Chapter 12

“Hello?” My voice rang through the phone. I was greeted with a loud voice.

“Fiona! What’s wrong with you?” My mother’s scolding shocked me slightly. I felt my stomach drop to my ankles. Did Aunt Cherry get home early and resort to calling my parents first? Did my parents install that tracking device that they’ve threatened me with into my phone?

“W-what do you mean?” I stuttered stupidly. I gave Jessie a look and her eyes widened. She knew about the mess I was in.

“Where are you?” My mother demanded. I felt my blood run cold. I covered my other ear in an attempt to focus better.

“I’m in my room, why?” I lied. If she already knew that I wasn’t, I’d be in even bigger trouble.

“We’ve been calling the house phone for hours on end!” My mother scolded and I felt relief rise into my chest.

“You didn’t think to call my cell phone?” I let the sarcastic remark slip.

“Hey!” I recognized the angry voice of Adrian sounding across the shore. I quickly held my finger up as if to silence him but Jessie was on it. She leaped off of the mini deck and shushed Adrian.

“Who is that? Is there a guy in your room?” My mother asked. I heard a shuffling and my father’s voice now occupied the line.

“What is she talking about? There better not be any guys in your room!” My father exclaimed.

“No, no, Dad. That was the television.” I tried to calm him.

"Well, mute the TV. We need to talk,” He demanded. 

"I'm trying." I muttered as I watched Jessie and Adrian whispering. Adrian caught my gaze with a glare. I smiled sheepishly before imitating the sound of a button.

“I got a call from your viola teacher. You’ve been skipping these past few lessons. We pay $200.00 per lesson, just so you know, and we expect you to go to each and every one of them.” He stated. I felt like I was being scolded by the principal as I nodded before replying.

“I know, I’ve just been up late working on homework on Friday nights that sometimes I’m too tired in the morning and I oversleep. And Aunt Cherry doesn’t always wake me up on time.” I informed. I heard him muttering something before he quickly began ending the conversation.

“Well, you should get to bed. It’s late, 11 o’clock almost. Your mother and I will be home next Monday, okay? Love you, honey.” My father said, ending the call. I exited the conversation before I sighed in relief.

I looked over at Adrian who looked infuriated. I felt a smile rising onto my face as I lowered myself off of the dock. His eyes followed me as fume shot out of his ears, not literally. That’d be a health concern, wouldn’t it?

“Now, now, Easton; don’t have a crappy attitude with me.” I teased, making an obvious pun. His eyes narrowed as he starting approaching me.

“You’re dead.” He hissed as he lowered his head. I smirked again.

“No, Easton, I’m pretty sure I’m alive. I have a pulse and everything.” I blinked, pretending to check my pulse.

“Not when I’m done with you.” He continued, walking towards me slowly.

For every step he took, I took two backwards. I spared a glance at Jessie who was smiling for some unknown reason and pointed towards the bonfire and I gave her a swift nod. This confused Easton so he dared to look back and in that moment when his head was I turned, I bolted in the opposite direction. Instead of going towards the bonfire, I was running away from it. I was planning on circling the whole entire bonfire section of the beach before meeting up with Jessie. I was setting myself up for failure.

It’s not that I dislike running; it’s the part where someone watches me (20 seconds after I start running) cough and hack like a smoker. That's setting myself up for failure and it’s worse because I’m up against a football and baseball player in one. I felt myself sinking in the sand as I got lost in thought. Finally, when I reached the concrete, I realized that he was a good 20 feet behind and it was my lucky chance, I’d have a running start on the sidewalk while he was still struggling to run through the sand but I knew that once his feet hit the sidewalk, I was done for.

After sprinting a good 20 feet, I realized that I was quickly losing my breath and that I’d eventually have to stop. I didn’t hear his footsteps, so I decided to stop now and catch my breath, maybe even take in my surroundings. I could see the bonfire a quarter of a mile away and I realized that I might just make it.

The sound of soft footsteps caused my heart to stop and my body to go into flight mode. What was Jessie talking about? I didn’t want someone to chase me like this! Maybe because the two guys had different intentions, the guy wanted to kiss the girl to death while Easton wants to kick you to death. I winced at the brutality that this sentence held... but it also held a boatload of truth.

Once I began approaching the bonfire, I realized that I looked a mess. I ran nearly three quarters of a mile! That is my workout for the year. I quickly fixed my disheveled hair and straightened out my shirt and pants. I decided to get back onto the sand and walk the rest of the way towards the water. I looked around and realized that my purse wasn’t with me. I then realized that Jessie had my purse, like the good friend she was.

When I was close enough to the bonfire, I decided to take out my phone and send a text to Jessie. I didn’t want to go to the bonfire looking like I did. After sending her the text, I realized that I was standing alone on the shore of the water. I heard footsteps and before I could react, I felt my phone being ripped out of my grasp and getting shoved into the water.

I was obviously shoved by a guy, seeing as I went flying into the water. Thinking it’d be a few inches, I was surprised to find that it was at least 3 or 4 feet. Trying to sit up only had me fail further, my sweater was weighing me down and I couldn’t breathe. I was going to die in 3 feet of water. It was official.

I stopped splashing after about a minute and I felt someone grab my arm. I felt my eyes close and I was losing consciousness. Running and drowning don’t mix well. After I was out of it for almost thirty seconds, I coughed. Water rose up in my throat, It wasn’t a lot of water, but it was enough to choke me. I opened my eyes to see a pair staring into mine. Their head was tilted as if they were going to kiss me… or give me mouth to mouth. Their eyes came into focus and I recognized the bluish-green color. I immediately pushed the person away, sitting up and coughing up a bit more water. I heard a relieved sigh escape from his mouth.

