"Out of the car bitches!" Belle shouts as we all scramble into the blazing summer air.
It is already the middle of July and Belle had the sudden idea that today we were going to go to the beach. Literally, she just had this idea today. I was woken up at 8:30 with a car horn and a "Grab a bathing suit and let's go hoe!".
Belle had also recruited Brandon, Zack, Nicole, Danny (not without arguing with me for a while) and Luke who of course invited Riley as well.
We had been in the car for the past 3 hours and hadn't stopped once. Belle refused to waste any time peeing so I have been listening to Danny talk about is explosive bladder for the last hour. Believe me when I say that we scrambled out of the car.
"Thank god" Danny shouts and pushes past me, heading straight towards a bush. I start to shout "Danny don't you dare-"
"Better on the bush than you Claire" he shouts back before letting out a sigh of relief that could only mean one thing.
"Ew!"
"Gross!"
"Do you really have to do that here?"
"You could have given us a warning!"
"What did that bush ever do to you?"
But Danny ignores our comments and tosses his head back. Suddenly hands come over my eyes and I hear Zack whisper in my ear. "That probably isn't a sight you want to see".
Belle overhears and waves her hand, dismissing Zack's words. "Please, it's not like she hasn't seen his before". She speaks.
"What?!?!" Zack, Luke and Brandon shout in unison. I roll my eyes. "It was our 5th grade trip to the outer banks. This isn't the only bush Danny has graced with his pee. He whipped it out in the middle of the trip and everyone saw it". I explain.
Danny joins us again, zipping up his zipper and sends a wink in my direction. "If I remember correctly, you and Belle were staring in awe at it's size".
Belle pipes up. "You must have mistaken our laughs for gasps. The only thing amazing about it was how small it was".
Laughs come from all around but Danny laughs with us. That's one thing I really liked about Danny. He never took an insult to heart. he laughed along with everybody else.
"To the ocean" Brandon exclaims and we all walk down the boardwalk to the sand and ocean that stretch out both ways into the distance.
We immediately strip off our clothes revealing our bathing suits. We grab a big piece of the beach that isn't already taken. Nicole immediately takes out a towel and sinks down onto her stomach.
"No, boo!" Danny boos her and she raises an eyebrow at him. "3 hours with you guys was enough for me. Leave me to myself and the sun".
"Well Claire and I are going to go for a walk" Belle says. "I'll come with you" Zack says, starting towards us.
"Oh no you don't Woods" Brandon calls out. "You, Luke, Danny and I have to work on some of those football plays Coach was going over. He told us he wanted them clean by next week".
"God, don't call Mr. Solender 'coach'. It sounds so weird" Luke speaks up, shuddering a little. Danny laughs a little. "You might as well get used to it now Evans cuz that's what he is now".
"Well I'm staying here" Nicole says. Riley rolls out her towel next to Nicole's. "Same here girl" she says. I notice Nicole slightly wrinkle her nose before sitting up. "You know what, I could go for a walk".
Belle and I try to hold in our chuckles. I turn towards Zack and peck him on the lips. As I pull away he grabs my hips and pulls me back to him, kissing me deeply.
I smile into the kiss. He finally detaches his lips from mine but he leaves them close to mine. He brings them to my ear and whispers deeply and softly so only I can hear him.
"You look absolutely stunning in that bathing suit" he breathes out, makes me shiver a little. "They can have you for now but I want some alone time with you later".
I lean back so I can smile at him. "I promise" I say, kissing him again. We are interrupted by a football hitting Zack square in the back. He whips around and I look over to see Luke standing there. "There are kids around. Kiss each other on your own time. Right now Zack needs to get his ass over here" he shouts towards us.
Zack rolls his eyes but walks towards them anyway. I turn around towards Belle and Nicole again and we start walking.
"So when are you going to stop trying to pretend to yourself?" Nicole suddenly asks, looking down at her nails.
"Excuse me?" I ask, trying my best to stay nice but then again, this was Nicole Brooks. If anyone knew how to piss someone off it was Nicole.
"You know what I'm talking about" she says. "You don't really love Zack" she dead pans. I laugh humorlessly. "You've got some nerve bitch-"
"You know I'm right" Nicole interrupts. "If you really loved him then why do you hate Riley so much?" She asks.
"I should be asking you the same thing Nicole. Still have something for Luke?" I snap back. She calmly dismisses the comment with a wave of her hand. "I'm so over that sob story. And Riley is a manipulator. Manipulators don't like each other".
"Well I do love him" I defend myself. Nicole smirks. "Which one? The one with the brown eyes or the blue ones?".
I open my mouth but am interrupted by a low whistle directed towards us. I whip my head to the left to see a group of guys our age crowded together staring at us.
