The Canyon was full of people drinking and talking. Arlo was standing beside Hawk and a few other people, in front of a small fire. A car door slammed shut and Arlo could hear people arguing. She looked up towards the noise and saw Kyler, Brucks, Moon and Yasmine. Arlo held back a laugh as she saw the look of disgust on the blonde girl's face. Kyler stared at someone near her and then started walking back towards his jeep. Arlo turned her head to the side and saw Miguel staring at him.
Arlo smiled to herself and looked back over to Hawk who was smiling up at someone. She turned and looked back up the hill and saw Moon smiling as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Arlo bit the inside of her cheek, frustrated that the girl who had bullied her throughout school was now walking down the hill towards the boy she was stood next to.
Arlo turned around and walked away from the fire and towards Miguel. She turned her head back and saw Moon standing in the spot she had just been in, staring at Hawk with a wide smile. Arlo joined Miguel as soon as Aisha asked him if he had heard anything from Sam.
"Nope." Miguel shook his head and shoved his phone into his pocket.
Aisha gave a small smile. "Maybe her phone died."
"Whatever." Miguel sighed. "Let's get the party started without her."
"That's what I'm talking about, Diaz!" Arlo shouted causing a few people to turn and look at her. "What?" She shouted as she threw her hands up, everyone turned around and continued their conversations.
Miguel laughed softly as he bent down to open the cooler and grabbed himself a beer. He was about to shut the cooler lid, but a hand stuck out stopping him from closing it. Miguel looked up his eyebrows furrowed at Arlo who had now successfully grabbed a beer.
"What?" She shook her head as she watched the boy's face as he stood. "It's a party right?"
"It is." Miguel laughed before twisting his beer bottle open.
Arlo twisted her bottle open as well, he and Miguel looked at each other and nodded. They both leaned their heads back and took a drink. Almost in sync they both leaned their head forward and started gagging at the taste, causing Aisha to laugh at the two.
"Oh my god." Arlo shook her head. "That was disgusting."
The feeling of disgust went away as she chugged her entire bottle of beer in a few seconds. When she finished the bottle, she wiped her mouth with her jacket sleeve and looked at Miguel who was following her lead. Miguel wiped his mouth and looked down at Arlo, the two nodded at each other, before they both reached for another bottle.
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It was dark now and Arlo's vision was slightly blurry. She just finished her fifth beer, or her ninth, she couldn't remember the exact number, but she wasn't worried about it. She had separated from Miguel and was now just standing by herself chugging any drink she could find containing alcohol. She threw the now empty beer bottle into the sand and stumbled over to the cooler.
"Oh, they're all out of Mr. Pibbs." Demetri smiled slightly as he held up a red solo cup. "I got the last one."
Arlo looked at the boy and grabbed a beer, not pulling her eyes away from him. She twisted the bottle cap of the beer bottle and took a drink. "Good thing I didn't want a Mr. Pibb."
Demetri ignored Arlo's attitude and slurred speech and pointing behind her. "Since when was that a thing?"
Arlo stared at the boy, confused by what 'thing' he was referencing. She turned around and stared in the direction her friend had pointed in. Her stomach dropped as she saw Hawk and Moon making out on a log by the fire.
"So..." Demetri looked down at the girl beside him, unable to see the tears brimming the edges of her eyes. "When was that a thing."
"I don't know." Was all Arlo could get out before she walked away as fast as she could.
Arlo was trying to run, but it looked more like a newborn horse figuring out how to walk. Tears blurred her already blurry vision. Suddenly she collided with someone's back, they turned around to face her.
"Arlo?" Aisha turned to look at the girl and held her hand to keep her stable.
"Hi Aisha." Arlo looked up and smiled while she wiped her eyes to prevent anymore tears from falling.
Before Aisha could say anything else to the girl who was visibly a wreck, Yasmine shouted at the two of them.
"Hey!" Yasmine stomped towards Aisha and Arlo. The sadness Arlo was feeling disappeared as soon as the blonde girl stepped into her eyeline. "You think it's funny crashing my party?"
"It's not really your party, cause we were here first." Aisha got closer to Yasmine's face with every word she said.
"Shouldn't have been late, blondie." Arlo smiled sarcastically.
