Chapter 20

Later that night, when the breeze had picked up and the stars had come out; the four of us were all still seated on our respective logs joking around.

“So let me get this straight,” I said in amusement, shaking my head at what Evan and Cason had just said. “You two were minding your own business and suddenly, out of nowhere, two senior cheerleaders came up to you to ask you to the prom… and you turned them down.” I stated in disbelief, trying to picture that particular scene in my mind.

Evan and Cason laughed harder at my disbelief and, simply nodded whilst clutching their stomachs and trying to regain their breath.

“I don’t believe you.” I commented stubbornly, not imagining these guys saying no to a date with a pair of cheerleaders.

“It’s completely true.” Evan breathed out as he came down from his laughing fit.

Cason nodded, wiping beneath his eyes quickly to catch any stray tears that had escaped while he was hunched over in hysterics. “We’re telling the truth.” he said, turning to look at me. “Last year, around the beginning of May, I guess the two girls were stupid enough to leave their date choices to the last minute. We were minding our own business like we always had in school when suddenly, a huge cheer routine started in front of us. Not that we didn’t enjoy the dancing, because we did, but we just had better things to do then go to the senior prom with airhead cheerleaders when we were only juniors ourselves.”

Olivia suddenly gasped, as if she was shocked by something Cason had just re-stated. “I remember what you guys are talking about.” she stated enthusiastically, as though she had just had an epiphany on how to end world hunger. “I was walking down the hall at the time and all I remember is that you guys rejected them in less than five seconds before walking away like nothing happened. That was so mean.” she finished, jokingly slapping Evan on the arm as she giggled quietly to herself.

“In our defence,” Evan started, holding his hands up in mock surrender, “We just didn’t want to go to the prom because it was just a dance. Plus, it was with people in the year above us that we barely spoke to.”

“Did you speak to anybody?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

Cason smiled sheepishly and shook his head. “Nope… not really.”

“I thought so.” I replied, shaking my head in amusement as I nudged Cason playfully in the side.

"Oh god,” Olivia started, chuckling at whatever thought had just crossed her mind before she spoke again. “I’m just remembering the expression on the girl’s faces last year. They looked so horrified and embarrassed to have been rejected that they were frozen for a good five minutes before teachers came and sent all of the spectators to class.”

Evan, Cason, and I started chuckling ourselves as we each visualized the scene Olivia had just described in our minds.

“Well, it’s getting late.” Cason commented nonchalantly as he subtly started kicking sand onto the bonfire in front of us. “Do you think we should start packing up and head home?”

I looked at Evan and Olivia, who were in turn looking towards me for my opinion. They were shivering in their thin jackets and occasionally yawning as exhaustion start to hit.

Feeling slightly exhausted myself, I nodded with a sigh in response. “Let’s pack up, I’ll help you with the barbeque and Olivia can help Evan put the fire out.” I suggested to Cason, standing up and discreetly wiping the back of my shorts to rid them of sand.

Cason nodded, silently agreeing with my statement as he stood up himself and gestured to where the barbeque was set up not far from our current location. “We’ll meet you guys at the car in about ten minutes.” he said, addressing Evan and Olivia before motioning for me to follow him.

“It’s going to take us ten minutes to pack up a barbeque that has three parts to it and walk back to the car?” I questioned, crossing my arms across my chest as I walked beside Cason.

Cason glanced at me with an amused smile on his face and shook his head. “No, I just thought that the two of them would like some time alone to soak in their newly-acquired romance. We’ll probably be waiting at the car for a couple of minutes before they show up.” he replied, his tone laced with amusement.

I cracked a smile at his response, but didn’t reply verbally as we reached the barbeque. If I was completely honest with myself, I knew nothing about assembling or taking apart a portable barbeque that seemed to be used for camp-outs.

“How about I just stand here and watch you put the barbeque away?” I suggested in a helpful way, knowing that I would be no help to him.

Cason shook his head at my suggestion, but nodded at the barbeque. “When I lift the bulk of the barbeque up, you can fold up the stand and stick it in the bottom of the box before I pack up the propane and grill.” he instructed, bending down slightly to unscrew a couple of pegs and knobs that were situated on the bottom side of the grill.

