-Chapter Twenty Three-
“So you guys had a food fight and didn’t even think to call me?” London asked, pulling up the top of her bikini.
“Yeah, sorry,” Danielle replied with a sheepish look on her face. I continued drawing in the warm, wet sand. I sat right at the point where the water stopped on the beach, the water tickling my toes as I sat Indian style. Danielle and London towered over me.
“You guys are so mean,” she pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest. “That would have been fun.”
I looked up towards London with a lopsided grin on my face. “If it makes you feel any better, we forgot to invite Vicky too.”
“Hardy-har. Okay. Excuses, excuses.”
I rolled my eyes at her and began drawing random swirls in the sand again.
“Was it fun?” she asked.
“Yeah!” Danielle exclaimed. “It was awesome! Especially when,” she started laughing out loud, breaking her sentence into two. She caught her breath and continued, “Alex. . . When she dumped fruit punch down Jake’s jeans.” She started laughing again.
I chuckled at the memory. Ah, that was fun.
“You did that!?” London’s eyes widened and she doubled over in laughter.
“Yep, pretty much.” I smiled at her. “Oh gosh, you should’ve seen his face! It was hilarious.”
“I can only imagine.”
“London!” A voice called out from somewhere in the distance. The three of us squinted our eyes at the figure jogging towards us. I put my hand above my eyes, attempting to see who it was. “London is that you?”
“Mason?” Her eyes went wide in excitement as she held her arms open to him. “Mason!!”
“It is you!”
They hugged, and he span her around. Is this what London does when she greets everyone? Mason, I’m guessing, planted her feet back on the ground after some time.
“I haven’t seen you in so long!” he said.
“I know! I Missed you so much!”
“When did you get back from London?” He laughed at his ‘joke’.
“I got back like two weeks ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“Sorry. . .”
“It’s okay.” He beamed. The as if noticing me and Danielle for the first time, began talking again. “Well, aren’t you going to introduce me to these lovely ladies?” he questioned, smirking at me and Danielle.
“This one is Danielle.” She pointed to Danielle. “And this one. . .” She pointed to me. “. . . Is Alex. She’s off limits. She’s Jake’s, alright?”
My eyes widened a fraction. “London!” I squealed, my cheeks burning.
“Oh, shush. You know it’s true.” London grinned at me, which was returned by a scowl from me.
Gosh, we aren’t even dating. I don’t even know if he likes me or not!
Mason smirked knowingly at me. “I’ll respect the Bro Code, don’t worry. . . So Danielle is on the market then?” he asked, raking his exquisite blue eyes over her tanned body.
“Yep! She’s ready to mingle, too.” Well, look who’s playing Match Maker today.
“Oh, is that so?”
Danielle’s cheeks were beet root red now, and her gaze was casted downward. “Er— yes?”
“She’s shy,” London said.
“I am not shy!” Danielle retorted. “I’m just nervous when someone like. . . Him is staring me down like that.”
“Should I take that as a compliment or. . . ?”
“She’ll warm up to you, don’t worry,” London told him, completely ignoring his question. I just stared at the three of them in amusement.
“Whatever.”
“What you drawing?” Mason asked. My head shot up when I realized he was talking to me.
I looked down at my so called masterpiece that was engraved into the sand and frowned. How did I do that without even realizing it? The two letters that I had drawn were a ‘J’ and an ‘A’ with a plus sign in the middle. . . . Surrounded by a heart.
Oh my gosh! This is so embarrassing!
“Aw, that’s so cute!” London and Danielle cooed in unison.
“This is her?” Mason asked. His question was meant for London.
She nodded at him with a wide smile stretched across her face. What in the world are they talking about?
“What do you mean?” I asked them, voicing my thoughts.
“Jake—”
London interjected by elbowing him in the gut before he could finish. “Nothing!”
I narrowed my eyes at her. What are they up to?
* * *
“Don’t you think Mason’s hot?” Danielle asked me. “He’s just so hot.”
“Yeah, sure,” I replied.
“That’s not an answer.” She scowled at me. “What about you, Lily? Don’t you think he’s hot?”
“He’s my cousin,” she deadpanned. “But. . . Yeah, I think he’s pretty good looking, I guess.”
“Oh. That’s a shocker. And no, he is not just ‘good looking’. He is hot, with a capital ‘H’.”
I rolled my eyes at Danielle, my eyes fixed on my phone. Of course I was texting Jake. We were talking about the most random thing right now.
We were talking about water and what it tastes like.
“I hate it when people say that water doesn’t have a taste,” Jake told me.
“I know, me too! I mean, if someone blindfolded you and gave you a cup of water, you would know that it’s water because of the taste, am I right?”
“Yes, yes you are. PREACH IT GIRL!”
I laughed, and texted him back. “Haha xD I’m bored. Wanna hang out later?”
“Hm. Sure. Where at?”
Hum. I racked my brain in search for a good meeting place. Oh! There’s this coffee shop that Jake took me, Lily, and Dan to the other day. I don’t really know what it’s called, but they have the best food there! Last time I was there, I ordered a pineapple and strawberry mixed smoothie. It was so good. . .
“The coffee shop next to that McDonalds?” I replied to him.
