“This is… cute.” Jackson said, inspecting the inside of the tent. I had put in two sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, flash lights, Boyce the Bear, and most of the munchies that we bought at the store.
“Thanks!” I chirped. “I worked super-duper hard on it.”
“And you remembered barbeque chips.” He said, popping open the brown Lays bag as I opened the salt and vinegar ones.
“Of course I remembered. How could I forget after you nearly exploded when you accidently ate my vinegar chips?”
“Okay, that was one time and those things are disgusting, but you can’t tell until you eat it because they don’t look suspicious at all until you put the devil into your mouth.”
“It was still funny when you started crying.” I chuckled.
“I did not cry.” He defended. “My eyes just happened to water in a very manly way.”
I laughed with a mouthful of chips. “Right, a very manly way.” I mocked him.
“Exactly.” He chirped. “So where’s that bear? Did he finally die?”
I shrieked. “Boyce will never die!”
“His time will come, Holls.” Jackson said matter-of-factly.
“Never!” I snapped, hugging my raggy brown bear close to my chest.
“What’d you do last night? You didn’t have him last night, did you?” He asked with raised eyebrows.
“Okay, that soo doesn’t count. I was with Ryder frikkin’ West. I think Boyce understands.” I mumbled, stuffing a whole slice of salami into my mouth.
“I’m sure he felt lonely.” Jackson teased.
“He’s a big boy, he can spend one night alone.” I huffed, petting Boyce’s matted fur.
“Whatever you say.” He sang.
“Do you remember Nick Embry?” I asked randomly through another slice of salami.
“Yeah, he was on the football team, right?” Jackson asked, chomping on the popcorn.
“Yeah. Well, him and Libby are dating.” I said with a crooked smile.
“Really?” He asked with raised eyebrows. “Is he still the giant jerk that he used to be?”
I nodded. “He’s a super prick and he cheats on all of his girlfriends. I keep telling Libby that but ‘noo’ she’s heels over head and she’s going to get her heart broken, like a twig. A small, stupid little twig.”
“But she’ll get over it because she has you, right?”
“Well, I am pretty great.” I said with a sly smile. “Anywho, how have you been? Hollywood everything you thought it would be?”
He smiled. “Yeah, it’s great. It’s still hard to believe sometimes.” He said, popping a few more chips in his mouth.
“Remember that one time when Aunt Rosie told you that you’d never make it. You cried for two days straight.” I said with a small smirk.
“Okay, I was ten and if you were ten and your favorite aunt tells you that your dreams will never come true, it kind of scars you for life.” He defended.
I nodded. “Sure, sure. But it was a big change for me too. I got way popular after Lipstick Lullabies.”
“That stupid chick flick? People actually watched that?” He muttered.
“I happen to like it. I just plug my ears and close my eyes when that one scene comes on because I refuse to paint that picture in my head.” I said, referring to the part in the movie where him and the lead actress had a sex scent. Like, Ew! Don’t they think of the actor’s families when they make those movies? “Anyway, you remember Carley Henderson, right?”
A smirk instantly spread across his face but he tried to cover it up by stuffing a handful of popcorn in his mouth. “No, doesn’t ring a bell.” He muttered through his popcorn.
I squinted my eyes at him skeptically. “You slept with her, didn’t you?” I cringed as I popped another slice of salami into my mouth. Did I mention that Jackson was a total man whore when he was in school? And Carly. Well, she’s just a whore. She’s not the typical fake boobs, big butt, fake blonde kind of whore. No, she traps you with her flat chest, invisibutt, and wavy brown hair then drags you in with her big, brown eyes. It’s annoying, really.
“No.” He said confidently, yet in an offended tone. “Not technically.” He muttered as an afterthought.
“Ew.” I grunted. “She didn’t even have the decency to actually- Ugh, never mind. Well, she kind of kisses the ground I walk on. It’s weird. She acts like I like her and that I will bring her with me so she can talk to you. It’s annoying. She’s annoying. God, I hate her.”
“Okay, she’s not that bad.” He said, munching on his chips once again.
