chapter three
I TOOK MY SANDALS OFF and walked through the sand, making my way over to meet May and her friends. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was downright terrified.
What if her friends didn't like me? What if they judged me? Or even worse, what if they knew that I kissed Julia at that party a while back?
I wouldn't be able to handle rejection from people I've never met.
"Ashley!"
May started waving her arms in the air. She was next to a fire pit that already had a fire started even though it was still light outside.
I spotted Fernando right next to her, along with a couple of other guys and if I looked close enough, there were about five girls besides May.
I wasn't surprised she had so many friends. I mean, she's May Parker. We became friends the first day we met.
I finally approached them as I tried to calm my nerves. I want to be accepted more than anything in the entire world.
"Hey!" May smiled and ran up to me. She hugged me quickly, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make my stomach curl.
She pulled away and started introducing me to all her friends.
"Everybody, this is Ashley James."
They all said hello in response and I smiled.
"Ashley, this is Fernando," she pointed to the guy I've seen in the pictures she had sent me earlier. I almost laughed at the name, only because I knew his name was actually Grant.
"May, for the love of God it's not Fer-"
"This is Kyle and Chase." May interrupted Fernando, causing me to smile in his direction to let him know I appreciated him (which I'm guessing he's rejected often, due to May's quick interruption).
I looked at the two boys and quickly noted that they looked like your typical skater boy - with the Van shirt and Van pants and Van everything. I smiled and they did back.
"And this is Olivia, Peyton, April, Georgia Rae, and Lulu." She pointed at each girl as she said their name. I was already confused and couldn't exactly match each name with a face. The only one I remembered was Lulu because she had short blue hair and a small nose piercing. I could already tell that two of them were twins and I couldn't remember what their names were.
"Hi." I smiled and hoped that they wouldn't judge me. Girls are mean creatures - I can't trust them anymore because one person ruined that for me. "Don't get mad if I forget your names."
They laughed.
"Don't worry about it." One of the twins said, "April and I can confuse people."
I laughed and nodded my head. It's not even just the twins that I'm lost on, it's every single one of them. Except Lulu and May, of course. Lula had stood out to me since the beginning, and so has May, but that was probably because she poured milk all over me.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road!" May pumped her fist in the air and started heading towards the other side of the fire pit so it wasn't blowing in our faces. I followed her and stood in between May and one of the girls.
"What's your name again?" I asked the tall brunette next to me.
"I'm Olivia." She smiled. "May keeps telling us all about this girl she spilled milk on. I can't believe I'm finally meeting the girl." She gestured her arms to me as if I were some famous celebrity on stage. I laughed.
May handed me a drink without saying anything about it or warning me that she was putting a cup in my hand. I opened up my mouth to ask her what it was, but Olivia beat me to it.
"Don't worry, it's just beer. We didn't spike it or anything." She explained. I nodded my head and smiled to be friendly.
If I made a huge mistake while I was sober, what kind of mistake will I make when I'm drunk? Will I take all my clothes off and sprint into the ocean? Will I try to eat fire? I have no idea, and I didn't really want to find out.
I took a few sips before sitting down in the sand and setting my cup beside me. I was genuinely enjoying myself, just watching May and her friends laugh about all their jokes and memories. It was Chase who sat next to me and started talking to me.
"They're quite the group of people, aren't they?" He looked at all his friends. I chuckled and nodded my head.
"I like it." I smiled and turned my head to look at him just as he did the same. "Did May pour milk all over you, too?" I asked. He laughed, really laughed, and shook his head.
"Actually, now that I think about it-" He started laughing again. He couldn't even get the words out of his mouth without laughing even harder.
I started laughing too, just because his laugh was contagious, and kept asking him to tell me more. I wanted to know. What was so funny? Did May actually pour milk all over him? Is that why this is so amusing to him?
"Well," he finally spoke, "when I first met Georgia Rae, I was buying an apple juice from the store she worked at and-"
He started laughing again. Fernando and Olivia turned to look at us because Chase was making such a huge scene.
"She thought I wanted milk-"
More laughter.
"Jesus, Chase, spit it out." Olivia giggled. Now everyone was focused on him. It felt like everyone's eyes were on me and that brought back a flood of memories.
"And then when I told her she was wrong, she thought it was so funny that-"
He laughed so hard that he started wiping tears. Georgia Rae, I'm assuming is the girl who started laughing with him as well, stepped up and finished the story for him.
"Yeah, well, I was drinking Cherry Coke and I thought it was so funny that I confused his drink, Cherry Coke came out of my nose."
Everyone joined in laughing.
"That's love at first sight for ya." Chase smiled, wiping a couple more tears caused by his laughter.
