Hey guys! So just a couple things:
1.) The cover of the song Stand by Me by Ka'au Crater Boys' is linked above if you want to listen to it!!
2.) Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out. I've been a little busy. :(
3.) Enjoy!!!
~Please excuse any and all mistakes~
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"Are you blackmailing me?" I asked in shock. Raegan glanced at me thoughtfully before nodding her head slowly.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing." She said simply.
*18 hours earlier*
Any progress I had thought I'd made with Raegan this morning quickly disappeared as we started the surfing lessons that afternoon. I'd taught her everything I could possibly teach her on land now we needed to get in the water. Only one problem, she refused to go in the water.
"Raegan if you want to learn to surf you need to get into the water." I exclaimed in frustration. She rolled her eyes crossing her arms defiantly.
"I know that but, I'm telling you I'm not ready." She snapped. I sighed as the conversation kept going in circles.
"I've taught you everything I could possibly teach you on land now, you need to learn in the water." I explained for the fifth time.
"No." She said simply, for the fifth time. I rubbed my temples trying to ward off the headache I felt coming on. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
"Fine, we're done for the day."
"Fine." She snapped ready to walk off.
"Hey wait!" I exclaimed stopping her in her tracks.
"Are you coming to the bonfire tonight?" I asked curiously my frustration starting to melt away. Raegan narrowed her eyes and shrugged a shoulder.
"I don't know, maybe. Are you?" She asked. Uh yeah I was going! It was the biggest party of the year. We build a huge bonfire out on the beach and some people go night surfing during it. There was no way I was going to miss it. And it just so happens that Eric happened to tell Raegan about it at breakfast today. Thanks a lot man.
"Yeah I am." I responded. Raegan nodded her head awkwardly before walking off. I took the boards back to the shack and glanced at the time. 5:00 pm. The party starts at 11:00 and normally ends around 2:00 or 4:00 am.
I met my mom at the parking lot and threw my board on top of her jeep before tying it down.
We climbed into the cherry red jeep and she started the car.
"So I need you to babysit tonight." She stated. My stomach dropped and my head snapped towards her.
"What! Mom I can't, I'm busy tonight. Why can't Court do it?" I exclaimed in frustration.
"Because, Courtney has been babysitting all week." She explained calmly.
"I've been working!" I said in exasperation. My mom sighed as we pulled up to a red stoplight.
"Please Casper." She pleaded shooting me a desperate look. I sighed mumbling alright. I looked out the window feeling angry and than started feeling guilty for being angry. She pulled into the driveway and turned towards me.
"I'll be home tomorrow around 5:00 am. I have to stay overnight in Miami. I expect you to be on your best behavior." She said shooting me a pointed look.
"Yes ma'am." I mumbled before hopping out of the car and untying my board. As I walked towards the shed my moms' voice stopped me.
"I love you Casper!" She shouted.
"Love you to mom."
After I put my board away I walked into the house a plan forming in my head.
"Courtney!!!" I yelled. She walked out of the kitchen a glass of water in her hand.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"I need you to babysit tonight."
She sneered at me, "Yeah right, mom already told me you're on Carter duty tonight." I narrowed my eyes trying to look menacing, I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really, I bet mom would love to hear about how I caught you making out with a guy on the couch at midnight." I stated. This whole plan surrounded the hope that Courtney doesn't already know that mom knows.
"You wouldn't." She challenged narrowing her eyes. I smirked, good she doesn't know.
"Try me." We had an intense staring contest for a few seconds before she groaned.
"Fine, I'll do it." She whined.
"Thanks sis." I grinned. Karma is going to suck but, this is totally worth it.
"Whatever."
Eric picked me up at 11:00 by the time I'd tyed my board down in the back I was seething with irritation. Hopping into the cab I glared at him. He shot me a confused look.
"What?" He asked.
"You're late. The party starts at 11:00." I snapped. He grinned now immune to my scorching gaze.