It turns out that Cason’s suggestion for me to complete the easiest task possible actually helped our situation as we had the barbeque packed up in its original storage place, a cardboard box, in no time at all.

Journeying back to the car, we kept a light conversation flowing between us, and before long, we were resting up against the side of the car waiting for the new love birds to make an appearance.

"So, how long do you think they’ll take to get their loved up asses over here so we can go home?” Cason asked semi-seriously, checking the digital clock on his phone for good measure.

I gasped sarcastically and nudged Cason’s hip with mine. “Don’t be mean.” I replied, trying to sound stern, but even I could hear the amusement in my voice. “If they’re happy and they want a private minute or two for themselves, they’re entitled to it.”

“I’m just joking, and I am happy for them. It’s just that I’m just getting tired and the wind is starting to pick up.” he explained with a small smile, but I was standing close enough to see the chills that were capturing his arms.

“Well here, take your sweater back if you’re cold.” I said, reaching my hand up to my chest to unzip the sweater that I had adorned earlier in the night. However, before I could pull the zipper down even an inch, Cason’s hand took mine and pulled it away from the sweater.

When I looked up at him curiously, I saw him shaking his head adamantly. “I gave you the sweater because you were cold. I can brave the wind for a couple more minutes and you can keep the sweater; it looks better on you than it did on me.” he replied, shocking me slightly.

He had just said that I looked good… I think. It seemed as though my brain was having quite a bit of trouble processing this information and before I could come up with a response that didn’t make me sound like a complete idiot, I simply bumped my hip against his again and let my hand fall from his grip.

“Shut up.” I muttered in an embarrassed fashion, crossing my arms across my chest.

Before either of us could mutter another word, I heard footsteps nearing us, and when I looked up I saw Evan and Olivia approaching us hand-in-hand.

“And the love birds finally escape their nest.” Cason commented jokingly, patting Evan on the shoulder when he was close enough. “Now let’s just get out of here.”

As Cason turned around immediately and walked to the driver’s side of the car, I rolled my eyes at his eagerness to leave. I too, turned around to open the back door of the car, but when I realized that me sitting with Olivia would make Evan separate from her; I decided to play my all-important role in Olivia’s new relationship.

“I call shotgun.” I exclaimed, loud enough for my voice to echo on the rolling sea waves as I threw open the passenger’s side door and climbed into the car.

“Smooth.” Cason whispered to me in amusement as both Evan and Olivia started to climb into their seats in the back.

I turned my head slightly to crack a smile at him as the back door slammed shut and Cason turned the keys to start the ignition.

“Now,” Cason started, smirking in his rear-view mirror at the couple who were currently seated closely together. “I’d like to be the first to say that I completely approve of your new relationship, however, if I look back and I see the two of you making out in the back of this car, I will personally pull over and leave you guys to get it on in a ditch.”

I chuckled at Cason’s statement and glanced back at Evan and Olivia, who were both embarrassed as they had growing blushes.

The drive home was quiet enough and not a lot of conversation was held as the car speakers played the top hits of today via the radio.

As Cason pulled into my driveway a couple of minutes later, he came to a stop directly beside my mother’s car and turned off the ignition.

“So, I guess we’ll see you girls Monday morning at school.” Cason stated with a smile as he addressed both me and Olivia. “Goodnight.”

I nodded as a small smile grew at his statement. “Yea, I’ll see you Monday.” I replied, before turning around in my seat as I unbuckled my seat belt. “See you later Evan.”

Evan nodded in acceptance before turning slightly to say his goodbyes to Olivia, who was just about to hop out of the car. Shaking my head at their cuteness, I sent another smile towards Cason as I opened the passenger’s door and climbed out of the car, slamming the door lightly behind me.

Olivia had called her mom a couple of hours ago to ask if she could just stay over at mine for the night, and knowing that she would be out late, it would just be easier for everyone. After Olivia’s mom agreed, I sent a message to my mom, who had been getting ready for bed herself, and she had no problem at all with her staying over for the night.

