British Bird
Chapter Twenty Nine
Sang
Flashback; Thirteen Years Old
I look around in awe, the view of the water park completely making me stop in my tracks. The water, the slides that are in every corner, the structures of where the slides starts. It's amazing and everything is so beautiful. Hand's on my shoulders have me moving forward, but I don't care as I continue taking everything in, the excitement I've been feeling all day and last night ready to burst at the seams.
This is magnificent.
"C'mon, Princess, we can go exploring once we've found some sunbeds and have put our belongings away," Victor says in my ear with a chuckle.
"This is amazing," I practically squeal, breaking myself away from the view of the water park and turning around to face Victor. This makes his hands drop from my shoulders and I quickly reach for one, taking it in mine and holding it. "I have no words."
He grins, shaking his head and pulling me in the direction the others are going. "Let's go. The sooner we get to the sun beds, the quicker we can go splashing around in the water."
We run to catch up with the others and the moment we reach them, Owen is crouching down in front of me. I eagerly jump up onto his back, my bare stomach pressing against his bare skin. I wrap my arms over his shoulders, pressing my fingers into his chest. "Go," I cry.
He chuckles and starts jogging with me on his back towards a section of sunbeds by a large clear blue pool. "Be careful with her," North booms and I laugh, throwing my head back.
"Oh, Owen, this is amazing. I love it here," I say, resting my chin on his shoulder.
His head turns to look into my eyes, his lips tilting up into a smile. "I love you being here," he says and I grin. "Let's get some sunbeds."
We reach the sunbeds and he helps me back to my feet. We choose an area in the corner and start shifting many of the sunbeds into that corner, lining them up. Just as we're done, the others reach it and start choosing sunbeds for themselves. Johnny walks off to get a couple of tables, Silas and North on his heels to help him.
"What are you going on first?" Cara asks, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. I look up at her; blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, her blue eyes are covered with sunglasses and her skin is glowing a golden brown.
"Anything and everything," I tell her. Waving my arm around me, gesturing to the park I add, "By the end of the day, I will have been on everything at least once."
"Well, good thing Johnny is going to be your adult for the day," she tells me, lifting her sunglasses to give me her eyes. "You can't go on everything by yourself, remember?"
I make a noise of disappointment. "Yeah, because I'm too short."
She laughs. "One day, Sang, you can come here and run off and not worry about having an adult with you." She offers me a smile and a kiss to the temple before turning around and pulling her sundress off. I watch with a smile as she makes sure her black bikini is all in place before sitting down and pulling a bottle of suntan lotion from her bag.
A whistle has me looking up and I watch Johnny approach, carrying a table that he sets down when he reaches us, North and Silas are right behind him. "Well, hello there, sexy. Want a hand with that?" Johnny asks Cara, his grin playful.
"Little ears, Johnny," Cara murmurs, raising an eyebrow. "And innocent eyes." She quickly lifts her sunglasses from her eyes and narrows her eyes on each of the guys, moving from one to the other. "Innocent in every aspect I hope."
Luke grins and my eyes narrow, heart dropping a little in my chest. "I'm always innocent, Cara, it's this flirt you want to be looking at." Luke points a thumb towards Sean.
Sean grins and shakes his head. Something I don't recognise travels through me as I watch him lay his towel on a sunbed. He isn't denying it, he isn't saying that he's innocent, like Luke was. A pair of brown eyes catch mine and Uncle raises a concerned eyebrow. I shake my head at him, kicking off my flip flops before turning and walking away.
"Sang, where are you going?" Cara calls. I shake my head and carry on walking, not turning around to look back.
xXx
I reach a small restaurant and buy myself a bottle of water with the small change I had in the pocket of my skirt. After thanking the nice man that served me, I turn to leave only to come to a stop when I see Sean standing a few feet away, watching me. I purse my lips, the boom boom of my heart ringing in my ears.
I stop in front of him and look down at my flip flops.
"Why did you run off, Pookie?" he asks quietly. I shrug a shoulder, not answering. "Is it because of the whole innocent thing?" I go to shake my head, to deny it, but I can't. I nod my head once, looking up to gaze at some of the waterslides close by.
"Can you look at me please, Sang?" It's hard, but I turn my head and look right into his grass green eyes. "Were you jealous?" he asks, stepping forward, closer to me.
"I don't know," I whisper truthfully. "You just... you didn't deny it. And..." I trail off, not sure what to actually say. What can I say? Nothing really.
He smiles a small smile before saying, "I'm a virgin, Sang." My heart skips several beats and my mouth pops open. "As far as I'm aware, we all are. And I know that over half of them haven't been kissed."
Now I'm curious. "Who?"
"Um... Gabe, Vic, Nate, Kota, Luke, and Owen. North I'm unsure about but I know Silas has kissed someone, back in Greece before he came here."
"Victor has," I whisper before I can stop myself. I press my lips together when his eye widen and eyebrows rise in surprise.
"Oh, I didn't know that. Did he tell you?" he asks, head tilting to the side curiously.