“I thought I killed you.” Easton placed his arms on his knees as he rested his head onto them.

“You almost did!” I exclaimed, regaining the ability to talk.

“You should’ve told me you didn’t know how to swim!” He retorted.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t realize I was going to be shoved into the water. Can I get a forewarning next time?” I sneered.

“Oh, don’t make me seem like I’m the bad guy, you’re the one that switched my ice cream!” He responded.

“You aerosol’d my room!” I explained, crossing my arms childishly.

“You switched my spray paint with the aerosol! It was only fair!” He excused. I felt my rage heightening.

“You wiped my face with your syrupy hands!” I motioned to his hands. His eyes flickered with remembrance.

“You planted my car with syrup packets!” He threw back at me. I glared at him.

“You set my alarm so I was late for class!” I retorted, wrinkling my nose at him. Realizing that I was wrong in this conversation, I got up and dusted myself off. Well, what I could dust off from the soaking wet shirt. I walked over and picked up my phone, glad that it didn’t join me for the dip in the water. I glanced back at Adrian who realized that I was wrong as well, so he was sporting a smug smirk despite his actions 5 minutes ago.

“You poured ice water on my back. You started it.” He cleared up, following me.

“You were a jerk, wait, you still are a jerk.” I snapped, walking towards the bonfire.

“So?” He replied from behind me.

“So that doesn’t give you the right to drown me!” I snapped, turning around. I didn’t realize the closeness of him so I quickly pushed him away and stormed towards the bonfire, in search of Jessie, ignoring the calls from him.

“I need my purse.” I muttered to Jessie as I quickly escaped. I heard her flip flops slapping onto her feet as she chased after me in the sand. I reached the bathrooms which were, thankfully, secluded and Jessie caught up to me.

“What happened?” She asked, motioning towards my soaked clothing. I clenched my teeth.

“That idiot Easton pushed me into the water, that's what happened!” I declared, slipping into a stall while she stood outside of it.

“What? Why?” She asked. She sounded shocked.

“After I harassed him, he chased me and once I got away, I walked near the water to try and get you to come over and help me fix my hair and he pushed me into the water.” I explained, sliding out of my soaking wet jeans. I frowned as I tossed them over the stall. Drying off with the small towel that I’d luckily packed, I took off my wet sweatshirt and pulled out new underclothes and put them on. I put on the shirt I’d packed, which was a red t-shirt and was okay for the occasion. The shorts, though, weren’t okay for the occasion. They were short, a pair Aunt Cherry had bought for me but she bought them a size too small. “Uh, oh.”

“Uh oh? Why uh oh?” Jessie asked, sounding concerned.

“Do you remember the shorts that Aunt Cherry bought me?” I asked her. I heard her mutter a ‘yes.’

“Well, I must have mistaken them for my black knee shorts.” I held up the shorts as I looked at them.

Well, did you bring anything else to wear?” Jessie asked, already knowing the answer.

“No.” I replied unhappily. Wearing shorts like these at a place like this is bound to ruin my reputation.

“Too bad,” She snorted. I slowly put the shorts on, frowning as I exited the bathroom. I had too much skin showing. “They don’t look bad.” She smiled as I struggled to cover myself with my purse.

She pulled my purse away and found my brush, running it through my hair and braiding it in a simple French braid. I dreaded leaving the bathroom, practically holding onto my best friend. She rolled her eyes and carried me out of the bathroom.

“Come on, I have seats for us.” She said, smiling at me as we entered the crowd at the bonfire, which had begun. When we reached the seats that Jessie was holding for us, I happily sat down, attempting to cover my legs with my small purse.

“Did you change?” Adrian asked me, approaching me cautiously. I skillfully ignored him, pretending to check my phone for the time. In all reality, I did need to know the time. It was roughly 12:15 A.M. I had an hour and 15 minutes left.

I heard Adrian groan and whisper something to Trent. Trent nodded before turning to me with an innocent, adorable smile.

“Did you change, Fiona?” He asked me, tilting his head sideways. I chuckled and nodded. “Why?” He asked after hearing Adrian’s whisper.

“Because some idiot football player tackled me into the water, thinking it’d be funny and I almost died.” I responded. 

“You didn’t almost die!” Adrian piped in.

“Yes I did, and when I opened my eyes, you were just sitting there staring at me like an idiot!” I exclaimed.

“I was going to give you mouth to mouth!” He stated. I felt the bile rising in my throat. I involuntarily gagged. 

“I would rather keel over and die.” I spat. He glared at me, sitting back in his seat. I noticed that the bonfire had a circle of chairs around it. The reason of this? I had no idea.

“Let’s play ‘Truth or Dare’!” One girl spoke up. I noticed that her shirt was rolled up, revealing her flat stomach. I rolled my eyes. A more innocent looking girl piped up.

“Let’s play ‘Would you rather?’.” She smiled. A few people nodded, the few sane people.

“How about we not, nerd?” The girl spat. The other girl sat back, taking the remark to heart. If I would take every comment made about me to heart, my heart would be ripped open and shredded.

“How about we play one round of truth or dare and one round of would you rather?” A guy suggested, smiling charmingly at both girls. Player. Of course.

“I’m fine with that.” A few people said while others nodded, and a few others- including me, stayed quiet.

“Let’s play ‘Would You Rather?’ first, it’s a cleaner game.” A girl offered. I nodded in agreement, planning to leave before Truth or Dare even started.

They started Would You Rather and I only paid attention to the people who I knew while it was their turns. After a while, it was Jessie’s turn and after she was asked an easy question, she turned to me with a devilish smile plastered onto her face.

“Would you rather kiss Ethan or Adrian?” She questioned me. I felt myself freeze. How was I going to get out of this one?