Chapter 13
"And then, and then I ate him," Nate sighed loudly, talking eagerly to the inanimate objects around him about how he ate SpongeBob. Nate vowed that he wouldn't touch alcohol tonight, but it turns out that Clark spiked his drink because 'you can't just go to a party without drinking, it's against the laws of partying'.
Needless to say, Clark is definitely not in my good books at the moment.
Not only is Nate plastered from the three glasses of coke he had, but he's refusing to hand over the keys to his car—obviously he can't drive, he's having trouble holding his weight while sitting on a camping chair. He, much like the rest of us, is covered head to toe in glow sticks. They dangle loosely off both his elbows, wrists, neck and ankles. There are so many of them that he is practically a walking glow stick when looking at him from afar.
I can't talk though. Eli Mather—a sweet brown haired guy from the football team—brought enough glow sticks to sink a battleship. His parents are pretty wealthy, meaning his glow stick addiction did not leave a dint in their large pockets.
The cove was lit up by the huge bonfire in the middle which soared about a metre high with bright orange flames. They emanated off everyone's faces as they either danced around it or sat on the logs surrounding it. Much to my surprise, Genevieve's party wasn't huge at all. In fact, there would probably only be thirty people here at the moment.
I asked Gen about it to which she said that she didn't want to invite people she didn't know. Gen knows nearly all of the senior year—all one hundred of us—but only invited the people she is the closest to. Meaning the cheerleading team, the football team and a few of her friends from other classes were here. I didn't mind, since I could socialise with all of them.
Allie and Sophia showed up also, but Allie kept to herself and danced around the fire with Sophia sipping on their cans of lemonade. Allie and I even started dancing together at one point of time. She isn't that bad, but she built up her reputation to look like it. I even apologised for the rude things I said to her a few days back, but she didn't accept it, saying that she deserved it.
I never would have thought of the day that Allie and I would even be close to being friends. We have our differences and all, but she just likes to flaunt herself in another way from me. I feel so much better now that I'm on better terms with Allie—glad that she had gotten over that vendetta she formed one day for me.
"Hey," Allie smiles, taking the seat next to me on the camper chairs. The camper chairs were flimsy and made of a light cotton, barely even being able to support our weight—let alone someone with a build like Nate—and sunk as we sat down into them.
I smiled back at her, "Hola." I took a sip from the can of cherry coke in my hand, licking my lips as the soda threatened to dribble out of my mouth and down my chin.
"So, you and Tyler, hey?" She winks playfully, nudging me.
I roll my eyes, "Nah. What about you? Found any cute boy that is worth your time?"
"Maybe," her pale cheeks tinge pink, "But I don't think you would know him."
"Shoot me," I raised the can up to my lips again.
"His names Aden, he's in the same Drama class as me," my eyebrows shoot up. Who would've thought that Allie wouldn't go for a big macho football player? "I know what you're thinking, and I totally understand," she laughs breathily, "But I'm over Tyler. I guess he was just a one-time thing. Plus, he's yours now."
I gasp, slapping her bare shoulder. "What! It's so true," she emphasises this with throwing her hand sup in the air. "Have you not seen the way he looks at you sometimes? Like, jeez, I know you guys hate each other, but ever thought that it was only one sided?"
I ponder it over in my head. No, Tyler hated me way too much to ever think of me in a way other than wanting to pound my head in with a large hammer. "Stop with the false hope Allie," I pout.
She gasps loudly, throwing her hand over her mouth. "So you do like him!"
"I don't know," I groan, slapping my forehead with the palm of my left hand. "Why are we even talking about him anyway? How about we talk about Aden?"
Again, Allie blushes. Allie is just a normal girl. She blushes over he crushes, she's possessive over her boyfriend—clearly understandable—and secretly wishes that maybe her and her ex could get back together (just not so secretly for her) since it was only a mutual break up. I realise then that maybe I shouldn't have assumed that Allie was the bad guy, because there's always two sides to the story than what we think.
"Oh, he's so cute," she gushes. "He's got curly blonde hair that glows in the sun, and his eyes are so adorable. I could just look at them all day. Oh, and he's so shy and quiet. When he opens up for you, nothing feels better than that."
I smile genuinely, "He sounds nice. You should ask him out or something, since he's shy."
"Oh god no," she turns to look at me with a horrified look on her face. "What if he rejects me?"
"He won't," I shake my head, "Because you're actually really nice. I never would have thought that we'd be friends one day."
"Me neither," she smiles, "But I'm glad we're friends, because you're actually not that bad, after all."
We continue small talk for the next half an hour while Emily poked and prodded Nate to try and get the keys for the car. She was shocked when she saw Allie and me communicating nicely, and even came over to see if Allie was actually as bad as she was talked up to be.