"Yeah, well, I know you and your little karate gang think you're cool." Yasmin turned and looked at Hawk who was now standing with Moon on the other side of Aisha, before turning back to the first two girls she spoke to. " But we all know who you really are. You are just two fugly bitches, and all your friends are freaks."
"And you're just a bitch with two bald spots." Arlo laughed.
Yasmine snapped her head toward Arlo. "What?"
Arlo didn't think before she reacted, maybe it was the alcohol clouding her judgement, or it might've been that she was finally able to stand up for herself and her friends. Either way, Arlo curled up her fist and punched Yasmine right in the nose. Yasmine let out a high-pitched scream after she got punched. Arlo could hear laughter around her, but she didn't care about what other people were thinking. Arlo ducked down and swept the girl's legs out from under her. Another scream left Yasmine's mouth when she hit the ground. Arlo stood above Yasmine and bent down slowly grabbing a handful of her hair.
"Like I said, a bitch with two bald spots." Arlo pulled her hand back quickly.
Another loud scream was heard as Arlo stood up, looking down at the new handful of blonde hair. She was about to kick Yasmine, who was still on the ground, but someone wrapped their arms around her waist, lifting her up.
"Let go of me!" Arlo screamed as she kicked her feet.
"Calm down, Lo." Hawk laughed as he set the girl back on the ground. "That was-"
Arlo put her hand up to stop the boy who was still standing behind her from speaking. She didn't want him to interrupt what was happening in front of her.
When Yasmine was on her feet she turned towards Moon, who was standing beside Hawk behind Arlo. "Come on, Moon. Let's go."
"No, I'm staying." Moon spoke up and took a step away from Hawk, so she was now standing between Aisha and Arlo. "I apologized to Aisha for what we did, and you should too."
Arlo stared blankly ahead, her jaw twitching slightly. Why didn't she apologize to her as well? What they did affected them both, not to mention throwing her clothes in the trash. Arlo bit her tongue and didn't speak up, figuring it would be better for her not to.
"Whatever." Yasmine scoffed. "You deserve them, Moon."
Yasmine stomped away, slamming into Aisha's shoulder on the way. Arlo saw Aisha's face go cold as she turned towards the blonde who was running away. Arlo smiled and she watched Aisha walk towards Yasmine.
"Hey Yasmine!" Aisha shouted at the blonde girl.
Yasmine turned and walked back towards Aisha. "Huh? What?"
"Let me help you to your car." Aisha took a step closer to Yasmine before reaching her hand down the front of her jeans, grabbing the girls red underwear, and yanking it up. "No Mercy, bitch!"
Arlo started laughing along with Hawk as they watched Aisha throw Yasmine into the ground. Arlo started cheering loudly as Yasmine stomped up the hill. Hawk looked down at the girl who was cheering and started smiling.
"Oh my god!" Arlo laughed as she turned around and held up her hand, showing the chunks of Yasmine's extensions. "That doesn't even compare to this!"
"I can't believe Aisha just did that." Hawk continued smiling and then pointed to Arlo's hand. "And I can't believe you did that again!"
The two continued laughing hysterically as Moon watched. "Hey Hawk, can I talk to you." Arlo and Hawk stopped laughing and turned towards Moon, waiting for her to say what she had to say. "Alone." And with her final word Arlo put her hands up, turned around, and started walking away.
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Arlo had been grabbing another beer and she saw Miguel, so she went to go stand with him. She told him what happened with Yasmine, and he laughed, but Arlo could tell something was wrong.
"Still nothing from Sam?" Arlo asked as the boy took another sip of his beer.
Before he could say anything, sounds of laughter echoed and they both turned towards the direction it was coming from. Sam was walking down the hill hand in hand with another boy.
"What the hell?" Arlo mumbled to herself as she watched the two lean slightly into each other when they reached the bottom of the hill.
Arlo watched as Miguel shook his head and walked towards his girlfriend and the boy she had come with. Arlo knew that she was drunk, and she could tell Miguel was even drunker than she was. This was going to go great.
The two teens who were dating exchanged greetings while Arlo took her final step to stand side by side with Miguel.
"Who's this guy?" Miguel asked the question him and Arlo were both very eager to know.