As she had been here a couple of times since we met, I knew that Olivia would come in when she was ready, which hopefully wouldn’t be too long. I simply twisted the doorknob on the front door and was greeted by the warmness of my home.

It was almost as though I didn’t realize how tired I really was until I stepped into the living room. With almost no energy, as it all seemed to have drained on the ride home from the beach, I sank down into the couch and flicked the television on at a low volume.

Half awake, I had just started watching a cartoon, whose name seemed to have slipped my mind, when Olivia strolled lazily into the living room and plopped down onto the opposite side of the couch with a dreamy sigh.

“Did you have a long enough goodbye?” I asked teasingly, but with the tiredness that flowed out with my voice, I probably sounded like a worn-out drunk.

Olivia blushed at my comment, but couldn’t keep the smile that appeared off of her face. “Yea.” she replied quietly, as though she was stuck in a dreamy daze.

I shook my head with amusement at her cuteness. “I’m happy for you.” I stated before continuing. “However, even though I want to know about every single detail that happened between the two of you tonight, I am insanely tired and probably won’t retain much of anything you say right now. Just know that you are so in for it in the morning.”

The blush had faded slightly off of Olivia’s cheeks, but I knew that she was still thinking about tonight as the pink-tinged artwork across her face hadn’t completely disappeared. She giggled slightly at my statement and nodded. “Goodnight Jessalyn.” she said quietly, resting her back against the couch cushions as she focused on the mindless cartoon that was playing on the television.

I couldn’t remember much of what happened after that as my eyes started to close on their own accord and my brain started to shut itself down. I vaguely remembered a blanket being tossed across my body and muttering a few sentences of non-sense, however, the one thing that seemed to be playing on my mind as I fell into a deep slumber was the comforting fact that I was still wearing Cason’s sweater.

As I opened my eyes the next morning, I immediately snapped them close as the rays of light that were currently shining through the curtains were blinding. Rolling slightly, I turned so that as I opened my eyes for the second time, I was greeted with the ceiling above me and not a blinding light.

Shaking the sleep out of my muscles as I pulled my arms over my head and stretched, I realized that I was not in my bedroom, but instead on the couch in the living room. Immediately the events of the previous night came rolling back into my mind and I clearly remembered being too tired to walk up the stairs and snuggle into my bed, choosing to sleep on the couch instead.

I was almost wide awake a couple seconds later as I remembered that Olivia had stayed over, however, she was currently not in the living room with me and I had no idea where she had gone off to.

Throwing my legs over the edge of the couch, I stood up and realized that I was still in my clothes from the day before, and that included the comfortable and baggy sweater that Cason had lent to me. Realizing that I should probably change my clothes and get rid of my morning breath, I decided to quickly locate Olivia before heading upstairs to get ready.

Walking through the living room, I left it behind as I headed towards the kitchen. The conversing voices were the first clue that I had probably found Olivia faster than I thought.

My thoughts were proven correct as I entered the kitchen and saw that my mom and Olivia were having a conversation. Olivia’s back was to me, but my mom was looking directly at me.

“Oh, look who’s finally awoken from her slumber!” my mom exclaimed teasingly, causing Olivia to turn around and smile.

I rolled my eyes, but still sent my mom a good morning smile before turning to Olivia. “Are you okay here with my mom while I go upstairs and get ready really quickly?” I asked, running my hand through my knotted rats-nest of a hairdo.

Olivia nodded at my question and smiled. “Sure, I was just waiting for you to get up so she’d start breakfast.” she replied.

“Well now she can start breakfast and I’ll be back down by the time it’s on the table.” I stated with a smile before hurrying my way out of the kitchen, stomping up the stairs and breezing into my room.

As I quickly stripped out of my clothes, I realized that the night at the beach had left sand all over my body, and before I could dressed with new clothes, I knew I had to get clean. Jumping into the shower quickly, I rinsed down my hair and my body, washing both quickly before hopping back out of the shower in less than five minutes.

Using a clean towel to dry the excess water off of my body, I made sure I was completely dry before slipping into a clean pair of shorts and a simple tank top that had beads outlining the neck line. I brushed my teeth quickly, successfully getting rid of my morning breath, and ran a brush through my damp hair before tying it up into a messy bun on the top of my head.

