chapter three: all guys are the same
After I spent an hour or so tanning, it started raining abruptly, despite the fact that there had been no clouds in the sky just minutes beforehand. This lead to me being practically trapped in the house all day and night. It didn't stop raining until around 3 p.m. the next day. The guys immediately left and went to the beach, but I didn't feel like joining them. Instead, I spent some time with Amberly outside in the pool. It was now half-past nine.
"How has Florida been treating you so far, Kendi?" My mom asked me. We had just finished eating dinner at a nice Italian restaurant on the boardwalk and were now making our way back to the beach house. I did not know if I should lie to make her feel better or if I should bring up the fact that I still did not fully want to be here. It made me feel guilty and ashamed when I made her upset, so I decided to keep my response short and simple.
"It's been fine," I told her. She peered over at me with knowing eyes and sighed. I guess she could see right through me.
"Listen, honey," she said as she grabbed my hand reassuringly. "I know you wish that you were with your friends, and I'm sorry that your father and I don't feel comfortable leaving you home alone, but it can't be that bad spending time here. Some of your friends would kill to be in Fort Lauderdale right now, in this beautiful town where the beach is our backyard."
My mom was right, which made me feel ten times guiltier. Don't get me wrong, I loved being here and I was so grateful for everything, I just hated to feel lonely and left out from what was happening back home. I knew I had to get over this.
"I know, mom. I'm sorry," I responded as sincerely as I could. "It's nothing against you or dad or Ryan at all. Trust me, I do love it here, I just miss my friends and home sometimes." I squeezed her hand in hopes of expressing to her that I love her.
My mom looked over at me and smiled. "I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too, mom," I replied just as we reached the house.
"Now I'm not saying that you need to or that you should, but maybe you could think about introducing yourself to some of the girls that live around here. I know that there's a girl that looks around your age who lives next door. She seems very sweet," she stated. I bit my lip. In the past, I've never had any luck with the girls that I've met here. They're usually snobby, self-absorbed, or brain dead, which is way different than the people I surround myself with back home.
I gave in, though, and said, "Okay, I'll think about it." Maybe she's right. Maybe this girl would be different.
"Now why don't you go get ready for bed. It's getting late," my mom suggested as we entered the house. We were the first ones back from dinner. "Your father, Aunt Dina, and Uncle Jeff are already at the bar down the street. I'm supposed to meet them there but I wanted to walk you home first."
"Okay." So I would be home alone tonight. Well, besides for Amberly. She had a hissy fit before dinner and decided to stay home alone. There was nothing we could do to get her to go out with us. This was all because she just was not in the mood for Italian food. She wanted chips, so that is what she ate.
"We should be back in a couple of hours. You know us," my mom laughed. Honestly, if the parents did not have the responsibility of taking care of us, they would be out all night. I would genuinely be surprised if they were all home in three hours. They were quite the partiers.
"Don't do anything stupid," I jokingly warned.
"I wouldn't hold me against it," my mom replied. "I've gotta get going but I love you and I will see you tomorrow morning." She leaned in and embraced me in a tight hug.
"I love you too," I grinned. She then blew me a kiss and left. As soon as the door shut behind her, I started to make my way upstairs. With no one home besides Amberly on the third floor, this meant that I could blast my music as loud as I wanted without anyone annoying me. Sometimes being alone wasn't too bad.
Just as I reached the top of the flight of stairs, I heard the back door open and slam shut. I figured it was my mom so I called out to her.
"Did you forget something, mom?" I looked down over the railing but didn't see anyone.
"I'm not your mom," a voice shouted out. It was a guy's. "But I could be your daddy."
What the hell?
Asher then popped out from behind the wall with a devious grin and his hands tucked in the front of his khaki shorts. I hadn't seen him since earlier today because the guys decided not to come out to dinner with us. Apparently they had met a few people that invited them to get burgers or something. I didn't care enough to remain updated with all of the details.
"Oh, hey. It's just you," I said, turning around and heading to my room as if I was unfazed by his presence.