Sam was about to explain but the, still, unnamed boy interrupted her. "Wait? This is... This is your boyfriend?"
"Yeah, that's her boyfriend." Arlo nodded while looking at the guy who looked shocked and confused.
"Miguel, relax. This is Robby. He works for my dad." Sam smiled softly.
"Oh, with your dad. Okay, that makes a lot of sense." Every word Miguel spoke was laced with sarcasm. Arlo exhaled loudly, already knowing that a fight between the couple was brewing.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sam looked at Miguel in disbelief as she took a step closer to him. "Wait. Have you been drinking?"
"He isn't the only one." Arlo laughed as she took a drink of her beer.
"No, no." Miguel shook his head. "You don't get to turn this around on me. I texted and called you all day, and you couldn't answer me back once?"
"No, I literally couldn't. My mom took my phone." Sam tried explaining to Miguel but there was no use.
Miguel leaned his head back as he spoke to enhance the dramatic effect. "Oh, that's so convenient."
"Hey, man, just tell-" The boy Arlo now knew was Robby tried to talk to Miguel.
"You get out of here!" Miguel shouted as he shoved the boy back.
Arlo's eyes widened before mumbling, "Oh shit." to herself.
Sam looked at Miguel in shock. "Miguel, stop it."
"Hey, man, you wanna try that again?" Robby stood up and started walking towards Miguel.
"Try it again, huh?" Miguel took a step back and looked like he was about to swing his fist.
Before Arlo could watch the end of what happened, someone picked her up causing her to drop her beer. Arlo could tell by the way she was being held that it was Hawk. She sighed and didn't even bother fighting back this time.
Hawk carried her away from where Sam and Miguel were arguing, and he set her down on the ground.
Arlo stumbled slightly when her feet touched the ground and Hawk started to walk up the sandy hill. "Where are we going?"
"Home!" Hawk shouted but didn't turn around.
"Okay." Arlo said mostly to herself, and she started walking up the hill.
The first couple of steps she took were stable, but she slowly started losing her balance. Arlo lost her footing a few steps later and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Hawk turned around and rushed over to where Arlo was sitting on the ground.
"Ow!" Arlo groaned as Hawk helped her up from where she had fallen over. "I think I'm drunker than I realized."
"Yeah, you are." Hawk laughed at how self-aware the girl was before telling her to jump onto his back so he could carry her up the hill.
Arlo leaned her head on his shoulder once she was in the proper 'piggy-back' position. When they got to the car Arlo quickly pulled her head off of his shoulder.
"What?" Hawk asked as he felt the warmth from her head leave his shoulder.
Arlo wiggled to get off of his back and when she was on the ground she raised her eyebrows at him. "You aren't drunk either are you?"
Hawk started laughing at the girls question but then stopped when he realized she was being serious. "I only had one drink, and that was when we first got here. It's been hours. I wouldn't drive drunk, especially with you in the car."
Arlo wanted to smile at him because she always thought it was sweet that he made sure to express that he cared about her, but she didn't. She kept staring at him with her eyes squinted.
"You can make me walk in a straight line if you want to." Hawk looked down at the girl and smiled when her expression softened.
"I trust you, Birdie." Arlo sighed as she turned to open the backseat car door.
Hawk got into the front seat and started the car while he heard Arlo moving around in the back seat. He pulled out his phone to play music, he clicked on the playlist he always listened to. The one he and Arlo had made. When the first song played, Sweet by Cigarettes After Sex, he looked into the rearview mirror and saw Arlo smile.
"I love this song." Arlo dragged her words as she smiled.
Hawk smiled to himself. "Me too."
Hawk listened as Arlo sang along to the song in the backseat for about half of the song, until she stopped.
"This song makes me think of you." Arlo's voice was soft and quiet.
Hawk looked into the rearview mirror, and he met Arlo's green eyes. He knew the lyrics to the song, he knew what the song meant, and she was saying that it reminded her of him. "What?" Was all he could think to say.
"Yeah." Arlo pulled her eyes away from the rearview mirror and moved so she was laying across the backseat with her knees bent because she couldn't fit any other way.
Hawk quickly glanced into the backseat and saw her laying down looking up at the ceiling of the car. "Why does it make you think of me?"
