1 | Water Balloons
~☁☀☁~
A giggle that sounded far too evil woke me from my dream of dancing with Channing Tatum in his Step Up days.
"Go away, Megan," I grumbled, burying my head under a pillow.
"But it's the first day of summer!" I heard my best friend's voice accompanied with a cheer from my little sister. "Sunshine," Reyna addressed Megan, "I think it's time for a Ferra-pile."
I threw the blanket aside and rolled off of my bed, which was a far better alternative than being crushed. "Don't you dare."
"And she's up!" Reyna gave Meg a high five and sent her off to the kitchen for breakfast.
I rubbed my eyes to clear the sleep out of them since I obviously wouldn't be getting more of it. Reyna's bright tank top blinded me so I had to look away. It was too early for such vibrant colors and she had three sources with her top, the straps from the swimsuit she wore underneath, and her sandals. At least her blue jean shorts toned down the outfit. The sun was too bright for the morning too, but a certain someone opened my curtains.
"Get dressed," she ordered. "Ian is waiting outside. It's time to initiate Operation: H2O Attack on Wesley Black."
"I hope that's a working title," I muttered, searching for some clothes in my closet.
"Nope. I spent all night on that one," she admitted proudly.
I rolled my eyes and smiled while pulling a simple one-piece swimsuit off of its hanger. Then followed that with a loose-fitting scoop neck white shirt. I spent most of last night unpacking my summer clothes for the warm season and stuffing my cold weather clothes into the back of my closet.
"Skit?" I called Reyna by the nickname I gave her years ago due to her obsession with Skittles.
"Yes, Ferra?"
"Get out."
"I'm out," she held her hands up and backed away. "Bring a change of clothes. We're taking Wes shopping for swim trunks afterwards. He doesn't have any for our trip to the water park next week."
After she was gone, I grabbed a pair of leggings and made a small pile on my bed for the second outfit.
I quickly changed and put my hair up in a bun. I wanted to try to protect it from getting completely soaked, but it was unlikely to stay dry. Checking myself in the mirror, I gave my reflection a nod of approval before going to brush my teeth.
I didn't usually care so much about my appearance, but I found myself wanting to show off a little around Ian. After that kiss, nothing changed between us. Deep, deep...deep down, that kind of bothered me because it meant that he wasn't so affected by me anymore. And he damn well should have been playing it on repeat in his thick skull for months since my lips graced his and he was not worthy.
Otherwise, I was happy to spend the summer with our relationship the same as it had always been; him, the annoying big brother of my best friend, and me, the snarky best friend of his little sister who picked on him. Unfortunately, along with that came the usual flutter of anticipation whenever I knew I was going to see him. That was something that never really went away, so I was used to it by now.
I went into the kitchen to tell my parents where I was going and that I would be home later. They were busy eating breakfast and denying Meg ice cream for her meal, but their attention turned to me when they said to have fun.
"I get to throw water balloons at my bestie's boyfriend and Ian," I grinned. "I will most definitely be having fun."
"Ten points for hitting Ian in the face!" My dad called out as I walked to the front door.
My family was well-acquainted with Reyna's family because we've been friends for so long. My mom was close to Reyna's mom, and my dad got along with her too. Ian was a different story, but it wasn't his fault nor mine that my dad caught a glimpse of my dairy when I was twelve years old. I never left it open on my desk again after that little incident.
I could only be grateful that he didn't say anything to Ian about it or give him the same lecture he gave to me. It involved bats and wasps--the supposed less-friendly versions of birds and bees--and ended with the wasps being eaten. To this day, I didn't think he knew what he was talking about and I didn't either.
"No!" Meg cried. She had a crush on Ian. And Wesley. And any other remotely attractive guy who gave her attention. I pitied her for when she would get to learn all about bats and wasps. "Not Mr. Glitter's face!"
I laughed at my little sister's nickname for Ian, all because I told her about his sparkly vampire boxers as revenge for him sharing my awful nickname with her. Closing the door to the chaos inside, I took a breath of fresh air. The sun had only just risen and the air was still crisp from a cool night. I yawned, slinging my bag over my shoulder and dragged my feet to Ian's red truck at the end of the driveway.