"We'll be fashionably late." He informed me. I rolled my eyes but, relaxed. It didn't really matter if we were late or not. I was just paranoid that I had to stand in front of my house for ten minutes. I felt like the whole neighborhood was staring at me, about to call my mom and bust me.
"Chill man. That girls' starting to rub off on you." It took me a moment to realize he was talking about Raegan, which made my mood even worse. I was not like her.
"Shove off." I snapped. He laughed pulling into the beach parking lot. There were people everywhere; unloading coolers, surfboards, blankets, chairs, and even large portable speakers. Eric and I untied our boards and started heading down towards the beach. A large crowd of people were already there standing around the roaring fire and a cheesy pop song was echoing from a speaker from somewhere that I couldn't see. We put our boards on a rack next to the food shack and headed into the mass of people.
"Casper!" A voice yelled. I glanced around in confusion before I saw Maria heading towards me. Her long dark hair was curled and bouncing around as she moved through the crowd of people, she was wearing a white beach dress that contrasted starkly against her dark caramel skin, and she had a large smile on face showing of her pearly white teeth.
"Hey Maria." I said smiling brightly. Eric stared at her with a slightly awed expression. Eric and Maria have never met, other than a few stories about surfing I haven't told Maria much about him. "Eric, Maria. Maria, Eric." I said introducing them. Eric quickly shook himself out of his trance and gave her a bright smile.
"Wanna dance?" He blurted. I mentally face-palmed. Of course Eric. Maria looked at him in surprise before returning his smile.
"Sure why not?" She said happily. I looked at her shocked. Eric seemed just as baffled, obviously not knowing what to do he shot me a helpless look. He's never gotten this far. I shrugged my shoulders not knowing what to do to help him.
"You do?" He asked hesitantly as if he thought she was joking.
"Yeah, lets go." She exclaimed grabbing his hand and dragging him over to a mass of dancing bodies. I laughed as he let her drag him along like a lost puppy.
"Hey there, surfer boy." A voice whispered behind me. I spun around in shock only to be struck speechless. Raegan stood there a small smile on her face. Her long light brown hair was curled in loose waves down her back, she wore a light dark red sleeveless dress that cinched at her waist and flowed to mid-thigh, her feet were clad in dark brown strappy sandals, and she was wearing a little make-up that made her startling hazel eyes even more gorgeous.
"You alright there?" She asked raising an eyebrow. I cleared my throat and shook my head to clear it.
"Uh, yeah. Uhm I'm fine." I said lightly. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion but, she let it slide.
"Oookay."
"Want something to drink." I blurted shoving my thumb in the direction of the food shack.
"Uh, sure I'll have a lemonade." Raegan stated. I nodded my head and turned on my heel walking towards the small line of people. I couldn't help but grin, glad that she hadn't asked for alcohol. After a couple bad encounters I've learned to stay clear of the stuff. Grabbing the lemonade and an orange Fanta I headed back to Raegan. This time I was determined not to spill my drink all over her.
I barely noticed the guy standing next to Raegan as I gave her, her drink. She thanked me quietly and sent the guy a scowl.
"Is there a reason you're invading my personal space?" She asked sarcasm dripping off her words like venom. The guy looked at her in surprise, I took a drink to hide the amused smile of my face. The smile quickly vanished from my face as he smirked eyeing her with new interest. The look made my blood boil.
"Hey! Frat boy, my eyes are up here." She sneered at him. I took this as my queue to interject. Smiling I turned Raegan's attention to me.
"Wanna dance?" I asked setting down my drink and holding out my hand. She stared at me like I had three heads before a sly smile settled on her lips. Setting down her drink she took my outstretched hand and let me lead her over to the mass of dancing people. She tossed an arrogant smile at the idiot we left behind and then turned back to me. Placing my hands on her waist I pulled her towards me a little. She placed her hands on my shoulders and we swayed to the music. Stand by Me by Ka'au Crater Boys blared across the beach. I don't know who the song was originally by but, the Ka'au Crater Boys cover kind of gave an island twist to the song.