"You know why." Arlo laughed slightly, she knew that he knew the lyrics to the song and what the song meant. She had explained it to him one night during a sleepover.
Hawk didn't know what to say in response. He was trying to think of anything to say, but he was at a loss for words.
"You know I was really upset when I saw you and Moon kissing." Arlo sighed and she bit the skin on her bottom lip. She had started to let her feelings out right now and there was no stopping it.
Again, she had Hawk at a loss for words. He didn't know she had seen them, even though they were kissing in the middle of a crowded party. "I'm sorry."
Arlo pushed herself up, so her back was leaning against the car door. "Why are you sorry? You should kiss whoever you want."
"I'm not even sure if I wanted to kiss her." Hawk spoke honestly, not pulling his eyes away from the road.
"What do you mean?" Arlo looked up to the front seat. She could see the side of his face since she was sitting behind the passenger seat. The girl watched as he swallowed before speaking.
"I don't even like her in that way." He sighed slightly and rubbed his thumb against the steering wheel. "It was more about the fact that she had never really looked at me before. It's weird having people notice you and look at you without being made fun of."
Arlo nodded slightly, even though she wasn't fully aware of how it felt yet, she understood him. "So, it was more of a confidence boosting thing?" She tried to ask in a way that wasn't rude, but she felt the need to clarify. "I'm not trying to be rude."
A small laugh left the boy. "I know you aren't, and yeah I think it was more of a confidence boost than anything."
"I gotcha." Arlo exhaled and started playing with a loose string on her hoodie sleeve.
"I've just never had anyone look at me like that before, like they wanted me." Hawk explained again as he looked in the rearview mirror at the girl.
"I've looked at you like that." Arlo closed her eyes tightly as the words left her mouth. She regretted saying it before she was even done speaking. The feeling of regret was only made worse when the car was silent, except for the faint sound of a new song playing on the radio.
Hawk's heart began to race as he heard her words. He glanced back at the girl who was sat with her eyes squeezed shut tightly and her hands now tangled in her hair. "Really?"
Arlo swallowed hard, her throat suddenly feeling insanely dry. "Yeah." Was all she could say as she looked up at him, his eyes were back on the road as he turned onto his street.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" A small smile appeared on his face as he drove down the road to his house.
"I've been trying to since like seventh grade, but I kept getting scared. Then at the Halloween dance I wanted to kiss you while we were dancing but the song changed." Arlo spoke quickly. Her face felt hot, she was unsure if it was because she was still drunk or if it was because she was embarrassed.
"You felt this way all this time?" Hawk's eyes were still staring at the road ahead.
Arlo bit the inside of her cheek. "Yeah."
"Why are you telling me all of this now?" Hawk asked, the question itself may have sounded rude but his voice sounded anything but mean.
"I think it might be the alcohol, I don't think I would have ever said anything if I was stone cold sober." Arlo shrugged and continued talking. "And I think maybe because I was jealous, who knows."
As Hawk pulled the car up into his driveway, he raised his eyebrows and jokingly asked. "So, it's either because your drunk or jealous?"
"I guess." Arlo shrugged again as she watched him pull the keys out of the ignition. "What about you?"
He stopped moving, the keys hanging from his hand were shaking slightly. "What do you mean, what about me?"
Arlo leaned back into the door of the car once again and looked up at the ceiling of the vehicle. "You've been asking me questions so it's my turn."
"Okay..." He set the keys down and turned his head towards to back of the car, looking at Arlo while she bit the inside of her cheek.
When she bit her cheek, it almost always meant one of two things, she was nervous, or she was trying to think of something to say. This time it was both. She had more or less told her childhood best friend that she liked him in a more than friend way, and now she was trying to figure out if he felt the same way as her.
"Uhm..." Arlo continued biting the inside of her cheek, unaware that Hawk was staring at her the whole time. She squeezed her eyes shut and set her hands over her face. "I'm bad at coming up with questions."
"Take as long as you need to think." Hawk answered as he continued looking at her with a small smile forming on his face.
"God I'm gonna sound stupid." Arlo sighed and rubbed her face with her hand, but she decided to follow through with her question. "Did you ever look at me in that way?"
