Chapter 3- Ah poop, literally

"What? Waffles are waaayy better than pancakes, are you insane?" Aiden exclaimed.

"First of all, I don't know how pancakes have anything to do with sanity, and second of all pancakes are a glorious breakfast food, they are fluffy and delicious," I said completely done with him. It was a cooler, summer day, despite us being in LA, and I'd come out to the patio to read a book, when Aiden decided to join me. Joy.

"You know it's pretty hot out here, right?"

"It's not that bad, it's cooler than yesterday," I replied trying to concentrate on my book.

"It's pretty hot. Let's go swimming!" he said looking excited. I marked my page and put down my book.

"Sure."

"But Ari, it's so- wait did you just agree with me?" Aiden asked looking stunned. I smirked at the fact that I was able to surprise him.

"I really like swimming, and there's a public pool right down the street," I stated. He smiled and ran into the house to get ready I presume.

we're going swimming come with pls

I sent the text to Lexi and went inside to get ready.

I put on a maroon bikini and wore a short white summer dress over it. I put on sunscreen and grabbed my towel and skipped outside. Aiden was waiting for me. He was wearing peach colored long swimming shorts with a white muscle tee.

"Finally, well follow me, love," he said and started walking off.

"It's this way, love," I said mocking him going the other way.

"I knew that!" he called jogging to catch up. I giggled running away from him.

"Hey!" he exclaimed and started running after me. Now, sometimes I can get a little competitive. Ok, really competitive. I started sprinting, but he was catching up. Now kids, running with flip flops is really hard. 0/10 - would not recommend. That was my excuse, anyways. My excuse for falling flat on my face, that is.

Aiden stopped and started laughing at me for a good two minutes. I just lay there ashamed.

He finally helped me up, and after I dusted myself off, I glared. I look at my knees and hands. They were dirty, but no blood. Thank the lord.

"Can you stop laughing already? You're so annoying," I huffed walking away from him. That just made him laugh harder. Finally we were at the pool gate, and my annoyance was gone. I would get to swim, and I was really happy.

We went inside the gate and wasting no time, Aiden threw off his shirt and jumped into the pool. Other than the couple other kids swimming in the kiddie pool, the pool was empty.

I was going to take off my dress, but I felt self conscious. I hated that feeling of anxiety, it had no logic. I mentally tried to shrug it off. You know what they say about confidence, fake it till ya make it.

I took off my dress and placed all my stuff on a bench. I stuck my feet in the deep end and sat on the concrete. I loved the water, but boy was it cold.

"You're just going to sit there?" Aiden called out.

"It's too cold," I replied.

Aiden swam up next to me and put his head on the floor next to mine. He looked like an adorable puppy with his hair all wet. I scowled at my thoughts.

"Don't make me pull you in," he said in a sweet tone in contrast to his words. I strengthened the grip I had of the poolside.

"I will kill you," I stated in a matter of fact tone. He laughed and swam away. I exhaled a breath of relief, but it was to last only a second for I found myself falling into the pool. I swam up gasping and gripped the side to see none other than Lexi. She was laughing at me.

"I could've died!" I exclaimed. She rolled her eyes at my exaggeration.

"Sorry, couldn't resist pushing you in," she said giving me a cheeky smile. I squinted my eyes at her and then smiled.

"Why are you-," she started but couldn't finish for I pulled her in.

"You are so lucky I didn't have my phone with me!" she exclaimed. I just laughed and swam away from her. Lexi was already in her swim suit, so I didn't feel too bad.

"Hey Lex," Aiden said smiling at her. Lexi waved in response sending him a smile.

"Oh you're already in the pool?" I heard a voice say. My head snapped towards the voice to see an older man probably in his early 30's staring down at us. He was gorgeous, but in the older man kind of way. Definitely not my type.

"Yeah babe, you should join us!"

Aiden's and my mouth dropped at Lexi's words. The man took off his shirt and jumped in.

We were staring at Lexi, waiting for an explanation. Especially me, as a best friend I felt like I should've known?