It had taken a total of twelve minutes, but I finally felt clean and ready as I headed back downstairs to have breakfast with my best friend and my mom.

Walking back into the kitchen, I saw that my mom had made a simple buffet for breakfast.

“Whoa, what happened to the good ole’ bowl of cereal for breakfast?” I asked teasingly as I sat down in the chair next to Olivia, looking at the buffet in front of me. There was a plate of bacon, a small stack of pancakes, a plate of assorted fruit and a bowl of plain vanilla yogurt.

“Oh hush, Olivia made the pancakes and I just did the rest.” my mom replied with a smile, sitting down in the chair across from me.

“Well it looks delicious.” I stated, sending a smile towards both my mom and Olivia before reaching out and piling the food onto my plate.

Once breakfast was finished, I went upstairs with Olivia as I let her borrow a spare toothbrush I had lying around so she could get ready. For her outfit, she had simply switched back into the clothes she wore to school the previous day before we went out.

As she exited my en-suite bathroom, I put aside the book I was starting to read and looked at her expectantly when she rested herself down on my bed.

“What?” she asked, looking slightly uncomfortable at my staring as she started fidgeting in place.

I rolled my eyes at her and shoved her lightly. “Oh come on! You know what.” I replied with a happy smile on my face as she blushed. “You slipped off the hook last night when I basically passed out the minute I hit the couch, but today I want to know everything that happened last night with Evan.”

Olivia’s blush stayed on her cheeks as she spoke. “Well, when you and Cason went to go unpack the barbeque from the car, we were just talking like we normally would as we picked up some firewood and dragged a couple logs over to where we would stay.” she started, not really giving away any of the juicy details that I was looking for.

“I guess we sat down on one of the logs and suddenly the topic of our conversation changed from the prank that he had just pulled to our date on Tuesday. He started to say that he had a really nice time and I was almost positive he was going to ask me out again when you and Cason appeared.”

I sighed dramatically. “Even though I already know most of this, I am really sorry that I ruined that moment.” I admitted sheepishly.

Olivia shook her head. “Don’t be, because if he would’ve asked me out then, I don’t think he would’ve had the guts to kiss me.” she replied.

My eyes widened as she mentioned the kiss I had witnessed him give her on the beach last night. “Speaking of the kiss…” I trailed off with a gigantic smile and a teasing tone.

Olivia giggled at my obvious excitement and she nodded. “I’m getting to that.” she said before continuing retelling the tales of last night.

“Anyways, obviously you already know that he didn’t try to ask me out until we were eating, but I guess when he asked me to go for a walk on the beach when the sun was about to set, I was really nervous because I guess I knew what was going to happen. I obviously agreed, but it comforted me when I saw that he was blushing and sensed that he was just as nervous as I was.”

As she spoke, I saw the blush that had faded from her face previously come back slowly as she got more into the story.

“When we got far enough from you guys, he just took my hand in his and held it softly. It was honestly unexpected, but it felt nice.  Anyways, he started talking about the fact that he didn’t get close to many girls because he always got nervous around them, and when they saw that he wasn’t the tough bad boy he seemed to be, they wouldn’t even try and take the chance to get to know the real him.” she explained.

“I told him that those girls were stupid because, besides his reputation that is made up of a bunch of false accusations, he was a really nice guy and didn’t deserve the way that any girls tried to use him for their own pleasure.” she said, actually looking a little pissed off that some of the sluts at our school would look at him in that way.

She shook her head, ridding the jealous and angry thoughts from her head as another smile appeared on her face.

“He told me that I was different from all of those girls; I actually took the time to get to know the guy behind the exterior walls and he said that he really liked that.” she said, recounting his words to her and blushing as she did.

“At the end of our conversation, he basically asked me out again, but this time he said it was for a real date. He said he wanted to take me to a fancy restaurant this weekend to really show me how much he cared about me, and he also said that he wanted to take me to the restaurant as his girlfriend.” she stated as a huge smile sprouted across her face.