I spun her slowly then settled my hands back on her waist. She glanced up at me and furrowed her eyebrows thoughtfully. I raised an eyebrow as we continued to sway to the song.
"Something on your mind?" I asked.
"I was just wondering why you're so nice." Raegan said peering up at me. I grinned a little and shrugged my shoulders.
"Does there have to be a reason?" I asked casually.
"Of course there does. Everyone wants something." She exclaimed as if it was obvious. I peered at her for a few seconds. I felt bad for her. I wonder what happened to her to make her think like that.
"I don't I guess...I just want other people to be happy." I said softly. She gazed at me her lips parting slightly in surprise. I quickly pushed away the urge to kiss her and instead dipped her. She squealed in surprise. I laughed as I slowly brought her back up. She scowled a little but, amusement sparkled in her eyes. We stared at each other for a few seconds, the urge to kiss her was so strong I almost gave in.
But, a loud voice called to me over the music.
"Casper man, there starting the night surfing!" Eric called in excitement, Maria standing by his side. I swallowed thickly and mentally cursed.
"I'll be right there!" I called back. Turning back to Raegan she quickly disentangled herself out of my grip.
"Go have fun. I'll see later." She said smiling a little. I hesitated and she shooed me in Eric's direction. "Go on surfer boy." I smiled a little and nodded my head.
"Thanks for the dance." I said before jogging towards Eric. We grabbed our boards off the rack and snatched a few glow sticks from the box next to the board rack, before we snapped them onto our wrists and neck. I tugged off my shirt and discarded it next to the rack. We didn't bother with wetsuits and just went out in our board shorts.
A lot of people were already out on the water. Eric and I paddled out and pulled up in the line-up waiting for a good wave. We straddled our boards and sat their letting the water lap over our legs.
"So, Raegan huh?" He asked teasingly. My head shot towards him and I narrowed my eyes.
"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked.
"Nothing man, it's just you seem to really like this girl."
"Whatever dude, I don't." I insisted glancing across the dark water.
"Alright brah." He said his tone disbelieving. I rolled my eyes and waited for a wave.
"What about Maria?" I asked glancing over at him.
"What about her?" He asked trying to be casual but, even in the dark I could see his cheeks heat up.
"You two seemed awfully close tonight." I teased raising an eyebrow. I could feel the grin radiating off him.
Yeah, I guess she's pretty cool." Eric said casually. I laughed loudly.
"Pretty cool?"
"Okay maybe she's the coolest girl I've ever met." He relented. I grinned shaking my head.
"Just don't break her heart man 'cause I really don't want to have to beat up my best friend."
"Don't worry brah I won't."
We surfed a couple waves before deciding it was to crowded and headed back to shore. We threw our boards back onto the rack and I grabbed my shirt shaking out the sand before pulling it on. I glanced around my gaze traveling over the crowd. I saw Maria and Raegan standing next to each other laughing. I stared at them in surprise, I was convinced that they hated each other. I guess I was wrong.
Eric and I walked over to them catching the tail end of their conversation.
"-so handsome." Maria said fanning her face. Raegan giggled nodding her head in agreement. Giggled. That's something I never thought Raegan would do. Eric smiled casually slinging his over Maria's shoulders.
"Who's handsome?" He asked curiously a lazily smile on his face.
"Dylan O'Brien." Maria exclaimed without hesitation. Raegan made a noise of agreement.
"I mean have you seen those abs." Raegan added. Maria and Raegan looked at us before bursting out in laughter at our expressions.
"Hey, I have abs too. See." Eric pouted lifting up his shirt to show off his abdomen. Maria grinned and shook her head, raising her eyebrows.
"Is someone jealous." She teased. They met for the first time tonight but, her and Eric already seem perfect for each other.
"Ugh yeah. How come Dylan O'Brien gets all your attention." He pouted. She grinned placing a hand on his cheek.
"Aw, I'm sorry. Your abs are nice too." She exclaimed. He grinned triumphantly. I laughed shaking my head while Raegan snickered.