When I climbed inside, I ordered, "You guys are buying my coffee. It is way too early for this mission, Skit. Unless you plan to freeze his ass off too."
"Don't talk about any man's ass in front of me, please. Especially one involved with my sister," Ian cringed from the driver's seat as he backed out onto the street.
"I could just talk about yours then," I said lightly. "Like how flat it is..."
He seemed to perk up when he asked, "You've been looking?"
"You just admitted that it's flat," I countered quickly instead of answering. Of course I was guilty of an occasional glance, because whether I liked him or not, I could still admire his assets.
Ian bristled, "It is not!"
"Pancakes."
"What?" He was confused like I changed the subject. "You want pancakes and coffee? I'm not made of money, you know."
I snorted, though Reyna outright laughed at him missing the comparison.
"Oh my dear, sweet brother," she shook her head and patted his shoulder. "You are so stupid."
"I don't get it. What did I miss?"
She and I started giggling together.
☁☀☁
Once we had our fill of caffeine and pancakes, we were all ready to set our plan into motion and parked down the street from Wesley's house.
His mom was in on it, so she gave us free reign of their water to fill the balloons and water guns which were all in the back of the truck. We carried everything to the side of the house, staying out of sight from his window in case he woke up.
It took us nearly a half an hour to fill all of the balloons and tie them. By the time we were done, there were four full buckets of ammunition and the water guns were fully loaded. Two guns and one bucket of balloons for each of us, including Wesley since it wouldn't be a fair fight if he didn't have any weapons.
The three of us took our positions behind the bushes near the front door. Reyna was on one side with her ammo, while Ian and I were crouched on the other side with ours. She gave us a thumbs up after calling his mom to tell her we were ready. His mom's role was to wake him up and send him out to the grocery store.
Then came the waiting.
"He better hurry," I grumbled with the mulch digging into my knees through the thin fabric. There would be splinters to deal with when we were done.
Ian was huddled beside me, so he could see my discomfort. He tugged gently on my arm, moving back as he pulled me towards his spot and traded places with me. My knees landed on the soft, cool grass once I got readjusted and brush off my legs.
"Thanks," I whispered. Despite his extreme case of ignorance, Ian was the sweetest guy I had ever known. He often showed it in small gestures like that and I had to give him that he could be observant every once in a while.
Ian nodded, sparing me a glance before focusing back on the front door. He was eager to pelt his sister's boyfriend with water balloons.
"I guess you do have the ability to be a gentleman...sometimes." I muttered with a smirk. It was the equivalent of poking a bear--or more specifically, a teddy bear--with a stick. I knew exactly how to get a reaction out of him and draw his attention to me.
He scoffed, turning to face me. "I'm always a gentleman. You just don't appreciate me."
"I could give you a few examples of when you were the exact opposite of a gentleman," I said, ready to list off my observations.
"Ok, maybe not always," Ian agreed. Then he smiled, "But I am always nice to you."
I blinked, not entirely sure how to respond. I couldn't think of any time when he was a jerk to me and, if anything, I was the one that wasn't so nice to him. We could throw snarky or teasing comments at each other nonstop, but I was having difficulty coming up with a retort for once.
I took an interest in the door, wishing that it would open and spare me. I shrugged one shoulder after a long pause, "So what? You're nice to every girl."
He cleared his throat and from the corner of my eye, I saw that he was staring at the door again too. I fought back a grin at his silence. It may not have been the best, but my response still managed to stump him.
Only then did Wesley Black decide to grace us with his presence.
Reyna's warrior cry was our cue to begin our attack. Ian and I stood up right after she did across from us. She and I started spraying Wesley with water guns while Ian pelted him with the balloons.
Wesley jumped at our sudden appearance. Using his arms to protect his face from being hit, he stood there and took it all because there was no cover and he couldn't go back into the house. We stopped when he was soaking wet from head to toe.