Smiling myself, I giggled as I threw my arms around her in a supportive hug. Pulling back, the smile was still on my face as I was so incredibly happy for her. “Olivia!” I exclaimed in a sappy voice. “That is so cute and I wouldn’t expect that from him, but please tell me you said yes!”

Olivia blushed harder and nodded with a smile still situated on her face. “I obviously said yes, but I was so shocked. I mean, I knew that he liked me, but I was just surprised that he was asking me to be his girlfriend so quickly. What shocked me even more than that was as soon as I said yes, a huge smile erupted on his face and he started to move a little closer to me. I remember my breath getting stuck in my throat as he brought his hand up to my face and started running his thumb across my cheek.” she said in a totally hypnotic voice as she slowly brought a hand up to her blush-covered cheek.

I smiled softly at her as she continued.

“He looked me in the eyes and asked me in the softest voice I’ve ever heard if he could kiss me. I couldn’t even speak because I was so nervous and so happy at the same time. I felt my head nodding involuntarily and then his lips met mine and I swear I felt something burst in my stomach. It was as if all the butterflies that were swarming around in the pit of my stomach had suddenly disappeared in a flash and I was teleported to a place where I could float on a cloud. When he pulled back, I know that we were both smiling and then we just continued to walk around the beach and talk about random things until we came back to meet you guys.” she finished, looking so content and happy. “It was my first kiss and it was definitely worth the wait.”

I let out an involuntary ‘aww’ noise as she stopped talking, causing her blush to become more prominent. “I am so happy for you. I know that I haven’t known you or Evan for all that long, but I can see that you guys interact like you’ve known each other for years and you guys look adorable together. You deserve to be happy and I can’t wait to take all of my opportunities as your closest friend to tease you until the end of the Earth.” I replied sincerely, yet ending in a teasing tone.

Olivia laughed at my reply and nodded, giving me a comforting hug before pulling back and smiling.

After our conversation about last night was officially finished, we went downstairs into the living room to watch a movie. Deciding to watch a romantic comedy because of the events of last night, I popped the disc into the DVD player before sitting on the couch next to Olivia as the movie started to role on screen.

About half way through the movie, my mom was walking down the stairs to join us as there was a couple of consecutive knocks on the front door.

“Are you expecting anyone?” my mom asked curiously, as she changed her course of direction and walked to the foyer to answer the door.

My eyebrows were scrunched as well, as I couldn’t think of anybody who would be here at noon on a Saturday. “No, not that I know of!” I replied, raising my voice slightly so that she could hear me from where I was sitting.

I heard my mom open the door, but I could only hear her and another voice muttering a brief conversation that didn’t reach my ears before it stopped.

I simply thought that whoever was at the door must have left, like a telemarketer or salesman that realized they weren’t getting any business at our house, however, a second later my mom called me into the foyer.

“Jessalyn, someone’s here to see you.” she announced, making both mine and Olivia’s face turn into masks of confusion.

Who the hell was here to see me?

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So, it’s a little short compared to some of my other chapters, however, I am happy with this chapter as it is simply a cliff-hanger for what is to come in the next chapter.

Also, I am so incredibly sorry about not updating again for two weeks. I was honestly trying for an update last weekend and then throughout the week, but I just didn’t have time as I was assigned another couple hours of homework each night. With school, my job, and soccer, I hope I can get an upload up every week, however, at the moment that may not be possible. I won’t be saying when the next upload will be this time because some people just get frustrated when I don’t upload on time so, I’ll just say this. I might upload in two days, five days, or in a week or two… I don’t know at the moment. Whenever I get the time to write I will, and please, always remember that there will be an update for this story soon enough.

On another note, thank you so much everybody for supporting this story and I hope that you are doing enough for me to gain access to the Watty Awards later in the year! You guys are amazing! This story has more than 3.5 million reads, almost 25,000 votes, and over 4,000 comments… it’s insane. Plus, I have over 3,500 fans :)

Anyways, thank you all so much, and remember, if you catch any spelling or grammatical errors just leave a comment below and I will fix them! Also, just drop a comment on how you think the story is going so far… also, who do you think is at the door? ;)