"Hey sexy ladies, let us show you a good time" one of them calls out. "Ignore them" I say to Belle and Nicole and we continue walking.
Then one of them calls out. "Come on blondie. With a sexy red bathing suit like that you're just asking for some action. Be the little slut you are and come over and make me and my boys feel good" the boys around him chuckle. They were talking to Belle.
I try to stop her but she whips around before I can grab her wrist. "What did you say to me fuck boy?" She calls out, storming towards them. Nicole and I chase after her.
The one that spoke laughs and steps forward, sticking out of the group of guys. He has spiky gelled brown hair and is sporting a cocky smile.
"Ooh, this one has an attitude. Do your boobs look as good in person as they do in that bathing suit?" He asks her.
"Yeah, and so does my fist. You want me to prove it?" She snarls. Nicole and I finally reach her.
"Aww you have back up, so precious" he mocks. I smirk and walk closer towards them, slinging my hips. "She sure does" I reply in a low voice.
I run my fingers up one of the boy's arms that are behind the gelled one. He smirks and leans in closer. I quickly grab his wrist and his shoulder and turn around, swinging him over my shoulder.
He lands on the sand with a thud. When we were younger, Belle and I also did some karate. I still remember some of the tricks we learned.
"Who's next?" I ask and smile inwardly as the guys all take a step away from me.
The leader with the spiky hair smirks at me. "We've got two girls with some fire. You girls are going to be fun".
But the boy doesn't notice that Nicole has stepped closer to him. She swiftly brings a knee up to his crotch and I watch in glee as he falls to his knees.
I walk back over to Belle and Nicole. We start to walk away as the leader speaks up again. "You girls must be sluts from Warrington" he snarls, saying our school's name.
"And proud" Nicole shouts over her shoulder but the guy doesn't stop. "Isn't that the school of that stupid slut whose boyfriend slept with her for a bet".
I feel Belle freeze next to me. She turns back to them. "She didn't sleep with him" she snaps harshly but I see the tears start to form in her eyes.
"Oh, you must be the girl" the spiky haired boy teases. "Well I've got a twenty in my wallet. How much will that get me?".
I don't even try to stop Belle as she lunges for him, letting out a stream of curses. Two guys pull her off of him but don't let go of her.
"Get your hands off of her" I scream, jumping towards the 2 guys holding Belle but am restrained by two other sets of hands. I look over to see Nicole trying to claw at one of them.
Suddenly a flash of blonde and black hair flash in the corner of my eye. I turn right as Luke collides with the two guys holding me and Danny hurls himself towards Belle's captors.
Zack suddenly shows up too and brings the guy holding Nicole to the ground. Brandon grabs the guy with the spiky hair by the surf shirt and throws him to the ground.
I grab Luke and pull him away from the guys as Belle and Nicole do the same with Zack and Danny. Brandon backs up with us as well so we are face to face with the boys.
"You shouldn't have done that" spiky hair snarls. Luke steps towards him but a grab him and hold him back. "Not worth it" I mutter to him. He grits his teeth. "It is if he was trying to hurt either of you three".
"You must be Brotter bastards" Nicole snarls, using the name our school gave our arch rivals, Brotter High School. The leader smirks evilly. "And proud" he says, using Nicole's words.
"Listen, lets just part ways now and forget this ever happened" Brandon states calmly, being the ever calm guy I knew.
"No I want to fight these assholes" Luke growls and Danny nods in agreement, hands already in fists.
Suddenly the leader looks over at Luke and smirks. "I know you" he says. "you're that druggies son".
I quickly step in front of Luke, placing my hands flat on his bare chest. "Not worth it" I whisper, trying to calm him.
But the spiky haired guy continues. "Oh I know all about that story. It's a shame he didn't take you out with him".
Luke steps forward but I push hard on his chest. "He's not worth it" I state. "Luke. Look at me" I plead but his eyes don't leave the asshole behind me that doesn't stop.
"It's your stupid mom's fault for staying with him. That whore and the rest of your family had it coming".
I know it's useless to stop Luke now so I side step him as he shoots straight for the guy. He tackles him to the ground and starts throwing punches at him.
Immediately, the other Brotter guys surge forward and that is our cue to step forward. I push through them as fast as I can. I get to the center to where Luke and the guy are still on the ground.
"Luke!" I scream, pulling at him but he doesn't budge. Suddenly Zack is by my side and together we pull Luke off of the guy. Zack pins Luke's arms to his back and pushes him away from the group.
I push the people out of the way and soon Zack and I are dragging a struggling Luke away from the group of people.
"The pier" I let out in a grunt, using all of my energy to push Luke forward. Zack nods and we walk like this all the way up to the pier.
It takes us a few minutes and we get a few strange looks from people but we finally get there and luckily no one is there.
