Friday, July 24, 2015

A knock was heard at the door and I immediately ran to be the first to open it. When I opened the door, the Rodriguez family came into view, Benny standing in the front. He flashed me a smile and I welcomed them inside.

Friday came around quickly and, finally, we were all having dinner. Skylar was already here, though; she had been here all day, considering she stayed the night with us. She slept with Luke, and I was scared to death all night of waking up to noises. Fortunately, I slept soundly all night, and when I gave Luke a certain look, he insisted that they didn't do anything bad.

I find that hard to believe, but I'll let him think he's slick.

Because we were all having dinner, Benny, Luke, Skylar and I left the sandlot early to get ready. Skylar didn't do much, but the boys and I had to take showers to get rid of the sweat and dirt.

"Hi!" my mom chirped, quickly making her way into the living room from the kitchen. The smell of steak wafted through the house.

Mine and Benny's mom began talking and, from there, we knew it wouldn't stop for a while. They made their way into the kitchen, and Benny, Elizabeth and I made our way to the couch.

"Hey, Makayla, how have you been?" Elizabeth asked.

"Really good, you?"

She sent me a wink. "Well, I got a job at the pool as a lifeguard, so I'm pretty good too."

A smile formed on my lips and I responded, "Really? That's awesome. Congratulations. Maybe now you can find a way to sneak us in for free."

Elizabeth laughed loudly. "Benny said the exact same thing. I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

"But I can."

The three of us immediately turned to look at Luke, who was descending the staircase with a smirk playing on his lips. We all flashed him questioning looks.

"I got a job at the pool too," he explained. My mouth dropped, and Benny and I instantly glanced at each other with widened eyes, remembering our conversation about them getting the same job the other day. "I work at the register, though."

Elizabeth laughed lightly. "How ironic. That's cool, though. I like how we both finally got a job and it's at the same place."

"Very ironic," Benny added, but only loud enough for me to hear. I giggled, nodding in agreement.

All of a sudden, Skylar's voice was heard calling Luke's name. Seconds later, she was descending the staircase quickly.

"Oh, they're already here?" she asked. "I didn't even know."

Skylar reached the bottom of the staircase and, finally, her feet hit the ground. She wore a white lace tank top, a pink skirt and white flats. When she noticed Elizabeth sitting on the couch, her expression changed. She immediately made her way to Luke and pecked his lips.

"Sorry I took so long, baby," she spoke in a light voice.

I glanced over at Elizabeth with a slight frown and she looked back at me with a confused expression. She then mouthed to me, "What's her problem?"

I shrugged, turning to look at Benny. He was leaned far back into the couch, a tiny smirk playing on his lips. He was trying to hold back a laugh.

We all looked back at Skylar and Luke to see that she was shooting glaces Elizabeth's way but trying to act like she was only paying attention to Luke.

"Uh, I'm gonna go get my phone, I left it upstairs," I announced.

"Mind if I come with?" Elizabeth asked.

"Nah, come on," I responded, motioning for her to follow me as I stood up from the couch. She and Benny both followed me upstairs and into my room.

After closing the door behind us, Benny turned and asked, "What's up with her?"

"For real, did you guys see the way she looked at me?" Elizabeth questioned.

Benny and I nodded and I explained, "I think she just doesn't like the fact that you're a girl and you're her age. Girls tend to get a little territorial when there are pretty girls around their boyfriends. I'm the same way sometimes, I'll admit."

Elizabeth giggled, looking down. "Oh, okay. I get it. I should've known that as soon as she kissed him and started calling him baby. She has nothing to worry about though. Does she really think I'm gonna try to steal Luke or something?"

I shrugged my shoulders, walking to my bed where I threw my phone on my pillow earlier. As I retrieved it, I responded, "I don't know. She probably just thinks you might like him, so I guess she's trying prove a point or something. I mean, I'm just assuming that's what it is."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't even like him like that. I'm gonna tell her that after dinner. I don't want her getting the wrong idea."

I nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Don't be a smartass about it, though," Benny said to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth shot him a bored expression. "Really? I would never."

"Yes, you would," he insisted, laughing. "You're my sister, I know you. Just be nice about it. Be like —" and he proceeded in an annoying girly voice, "— girl, trust me, I don't like your boyfriend. Let's go get some Starbucks."

