CHAPTER TWENTY
When we arrived, the party was already in full swing. Teenagers filled the beach, all of them laughing, talking, and dancing to the music coming from the speakers on the back porch of Alexa’s house. After parking on the side with the other cars, the ten of us piled out onto the beach and headed around to the back. Almost immediately, Shawn waved at someone he knew.
“See you later,” Gina said to me as the two of them left to go socialize. Kian, Andrea, and Sam disappeared next, going off to meet up with some friends. Half our group gone, the remaining five of us decided to look for Alexa. We hadn’t traveled more the three feet from the cars when our path was blocked by a petite blonde with a huge smile on her face.
“Hi guys!” Jenn beamed at us.
“Hey Jenn!” We chorused back.
“Trevor, I’m so glad I found you. You’ve got to meet my friend Missy,” Jenn said to him. “She’s sixteen, super cute—”
Trevor groaned. “Jenn, how many times have I told you? I don’t need your help getting a girlfriend. I’m not letting you set me up again.”
“Too bad.” Jenn shrugged. “Ricky, grab his other arm.”
Ricky did as he was told and the pair of them dragged a screaming and struggling Trevor into the crowd.
“And then there were three,” Jc said, turning to me and Connor.
“That was fast,” I commented.
“Come on, let’s go find Alexa,” Connor suggested. “She’ll want to know we’re here.”
The three of us set off, stopping frequently so that Connor and Jc could catch up with their friends. I was introduced to so many people in such a short amount of time that their names and faces began to blend together in a chaotic jumble. Just before I thought my head was going to explode, we made it to Alexa.
“Hey Alexa!” Jc said as we approached.
“Connor! Jc!” Alexa hugged them both in turn. “I’m so glad you guys could make it!”
“Alexa, this is our friend Allison,” Connor said, gesturing to me. I was just going to smile and wave, but Alexa surprised me with a hug. It caught me off guard; I still wasn’t used to the friendliness of Californians.
“Is it just you three?” Alexa asked, turning back to the boys.
“No, we brought everyone,” Jc answered. “The others are around here somewhere. I just don’t know where.”
“Oh well. I’m sure I’ll see them at some point,” she said dismissively. “Anyways, help yourselves to food, drinks, whatever. Bathrooms are inside and to the left, and bedrooms are off-limits.”
The boys laughed as Alexa went off to greet newcomers. I couldn’t help but wonder if the bedroom thing was Alexa’s idea of a joke or if there was a reason behind the necessity of that rule.
“Connor!”
The three of us turned and saw a pretty brunette waving energetically at him. Connor’s entire face lit up and the girl skipped over, practically tackling him in a tight embrace.
“Oh no,” Jc muttered. I was pretty sure I was the only one that heard him.
“I haven’t seen you in forever!” The girl gushed. “How have you been?”
“Great!” Connor replied brightly. The two of them were going on as if Jc and I had melted into oblivion. I glanced over at him and he just raised his eyebrows at me as Connor continued speaking. “What about you?”
“Eh,” she said, tilting her hand back and forth in a ‘so-so’ manner. I frowned, unsure if I liked this girl or not. Something about her seemed off, but at the same time I found myself drawn to know more about her. She was just so peppy. Normally there was only so much pep I could handle, but it worked for the positive vibes she gave off. “But I’m not going to let it bring me down.”
Jc coughed, reminding Connor and the girl that we were still here. The girl tore her gaze away from Connor and moved onto me and Jc as though we had just arrived.
“Jc!” She squealed, covering up her lack of acknowledgement to our existence.
“Hey.” Jc’s greeting was short, almost rude. He was nowhere near as excited as Connor or the girl. His smile was painted on his face as she hugged him, but it looked forced to me. Jc was not a rude person—quite the contrary. So why was he completely blocking out this chick? Who was she?
“Hi, I don’t think we met before,” the girl said, finally turning to me. “I’m Paige.”
Oh. That’s who she was.
“Allison.” I offered her the most genuine smile I could muster, though I wasn’t sure how convincing it actually was. Paige returned the gesture, so I figured mine had been passable. She dove back into her conversation with Connor, which he was only too eager to continue.
As they spoke, I saw exactly why Connor was so infatuated with her. On top of her model-worthy figure and overall gorgeous appearance, she had a goodness, a pureness within her that radiated from every pore and seemed infectious. As much as I wanted to hate her and spurn her, I just couldn’t. And Connor’s face when he was around her…It was like nothing I had ever seen. He should be looking at me like that, not her.
My stomach churned in disgust at my selfishness. Paige made Connor happy, and that’s all I should care about. Right? I didn’t know anymore. None of this made sense. A relationship was pointless for me right now since I would be on the other side of the freaking country in a few short weeks. I’d be gone and everything around here would return to normal. Connor and Paige would be happily together and I’d be in New York, working towards my degree. That was the path I was on and I couldn’t afford to get off it anytime soon.
“Oh, and I’m single again!” Paige was saying. “Gosh, it’s been so long we’ve had one of our long talks. I have so much to catch you up on!”
Someone called Paige’s name. She checked who it was, and then turned back to Connor. “Crap. I have to go meet up with Dana, but come find me later, okay?”
“Okay,” Connor promptly agreed, hugging her again.
“Bye!” Paige called to me and Jc as she loped back over to her friends.