“You’re a guy, though. You just want to get in her pants.” I said, throwing a piece of popcorn at Jackson’s face which, to my demise, he skillfully caught in his mouth.
“No, I did get in her pants. I do not want to.” He corrected me.
“You get my point.” I mumbled, throwing another piece of popcorn at him, and again, he caught it. “Stop catching it!” I whined.
He chuckled and smiled proudly. “Sorry, I’m just that talented.”
I sat up straight and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl, throwing the whole handful into his face. “Talented my ass.” I said with a proud smile on my face.
“That wasn’t even fair.” Jackson complained. “And you know it.”
“No, but it was funny.” I giggled. “Your face was hilarious.”
“Ladies love my face.” He said cockily.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re such an ego-bird.”
“Only you would think that’s a word.” He said with an amused smile.
I stuck my tongue out at him. “I’m sure other people would think it’s a word, too.” I defended.
“Yeah, like who? Kale?” He sang in a teasy voice, causing my face to flush red.
“Shut up.” I muttered, moving over to my sleeping back and crawling inside.
“She’s only known the kid for a day and a half and wittle Holly is already forming a crush on him.” He cooed like I was two.
I grabbed one of my pillows and aimlessly chucked it towards Jackson, but it was too dark to actually see where he was. I heard him burst into laughter as he shuffled into his sleeping bag. “Okay, in that day and a half, we went to Tommy Kidder’s birthday party, drove home from the airport, went grocery shopping, and he helped me pop the popcorn. It was not just a normal day and a half kind of span.”
“You also slept with his brother.” He added. “And it was microwave popcorn.”
“He said please!” I squealed. “And slept, as in sleeping. Not slept as in what your pervy brain was thinking.”
“Sure, sure.” He said sarcastically.
“Just go to sleep.” I grumbled.
I heard him laughing softly. “Hey, for what it’s worth. I think you guys will make a cute couple.”
“You really think so?!” I squealed loudly.
His laughter grew louder. “Yeah. I mean, he-“ He paused in the middle of what he was saying and then paused. “Goodnight.”
“He what?” I asked, suddenly interested.
“Nothing, goodnight.” He mumbled.
“Jackson!” I whined. “Tell me!”
He snored loudly, obviously fake but it was obvious that he wasn’t going to finish what he was going to say so I let out a huff of air and closed my eyes.
“Goodnight.” I nearly whispered, curling up in a ball with Boyce hugged closely to my body. Quickly enough, I was asleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When I woke up, my nose fished for the fresh breakfast aroma of French toast or maybe pancakes. Unfortunately, my talented nose came up short, but my ears caught something.
My luck must be bad today because the sound wasn’t the sizzle of bacon or the crunch of toast, it was just Jackson’s voice outside of the tent. I could tell by where it was coming from that he was on the couch, even though I couldn’t see him. I strained to hear him, but all I could hear were hushed voices.
I couldn’t make out what they were saying, they were probably in the kitchen… not making me food. Just talking. I jumped when their voices were interrupted when my phone’s loud ringtone started blasting in my ear with One Direction. I frantically searched my sleeping bag for my phone and found it under my pillow.
“Hello?” I grumbled, getting to my feet and unzipping the tent.
“Holly Anne Thorne!!!” My best friend, Libby’s voice bellowed through my phone.
“What’d I do?” I whined, making my way up the stairs and towards my room. There was no way Kale was going to see my morning hair. It was like a tumbleweed glued to my head.
“You’ve been in Hollywood for over twenty four hours and you haven’t called me yet!” She shrieked.
I sighed, putting the phone down on my dresser and forcing my strongest brush through my hair. “It’s been insane over here. I have so much to tell you.” I said excitedly, spraying myself with a little bit of my favorite perfume and scanning over my pajamas. A white tank top and Piglet pajama bottoms. Cute.
“Well, start talking.” She demanded.
I chuckled and trotted down the stairs, towards the voices in the kitchen. “Well, first off I went to Tommy Kidder’s birthday party.” I gloated.
“What?!” She shrieked.
“Yeah. And Ryder was there.”
“You. Met. RYDER WEST?!” She squealed in her most high pitched squeal, and that’s saying a lot because Libby is quite the squealer.