I heard a gasp and then the sound of stairs creaking as Asher blurted out, "Well you don't seem too thrilled to see me. That's quite disappointing." I rolled my eyes as I opened the door to my new room.
When I didn't respond, Asher questioned, "Why are you walking away from me?" Oddly, he sounded a little upset, but it didn't seem sincere.
"I was not aware that you wanted me to stick around at the top of the stairs," I told him as I took a seat on the edge of my bed.
He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. From this angle, his biceps looked huge. Well, maybe that was just from every angle...
"Are you acting like this because of Ryan?" He wondered. His eyes stared deeply into mine, tempting me to get closer so that I could get a better view of what color blue they truly were. They looked almost grey from how far apart we were. Suddenly, I felt the urge to get up and stand in front of him, but I remained in my spot on the bed, not daring to approach him. There was a part of him that made me nervous. A good kind of nervous, I suppose.
"Acting like what?" I asked curiously.
"Acting... I don't know... standoffish...," he shrugged. "reserved, cautious, hesitant..." Asher continued to list. My eyebrows furrowed. I did not think that I was acting like that at all.
"Because of Ryan?" I asked, referring back to his first question.
"Ryan seems a little overprotective. I could tell he doesn't like guys going for you. I thought that maybe him saying to me that you were 'off-limits' was making you apprehensive to talk to me."
Out of nervousness, I sucked the inside of my lip in between my teeth and began to lightly chew down on it.
"I mean, he is a little protective and defensive when it comes to guys talking to me, but I know he only has good intentions," I admitted. However, I did not disclose how annoyed I had been over what Ryan had said yesterday at the beach. Or how I was completely fed up with Ryan thinking that he could control what choices I made. It didn't seem like he was stopping Asher from talking to me, though.
"But I'm not like other guys," Asher declared. I stifled a laugh and had to restrain myself as hard as I could from rolling my eyes.
"Wow. It's not like that's my first time hearing that," I chuckled. If I had a dollar for every time a guy has tried to convince me that he's different, let's just say that I would be rich.
He stepped into the room and kept his eyes locked on me. His face remained serious.
"No, Kendall. I really am a good guy," he assured me. Asher was now standing just a couple of feet away from me. From here it was easy to see that his eyes were light blue and his cheeks were stained pink. He must not have worn enough sunscreen.
"That's not so easy to believe when I hardly know you," I responded with all honesty.
"Well, let me prove it to you then," he said, taking a step closer to me. His eyes softened as a small smirk crept onto his face. I didn't get the chance to respond, though, because his phone started ringing.
Asher huffed and picked up his phone. "Yo," he greeted. "Yeah... yeah... fine... I'm coming now." He then hung up.
"Who was that?" I wondered, trying to change the subject so that he wouldn't bring up what we had left off on.
"Jesse. He wants me to meet him at the beach," he informed me. He appeared slightly frustrated by this.
"Okay," I responded simply.
"Wanna come with me?" He looked hopeful as he waited for a response. However, there was no way I was going with him. I felt too claustrophobic. I needed to breathe.
"I think I'm gonna get changed into pajamas and get into bed, but thank you," I acknowledged his request.
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then." Asher began to walk out of the door and I stood up to head over to my dresser. "Goodnight, Kendall."
"Goodnight."
..........
Later that night after getting changed and laying down in my bed, I heard a loud slam from downstairs. It sounded like the sliding glass door that led to the pool. I checked the time on my phone and saw that it wasn't past twelve a.m. which meant that there was no way that it was the adults. Maybe it was the boys.
"Could you move any slower?" A voice spoke out. It was a girl. My ears perked up. Why is there a girl in the house?
"Stop speaking so loudly," I heard Ryan say. The noise of footsteps grew louder, but they remained on the first floor. It sounded like they were heading for the kitchen which was directly below my room.
"Let me through so that I can get the bottle," Jesse said a little too loudly. Immediately, I understood what they were trying to do.