Elizabeth and I laughed loudly and she exclaimed, "I don't sound like that at all!"

His lips curled into a smile and he shrugged. "Close enough."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes but her smile remained on her face. "Not even. But you got what you need, Makayla?"

I nodded, stuffing my phone into the pocket of my high-waisted skinny jeans, and I covered it with my closed Yankees Babe Ruth jersey. Elizabeth walked out first, and Benny waited for me by the door. As we exited my bedroom together, following Elizabeth downstairs, we connected hands, interlocking our fingers.

When we all got downstairs, we saw that Luke and Skylar were sitting together on the love seat. Elizabeth, Benny and I made our way to the couch we were previously sitting on, except this time, Elizabeth sat on the edge of the couch further away from the couple.

"Elizabeth, when do you start working?" Luke asked.

Good job, Luke. Your girlfriend isn't very fond of her already. You're making it so much easier.

"Uh, the twenty-seventh," she answered. "So, three days. What about you?"

"He starts the same day," Skylar answered before Luke could get a word out. "Where are you working?"

My eyes grew wide, but Elizbath didn't seem to care. "Pool." When Skylar's eyes grew wide, she added, "I'll be a lifeguard. He'll be at the register. Don't worry, we aren't gonna be around each other."

Skylar narrowed her eyes slightly. "I'm not worried. I was just surprised."

Elizabeth nodded but didn't say a word. After that, we were engulfed in an awkward silence. In desperate attempt to break the awkward air around us, I leaned up, grabbed the remote from the glass coffee table and turned on the TV.

After searching through the channels and finding nothing interesting, I went to On Demand and turned on an old episode of The Walking Dead.

Luke laughed, shaking his head. "I knew you were going to do that."

---

Dinner time was filled with lots of talking and laughing. Needless to say, we all had a good time. My parents loved Lynn, especially my mother. She was absolutely hilarious! I sat in between Benny and Luke, and Elizabeth sat on the other side of Benny, her mother sitting by the right of her.

Throughout the entire period of time, though, I noticed that Skylar looked a bit uneasy. I didn't understand why she was all of a sudden so scared about Elizabeth. Skylar would keep stealing quick glances at her, and when she smiled or laughed just to seem like she was paying attention, I could tell it was forced.

When everyone was finished with dinner, we all put our dishes into the sink. Lynn offered to stay and help clean them. I was sure that the only reason my mom accepted the offer was so that she could talk to her some more. I thought it was cute, actually. From what I could remember, my mom had never had a friend who hadn't stabbed her in the back. She deserved a friend like Lynn.

All of the teenagers, including myself, went outside into the warm night. Benny and I sat at the edge of the porch together and we watched as Elizabeth approached Luke and Skylar.

"Skylar, can I talk to you?" she asked.

Skylar glanced at Luke, then back to Elizabeth, crossing her arms. "Yeah."

Elizabeth stared at her for a few moments and finally added, "Like, somewhere more private."

"Just say it."

I furrowed my eyebrows. I loved Skylar to pieces, but why was she acting like this? She was usually such a nice person. That was one of the things Luke liked about her. Why was she suddenly acting so bitchy? It was like she was a different person.

Elizabeth crossed her arms and sighed. "All right. I can see that you're worried about me being around your boyfriend. Well, stop, because I don't like him like that. We're just friends. I also wouldn't recommend being so insecure. It's not a pretty quality."

My eyes widened and I quickly glanced over at Benny to see that his mouth had dropped slightly. He looked at me and shook his head. When Skylar replied, we quickly averted our attention back to them.

"Trust me, I'm not worried about you," she replied, venom lacing the last word.

"Skylar," Luke said, furrowing his eyebrows. He placed his hand on her arm and continued, "Stop."

She shook her head. "No. What makes you think I'm worried about you?"

Surprisingly, Elizabeth kept her cool, a small smile plastered across her face. She kept her arms crossed, but I could tell that she was clenching her fists. "Well, first of all, when you saw that I was here, you made sure to kiss him and be extra sweet. Secondly, when I asked him when he started work, you made sure to be the one to answer, like you couldn't stand to see him talking to me. And finally, you haven't stopped staring at me all night. I kind of put two and two together."

