"Car, wait up!" I turned around to see Isabelle was running my way, trying to catch up. I stopped, moving to the side of the courtyard with my books in hand.
"What's up?" I ask Isabelle.
"I think I should ask you the same question."
"Izzy, just tell me what you're getting at."
"So word is that you went out to eat with Drew."
"Yeah, dinner after the match. Something wrong with that?"
"He's got a girlfriend."
"We're just friends, calm down. No one else wanted to go, and we were starving. Besides you know I wouldn't do anything."
"You're right, but it was the gossip of the moment anyway."
"Whatever, I always manage to get into that."
"So where you headed?"
"Practice, I guess. You?"
"Home, gotta get ready for dance."
"Okay, I'll call you later tonight then?"
"Byeeee!" she waved giving me her biggest smile, she always knows how to make me laugh without even doing anything.
"Carissa!" I heard heavy pounding against the sidewalk, someone was running towards me, but obviously not so well or fast. I turned around to see Seth, my favorite freshman, waddle running towards me with a backpack that could swallow him whole, his tennis bag, and a lunch box in hand.
"Slow down, your bags are heavy enough, you're gonna do a face plant on the sidewalk."
"Do you think you could give me a ride to practice?"
"Of course, just don't run with all that stuff on."
"I haven't been in your car yet!" He smiles a goofy smile.
"Then you're in for a treat." His face lights up at this, just your typical guy. By now everyone else has left for practice, I had to stay after to talk to Mr. Gilmore about my Chemistry lab that I missed when I was out sick. "I'm stopping at 7 eleven so I can get some water though, that cool?"
"It's your car, you can do whatever."
"Yeah, you're right," I laugh, popping the trunk of my car.
"I can't believe you got a BMW, it's beautiful," he looks over my shiny gray car. "It's something alright." I smile putting my books in the trunk.
"Automatic or manual?" he asks.
"Manual."
"Damn girl, I can't believe you're a girl." I laugh at this, I know it's the truth. What other teenage girl likes spending time on her car? I don't know about you, but my best friends would much rather shop. And who am I to turn down shopping? I just happen to like working on my car in my spare time.
"Get in, Seth."
"Oh, I'd love to. By the way, I like your license plate."
"Thanks." My license plate says envy me. My mom thinks it's cocky, but for this car, it's suitable. I put the car in gear and rolled out of the parking lot.
"So how've you been?" I ask.
"Great! A little tired, but great!"
"You're always so optimistic."
"How've you been?" Seth is one of those kids who always has a smile on no matter what. He could be having the worst day ever and he'd put a smile on so that you wouldn't worry about it. On days when you're having the worst day ever, or at least you think so, you just wanna punch him for being so damn peppy. He's a nice kid though, it's impossible not to like him.
"I'm good. Same old, same old."
"I bet you're excited for this season though, you're number 3!"
"Yeah, I guess so. Hopefully I'll be a number 3 that doesn't lose," I laugh, but I really hope so. Last year I was number 7 on the team, I played tennis all summer and it paid off.
"You won't, you're really good. You've already won two of your matches anyway."
"Yeah, we'll see," I said pulling up to the 7 Eleven. I turned off my car and grabbed my wallet. "Want anything?"
"Yeah, I'll grab some water," he says shutting his door. I lock my car and head into the store. We pulled up to practice only twenty minutes late, I revved my engine a little to let my presence be known, I had a bit of an ego it seemed. The guys looked over, some payed it no mind but at least Drew and some of the other guys smiled. We got our tennis bags out of the trunk and headed towards the courts.
"Carrriisssa, you know what this means?" Drew asked.
"What?" I asked waiting for his answer as I stood beside him with my tennis bag slung over my shoulder. I'm pretty sure coach could wait another minute.
"You have got to take me for a ride."
"I guess so, you took me for a ride in yours," I laughed.
"I wish we could go right now, but I don't think your coach is going to let you skip practice. We'll figure something out," he smiled. He has this way of making me feel like I'm the only one he's staring at, but it's just his way of looking at you. Besides, I'm pretty sure he has a girlfriend. They've been dating forever.
"Singletonnnnn!" I heard coach yell from the girl's courts.
"Guess I better go," I sighed walking away.
"Don't forget," he called after me.
"Singleton! Where have you been? If you spent half as much time playing as you did flirting you'd never lose. Now get out there before practice is over!"
"I had to talk to a teacher, thank you." I pulled out my racquet and headed out to the court anyway. Practice was useless anyway, everyone was just lazy. Surprising how we could be district and regional champions without even trying, that really stumps me sometimes.
"Where have you been, missy?" Scarlette, my other best friend, asks me.
"Mr. Gilmore..." I make a face to let her know that it was not a good story.
"Oh, ew."
"Agreed."
------------------------------------
"Carissa, wait up!" I hear my name being called yet again. I turn around to see Drew smiling.
"Will you rev your engine for me?" he laughs. I asked him this exact question only a few weeks before.
"You're just pushing my buttons today aren't you?" This had been how he'd replied.
"I like pushing your buttons," he smiled his blue eyes lighting up.
"I guess I will," I said answering his question.
"What are you doing tonight?" he asked.
"Nothing, I'm free. What do you have in mind?"
"There's a party tonight, you down? Actually, I'm not taking no for an answer."
"Oh, that's kind of you. Where is it?"