Reyna ran over to give him a hug. "Good morning, Wes!"
He chuckled quietly and wrapped his arms around her. "Good morning."
I smiled, watching the two of them share a sweet kiss. I counted down from three under my breath, knowing that their moment was going to be ruined.
"Break it up, loverboy!" Ian shouted just as I got to one and he aimed for the side of Wesley's head.
'Loverboy' blocked it and the balloon burst on his arm, splashing onto both him and Reyna.
"Hello, Ian," Wesley greeted him dryly. "Ferra," he added with more cheerfulness since I wasn't the one who interrupted the kiss.
"Are you ready for the best summer ever?" Reyna asked him.
He wasn't very social in school until Reyna came along, so it was the first summer in who knew how long that he would spend with friends.
It was also a big summer for Ian, since he took a gap year before college and it was nearly over. While he was going to spare some time for his other friends, he decided to invade in most of our plans. I was happy that he would be around because I wouldn't feel like a third wheel to Reyna and Wesley. That, and the countless times I was bound to see Ian without a shirt on; I could never complain about getting a little eye candy.
"Ferret," Ian murmured, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I kept my voice low while the other two were talking. "What?"
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
I highly doubted we were both thinking about how delicious he looked shirtless, but he did have quite the ego so maybe it was true. Then I realized what he meant as his eyes danced from them to the water arsenal. I nodded, discreetly reaching into my bucket of balloons and filling my arms with them.
Ian picked up both of his loaded water guns and positioned them for firing on the unsuspecting couple.
He whispered, "Ready?"
"Let's do it, pretty boy," I grinned and threw the first balloon at Reyna's back. Sorry, Skit. All is fair in love and water wars.
She shrieked and yanked Wesley behind the shrubbery for cover while we relentlessly fired at them.
The battle began and we stayed as two teams. Our initial plan was girls vs boys, but Ian practically begged me to stay on his side so he wouldn't have to work with Wes.
They were in the front yard, while Ian and I had the backyard. During a lull while we waited for them to strike, Ian insisted that we needed a name since they already had one.
"If they're Team Reyley, we could be," he stopped to consider. "Team Fian? Or Ferran?"
"No," I shook my head, despite the tiny leap my heart made. "We're not a ship."
His brows furrowed, "Huh?"
Like I would explain that to him. I tried once to define ships and ship names to him, but I wasn't about to do it again with the two of us as the example.
Instead I proclaimed my first thought, "Team Glitter Ferret!"
Before he could protest, the sprinklers turned on and startled us. Water shot at us from all directions, the cheap tactic distracting us as the cheaters appeared with water balloons.
An hour was spent on ambushes and standoffs, some of them were strategic while others consisted of running and laughing like hyenas with a lot of aimless shooting. By the end of it, there were no distinct winners and left us all exhausted and soggy.
Wesley's mom threw out some towels for us to dry off after we wrung out our sopping clothes, then she allowed us inside to change for our trip to the mall. When it was my turn in the bathroom, I peeled my clothes off and slipped into a pair of dry shorts and a tee. I let my hair down and towel-dried the wet tips before pulling it into a high ponytail so it wouldn't get frizzy. I was the last to join the others outside, just behind Reyna.
"So you want to follow us, Black?" Ian asked him as he twirled his keys on his finger.
"We can all fit in your truck, Ian," Reyna said, looping her hand through her boyfriend's arm.
She was crazy. We would all be squished together because there was no backseat. Unless one or two sat in the bed of the pickup truck, but when I saw her flash an innocent smile, I had a bad feeling that wasn't part of her plan. It was too long of a drive for that too, so it didn't make any sense.
Ian rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, getting into the driver's seat. He wasn't too happy about it either, but I imagined it had more to do with specifically the two of them in such close quarters. I would kill him if made me sit between the couple just to keep them apart, not that I would ever allow that to happen in the first place.
"What are you plotting?" I whispered to my friend with a narrowed gaze.
"Nothing!" She sighed when I pursed my lips. "Don't be so suspicious of your bestie."
