It had now been a few weeks since the 4th of July. Senior year was staring up in less than three weeks and I couldn't feel more nervous and excited about it.
Parker and I have been going good. We've been out together on different dates and just out with a group of friends. A week after the 4th, I met Marcus who turned out to be a sweetheart with a player side. The three of us decided to go to an arcade that was in the town center, cozily squished between a vape store and a 7/11.
Four hours and over a hundred dollars worth of quarters down the drain on rigged machines, we left with two key chains and a pack of gum. Heading over to a McDonalds, we spent the rest of our money on chicken nuggets. A fun day out quickly lead to a simple friendship with Marcus which Parker was beaming at.
He's still too cute to handle.
Carly and Kharis have also taken it upon themselves to harass Parker. Their collective two brain cells decided that they had to have a day out with us once they found out about Marcus, Parker and I's trip.
We ended up at the mall and went in and out of clothing stores for hours, everyone taking turns to choose an outfit for each other. While in Forever 21, Carly had managed to get Parker into a big, fluffy pink coat and pink sunglasses. He strutted up and down the different aisles, posing at each end; once he made his way back to where we were, he blew me a kiss before bursting into laughter. Kharis kneeled over at it while Carly was on her knees on the floor, laughing her ass off. We ended up back at my place, eating ice-cream and watching movies.
Now, we were getting ready to go out as a whole group. I had thrown on one of Parker's t-shirts that he left after a day at the lake a few days ago and my black jeans rolled up at the cuffs. My thick hair was contained in a low ponytail, but the flyaways still surrounded my face. I put on my converse and and grabbed my crossbody bag before heading down stairs to meet Carly outside my house.
"Bye Mom, I'll be back later!"
"Okay sweetheart! Remember curfew's at midnight! I love you!" She called back to me from her seat on the sofa, cozied up in her new romance book.
"Love you too!"
I opened the door and walked to the end of the driveway. In the distance, a blur of red was travelling towards my house. The car came to a stop as it pulled up next to me, then the window rolled down and I was met with Carly's grinning face.
"Well hello there hotshot, didn't know you wear a men's size medium."
I rolled my eyes and opened the door, sliding into the passenger seat.
Carly had sunglasses over her face but a perfectly arched brow could easily be seen over them. She had two dutch braids in her hair laying neatly down her back and a few bobby pins to keep loose hairs out of her face. Her outfit consisted of an emerald green tank top and some loose cotton shorts. A pair of white vans and a white sweater on her lap. Her acrylic nails tapped against the wheel.
"Hello there Carly. Looking good."
She chuckled before putting her foot down on the gas, heading to Mirabelles.
...
Once we entered the cafe, I quickly found my boyfriend sitting in a nearby booth across from his best friend.
"Hey." I smiled, sliding in next to Parker. He mirrored my expression, pecking me on the cheek. "Hey, baby."
"Gross," Carly said, sitting down next to a smirking Marcus. He looked over at her.
"Hi, I'm Marcus. And who are you, gorgeous?"
She frowned at him and leaned away. "I'm not interested."
I sighed. I had hope that they would at least get along for an hour.
Doesn't look like that's happening...
"Marcus, this is my best friend Carly. Carly, this is Marcus." I introduced them.
Before Marcus could use another pick up line on her, my other friend came bouncing in behind me. "And I'm Kharis, as you all know." She grabbed a nearby chair to add to the end of the booth, completing our group.
"Yeah, yeah, shut up. I'm trying to learn more about this Carly," Marcus said, putting his arm across the top of the booth's cushion.
"And you won't get far. You're not my type." She fought back, crossing her arms.
As they continued their banter, Kharis leaned over to me. "I'm gonna go grab us a round of sweets. What do you think? A dozen cookies?" My eyes lit up at the mention of dessert and I eagerly nodded my head as she pushed her chair back to make her way to the counter.
Now I could focus on the hottie sitting next to me.