Skylar glared at her, ignoring Luke's remarks. "Well, you're wrong."

Elizabeth flashed her a big smile. "Great! Then quit acting like I'm right and stop getting so defensive."

Skylar rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm done with this conversation. Luke, can you take me home?"

Luke glanced at me with scared eyes, but then nodded and responded to her, "Sure. Go get in the car while I get my keys."

Skylar mean mugged Elizabeth some more, but Elizabeth just smiled at her. Finally, she walked past Benny and I, down the steps and to the driveway on the left where Luke's car rested.

Before Luke walked inside, he looked at Elizabeth apologetically. "I'm so sorry about her. I don't know what's wrong with her."

"She thinks I want you is what's wrong with her," Elizabeth replied, laughing it off. "It's okay. It isn't your fault."

Luke sighed and muttered, "I'll see you later."

With that, he walked inside the house, closing the door behind himself. Less than a minute later, he walked back out. He murmured his goodbyes to us, then went to take Skylar home.

L U K E
point of view.

I opened the door to my car and got inside. A scowl was set on my face, but I tried my best to wipe it away. I started the car, put it in reverse and exited the driveway.

As soon as I was driving down the road, Skylar piped up, "I saw you talking to her."

"Yeah, I was. Is there a problem?" I snapped.

"As a matter of fact, there is," she shot back. "I don't want you talking to her, Luke."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't."

"She likes you!" she exclaimed. "I can see it in her eyes. I don't blame her, but she should learn to respect that you're in a relationship."

"Are you kidding me?" I questioned in a low voice. "She hasn't done anything to disrespect that. She has never flirted with me, she has never tried anything on me, she doesn't act like she's interested in me at all. Not one single bit. Why are you so worried something's going to happen? Even if she did like me, do you honestly think I'd leave you for her?"

Skylar crossed her arms, glaring at the windshield. "I just don't want you talking to her, Luke, it's simple as that. If you really wanna be with me, you would respect that."

I shook my head, gritting my teeth. "If you had a real reason, I'd agree with you. But you don't. You're just being insecure, and I get it, Makayla is the same way. But you can't just tell me to stop talking to my best friend just because you have this assumption that she likes me."

Skylar remained silent for a few moments. Finally, she muttered, "You don't respect me."

"It's not that," I insisted, my voice softening. "You don't have anything to worry about. We're friends and that's all there is to it. I respect you, but if you respected or trusted me, you wouldn't be telling me not to talk to a friend. And the way you acted towards her was really fucked up. You said you don't like snobs, but that's what you were acting like."

"Whatever, Luke. Just take me home. I'm not dealing with this tonight. Just stop talking."

"No," I responded. "I think you owe her an apology."

"I don't owe her anything!" she cried out. "She owes me. Any body I ever liked, she got with him before I could. For once, I got to someone before she could, and I know she's just itching to take you from me like she always does."

My frown deepened. "Are you sure she was actually doing it to spite you?"

"She was!" she insisted. "That's why I don't want you to talk to her. I don't want her to think she has the satisfaction of taking someone else from me."

Elizabeth isn't like that. I don't know her like the back of my hand, but I know her well enough to know that she's not like that. But if it weren't true, why would Skylar say it? She wouldn't lie to me.

"Oh," I murmured.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

The rest of the ride was silent afterward.

M A K A Y L A
point of view.

"I don't know what's gotten into her," I muttered, shaking my head lightly. "I can't believe she actually said all of that. She's never like that at all."

Elizabeth shrugged, plopping down on the love seat while Benny and I sat together on the couch. "I understand where she's coming from, but she doesn't have to be such a bitch about it, you know?"

I nodded, looking down at my lap. "Yeah. You tried to tell her, but she wouldn't accept it. Did you guys know each other before? I know Benny did."

"I knew of her," she answered. "Apparently she's never liked me. I don't know why, but I never asked her, because it didn't matter that much to me. Plenty of girls don't like me for no reason. It doesn't bother me anymore."

I nodded in understanding. "Oh. I see. I hate when people do that."

"Yeah, me too," she agreed. "But it's whatever. I refuse to let her get under my skin. I'm trying to stay out of trouble. Otherwise I probably would've decked her in the face."

I giggled. "We have a lot in common."