Hawk leaned back into his seat pulling his eyes away from her. "All of the time."
"What?" Arlo sat up so her back was resting against the seat as she stared at the side of his face.
"I would always look away from you." Hawk shook his head.
"I doubt I would've realized either way." Arlo replied honestly earning a small laugh from Hawk. She was trying to think of another question, so she decided on one she had been wanting to ask for a while. "Did you want to kiss me at the Halloween dance."
Arlo could hear a loud exhale of air from the boy in the front seat before he spoke. "I did, but I also wanted to for a long time before that."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Arlo asked her question quicker than she had the previous ones and she readjusted her sitting position again.
"I was always scared of what you would say to me if I did." He responded honestly, glancing up in the rearview mirror to look at Arlo who was staring out of the window while she listened to him. "I didn't think you would ever like me in that way, and I figured I would rather just have you as my best friend than risk not having you at all."
Arlo nodded as she continued looking out the window.
Hawk turned his head to look at the girl in the backseat, sitting the way she almost always did when she sat down anywhere, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head resting on her kneecaps. "I wish one of us would have said something sooner."
Arlo lifted her head and looked at Hawk who, to her surprise, was looking at her as well. "Me too. But I'm still surprised I even said anything about it at all."
"Why?" He asked as he watched her pick at the skin around her thumb.
"I told myself I wasn't gonna say anything." She responded flatly. Hawk was about to ask why again, but Arlo looked up at him again and cut him off. "Like you said, I would have rather had you as my best friend than risk losing you."
Hawk smiled at the girl. He was unable to believe that this was the way they told each other how they felt, in his mom's car just a few hours before their karate tournament. "We should probably go inside."
Arlo exhaled deeply. "Yeah."
"I'll get your door." Arlo nodded and she watched him walk around the car and pull open the door.
Arlo stood up from the car and she felt lightheaded, she started leaning backwards as she squeezed her eyes shut to get rid of the feeling. Hawk grabbed her by the waist and helped her stand.
"Oh shit." Arlo started laughing as the lightheaded feeling went away.
Hawk started laughing along with her. "Are you okay?"
"I think so." Arlo laughed but then abruptly stopped and her eyes widened. "How are we gonna get inside without getting caught."
Hawk looked at the girl then at his house, all of the lights were off, he knew his parents were asleep. "We have to be quiet."
Arlo nodded but as they made their way up the driveway she tripped. Hawk was still holding onto her, so he tightened his grip, preventing her from falling.
"I don't think I can be quiet." She looked up at Hawk with a nervous expression.
Hawk nodded, let go of her, walked in front of her, and bent down slightly. "Hop on."
Arlo started laughing as she got onto his back, for the second time of the night. He 'shushed' her and started making his way up the sidewalk. Arlo rested her head on his shoulder like she had done earlier. When they made it inside, the boy easily moved his way through the kitchen and towards his room. The two teens let out a sigh of relief when they made it into the room.
"We did it!" Arlo whisper shouted and held her hand out for a high five. "Well, you did it but still, we did it!"
The two laughed for a few seconds before Arlo sat on his bed. "I'm tired."
"Here." Hawk threw her a Spider-Man shirt and a pair of plaid pajama pants. "Put those on, I'm gonna go shower."
"Okay." Arlo nodded as she looked at the clothes. "I'll shower in the morning cause there's no way I'm gonna be able to do that right now."
Hawk smiled and laughed quietly. "I'll be right back."
Arlo nodded as the boy walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Arlo stood up and quickly changed out of her outfit she wore to the party and into the pajamas he had given her. She got into the bed and curled under the blanket, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
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A/N: This is such a long chapter but there was so much I had to put in, a lot of dialogue again but it's one of my favorite things to write. Alotttt happened this chapter. Eli and Moon kissing, Yasmine's front wedgie (and more of her extensions getting pulled out), Robby is introduced, Hawk takes her home, feelings are confessed. I loved writing this so much!!
I normally find 'love confessions' super cheesy and cringey so I tried my best to not make it either. This was my first attempt at confessions and stuff, so I hope it was decent. As always thank you for reading!!
ALSO THANK YOU GUYS FOR 800 VIEWS!!!!!
Word Count: 4,438