"I'm Xavier," the guy took the liberty of introducing himself.

"This is Aiden and Ari," Lexi said gesturing towards us with a "you better be nice" kind of look. We smiled and muttered nice to meet you.

I swam for a bit to keep warm. I was thinking of Xavier. As much as Lexi and I joked around about older men, she had never dated one before. She was 18 now, so I guess it wasn't that big of a deal, but I still felt awkward.

"Hey! Let's play chicken fight!" Lexi called out. I swam towards her. Usually Lexi and I would be partners, but this time she started climbing on Xavier's shoulders.

"How the hell do you play chicken?" Aiden asked.

"You get on the shoulders of your partner and try to knock the other person down. Last one standing is the winner," Lexi explained.

"Well then, hop on darling," Aiden teased. I sighed. I climbed onto his shoulders and he gripped my legs.

"You're going down," Lexi said flexing her biceps. I laughed. This wasn't too bad.

We started fighting with our arms flailing, and I was glad Aiden had a strong grip. After a couple more minutes Lexi fell into the pool.

"We won!" I yelled as I slid off Aiden's back. We high fived and he looked pretty proud. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Best out of three?" Lexi said and we played more rounds. We ended up losing, but it was really fun.

"I think I'll head home now," I said as it started getting dark. Lexi and Xavier had gotten a bit too friendly in the pool. Xavier was surprisingly a cool guy, however.

"I'll come with," Aiden said and got out. I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around myself. I looked back to see Aiden frozen with an expression of concern.

"What's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"I forgot to bring a towel," he stated. I started laughing really hard, which caused him to glare at me.

"Come on, it's not that long of a walk," I said rolling my eyes. As we were walking home, I realized Aiden was trying his best not to shiver. He was using his shirt as a towel, but it was pretty chilly out.

"Do you want my dress?" I asked. That caused him to scowl even more and I giggled. We finally reached the house and he looked relieved.

"I thought men didn't get cold?" I teased.

"That's total BS, what do you think we are cold blooded reptiles Jesus Christ I can't even," he continued mumbling and walked inside the house. I couldn't stop laughing for a long time.

After showering and sitting in a robe in my room for a long time before finally getting dressed, I walked out into the living room. Aiden's been sleeping on the couch, so I was surprised to find his sheets and stuff were not there. I walked towards the guest room and went in.

I found Aiden sitting on a bed and my dad looking damn proud.

"I made a bed!" he cheered at me.

"You got that from IKEA, uncle Raymond," Aiden pointed out. My dad glared at him and Aiden gave him a sheepish smile. It was weird to hear Aiden call my dad uncle. We weren't even related.

"I still made it," he pointed out.

I laughed and told them I had to use the restroom. I walked in and as I sat on the toilet I noticed a pair of glasses on top. They weren't my dad's or mine, so it must've been Aiden's. Oh that's right. I've seen his contact cases in the bathroom. I finished up all my business and everything and stood up to flush the toilet. As my hand reached for the handle, I knocked his glasses into the toilet. My mouth dropped in horror.

Well, shit.

******

"Can you explain to me how the hell this happened?" My head was down, and I felt bad. He caught me while I was cleaning his glasses (talk about gross).

"Who the hell leaves their glasses on top of a toilet anyways?" I asked. Seriously though, who does that?

"I can't believe you dropped them," he said looking so done with everything.

"Oh relax, I cleaned them. They're as good as new."

"I'd watch out if I were you," he said and flashed me a mischievous smile.

"W-What are you talking about?" I stuttered.

"I declare the official start of the Prank War!" he exclaimed and threw his fist into the air. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh come on, it was an accident!"

"You can't un-declare a war, A!"

I repeat- well shit. 

xxx

Yay, prank war time! Haha, what did you think of this chapter? How's the writing? I got to know these things, guys. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it and hope you have a lovely day. Can you believe I haven't swam all summer? Ugh, I got to head to the pool soon. What's your favorite summer activity? Well as always, any vote and comment helps. Thank you. 

xxx