“And his brother.” I added. “And sister.” I walked into the kitchen and all three guys were in the kitchen, sitting at the bar. Shirtless. All of them. I let out a squeal and quickly covered my eyes, pulling the phone away from my ear and covering the speaker part so Libby couldn’t hear me. “Why are you not wearing shirts?!” I demanded.
“We’re going to the pool.” Kale replied with amusement.
I slid my hand off of my eyes and nonchalantly walked into the kitchen. “Well warn a girl next time.” I muttered.
“I didn’t know he had a brother.” Libby said when I put the phone back to my ear.
“Well, he does, his name is Kale.” I said, earning an interested look from Kale. I sat down at the bar, forcing myself not to even look in his direction anymore because I’m sure that if I did, I would have just gawked at his perfect abs.
“Kale? That’s a hot name.” She cooed.
I chuckled. “He is hot.” I said, momentarily forgetting that I had the attention of Jackson, who was sitting a few bar stools down from me, Kale, who was sitting right next to me, and Ryder, who was standing at the counter making coffee. I squealed and shot my hand to my mouth, my face bursting with red as the guys started laughing, Ryder and Jackson were in tears but Kale just let out a few confident chuckles with a smirk. “Libby, I’m going to kill you!” I ranted.
“Sorry!” She laughed. “What’d I do?”
“Ugh, never mind.” I muttered.
“What’s he like?” She asked.
“Who? Ryder or Kale?” I asked, earning raised eyebrows from all three of the curious guys. I rolled my eyes. Busy bodies.
“Um, Kale.”
“Kale? He’s stupid.” I declared with a grin on my face. “He smells sometimes, too.” Kale scoffed and raised an arm, sniffing loudly at his armpit. I made a grossed out face right before he poked two fingers in my side.
“Do not.” He sang, wiggling around his fingers on my side.
I giggled and wiggled around in my seat. “Stop it!” I whined, trying to get free of his tickling. “Okay, fine! He doesn’t stink.” Satisfied, Kale removed his fingers from the fabric of my shirt. “But he’s annoying.” I said, sticking my tongue out at Kale who returned the gesture.
“Wait, he’s there with you?” Libby asked.
“Yeah, so is Jackson and Ryder.” I explained, quickly pulling the phone away from my ear to save my hearing. Even from a mile away I could have heard Libby’s squealing fest on the other end. I grinned sheepishly at Ryder. “She’s a bit of a fan.”
He chuckled. “I can hear.”
When I finally put the phone back to my ear, Libby wasn’t speaking. “Libby?”
“I have to go, Nick’s here.” She finally sputtered. “Call me tonight. I have so many questions!”
I smiled. “And I probably have so many answers. Alright, I’ll talk to you later. Love you, boo.”
“Love you too, boo!” She chirped before the line went dead.
I sighed and stuffed my phone into my pocket. “So why isn’t there food?” I asked in the silence.
“We already ate.” Jackson said. “But you were still sleeping. Have cereal or something.”
“Fine.” I huffed. “Oh! I need to go to the mall or something and get summery clothes.” I added. “Like, tomorrow.”
The room fell silent and the guys shared an unreadable eye contact exchange.
“What? I just need to go shopping.” I defended when they all acted like it was the end of the world or something. “I don’t even take that long.”
“Kale-“ My brother finally started.
“Nope.” Kale said quickly, raising his hands in surrender. “I took her shopping yesterday.”
“And we had a blast, thank you very much.” I demanded.
“See? You can take her.” Jackson chirped.
“No. Can’t you just wait until Andy gets back next week?” Kale attempted.
“Okay, I have two pairs of shorts. Two! How can I live a week with two pairs of shorts?”
“Okay. I have an idea-“ Jackson started.
“How ‘bout I choose?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“No.” They all said simultaneously.
I raised my hands in surrender. “But to whoever is taking me, we’re leaving at two tomorrow.” I said, turning and leaving the kitchen. Whatever they were going to do, I did not want to be a part of it.
“Wait, you don’t want to go out to the pool with us?” Kale asked.