His hand sat on my thigh, warming me up and he nudged his nose against my jaw.
This is too hot for public.
It then took a turn when I giggled out because his nose was tickling me and I could feel him smile into my skin. "Stop!" I let out playfully, holding out the 'p' while we both laughed.
Someone cleared their throat from the edge of our table. "Well if it isn't, Collins."
It was a deep voice I didn't recognize and our table got quiet. Parker stiffened next to me, moving completely away.
When I looked up, I saw a buff guy, around our age standing with a cocky smirk on his face and varsity jacket on his back.
Ew. Of course he's a jock.
"What do you want, Cody?" Parker answered back with a glare.
The guy, who I knew now as Cody, chuckled and leaned his hands against the table. "I saw you guys over here and thought I would stop by on my way out. Who is this babe beside you?"
I cringed as his eyes scanned me and I hoped the cushion would envelop me whole.
"That's none of your business." Parker scowled and crossed his arms to look intimidating.
I frowned. Why wouldn't he introduce me as his girlfriend?
Another comment was going to come out of Cody's mouth but Kharis pushed him out of the way, setting down the box of chocolate chip cookies. "Excuse me," she scoffed at him.
"Why so mean, Kharis? I was just trying to meet your friends."
"Well they don't want to meet you."
Cody put his hands up in the air, backing away. "Alright. I can take a hint. See you around." He winked and was out the door in a minute.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I definitely did not like him.
I was also a bit annoyed at Parker's actions. He acted like he wasn't even with me. "You okay?" He leaned over to me with concern like nothing had happened.
"Fine," I said shortly, staying quiet for the next hour as my friends conversed.
•••
"Bye!" I waved back to my girls before Parker led me over to his car, insisting that he take me home much to my refusals.
I was still rightfully pissed at him.
We got into his car silently, not even the radio on as he pulled out of the parking lot and there was obvious tension in the air.
For the short ten minutes, neither of us said anything and we soon came up to the familiar two story suburban house that I call home.
The car came to a stop and I quickly unbuckled my seat belt, ready to get out of the awkward air. I mumbled, "Thanks for the ride. Good night," and then tried to open the door. Key word being tried because I heard a lock click and it became difficult to get out.
"Wait, Paige. I know something's up and I'm not letting you leave until you tell me," He said, tugging on my hand to get me to look at him.
"Just leave it, Parker. Nothing's up."
He rolled his eyes at me, looking annoyed. "Are you really going to lie to me? Oh come on. I'm not blind. You haven't said a word to me in hours."
"It doesn't matter," I mumbled, looking away and instead fiddled with my hands around the strap of my purse.
"It doesn't matter?" He mocked. "What the fuck? It sounds like you're saying it's okay for us to just ignore each other like strangers for hours on end. I'm your boyfriend, Paige!" His voice yelled out, making me jump since he had never used that tone with me before.
"And I'm your girlfriend, Parker!" I yelled back, "So why didn't you introduce me as that?"
His eyebrows creased in confusion. "What?"
"You heard me. You totally disregarded me in front of Cody today! No 'this is my girlfriend' or 'we're dating' to him. Nothing like that at all! It's like you're embarrassed of me. What? Don't wanna introduce me to your jock friends because I'm the shy, good girl-"
"Stop!" Parker's voice cut off my own loud one. "Stop. That's not it at all," he said calmly.
"Then, what is it?" I said, my voice lowering as well.
He leaned closer to me, holding my face between his large palms as I continued to frown. "He's a bad guy, Paige. I didn't want him to know anything about you so that he could take advantage of that information."
"You also could've stood up to him for me and showed him who I belong to." I countered to which Parker smiled at, nodding his head.
"I could've. I'm sorry I didn't but I was just trying to protect you. Because I care about you and that scares me."
Aww. My heart.
All my worries were wiped away at his words and I closed the gap between us to place a small but passionate kiss on his lips, pulling back to smile at him once again.
"We good?" He asked.
I giggled. "We're good."