I shake my head. "No, he didn't tell me. It... it was me." His brows drop down into a frown, his lips pressing into a line. I rub at my forehead and say, "I guess I am jealous. The thought of you being with a girl in... that way, it hurts my heart yet, I've just got here and we're only friends—"
He cuts me off, gently grabbing my wrist and pulling me close to him, my water bottle slipping from my fingers and bouncing on to the ground. His eyes peer into mine and I suck in a breath at the emotion I see in their depths. "You're more than a friend to me, Sang." The air leaves my lungs in a whoosh. "You're stealing my heart."
"Oh my," I whisper. My heart is going to beat out of my chest, I'm sure of it.
"Besides," he says, his lips tilting up. "You shouldn't be worrying about things like kissing and sex. You are still very young."
Maybe so. "I'll be fourteen in October," I tell him. "Everyone my age is talking about sex and boyfriends at school."
"God, Sang," he whispers, his eyes bright. "Just because they're thinking, talking, or doing it doesn't mean you have too. Just know that..." he trails off and I wait. I wait for him to gather his thoughts, find the words he wants to say. My fingers wrap around his arms and travel up until they're wrapped around his biceps. "Just know that I'll always wait for you. Wait until you're older and more understanding of everything kissing and sex should involve."
"What should it involve?"
"Love," he tells me, his eyes so sure. That simple word meaning something. "It should involve love and adoration, and it should be beautiful and something that would make you smile when you think about it weeks later. It should be special with someone who is just as special."
I hold onto those words and know I'll always treasure them.
xXx
I bounce on the balls of my feet as we wait in line for one of the biggest slides in the park. This is one I need Johnny for, so I dragged him with me. Uncle is with us too and we left Cara babysitting our belongings as she got lost in reading a book.
"Her excitement is contagious," Luke says with a laugh.
I turn to face them, my grin so wide it hurts. Victor focuses his waterproof camera on me and I shy away from it as I say, "And your pranking ways are contagious. Everyone in this family does it."
Laughter rings around me and I laugh right along with them, the joy in my heart almost bursting. "It started with Uncle, so blame him," Luke says, nudging Uncle in the arm with his elbow.
"That's true, Little One," Uncle chuckles. "Even Cara didn't start playing tricks and doing pranks until I did."
"How did you start doing it?" I ask. "You don't just start doing something out of the blue. Do you?"
Uncle shrugs a shoulder and we all listen to what he says, "It wasn't random. An old friend used to prank me and one day, I pranked him back. And I enjoyed it a lot. That's how it all started."
"With one simple revenge prank," I say.
"Exactly," Uncle agrees and I send him one more smile before turning around.
I let out a squeak when I realise that there are only two more people in front of me. I clap my hands together, bouncing happily on my feet. "Princess, tell me your favourite part of this trip?"
I look at Victor and the camera he holds in his hands. "Right now?" I ask. "Can you ask me in about ten minutes when I get to the bottom of that slide?"
Victor laughs just as an arm comes around my shoulders. I smile up at Kota. "Hey," I whisper.
"Hey, Sweetie, are you going to answer the question?"
"The slide isn't an acceptable answer," Johnny says from behind me and I send him a quick playful glare.
"But... it's going to be the best part." I've already been on a few of the smaller slides but this is one of the bigger ones, one where I'm just an inch or so too short to be at the required height.
"A proper answer, Sang," Johnny says. "An answer without the word slide in it."
I cross my arms over my chest and look at the camera. "Fine," I smile, the answer already ringing loud and clear in my head. "The best part of this trip so far is the waterpark."
Boisterous laughter rings loudly in my ears. I look back at Johnny, grinning when I see his eyes narrowed on me. I smile sweetly, just as a man in red shorts and yellow top waves me forward. "C'mon Johnny, it's our turn."
"You little..." Johnny mutters, shaking his head with a huge, amused smile on his face.
"You need an adult," the lifeguard says.
I wave my hands at Johnny and the lifeguard looks at him through his sunglasses. "My adult. Now, can we go please?"
The lifeguard nods and picks up a double ring, holding it at the top of the slide as we follow his instructions to get in. I'm at the front, my legs hanging over the end and Johnny's feet are tucked under my arms. Good thing I don't mind feet.
"Ready?" Johnny yells and I nod my head yes.
We have to wait a few minutes before the lifeguard can let us go. When he does, a sound of joy bursts from me and I scream, releasing the handle bars as we move down the slide and putting them into the air. We're moving up onto the sides as we go around corners and water splashes my face. Johnny screams and lets out a whoop, laughing right along with me.
"Take a breath when I say, Sang," Johnny yells, and I nod my head hoping he sees it. "Now."
Seeing the end of the slide, the water we'll be landing into, I breathe in a deep breath and close my eyes, waiting for the impact. I go flying into the air a second later, coming off the double hoop. I drop down into the cool water, bubbles sliding across my skin from the splash I created.
When I come back up, I find Johnny immediately, pushing back hair from his forehead. "Good?" He asks, taking in my massive grin and flushed cheeks.
"Thank you for bringing me here, Johnny. It's an experience of a lifetime."
Johnny smiles and wraps his arm around me. I wrap my arms around his waist and close my eyes, never wanting to let go of the man that's become a best friend... a father... a dad to me. "I'd do anything for you, Beautiful. Anything."
End Of Flashback