"But, of course Dylan has that whole 'bad boy' look going on." Raegan stated feigning thoughtfulness. Maria nodded her head making a noise of acknowledgement. Eric scowled jokingly.
"If you want a 'bad boy' you can always have Casper." Eric joked. I looked at him in bewilderment as Raegan snorted.
"Casper is about as bad as a cute little puppy." Maria snorted.
"Hey!" I protested.
"Oh yeah, well would a cute little puppy blackmail is sister into babysitting their little brother and than sneak out of the house so he could go to a party?" Eric challenged. I looked at him in surprise and punched his shoulder. "Ow!"
"Shut up brah." I hissed. The girls looked at me in amusement and disbelief.
"No way." Raegan said. I shrugged my shoulders sheepishly. She grinned shaking her head.
"I didn't think you had it in you."
"Yeah well I guess, you don't know me as well as you think you do." I stated. She looked at me thoughtfully.
"I guess I don't." She said. The rest of the night went well. We danced, laughed, and had a good time. Around 2:30 everyone started to head home.
I tiredly walked into the house after I put my board in the shed. Courtney sat on the couch and looked over at me as I walked into the living room. Some reality TV show was playing as I plopped onto the couch next to her.
"How was the party?" She asked curiously.
"It was fun." I told her before adding. "Thanks for watching Carter."
"Yeah well you didn't really give me a choice." She said coldly. I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and grabbed a twenty dollar bill out of it and passed it to her.
"Really Courtney, I appreciate it." I said smiling at her. She looked at the money in her hands for a few seconds before sending me a small smile.
"Yeah, well you owe me." She stated.
"Okay."
The next morning I woke up to my mom standing over my bed. The first though I had was:
Crap, she knows.
But, when I noticed she didn't look angry I relaxed.
"Casper sweetie, I need you to work the morning shift with Maria. Then, this afternoon there aren't any surf lessons so you're free." She said. I sighed nodding my head as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
"Alright."
"Thank you."
"Uh huh."
I quickly got ready and rode to the hotel with my mom. When I got there I changed into the clothes I had left in my locker and clocked in. I met Maria and glanced at the clipboard in her hand.
"We only have 50 rooms today?" I asked curiously, last time we had 150. Maria nodded her head looking relieved.
"Your mom finally hired more maids. So we don't have as much work anymore. 150 rooms was way to much work." She explained, I nodded my head thinking back to my first day. Maria and I had, had to clean 150 rooms and it had been a lot of work, I was exhausted by the time we were done and, than we still had more work to do after that.
"What rooms do we have?" I asked curiously.
"250-300." She responded. 300, Raegans' room. I grinned and nodded my head. We went through our round thankfully this time we didn't have any awkward encounters. All the guests were out touring the city. As we got to Raegans' room I knocked on the door and called out room service.
The door was thrown open and Raegan stood in the doorway wearing a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants, her hair was thrown into a messy bun, and it didn't look like she was wearing any make-up. And, she still looked gorgeous.
She looked surprised as her eyes fell on me, her face flushing a little. She quickly let us in and sat on the couch in the corner of the room. We made the bed and Maria moved onto the bathroom. Raegan watched me thoughtfully before a wicked grin spread across her face.
"What?" I asked cautiously. She shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh nothing, I just need you to do my laundry." She said innocently. She's joking right?
"Yeah no thanks." I snorted. She raised her eyebrows a devilish smile spreading across her face.
"Fine. I guess your mom is going to love hearing about how you blackmailed your sister and than how you snuck off to a party." She smiled the innocent look on her face betraying her definitely not innocent words.
"Are you blackmailing me?" I asked in shock. Raegan glanced at me thoughtfully before nodding her head slowly.
"Yeah that's exactly what I'm doing." She said simply.
And that ladies and gentleman is how I got blackmailed into doing a girls' laundry.
Karma really does suck.
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Finally Chapter Six is finished!! Sorry it took a while. I hope you guys liked it!!
Yet again I'm gonna say, ALL feedback, good or bad, is appreciated. Really guys, I love hearing your opinions, they mean a lot!!