“Hey Allison, I’ve got some people I want you to meet,” Jc said suddenly. He took my hand in his. “Connor, we’ll catch up with you later.”
Jc hadn’t given him a choice in the matter, catching Connor slightly off guard. His eyes flickered down to Jc’s hand locked on mine, but lingered only momentarily before snapping back up. I shifted uncomfortably but didn’t let go.
“Oh,” Connor said pointedly. “Okay.”
Connor turned on his heel and marched further down the shore to where Alexa was. Jc started leading me towards the water, away from the majority of the partygoers. A few stragglers had moved past the mingling and were playing in the waves, but other than that, we were alone.
“We’re not meeting new people, are we?” I double checked with him.
“Nope,” Jc said, popping the ‘p’.
“Good.” I let out a sigh of relief. “Because I don’t think I could remember any more names.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Jc said, shaking his head. “It’s not like we’re going to quiz you on it or anything. I just thought you might want to talk.”
I shrugged. “I’m not really sure what I want.”
Jc dropped my hand and took the drawstring bag off his back. I followed his lead and we sat down in the sand, far enough up the shore so that the tide wouldn’t soak our clothes. We sat in silence for a few minutes, simply watching other teens running around in the water. More people had started gravitating towards the ocean, in desperate need of a relief from the intense July sun.
“Look, I know it seems impossible, but don’t worry about Connor,” Jc said. He turned to look at me. “Or Paige. You’ll just cause yourself unnecessary stress. You might not believe me, but everything will work out. I promise.”
“Honestly, Jc, I just don’t even care about that,” I admitted. “I don’t know if I ever really cared that much. Sure, I like Connor, but I never expected it to turn into anything. If he wants to be with Paige, let him. I just want to make the rest of my time in California the best it can be. Feelings or no feelings, Connor’s still one of my really good friends and nothing is going to change that.”
I stood up, brushing off the back of my shorts. I looked around the beach, trying to locate one of the few people I actually knew here. A light breeze picked up, blowing a few loose curls in my face. I tucked them behind my ear and grabbed my bag.
“What are we doing?” Jc asked.
“Having fun.” I took his hand and attempted to yank him to his feet. Jc had to help, but we quickly gathered our things, depositing them in Alexa’s house with all the other guests’ belongings. The two of us found Ricky and Jenn (Trevor was apparently hiding from them) and the four of us took off for the water, shedding clothes as we went.
Jc and Ricky dove right under, splashing each other when they resurfaced. Jenn and I took our time, only going in as far as our knees in order to adjust to the colder-than-anticipated water temperature. Jc and Ricky returned to the shore, trying to drag the two of us in. Eventually Jenn gave up and jumped onto Ricky’s back, letting him carry her deep into the ocean.
“Well?” Jc asked, holding out his hand.
“Nope,” I said defiantly, fervently shaking my head. I crossed my arms. “I’ll go in when I’m good and ready to.”
“Oh, come on, Allison!” Jenn yelled. “You’ve got to come in!”
“Yeah, come on!”
“Allison, you’d better get in here!”
“No!” I shouted, planting my feet in the ground.
Jenn cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed, “Connor!” at the top of her lungs. Connor, who had been racing Trevor to the water’s edge, skidded to a stop and looked at her. Jenn pointed at me. “Get Allison in the water!”
A wicked grin spread over Connor’s face as he started advancing towards me. I jabbed my index finger towards him. “Connor Franta, don’t you dare try anything!”
“Oh come on, Allison, don’t you trust me?” Connor held out his arms as though waiting for a hug. I tried to back away, but Jc stepped in behind me and shoved me forward. I caught myself before I fell on my face and shot him the dirtiest glare I could. He just grinned and hopped back into the water.
“Connor, please,” I pleaded with him. “I’ll go in, I promise, I just want to take my time.”
Connor gave me a look that clearly read, “Oh really?” as he lunged forward and grabbed me by the arms. He bent over and wrapped one arm around my waist and the other around my thighs.
“What are you—AH!” I screamed as he hoisted me into the air bridal-style. I threw my arms around his neck and clung on for dear life as he strode towards the others, who were cheering madly for him.
Connor grinned mischievously at me as the water got deeper and deeper to the point where it ran up over my legs with every swell.
“I know what you’re thinking,” I said, “and I’m not saying ‘put me down’ because then you would drop me and then you’d end up getting punched.”
“That’s not very lady-like,” Connor pointed out. “Besides, what if I just—”
Connor dropped his arms to his side. I tightened my hold around his neck and used all the ab strength I had to keep myself up. Unfortunately, Connor had not been expecting that, and he toppled forward with the change in weight. I was swallowed by the waves, Connor falling on top of me. I kicked off the sandy bottom and broke the surface, coughing and sputtering.
“You suck!” I yelled at Connor as he popped up next to me.
“Me?” He asked, pointing at his chest in shock. “You were supposed to fall, not hang on! Where did you get that kind of muscle anyways?”
“Gymnastics,” I answered with a smirk. “I competed up until high school. I’m not as defined as I used to be, but the abilities are still there.” I patted my stomach.
“Show off,” Connor muttered as he dove underwater and propelled himself towards Ricky, Jenn, and Jc with a perfect breast stroke.
“Who’s showing off now?” I called after him. Shaking my head in disbelief at his antics, I set off after him. He was such an idiot sometimes.