I spun around and frowned at him. “I don’t swim.” I said in a monotone voice before turning back around and going into the living room. Within half an hour, I had the tent emptied and disassembled by myself while listening to my iPhone. Once everything was cleaned up, I made my way back into the kitchen to find something to eat since I still haven’t had breakfast.
I opened one of the many cupboards at random and squealed with delight when I got the right cupboard on my first guess, the shelves were layered with different cereals. Probably enough to feed all of Asia for a month. My eyes delightfully landed on a box of untouched Fruity Pebbles and I quickly pulled it out. I grabbed the jug of milk and a blue ceramic bowl with a spoon before making my way to the counter. I shook out the right amount of Fruity Pebbles before taking off the lid to the milk.
That’s when I made the mistake of looking out the window towards the pool where Jackson and Kale were fighting in the water, splashing and dunking each other in the deep end. I watched in a daze as Kale turned his back to me and pushed Jackson’s head under the water, his back muscles flexing and moving with every movement. And then, he proceeded to swim to the side of the pool and grip onto the concrete side, pushing himself out of the pool. The water was dripping down his very defined six pack like he was in some erotic commercial. I think my heart stopped when he started shaking his hair like a dog to get the water out. Water flew around him, out of his sexy dark hair as he grabbed his towel.
“Whatcha doin’?” A voice said behind me.
“AHH!” I screamed, nearly dropping the milk as I spun around to see a very amused Ryder standing in the door way to the kitchen with raised eyebrows. After I calmed down my heart a little, to where I could sputter something out, I brilliantly found some brilliant words to say. “A bug.” I said quickly, my face heating so warmly, it could have put all of Australia in a drought. “Th- there was a bug on the window.” I added.
“A bug?” Ryder said, obviously not believing me.
I nodded viscously. “It flew away though.” I mumbled, turning back around and pouring my milk into the cereal.
“Sure.” He chuckled.
I faced away from Ryder as I put the milk back in the fridge and tucked the spoon safely into the now full bowl of Fruity Pebbles.
“Why aren’t you outside with Jackson and, uh, Kale?” I asked, taking a big bite of my cereal while I never lost Ryder’s amused stare.
“I came in to get a towel but came back to see you checking out my bro- a bug.”
I scowled at him before talking. “Well, the bug is now gone. So you can go back out to the pool. Oh, but you don’t have to tell them about the bug. I don’t want Jackson thinking that he has an infestation or anything.” I mumbled, proud of my lie. It wasn’t too shabby.
He nodded slowly but a beautiful grin broke out on his face. “We wouldn’t want that.”
“Ryder.” I whined, giving him a pleading look that he easily ignored.
“Oh, I also wanted to tell you that I’ll see you at two tomorrow.” He said, his smile still wide and gorgeous.
“You lost the bet or whatever?” I asked with a slight smirk.
“It wasn’t a bet, we just-“
“I don’t want to know.” I interrupted, stuffing my face with another bite of Fruity Pebbles. “And I’m not that bad.”
“I’m not carrying your bags.” He warned.
“I can carry my own bags, but thanks for the offer.” I chuckled sarcastically.
“I’m here to help.” Ryder grinned.
“Good to know.” I mumbled, mindlessly letting my gaze move back towards the window as Kale sat down at the picnic table. As he reached across the table to grasp his phone, his muscles flexed with his movements and it made my heart beat faster. I couldn’t rip my eyes off of the scene as he chuckled at something that Jackson said and started tapping away on his phone.
“Another bug?” Ryder mused with raised eyebrows.
I jumped at his voice, since I forgot about his presence and glared at his very amused expression. “Y-yes.” I confirmed. “It was.. a very, very small-“ When I realized how completely unbelievable this was, I just stomped my foot. “Shut up!” I whined.
He laughed before throwing the towel over his shoulder and walking out the door towards the pool and the other guys.
I watched as he sat down beside Kale and said something to him before jumping into the pool with Jackson. I watched as Kale’s face reddened a bit and a smile broke out on his face and his shoulders shook with laughter.
I quickly sat down my now empty bowl and rushed out the door towards Kale. I sat down beside him and he grinned at me.