We turned our seats away from the fire and faced them towards the water, giving up with Nate since it was obvious we would have to wait until he was less drunk and more sober before we could snatch them off him. The cove has the nicest beach, with clear white sand and clear blue water. The moon illuminates onto the water, casting its glow and beckoning me to go in. I didn't want to though, because Emily and I had checked the temperature a while ago and it was absolutely freezing.
Just as I finished getting comfortable in the flimsy chairs, Tyler walked in front of me and blocked my view from the ahead of me. I frown, what does he want?
Tyler had been off with the guys all night, mainly sticking around with Austin so that he didn't drink. Austin is a daredevil much like Nate—I think he got it off of him since they've been friends for ages. Since Tyler doesn't drink, I could trust that he would look after my little brother.
"Hey Nova," he taunts, a smirk growing on his lips and a mischievous look in his eye. The fire casts its glow onto his face, making him look like some evil villain from a superhero movie.
Then, he walks closer to me, pulling me off the camper chair by my wrists and throwing me over his shoulder with ease.
I gasp, pounding on his back to put me down. "You put me down on the beautiful sand right now, or I will make your life a living hell."
He snickers, advancing towards the freezing cold water that is usually a lovely place to be—just not now. In no way do I want to go for a midnight swim.
"Stop struggling," he smacks my butt with the hand that he is using to hold me up with.
"Don't touch my butt without asking," I squeal, squirming in his grip.
"I don't need to ask," he says, taking longer strides to reach the water quicker, "Because I know you love it, regardless me asking if I can or not."
I don't reply, watching as the water laps at his bare feet. It's slowly rising the deeper we get, and before I know it, the water is up to his board shorts. That's when I feel the grip he had on my waist slipping.
"Aaaaah," I scream, but it was no use because before I could react, I was head to toe covered in freezing cold water. I submerged under the water, closing my eyes to stop the salt from hurting them. "You bastard," I shrieked as he started guffawing loudly.
While he was laughing his guts out, bent over slapping his leg, I decided to get some payback. One does not throw me into the water without asking and not get punishment.
Sweet, sweet revenge on my part.
I jumped onto his back, catching him off guard and making him collapse down into the water. I laughed loudly at his face as he resurfaced. It was a mixture between amused, horrified and surprised and boy was it a funny one.
"Y-Your face," I choked out, "That was hilarious."
He growls, pushing my head back under water. I held my breath so that I didn't get a mouth full of water, squirming under his death grip. He finally let me resurface, so I splashed him in the face, making some weird Indian war cry noise.
"Okay, okay, you win," he laughs as I pummel him with my hectic splashes for a solid minute or so.
"Ha! In your face," I poke my tongue out, "You suck at water fights. Bow down to the Master. Thankyou, thankyou," I stood up in the water, bowing over exaggeratedly. I couldn't help the huge grin that fell onto my face, same as Tyler by the looks of it.
I just noticed how cold the water was. My shirt was dragging me down with water and my arms and legs were covered in goose bumps. We weren't in too deep or far out from the bonfire, as I could still see most of the people watching us with amusement. Allie was at the front with a small reminiscent smile on her face, no doubt thinking about her relationship with Tyler back two years ago.
"C'mon," Tyler grabbed my hand in his own. I subtly noticed the tingles and heat running up my arm, regardless of how cold it was. "Since when have you and Allie been so close?" He asks as we are a few metres off shore. "I thought that you didn't like her?"
I shrugged, "She's not that bad. I guess she went a little bit overboard sometimes, but I guess that's understandable. She wanted you back, but you didn't want her back. I can see where she was coming from. She was basically just fighting for you back, even if she was winning a losing battle."
Tyler stares down at me, his emerald green eyes wide, and mouth slowly agape. "Well, tickle my nipples and call me Samantha, but I think that you're actually on her side."
I chuckled at Tyler. Of course he would say something inappropriate like that. "Yeah, maybe." We both waded through the water silently, until Tyler pulled me back by my shoulders. I turn to see what he wants, but before I could ask, he reaches down and pulls my legs out from underneath me, causing me to fall face first into the water.
Great.
I could kill him.
"You're on first name basis with the devil," I screamed as he ran off through the water, splashes flying all over me and the sound of his loud laughs echoing in the breeze.
I finally made it to shore, a determined look on my face to get revenge on you-know-who.
"Loving the look," Emily snorts in laughter.
"Shut up," I scowl, "He is going down. I will kill him if that's what it takes."
"Now, now, that's a bit mean," speak of the devil and the devil appears. I turn around on my heels, mustering up the harshest glare I could ever think of, and bolt after him. Too bad he already started running before I did.