Benny laughed, throwing his arm around my shoulder. "That's true. So now, I can't even be around my own sister without thinking of you."

I smiled and looked over at Benny. He pecked my lips. When we looked back over at Elizabeth, her lips were curled into a smirk.

"What?" Benny questioned.

"Remember all the times you'd talk about her, then I'd say you guys would make a cute couple or ask when you were gonna ask her out, and you got all defensive?"

Benny shook his head and I looked over at him with a smirk. "That was before I grew the balls to tell myself I liked her."

Elizabeth winked at me. "He knew it the entire time, he was just scared to admit it. Just remember, though, I called it. I knew it was gonna happen from the beginning."

All of a sudden, the front door swung open and Luke stepped in, his keys jingling. He closed the door, flashed us an unreadable expression and made his way upstairs without a word. I could tell he was in a bad mood.

Before any of us got the chance to ask what was wrong with him, Lynn and my mom walked out of the kitchen, laughing. I looked over and saw that Lynn was shouldering her purse.

"All right, Elizabeth, Benny, it's time to go," Lynn finally said to her kids.

Elizabeth was the first to stand, and Benny and I took our time repeating the action. We all walked to the front door, including my mom.

I turned to Lynn first. She flashed me a big smile, wrapped me in a hug and said, "Bye, sweetheart."

I hugged back, and when we pulled away, I smiled at her. "Bye, Lynn."

Next, I turned to Elizabeth. She sent me a tiny wave and a smile. "See you tomorrow at the sandlot."

My smile turned into a smirk and I nodded my head. "Good. See you tomorrow, then."

Lynn and Elizabeth talked to my mom while I turned to Benny. He was always the last one I wanted to say my goodbyes to, because I liked knowing that he was the last person I touched.

Benny wrapped his arms around my waist in a tight embrace and I threw mine around his neck, resting my head in the crook of his neck. I lightly kissed his neck before pulling away. We kept our arms around each other, though.

We both looked at our moms in unison and, to no one's surprise, they were watching us with tiny smiles. By the look on our faces, they knew what we wanted. They groaned and walked out like little kids. Elizabeth laughed at their reactions and followed them outside.

I averted my gaze to Benny to see that he wss already staring down at me. I smiled, then pressed my lips onto his. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds.

"See you tomorrow," he said, finally letting go of me.

I cast him a playful wink. "Not if I see you first."

He pecked my lips one more time before joining his mom and sister outside. My mom and I watched as they crossed the road to get to their house.

I walked inside before my mom did. I immediately made my way upstairs and into Luke's bedroom.

Luke looked over at me. "There's this thing called knocking, you know."

I shrugged, plopping down on his bed. "What are you mad about?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I'm not mad about anything."

I rolled my eyes. "When you got back, you didn't say a word to any of us."

"So that automatically means I'm mad?"

"Pretty much."

Luke sighed, rolling his eyes. He leaned back on his headboard. "Fine. Skylar told me that the reason she was acting like that was because Elizabeth made sure to date anyone Skylar liked before she could get to them. Said she did it on purpose just to hurt her or something. And she's scared she's gonna try the same thing with me."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "What? I was talking to Elizabeth before she left. She told me she knew of Skylar. She said she never liked her and she never knew why."

Luke shook his head. "No, Skylar said she did it to spite her. And I believe my girlfriend."

"Luke, you know Elizabeth isn't like that —"

"I believe Skylar," he broke in sternly. "I think I'm just gonna stop talking to Elizabeth."

I frowned at Luke in disbelief. "Man . . . all right, then. I get it. And I love Skylar to death, but I'm just saying . . . Elizabeth isn't the type. But I'm going to bed, so goodnight, I love you."

Luke nodded. "Goodnight, love you too. See you in the morning."

---

Okay, this sucks so badly, & I know it. Don't kill me.

If anyone's wondering why I haven't been updating frequently like I usually do, it's bc I feel like you guys aren't interested in this story anymore, lmao. Barely gets votes or comments anymore. But to the ones who do vote & comment, thank you. (:

So, I mean, votes & comments are my motivation. *cough* hint *cough*

By the way, I'm in the middle of writing a Carl Grimes from The Walking Dead fan fiction. When I get my iPad fixed so I can make a cover for it, I'll post it. Would anyone read it?

Stay gold.