“What’d he tell you?” I asked him quickly.
Kale grew an instant smirk but tried, with major failure, to hide it. “Nothing.”
I scowled at him. “I watched his lips move and then you smiled, he said something!” I accused, earning the attention of Jackson and Ryder.
“I thought you weren’t coming out.” Ryder said with an amused smirk.
I stood up and glared at him as he bobbed up and down as he treaded water. A pit was growing in the pit of my stomach just by looking at the water for so long. “Ryder West I am going to kill you!” I shrieked.
“What’d I do?” He asked innocently.
I let out an annoyed huff and crossed my arms, closing my eyes so I didn’t get light headed from the deep, clear pool water. Did I mention that I hate water? I stuck my tongue out at him before turning to Jackson. “You have stupid friends.” I told him.
“I’m sorry.” Jackson snickered.
“I’m going inside.” I snipped, turning around to go back inside.
“Wait, Holls.” Jackson called behind me.
“What?” I whined, turning back around just as Kale leapt into the air and landed in the water with a big splash. A splash so big that it bounced out of the pool and was headed for me. Letting out a high pitched scream, I frantically jumped back, tripping over my own feet and falling to my butt. And being the klutz that I am, my head didn’t miss the picnic table that was right behind me either. The pain seared through the back of my head but I didn’t have time to react because suddenly, everything around me went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When I woke back up, I heard voices around me but they were down a long tunnel and they were too muffled to understand. I felt concrete behind my head and I felt hands on my shoulders and a pain shooting from the back of my head.
I finally decided to open my eyes and when I did, I got a face full of abs. Just perfect, sculpted, six pack abs.
“She’s awake.” Somebody said. And the way the abs moved when the voice echoed, I’d say the voice came from the set of abs that seemed to be the only thing in my view.
And then of course, Jackson ruined it by putting his face right in front of my view. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I croaked. “Just a bit of a headache.”
“Well you were only out for a few minutes.” He said.
“I just need some ice and I’ll be fine.” I insisted, pushing myself up to my elbows.
“Don’t try to get up.” He said, putting his hands on my shoulders.
“Jackson, I’m a clumsy dancer, I go through this all the time. Honestly, I’m fine.” I said.
“At least let Kale carry you to your room.”
“What? Why me?” Kale’s voice protested.
I heard a thump of somebody hitting somebody. “Because Jackson is being a good ass wingman right now. So carry your girl up to her room so you two can be alone. God, Kale. You’re so oblivious. Stupid virgin.” That was Ryder’s smooth voice.
“Okay, I am not a-“
Another thump echoed.
“Ow. Will you guys stop hitting me?” Kale whined.
“Can you guys talk about your sex lives later? Like, when I’m not around?” I asked, stumbling to my feet. My head felt like it weighed a ton, though and I tilted to the side until somebody caught me.
“C’mon, I’ll take you inside.” Kale breathed down my neck, causing me to giggle lazily.
“Okay.” I said as my feet were lifted off of the ground and I was in Kale’s arms. My eyelids were heavy, so I didn’t waste my energy to keep my eyes open until I felt the soft fabric of my new bed underneath of me.
I opened my eyes just to see Kale’s retreating back heading for the door. He was leaving? I didn’t want him to leave.
“Why not?” He asked, turning back around to face me.
I said that out loud? Man, I really hit my head hard. “I was just thinking.” I mumbled, keeling over as a cough rumbled through my body. “Ow.” I whimpered, laying my head back down on the pillow and closing my eyes. The pain in my head was nearly excruciating.
“I’ll get you some aspirin.” Kale said quietly before turning around and leaving the room.
I laid still in the bed, hoping that if I didn’t move, the pain would go away. But I wasn’t that lucky so I just sang some random song in my head to distract myself from the pain.
Years later, Kale returned with a glass of water and two pills. “Here, sit up.” He said lightly, putting a hand on the small of my back and helping me sit up. I ignored the searing pain in the back of my head as he handed me the two pills and the water then took the glass back after I slid both pills down my throat easily.