Zack finally lets go of Luke and he goes falling to the wooden floor. He gets up in a flash and whips around towards us. I place my hands on his chest again, knowing that he was ready to attack again.
"You should go" I say to Zack. I flash of hurt passes his eyes as he looks at me but it is gone quickly. He nods and shuffles away, back towards the shore.
I turn towards Luke. He is calmer now but is still breathing heavily. The look on his face would have made me run away if I didn't know Luke like I do.
"He was an asshole and was extremely out of line" I say. Luke stays silent, turning towards the end of the pier. He slowly walks towards it. As he reaches the railing he dips his head into his arms, staying silent.
"He's not worth it" I repeat, leaning my back against the rail. Slowly Luke brings his head up but he gaze stays fixed on the ocean in front of us.
"It's suffocating me" he says in a raspy voice. I let out a sigh. "I know it's hard to not fight back-"
"Not him" Luke interrupts, suddenly standing up straight. "This whole fucking town!" he shouts, waving his arms around us. "It has these hands clasped against my neck and its squeezing me tighter and tighter".
I stay silent, letting him continue. "I don't see how people can spend their whole lives in this dump, this hell hole, this... Paper town".
I look out at the ocean as he continues. "I am so fucking sick of people thinking they know me! I'm sick of the looks that the people in this town give me and my family. 'Oh look, it's the family of that drug addict. Don't get too close, they're dangerous'.
"Even if they didn't look at me like that I would still hate this paper town. Nobody here cares about anything that fucking matters. They're too wrapped up into their status and wealth and whatever other meaningless shit they talk about.
"If I stay stuck here for much longer I'll suffocate. I've been trapped here since birth and I still haven't found a way to escape this hell hole" and with that, Luke slams his arms back into the railing.
I let a moment of silence pass before speaking up. "When I was younger I would go onto my balcony and close my eyes and pretend I had wings so I could fly away from this uneventful town. I think I've found a way to fly away that doesn't involve wings".
"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Luke asks me. "College" I answer him. "The way I see it, the better I do in school, the farther away I can get from this town".
"And how far away would you want to fly?" Luke asks me. I smile slightly. "New York" I answer.
"New York?" Luke asks. I smile widely and close my eyes. "Being a little fish in a big pond. Being able to go into a store and not see someone you know. Being able to walk into a room without people whispering about the rumors they heard about your past. That has always been my dream".
I open my eyes to see Luke smiling softly. "I like that dream" he says softly. "You can use it too if you want" I say.
He shakes his head. "That isn't a dream that is possible for me. With my grades that will never happen".
I scowl at him. "That is loser talk" I snap. "A loser uses excuses for why they don't achieve something. A loser complains about everything that's wrong and doesn't try to make a difference. I never thought the famous Luke Evans was a loser".
"Have you seen my grades Adams?" He asks me. "Freshman year: C's. Sophmore year: C's and lower. Junior year: C's and B's. with those grades I'm bound for community college".
"That's where you're wrong Luke. If you get A's this year-"
"A's!" Luke says in disbelief, laughing. "Yeah that's not possible".
I turn towards him. "You have to memorize a ton of different football plays. What makes memorizing formulas and definitions so much more different?" I ask.
Luke rolls his eyes at me. "Claire you overestimate me-"
"No you're underestimating yourself Luke. You're just as smart as anyone else. why is it that you're usually so freaking arrogant but now that we're talking about school you couldn't doubt yourself more than you are right now?".
"You don't get it Claire, A's comes easily to you-"
"Easily?" I ask in disbelief. "You don't really believe I just pick up a pencil and it all just comes to me right? I work hard Luke, which I know you can do as well. The only people who favor speed over endurance are the ignorant ones".
"Man Claire, you should become a guru" Luke states but I'm not having it. I look deep into his eyes. "Luke do you trust me?" I ask.
Luke's joking smile leaves and he grows serious too. "You're probably the only one I do" he answers honestly making a touching warmth travel through my body.
"And you think I'm smart right?" I ask. He smiles slightly. "You could beat Einstein in a debate" he says.
I snort at that. "Okay. Now, do you believe that I want the best for you?" I finally ask. He stays silent for a second. "Completely and whole heartedly" he answers.
"Then we start studying next week. You and I are going to study the hell out of those SAT books before school starts".
Luke looks over at me uncertainly. "Claire-
"Do you want speed or endurance?" I ask. Luke pauses before answering. "Endurance".
"Then I'll meet you at your house on Monday at 2, but for now, let's just enjoy the warmth" I say before tilting my head towards the sky, smiling slightly.
"So let's say your plan works and I do get A's this year" Luke asks. I smile at him. "Then we will fly away from this town together".
He smiles widely at me before holding up a finger. "New York?" He asks.
I grin back and intertwine my finger with his and say back with all of my confidence. "New York".