In which Naomi refuses to go to the beach.
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Naomi crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly and turned away from Jordan.
"No."
"Naomi, come one! It'll be fun!"
"No."
"Naomi please-"
"No."
"Naomi-"
"No." She glanced sideways at his face. "Jordan, those puppy dog eyes may work on your fangirls, but they won't work on me."
He threw his hands up in frustration before slumping in his seat next to her. "I give up," he groaned. "We're never going to the beach at this rate!"
"I already told you guys to just go without me," Naomi said.
"Yeah, but it wouldn't be as much fun with just those two." Jordan motioned to Bennett and Declan who sat across from them. They shot him a glare.
At the moment, the Musketeers were at the base. They were planning what they were going to do for summer vacation since the school year had ended. They were lazily hanging around the base. Jordan had been trying to convince Naomi to go to the beach with them.
Looking at Naomi curiously, Bennett asked, "Why do you hate the beach so much?"
"It's not that I hate the beach," she answered. "It's just that it's usually full of students from our school, and I'd rather not get made fun of if I don't have to."
Declan spoke, "Yeah, but this time you have us. They wouldn't dare look at you with us around, and we could go surfing!"
Naomi frowned. "That sounds fun and all, but I don't know..."
"If you go, you could witness Bennett do some cool moves," Jordan suggested.
Bennett glared at him. "Wait, Jordan, I-"
"Bennett," Jordan interrupted, shaking a finger at him and sounding like a scolding parent. "You wouldn't want to disappoint Naomi now, would you?"
He was about to retort when he got a glance of Naomi's disappointed expression. He sighed, "No. Fine, I'll do it."
"Really?" She brightened up, beaming hopefully at Bennett. She didn't want to miss the chance to watch him, so she could tease him and make him blush to oblivion.
"Then it's settled," Declan said, clasping his hands together as he stood up. "We'll go tomorrow. Make sure to bring your surf boards."
"Yeah!" Jordan cheered. He winked at Naomi. "Don't forget to bring proper attire, Naomi!"
⎼
"You know, that's not what I had in mind," Jordan said, looking at Naomi.
They were at the beach, standing not far from the shore. Women and girls passing by gawked at the boys shamelessly. They murmured amongst themselves and squealed as some took pictures. However, the 3 Musketeers paid no attention to them. They would have to been setting up their spot if Naomi hadn't shown up in only casual clothes.
She looked down at her outfit consisting of of a plain t-shirt and cargo shorts. "But you said to wear 'proper attire'."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it. You're at the beach, Naomi." Jordan spread out his arms to motion at the sandy landscape around them. He flashed her a smile as he puts his hands on his hips confidently. "You shouldn't be wearing casual clothes. You should be wearing a swimsuit like the rest of us!"
Naomi studied the three. Jordan wore green swim trunks with a palm leaves pattern tags matched his eyes, and a plain white wife beater. Declan was shirtless to show off his muscular build and adorned plain red swim trunks. Bennett wore a blue rash guard and plain black swim trunks, his hands in his pockets.
Her gaze switched between Jordan and Declan in confusion. "I get why Declan would be shirtless, but why aren't you shirtless?" She asked Jordan.
He grinned. "Wow, Naomi, you haven't even asked me to dinner yet."
She rolled her eyes. "Forget I asked."
"It's because, my dear Naomi, that if I unleashed all this-" Jordan smirked as he motioned to his body. "-to the ladies, half naked, wet and glistening, running down the beach, the nation's female population would considerably decline."
Declan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, because they'd be clawing out their eyes, keel over and die from revulsion," Declan snorted. Naomi snickered.
"What'd you say you!?" Jordan rounded on him and started spatting insults at him. Declan fired back with just as much force.
Naomi shrugged and groaned half-heartedly, "Well it's too bad I didn't bring a swimsuit, so I guess I can't swi-"
Jordan stopped bickering with Declan for a moment. "Don't worry, we got you covered!" Jordan bent down and pulled out something from his duffle bag. In his outstretched hand was a purple one piece, the upper back exposed and string to tie around the neck to hold it up. The three stared at him.
"Dude," Declan said.
Jordan gave them an innocent look of confusion. "What?"
"No...Just no," Bennett said, shaking his head.
Declan looked at Naomi, and and held up his hands defensively. "We had nothing to do with this, I swear," he testified as she raised an eyebrow.
Jordan pointed at him accusingly. "Don't lie! You picked out the color," he blurted out. "Bennett funded it!"
"Naomi, come on!" Jordan begged her.
"Nope, I refuse to-"
"Naomi, if you don't Bennett won't show off his cool surfboard tricks." Jordan smirked when she stiffened.