Slowly, I slipped out from under the covers of my bed. My feet, which were covered in socks, lightly padded the floor as I headed to the stairs. Before I took my first step down, I gazed over the railing to make sure that no one was in view. I did not want to be seen, especially in my pajamas. I was wearing grey shorts and a long, Aaron Judge t-shirt that probably belonged to my brother. It was so long, it looked like I had no pants on.
"I get the first sip," another girl spoke out. Her voice was deeper. Oh, so there's more than one girl? How many were there?
Once I made it down the stairs, I carefully tiptoed to the doorway of the kitchen. From the angle that I was at, I could see everyone's backs facing the bar in the far left corner. They were in the dining room. Jesse pushed past the crowd and went behind the bar, coming out just seconds later with a handle of Malibu. The girls cheered enthusiastically before Ryan told them to be quiet. There were four girls, all of whom were blonde, skinny, and tan, besides one girl who had brown hair.
"Gimme a sip," one of the girls insisted as she reached for the bottle aggressively. She was the tallest of the bunch and had short, blonde hair that went just past her shoulders.
"Let me go get cups," Ryan said. He escaped from the gathering and turned around to make his way into the kitchen. I took this as my opportunity to find out what they were doing.
"Psst... Ryan," I whispered, hoping that he could hear me. He didn't, so I spoke up a little bit louder. "Ryan!" I whisper-yelled. Ryan then noticed me standing in the doorway to the kitchen. His eyes widened.
He looked behind him at his friends and then back at me. "What are you doing?" He unobtrusively questioned. Ryan seemed bothered by my presence.
"The real question is: what are you doing?" I gave him a knowing look.
"Just having some fun, Ken. You should try it sometime," Ryan rudely suggested. He then reached inside a cabinet and grabbed a stack of plastic cups. What was wedged up his butt?
"Yo, come on, Ryan!" Asher shouted out. He turned around to see what the hold up was and caught sight of me. I was about to turn away and head upstairs when one of the blondes grabbed a hold of Hunter's belt loops and pulled him into her waist. His hand subconsciously reached out to grasp her hip. Oh. I watched the girl raise her head to make direct eye contact with him. Hastily, I whipped around and jogged up the stairs. I did not need to watch that.
So much for being "different."
With a huff, I closed the bedroom door behind me and leaned my body against it. All guys are the same.
Seconds later I heard, "Kendall?"
I let out a light groan at the sound of my name being called out. Gently, I opened the door, praying that it would be Jesse or Ryan. Standing across from me, though, was Asher.
"Hey, sorry about that," Asher said, hesitatingly taking a step closer to me with an apologetic expression.
"Don't be," I responded dully, opening the door a little more. Why should I care, anyway?
"We just met these girls today. They're a little pushy and egocentric," Asher groaned. He was now only a foot or so away from me. There was no light in the hallway nor from my room. The chandelier from the tall living room ceiling was the only source allowing me to somewhat see him.
"You don't say," I scoffed.
"We're a little what?" A voice called out from the stairs. Oh, shit. My eyes nervously searched behind Ryan for who had just spoken. Striding up the stairs was the blonde girl from before, and even with a poor source of light, it was easy to see that she looked pissed.
"Oh hey, Lacey," Asher said, turning around to face her. She approached us with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. Her eyes looked right past his and met mine. I stared at her, undaunted as she scanned my body up and down, taking in my outfit choice. She obviously did not approve. It was my pajamas for Christ's sake. What else was I supposed to have on?
"Who's this bitch?" She asked, addressing Asher as her long, pink nail pointed at me. Excuse me?
Hunter looked at me and then back at her, not hesitating before he responded with, "My girlfriend. And don't you dare call her that." My eyes shot open. EXCUSE me?!
.........
With the coronavirus keeping me home, I have been grinding this book out. Three chapters down in two days, and I think I am going to write another one right now.
Which character are you hoping to get to know better?
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Anyways, stay tuned, loves! <3