"Don't do things that make me suspicious of my bestie," I countered quietly. "Seriously, if you guys want to be together, just follow us over in his car. I assumed that's what we were going to do anyway."
She just smiled at me. I glanced over at Wesley and he was at least attempting to hide his, but it was obvious that he was in on it too. If their plan was to annoy Ian, I was all for it, but I highly doubted it was for that reason. Either way, I supposed I could enjoy the show while being crushed against the passenger door.
Just as she opened the door to get in first, Reyna came to an abrupt halt.
"Oh, Wes. I forgot my, um, sunglasses in your house. Will you come with me to find them?"
"Yeah," he readily agreed to go. "Since they could be anywhere."
Did she even have sunglasses? I wondered as she told me they would be right back. I scoffed at the backs of their scheming selves and climbed into the truck.
"Where did they run off to?" Ian asked me.
"Oh, you know. Probably off to have a quick make out sesh before we go."
"What?!" He unbuckled his seatbelt to go after them.
"Chill," I laughed, taking such joy in teasing him. "It was a joke. They're not gonna do anything in front of his mom..."
Don't say it, Ferra.
He relaxed.
Don't do it.
I couldn't resist.
"Unless they go to his bedroom."
Just as he opened the door to barge in after them, they came out of the house holding hands. Ian slammed the door shut and buckled up again.
"She was just getting her sunglasses," I assured him as I caught sight of the shades in her other hand. Maybe she wasn't lying?
I felt stupid when they climbed in because her motive was clear as I was forced to move over for them. I was sandwiched between Ian and Reyna, while Wesley had my coveted window seat. I had no choice but to sit with one leg on either side of the console. Which in itself was not a problem, but Ian's truck was manual.
I glared at my best friend and she hid behind a pair of sunglasses that most definitely did not belong to her. She had to have borrowed them from Wesley or his mother. They may have hid her shifting eyes, but nothing could hide that guilty smile.
Ian started the truck in a huff, upset and distracted with the thoughts I put in his head. He looked ready to kick his sister's boyfriend out just because of what I said about them making out. I would have felt bad for Wesley, but he was conspiring with Reyna against me. The engine rumbled to life and Ian reached for the stick shift. All the anger left his body as he finally took notice of the situation.
I watched on in humiliation as his eyes went to my bare leg, which not only was between him and the stick shift, but also pressed up against his leg. He hesitated to reach over me and I tried my best to act casual, but I couldn't even look at him.
"Excuse me, Ferret," he said after a moment, his voice as tight as our space. Then he shifted the truck into first gear.
His forearm grazed my inner thigh every time he needed to shift gears. There was tension not only in his muscles but his entire body as he moved almost robotically. He tried to be respectful by holding his arm out uncomfortably, but I couldn't let him do that through the whole drive. When he shifted again, I pushed his arm down to rest on my leg. The action caused the truck to lurch forward, but Ian smoothed it out and mumbled an apology.
I would have grinned at the effect I had on him and even go so far as to call him out on it if I wasn't just as tense. Sitting back as far as I could on the wide bench seat with my feet tucked in on the floorboards, I sat as still as a statue. My stomach flipped in not exactly an unpleasant way whenever his arm moved, but my heart was beating out of my chest the entire time. I considered myself lucky to be able to maintain steady breathing, if not a little shallow.
It had to be the longest drive of my life until we pulled into the parking lot of the mall. Ian went for the first available spot and practically fell out of the truck in his rush to create some distance. I couldn't blame him since I felt an overwhelming sense of relief when I got out too. Kissing the ground wouldn't have been overdramatic at that point, but I refrained from doing it.
"Well, that was a fun trip," Reyna commented lightly.
She linked her arm with Wesley's once again as they made their way towards the entrance. Ian and I shared an awkward glance and looked away before following behind them, dragging our feet every step of the way.
We did not agree with her.
~☁☀☁~
Weapon of choice: water balloons or water guns? -->
Have I been waiting to use this gif? I think my Sweeties know the answer to that question...