Wanting to deepen the kiss, I stood on my tiptoes and removed my arms from his waist, slid them up his torso, and wrapped them loosely around his neck. He slid his tongue softly across my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I accepted and gladly opened my mouth.
After we played tongue tag for a bit, I slowly pulled away and pressed my forehead against his, keeping my eyes closed.
“That was definitely worth the wait,” Jake whispered.
I smiled at his comment, sucking in a steady breath. “You’re telling me.”
I could tell he was smiling, even with my eyes closed. Everything about Jake is really all of the things I could ask for; characteristics that Christian could never think of having.
His personality. His smile. The way his eyes glisten with mischief. The way he makes me feel. The way he always knows what to say… Him.
“Ready to go on that date of ours, Alex?” he murmured.
I was pulled out of my thoughts, and opened my eyes. “Uhm, yeah.” I cleared my throat.
“Dreaming about me again?” he chuckled.
“What? As if. I was…” Amazing lying powers, activate. “I was thinking about… Tacos?”
Jake laughed. “You do know that you are the worst liar I have ever met, right?”
I sighed in defeat. “Yes, I’m aware.”
A soft kissed was placed on my forehead by my sweet boyfriend. “Alright, well, lead the way, my princess.” He smiled down at me, intertwining our fingers together.
I returned his smile with one of my own. “Follow me, my prince.” I turned on my heel and led the way out the back door and to the driveway.
My grin grew wider when I saw Jake’s bike parked next to the marble fountain. Oh, sweet, sweet motorcycle― I love you.
After Jake climbed on, I followed suit and got on behind him. “Here you go,” he said, handing me his red helmet that I had become accustomed to. The sweet smell of lemons filled my nostrils as I slid my arms around him. This isn’t as awkward now that Jake and I are actually an item. Plus, over the weeks, I’ve learned to trust him more. Now I can actually ride this monster knowing that Jake won’t end up killing me.
The bike rumbled as Jake roared it to life. “You ready?” he questioned.
“Yep,” I replied. And with that, we were off.
Hey guys, sorry for the long wait (again). Another filler chapter. :’( Sorry, I just wanted to squeeze in a bit of Jalex time before the party. (Yes, I just used Jalex, so credit goes to the one who came up with that xD) I swear the party chapter will be coming up soon! D: I just don’t really want to rush my book, haha xD First person to comment gets a dedication! Hope you liked this one, and bye!! <3 Xx.
~Storylover11~