I quickly laid back down in hopes to take some of the pain away. “Gosh, it feels like I’m giving birth out of my head.” I groaned through the pillows.
“Well you fell pretty hard.” Kale chuckled softly.
“Well, I got scared.” I defended.
“Of what?”
“Of the-“ I stopped myself before I explained to him that I was jumping away from his splash. That would spiral into a conversation that I never want to have. Ever. Ever. Again. “Nothing.” I muttered, rolling onto my side and closing my eyes. Maybe if I go to sleep, the pain will be gone when I wake up.
“Sleeping won’t help.” Kale said, as if reading my mind.
“Why not?” I mumbled, muffling my voice with the pillow.
“It will just make it worse, trust me.” He said, sitting on the edge of the bed and put his hand on my shoulder.
“Why should I trust you? I’ve only known you for two days.” I muttered, putting my face in my hands. When I realized what I said, I paused and looked up at Kale’s gorgeous face. “I’m so sorry.” I gasped. “That was so mean. Oh my goat’s milk, I’m such a bitch.”
“You’re not a bitch, I hear this is what most chicks are like when they’re giving birth. Although, through the head might have other rules.” He joked.
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. “Thanks.”
“So what do you want to do?” He asked as I curled into a ball.
“Let’s just sit here.” I mumbled into my pillow. “I don’t want to move.”
For a moment, he was silent before I felt movement beside me. I opened my eyes to see Kale leaning against my headboard with his legs stretched out in front of him. He gently picked me up and moved me so that I was laying down with my head in his lap. “Sure.” He said softly.
I smiled into his lap and held back a sigh of content when he started running his hands through my hair.
“Let’s play the celebrity game.” I said lazily, keeping my eyes closed and feeling the rhythmic beat of Kale’s hand in my hair.
“What’s that?” He asked softly.
“I say a celebrity that starts with A, then you do B, I do C and we keep going like that.”
He chuckled a breathy chuckle. “Alright.”
“Amy Adams.”
“Brittney Spears.”
I rolled my eyes. “Typical guy. Carrie Underwood.”
“I’m sorry that I’m typical.” He said with amusement. “Um, D… Demi Lovato.”
“Ellen Degeneres, of course.” I said, digging my face deeper into Kale’s jeans. He smelled amazing. Like woodsy but with a minty twist. Like a candy cane forest. I loved it.
“Fergie?” He said. “Unless that would make me sound to typical. Then I’ll go with…” He thought for a minute. “Fergie.”
I chuckled. “Gwen Stefani.”
“Harry Potter?” Kale tried.
“Cheater. Not fictional characters.” I mumbled.
“Fine, Heidi Klum.”
“Perv.”
“You wouldn’t let me use Harry Potter.” He defended.
“Whatever.” I sang while I thought of an I. “Oh! Ian Somerhalder. Duh.”
“Who’s that?” He asked.
I gasped. “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe you just asked that. I’ll slap you when I can open my eyes.” I said. “Just go.”
“Alright.” Kale said with an amused chuckle. “Um, J.”
“Don’t you dare say Jackson.”
“I wasn’t going to.” Kale defended.
“Good.” I said, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.
“What’s that little kid’s name? Will Smith’s kid? Oh! Jaden. Jaden Smith.”
I nodded. “Finally. Um, K… Kim Kardashian.”
“Hypocrite.” He muttered. “L, right?”
“Yup.”
“Lady- Um, Lil Wayne.”
I chuckled and rolled my eyes, causing the headache to grow again. “Nice save. Megan Fox.”
“And I’m the pervert? Jeesh.” Kale joked.
“I’ll hit you twice when I open my eyes, Kale.” I groaned.
“Fine, I’m going.” He said. I could practically hear the smile in his voice. I wish I could see his smile right now. Neil Patrick Harris.”
“Oprah.” I said instantly.
We played this game until we got to Z when Kale finished the game off with Zac Efron. By then, I was running on no energy and I had no choice but to let my body take over and drift into sleep… on Kale West’s lap.
_____________________________________________
I hope you liked it... let me know! :D
By the way, the amazing trailor to the side was done by peaceanddisaster, so a big thanks to her! <3
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