He's the running back on the football team, meaning the asshole has to run quickly, while I'm much more of a leisurely runner. I do volleyball, but it doesn't really need much running. We mainly just do push ups, squats, sit ups and jumping jacks, while they do the whole lot plus more (maybe not squats and jumping jacks, but that would be hilarious).
I yodelled insults in Spanish as I bolted after him. People stopped to watch the little fight, amused at the sight of us running gun-ho in the deep sand. I was tripping every few steps, while Tyler was going strong.
I decided to fool him, hiding behind the bar fridge someone cleverly brought instead of an esky. I poked half of my head out from the side to see Tyler looking around with a confused look on his face.
Oh, he's so cute with that look.
Then, when he turned his back to walk the other way, I ran after him and jumped on his back.
"Payback, pendejo (asshole)," I whispered in his ear. He laughed in defeat.
"Okay, you win."
"I know, that was my plan," I smiled victoriously, fist pumping the air.
People cheered and hollered loudly, chanting my name. Oh yeah, I have quite a fan club I see. I jumped off Tyler's back much to my reluctance, and stopped in my tracks as I saw Gen staring at me and Tyler with such confusion it looked like her eyeballs would've popped out of her skull.
I smiled sheepishly as she glared at me, walking over to her. "Hey Gen," I chuckled lightly.
"Details, now."
So, I told her everything. Everything about how we weren't actually dating, the near-kiss, how we don't really hate each other much lately. By the time I finished, Gen was smiling from ear to ear.
"I told you," she fist pumped, "I knew that you guys would be perfect together. It's like a sixth sense, even though you're the matchmaker. Heck, I think nearly the whole school was playing matchmaker trying to get you two guys to date. Clark was the one who told Tyler to fake date you anyway," she rolls her eyes, "Tyler can't think of anything unoriginal."
"Clark thought about it?" I cocked my head to the side. I know that Clark is my friend at all, but since when has he been going behind me back telling Tyler what to do and stuff?
Genevieve looks at me with an ounce of sheepishness, like I wasn't supposed to know what she just told me. "Just listen to Clark," she stutters slightly. "Remember, 'there was more to the fake relationship than you thought'. I better go now," she winks, "But don't forget about what Clark said, please."
What is with everyone being cryptic nowadays?
How come people can't just downright tell me the reason why Tyler is doing things?
What is so damn important about it! I think I'm about to go mental.
The only thing I can do to know answers is to ask Tyler, but I'm not prepared to do that just yet. After all, we're just patching things up and maybe even becoming—dare I say it—friends. It's weird to call him that, especially after all those years of me wanting to drain his blood out with the help of Damon and Stefan.
Ugh, just another one of my TV series that I stayed up watching and lacking sleep. The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf and Pretty Little Liars are my not-so-secret obsessions.
"What'd Gen want?" Tyler asks. Before I started talking to her, he went off to go get the keys off of Nate once and for all since we were starving—we didn't have dinner—and Austin was getting pissed off at the fact that his girlfriend thinks he's off with other girls, when in reality he is downing cordial shots with the guys since he's way too young to drink.
"Not much," I lied, "She mainly just wanted to talk about how great her party is."
He frowned, but nodded nonetheless. "Did you give her the present?"
I hummed in response. All five of us pitched in to buy Gen a present. Emily and I bought it, since the guys are practically useless at gift giving, so we got her a really pretty charm bracelet and a friendship bracelet that Emily made. We all have one, since Emily has a knack for braiding threads. She even gave one to Tyler, though back in the days we weren't very involved with him. I guess it was because he was Nate's man best friend and we didn't want to exclude him.
My bracelet is in my favourite colours—aqua and lime green—and is tied into a secure knot on my right wrist. Emily has a yellow and orange one, while Nate's is black and baby blue. From memory, I think that Tyler has a navy blue and red one. He still wears it, even though it's over three years old, and I think that is so cute. I mean, we all wear one, but for a guy to keep it on has got to mean something since they don't like admitting they wear friendship bracelet.
Nate, however, flaunts his bracelet. Got to love that cheeky bastard.
"Well, I got the keys," he dangled the key ring in the air, the clinking of Nate's various keys loud and obnoxious. Nate has a knack for collecting keys he doesn't even use—he says that they're all there for 'just in case' moments. "Austin and I agreed that we're going to McDonalds for dinner. I think we're just going through the drive through since Nate is drunk, and then we'll probably just crash at yours."
"Oh, okay, thanks for the notice," I retorted. Great, now he's already inviting himself over.
He laughs loudly, green eyes twinkling with a sort of happiness that I'm envious of. His left dimple shows, concaving in a half moon on his cheek.