"Jordan, you can't force her, and you don't speak for me," Bennett cut in.
"I know, but-"
Declan interrupted, "Where did you even get that-"
"Okay."
"What?" In shock, the 1st and 3rd Musketeers turned to her in unison while Jordan cheered.
"I'll wear the stupid thing, just give me a few minutes to change," she huffed, pressing her lips together.
Bennett and Declan stared at her in disbelief as Jordan gladly handed her the one piece. Their eyes trailed after her when she left to go change in the restroom. A few minutes later, she came back to see Bennett and Declan already finishing setting up a large canapé and table, their bags resting under it. They didn't notice as women and girls around them gawked and tried to catch their attention by strutting passed repeatedly. Jordan however was fully attentive to the attention and was flexing his muscles and putting on a big show. Declan paused to glare at him before he caught sight of Naomi.
Noticing her return, Declan turned to her. "Great, now let's go surfing."
"Where is it?" Jordan yelled, diverting his attention to her.
"Where's what?" Naomi replied innocently.
Jordan stared at her intensely. "Please tell me that you're wearing the swimsuit under your clothes."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I am. Bennett's money isn't wasted."
"Then why are you still-"
"Well, you didn't say I couldn't wear it under my clothes," she retorted.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Jordan groaned. "Why are you being so difficult?"
Declan asked, "Are you self conscious?"
"No."
"So, why won't you just wear it without clothes on?" Jordan grumbled.
"You know we can't force her to wear it," Bennett said to Jordan.
"Guys, I'm not self conscious of my body," Naomi stated. "Listen, I'll take my clothes off once I go swim. Happy?" She looked at Jordan.
Jordan sighed with relief. "Good."
"Yeah, you might drown if you wear your clothes," Bennett said.
"That's not what I meant, Ben."
While she sat under the shade of the canapé, Jordan and Declan were the first to get in the water, racing down the beach competitively and jumping in. As the two splashed at each other(Declan more aggressively), Bennett took a seat in the chair beside her.
"Okay, what's the real reason why you didn't want to go to the beach, wear a swimsuit and go swim?" He questioned.
Naomi didn't meet his eyes when she answered, "Like I said before, this place is crawling with students from our school." She glanced to see not far from them a group of girls from their school snickering in her direction. Bennett followed her gaze and shot them an icy glare, making the girls scream and leave. Naomi continued, "I'd rather not get bullied if I couldn't help it, so going to the beach was not an option"
"That and," She chuckled, looking back at him. "I don't know how to swim."
Bennett was taken aback. "Really?"
She nodded. "Really. With avoiding my bullies, swimming was the last thing on my mind."
"Wow, wait," Jordan cut in as he walked up to them and grabbed his towel, already soaked. Declan trailed behind, his hair dripping wet. "I can teach you!"
"No, you swim just as well as a dead fish. I'll teach her," Declan said.
Jordan gasped, "I do not!"
The two argued loudly, catching the attention of nearby civilians as they shouted insults at each other. Bennett and Naomi watched them amusingly,
"How about this?" Bennett started, going up to stand between the two. "We each get an hour to teach Naomi how to swim? Okay?"
Jordan and Declan turned to raise an eyebrow at each other, silently asking what they thought. Then they nodded.
"I'll go first," they said in unison. They glared at each other.
"Looks like we'll have to settle this with a duel," Jordan said. "Something manly, something could test our skill-"
Bennett rolled his eyes at him as Naomi suggested, "Rock, Paper, Scissors."
Declan shrugged. "Works for me."
Jordan threw his head back and cackled, "Like you could beat me at a game made for smart people!"
Declan smirked as he prepared himself. "Is that a challenge?"
"If you were smart, you wouldn't have to ask that," Jordan responded, placing his fist in his palm.
"Rock, paper, scissors!" They chorused, bouncing their fist in their palm.
Jordan had scissors while Declan had rock. Declan grinned triumphantly down at Jordan as Jordan fell to his knees, threw his head back and wailed in despair.
"How could this have happened?" He cried. He stood up quickly and glared at Declan. "Impossible! I demand a rematch!"
"No. Don't be a sore loser. I won fair and square," Declan denied, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Best two out of three!"
"No!"
Bennett nodded. "Ok, so Declan will teach Naomi first, then Jordan, then me."
"Yeah!" Declan grinned.
Jordan sighed, "Maybe the author will do me a favor and skip the details on Decomi."
"What are you talking about?" Declan questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, remember that time when-"
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TO BE CONTINUED...
Once I finish Beach, Babes, and Balls: Part 2, I might do a Bennett x Reader or Bennett x Naomi next. Idk, we'll see.