“Okay, that works :D See you then ;)”
My stomach swirled at the sight of his winky face. Sure, it was just an emoticon, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
* * *
“Have fun, you two!” Danielle called from her car as I got out. She had driven me to this coffee shop, and fortunately, Jake was just pulling up as well. So, he decided to come and get me.
“Oh, but not too much fun!” she added, putting her car in reverse and exiting the small, peaceful parking lot.
My cheeks blossomed as I shifted on my feet feeling uncomfortable. Danielle always makes moments awkward. Gosh.
Jake chuckled quietly beside me. “You’re too cute when you blush.” He took his index finger and poked my right cheek.
“I am not blushing!” I protested.
“Okay, Miss Tomato.” He winked at me with his gorgeous smile on his face.
I could feel my whole face begin to turn red, so I put my head down, avoiding his gaze. He laughed again, and guided me into the coffee shop with his hands on my shoulders.
“Want to sit over there?” he asked as he pointed to a booth next the window.
I beamed and nodded. I love window seats! Even if there isn’t much of a view, I still love being able to look outside at the good, or bad, weather.
“What do you want to eat?” Jake questioned.
“A pineapple strawberry mixed smoothie!” I replied. Oh, those are so good. I loved them so much!
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
“Are you going to pay again?” I asked him with a frown. I feel awful after all of these ‘dates’ he has taken me out to. Every time he insists on paying for me, and of course me being, well me, I let him. Not that long ago I noticed he spent one hundred dollars on me the time he rented my surfboard. God only knows how much I owe him now.
“Yeah, and this time,” he tapped my nose, “you’re not going to complain.”
I grunted and folded my arms over my chest. “Fine.”
He turned and made his way to where there was a short queue of people waiting to order.
Why does he always have to pay? Sure, I don’t necessarily like spending money, but I’d rather pay for myself than let him pay for me every single time we went out together. Oh, and trust me, we’ve gone out a lot. . . I wouldn’t call it a “date”, but it’s close enough, I guess. Almost every day of the week, actually. See how much I owe him? According to him, I don’t owe him anything, but I want to pay him back.
Of course, he won’t let me.
I looked out of the large glass window, seeing the almost completely deserted parking lot. The sun painted the environment. The shining sun always makes me feel happier. Everything seems better when it’s sunny, you know? Few clouds were scattered around the sky.
People walked all around outside, going to their destinations. They were walking on the sidewalks, or biking around near the boardwalk. A small girl with long blond hair was sitting at a park bench across the street. She was petting a tiny, fluffy white dog. The girl kind of looked like me when I was young. Same hair, same size. I even had a dog similar to that, except it had spots.
The faint sound of Party Rock Anthem hummed from my pocket, bringing me out of my train of thought. I didn’t bother checking the caller ID, and brought it up to my ear.
“How’s it goin?” It was Danielle. Only she would call me at this time. Ugh.
“You don’t need to check up on me, Dan. I’m a big girl now,” I replied.
“Oh, but, honey, I do. Having fun?”
“I just got here!”
“Oh, right. . . Well! I’ll text back in thirty minutes, then. Bye!” She hung up before I could even let myself blink.
I sighed, pocketing my mobile.
“Who was that?” Jake asked. I jumped out of surprise. I hate it when he does that!
“Stop that!” I lightly slapped his shoulder.
“Owie!”
I rolled my eyes at him as he rubbed where I had slapped him. No, it shouldn’t even be classified as a “smack”. I technically patted him. I hardly even touched him!
“Here you go.” He placed my smoothie in front of me. It looked so yummy, just sitting there.
Jake was holding a sixteen ounce coffee cup and a brown package.
“Thanks. What’s in the package?”
“A donut.” He smiled, taking it out of the bag.
“Oh. . .” I drawled, placing a straw in my smoothie, and taking a long sip. The donut was my favorite kind, powdered, of course. I stared at it, wishing that it was something that I could call my own.
“You’re eye-raping my donut. . .”
My eyes flicked up to his, and I took another sip of my drink. “It’s just—”
“Do you want some?”
Yes! As much as I wanted to say that one syllable word, I didn’t. “Uh. . . You can have it. After all, it is yours, right?”
“Here.” He smiled, showing his dimples, and broke off roughly half of the donut. I returned the smile, taking the half.
“You didn’t have to—”
“Eat it.”
I pursed my lips at him before taking a small bite of the donut. Mm. So good. This place made the best stuff in the world!
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
I looked out of the window once more. The sky was covered with cumulonimbus clouds, and it was beginning to grey. What!? It was just bright and sunny five minutes ago!
How Mother Nature can do this remains a mystery.
I frowned. Not as many people were roaming the streets now. I only saw a few here and there, umbrellas in hand. A few raindrops pitter-pattered on the window. It’s going start pouring soon!
Now, only three other people were in the café, not including me and Jake. The rain picked up, getting heavier with every passing second.
“Do you want to leave now?” Jake asked me with his brows furrowed together.
“Jake, you have a motorcycle. I don’t think I’d enjoy getting soaked.”
“Oh, right. . . Wanna stay here until the storm passes, then?”
“Erm. I guess that’s our only option.”
HEY. Did you think this chapter was crappy? D: Well, if you did, then be happy, because the next chapter will probably be better ;) First person to comment gets a dedication. And I will try to update again as soon as possible!