Tyler is adorable. No, much more than adorable. He's hot, playful, still an asshole, but every now and again he'll let me catch a glimpse into the real him, not the player all the girls chase after. He's just an average guy—a hot one at that—with a love for his little sister and a knack for pissing a certain brunette off whose named after a Guns N Roses song.
And weirdly, I feel that maybe Tyler Bradford isn't so bad after all.
I guess that's what freaks me out the most.
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McDonalds.
It's the place that you go to get cheap meals that are greasier than hair that hasn't been washed in a month. But, it's also the worst possible place to ever take a person on a date at.
I mean, who wouldn't want to have a date at Maccas?
Great customer service (they even mess your order up on purpose—how lovely!), clean surroundings (that diaper on the floor of the bathroom is super hygienic) and don't even get me started on the delicatessen. To. Die. For.
Jokes, I joke. That is complete and utter bull turtles covered in whipped cream. Yeah, it's that much of a joke to me.
Well, a turtle covered in whipped cream is pretty fascinating, but definitely not as fascinating as seeing Nate passed out in the backseat of his car, going full exorcist.
I'm talking the whole Regan MacNeil upside down spider walk.
Okay, not to that extent, but you catch my drift?
After we left the party, we dumped Nate in the backseat against the window. Doing up his seatbelt was hard enough when he was commenting about how beautiful it was, but then when he fell asleep, it got even more hilarious.
Nate had somehow managed to get his head in the middle of the seatbelt—this is while we were ordering inside Maccas since the drive through was closed, mind you—and twisted his abdomen backwards so that he was crumpled in half, head on lap, but staring straight at us like he was observing our souls. Tyler had full on crapped himself when he first saw him, thinking that our best friend had his soul taken by a demon.
Well, that's enough horror movies for Tyler.
I, on the other hand, had laughed so hard I nearly dropped my frozen raspberry drink—it was that weird of a position. Then, we had to try and get him back into a normal position, which was hard because he was practically dead weight.
Yeah, definitely not leaving him locked in the car unsupervised for now on. Emily was driver, while Austin was in the front seat. Emily decided that it would be fun to play corners with Nate's car, making Nate's head flop side to side onto my shoulder then slamming against the window full pelt.
He is so going to have bruises in the morning.
"Hurry up and get home Emily, I'm starving," Austin whined from the front seat. Emily kept on taking detours because she thought it was absolutely downright entertaining to watch Nate suffer in the backseat. Yeah, they're definitely the perfect couple.
We finally got home after screaming at Emily a little bit more. Tyler and Austin had to carry Mr. Drink-a-lot to his house and tuck him into his bed while Emily and I heated all the food back up since it'd gone cold.
"So, you and Tyler tonight," Emily smirked, "Weird, hey?"
"Not you too," I groaned, leaning up against my fridge while playing with the magnets on it.
My mother has a slight sticky note and magnet obsession. The fridge is covered top to bottom in green and pink post it notes with magnets from around the world placed randomly over it. The post-it notes are covered in my mother's scrawl about recipes and reminders. She is obsessed. No, beyond that.
"I'm stating the truth," she rolls her eyes at me. Her light blonde hair is up in a high ponytail, tendrils of hair falling out of it and falling onto her forehead. Her shirt is slightly crumpled, while mine is still slightly damp from the little swim Tyler took me on. I wasn't bothered to change though, since I have my bikini underneath anyway.
"So, I was thinking about getting a tattoo," Emily grinned brightly. She grabbed the bags of McDonalds out of the microwave once it finished reheating them. "We should get one together."
I was flabbergasted. Emily had always been against tattoos and excessive piercings, so this was definitely something new. I, on the other hand, loved the thrill of new piercings. I'm not covered head to toe in them, but I have four earrings in each ear and my belly button done. I was thinking of getting my nose done, but my parents would never approve. Maybe I'll get it done sooner or later. I wanted a tattoo, but only something small and sentimental since I'm not all too fussed on huge ones.
"Sure," I whooped, "About time you came to the dark side. I know I haven't gotten a tat yet, but I really do want one."
Emily nods, "I was thinking about an infinity or quote, I'm still not sure."
"White girl," I snorted out a laugh, "That is so white girl, I'm sorry. You should totes get a Starbucks cup in an infinity on your wrist, it would look totes adorbs."
"What-ever," Emily flicked her ponytail, "Just be jealous when I have Starbucks on my wrist and you're bo-ring."
I heard the front door open, knowing that Tyler and Austin were back, I flicked Emily on the forehead. "Chop, chop. Boys are here, I'm starving."
"Same!" Austin and Tyler hollered at the same time. I think they were in the living room since the sound of the TV was in the background.
I looked at Emily with a grimace. "I think we should eat all there food."
"Totes," Emily deadpanned
Then, we burst out laughing, because we aren't even that funny, but we think we are, and that is entirely okay.