"Oh, shut up." Georgia Rae rolled her eyes and laughed. I'm not even sure if they're dating or not, but they'd make a really cute couple if they did. Speaking of, I should probably text Mason and apologize a few more times.
Ashley James: hi mason i'm so so so sosososo sorry again. ily!
Hopefully that'll keep him satisfied and let him know I was thinking about him.
As the sun went down and time flew by, I'd already grown closer to Chase, Olivia, April, and Georgia Rae. The other two girls, Peyton and Lulu, pretty much stuck together the whole time and talked to May a lot. I liked this group; they accepted me extremely fast. They were funny, loud, and just a joy to be around.
Most of them started to get drunk around ten o'clock, and that's when I pulled May to the side. She smiled, showcasing her dimple yet again.
"Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for inviting me and-"
"What? Are you about to leave?" Her eyes widened and her mouth opened.
"No, no," I shook my head and laughed. "I just wanted to thank you, is all." I smiled.
She smiled too and pulled me in for a hug. I wasn't expecting this at all, but it felt good. It felt like I was appreciated for once.
"You're a really cool person, Ashley James." She pulled away and smiled. I don't know why I did, but I loved it when she said my full name. "Don't ever doubt yourself."
And with that, she turned away and skipped back over to the fire where everyone else was. I was left with confusion and repeated what she had said over and over in my head. Is it obvious? Do I doubt myself?
I slowly walked back over to the fire and stood next to Fernando. Well, Grant. I stood next to Grant.
After a few minutes, I turned to look at him.
"Is it true that if people call you Fernando you'll give them weed?" I asked.
"Well, now everyone calls me Fernando, so it doesn't really work anymore." He chuckled.
"So it's true?" I raised my eyebrow. He looked at me and smirked. We both laughed. "How about if I call you Grant?" I smiled.
He chuckled and shook his head as he handed me his cup. He started rummaging through his pocket for something.
"Have you ever smoked weed before, Ashely?" He asked. I shook my head. I wasn't expecting that he would actually give me weed and I was genuinely surprised.
"I didn't mean that you should give me some," I laughed nervously, "I just wanted to know if it was true."
"Oh." He laughed and grabbed his cup back from my hand. I rested my elbow on his shoulder (he was the same height as me) and drank a few more sips of my beer. "You're a pretty cool person." He said. I laughed.
"I seem to be getting that a lot around these people." I hiccuped.
Oh no, was that the start of something? Should I put down the beer?
"Alright, now don't get used to that." He laughed. "Once we all really get to know you we're probably going to be making fun of you in any way we can possibly think of."
"That's fine by me." I smiled and finished off my beer. I probably shouldn't have any more.
Julia and I always made fun of each other. We were best friends, of course we joked about how ugly each other were. Except I was always kidding. She may have been serious.
"Last one to get in the water has to make out with Kyle!" Peyton yelled as she started sprinting towards the water. Everyone else started sprinting as well.
"Why me?" Kyle yelled, tagging along behind them.
I was so lost and confused, but I started running towards the water as well. It's a good thing Fernando was behind me, because I don't think I'd be able to kiss Kyle while I'm dating Mason.
Most of the girls and Chase and Kyle started taking their shirts off as they ran into the water. Lulu and Olivia kept theirs on, thank God, because I didn't want to be the only one to keep mine on as well.
We all splashed in and started laughing like hyenas. Fernando came in last and everyone started yelling and laughing at him.
"Fernando, you have to make out with Kyle now!" Peyton laughed. Everyone was cheering and hollering as I looked around at them, wondering how these people could be so nice.
Fernando grabbed Kyle and he started yelling, but everyone was laughing and cheering so it didn't really matter.
Then Fernando smashed his lips onto Kyle's.
Everyone clapped and cheered like a bunch of wild animals. Is this the reaction they give when two people of the same gender kiss? I wish I got that reaction. I wish I got an applause and smiles when I kissed my best friend, not blank stares and a slap.
"Does everyone just kiss anyone?" I asked May as she floated beside me. She was one of the people who took her top off, so I could see her soaking wet bra. I gulped.
"I guess so." She smiled.
I smiled too and looked around at everyone splashing around in the water. Everyone was so happy and accepting, and for once I didn't think about Julia for a long time.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Whad'ya think of this chapter? Any ideas of what's to come next? More Mason or more May?
I just got back from a two week vacation, so be prepared for more updates! I wrote a ton of chapters to this book (but I wasn't able to upload them because the wifi was crazy and yeah). I'll make up for it!
Whoever guesses my birthday month first will have a dedication in the next chapter. Ready... go!