"In the Oaks." The Oaks was where all the supremely rich kids lived, CEOs and such.
"That's far away, my car doesn't want to be bombarded by drunkards."
"I'll drive. Pick you up at 8?"
"You don't know where I live."
"Don't worry about that, just be ready at 8."
"That's not sketchy at all. Stalker." I laughed, teasing.
"See you tonight," he said walking back towards his car. I wonder if he knows he's going to cr... too late. He ran right into his car. I laugh at this, I don't even know how our friendship came to be, it happened so abruptly. One minute we were at a match, I had just come off the court and was resting, talking to Maggie about cars. Maggie and I were discussing my brother's car and how it had almost been mine, but he got it instead when Drew asked what kind of car it was. That's when we started talking. It was so easy to talk to him, He and I just kind of fell into stride together, and we hit it off from there. That night he asked for my number, I took his phone and put it in his phonebook. I remember the first time I met him, I thought, "What does Josie see in him? I don't see anything special about him." I cursed myself for this now because he turned out to be a really nice guy. I took off, revving my engine as I passed him. He smiled pulling up behind me. He started to rev his engine, and I laughed. It was six o'clock now, I looked at the time in my car. I have two hours to get ready. What am I going to wear? I'd only been to one other party in the Oaks, and I'd only stayed an hour for that one. What am I going to do with my hair? This is ridiculous. I wonder what my mom will say to me going to a party on a school night. I guess it's a good thing my parents are out of town. My parents think I'm a little angel and I only do schoolwork and tennis, they completely trust me. Which you know, has its perks, they let me do just about anything. I haven't done anything bad, I have excellent grades, and too many extracurriculars. I'll just tell him to take me home around 11 so I'm not completely dead at school tomorrow.
Two hours later, I was dressed in a tank top and skirt, my hair straight. The doorbell rang and I knew it must be Drew. I grabbed my phone and wallet, heading for the door.
"Hey," I said to Drew as he stood outside my front door. I couldn't help but notice that he looked really good, and especially how nice he smelled when I walked by him closing the door behind me.
"Are your parents home? Do I need to have you home by a certain time?" he asked looking around for a sign of anyone else.
"They're out of town, and you can bring me home whenever you're tired of me." I smiled.
"You may never be home then," he smiled that smile, the one that shook you to the core.
I laughed, "I think you might change your mind by the end of the night." He opened the passenger door for me, I guess chivalry isn't really dead... yet. He walked around his car, getting in.
"Are you telling me that you're all alone, in this big house of yours?"
"Yep."
"You're not scared?"
"Nah, they always go out of town, I'm used to it."
"No parties?"
"No time."
"You're a busy girl. But not too busy to party tonight?" he laughed.
"You wouldn't take no for an answer."
"You're right," he said switching gears, a small smile on his face. "Ever been to an Oaks party?"
"Once, but I left after an hour."
"Why so fast?"
"Some drunk guy kept following me around and I wasn't having any fun."
"You weren't with the right people, and I won't let any drunk guy get near you tonight."
"What if you're drunk?"
"I guess you're driving," he laughs.
"Wait, you'd let me drive your car?"
"Yeah, I trust you."
"You hardly know me," I smirk.
"I know you well enough to know that you do a kickass job of driving a stick."
"Eh, well you'd probably be too intoxicated to notice."
"You could be right."
"Are you a fun drunk at least?"
"I hear I get lovey dovey and shit. I'm an "I love you guys" kind of drunk, or so I'm told."
"Oh, this will be a fun night then."
"Do you like to drink?"
"If I'm in the right mood."
"Favorite drink?"
"Vodka."
"Fruity?"
"I can shoot a whiskey too, don't judge."
"I wasn't. You're always surprising me though."
"Surprising you? How?"
"When there was all this talk about you being the new girl, and all these guesses on what kind of person you'd be, I didn't imagine you'd be this cool."
"I guess that's a compliment. What'd you imagine I'd be like?"
"I think the first time I saw you, I was like how can such a pretty girl be so quiet? You were quiet and you kept to yourself."
"Oh, so you think I'm pretty?"
"You kidding? You're a knockout. You should hear what the other guys have to say."
"Hahaa, I'm not sure I want to know." He thought I was pretty. Me.
"If you say so."
"Do your parents care if you drink?"
"Nahhh, plus they'll probably be asleep when I get back. Although it wakes my brother up sometimes when I get in so late."
"You have a little brother?"
"Yeah, Alden, he's thirteen."
"That's adorable. No wonder you're good with kids."
"And what, you're not? Do you have any siblings?"
"An older brother, but he's twenty six. He graduated from Colombia and lives in New York now, he's an engineer."
"That's impressive. Here we are," he said pulling up to a three story brick house, you could just tell there was a party going on. There were cars everywhere, people everywhere.
"Looks packed." I said getting out of the car. We walked inside, weaved in through a family room, kitchen, and a few other rooms, we finally reached the backyard. There were so many people here who knew Drew, so many people I'd never seen before. They looked me over, probably wondering who I was. Some didn't care, some looked a little more interested, but in the end, they decided I wasn't anything to worry about so they went back to their business. The next thing I knew, a group of three guys were pretty much jumping Drew.
"Drew! My man! You made it!" He was burly, tall, about 6 foot. He had light brown hair, cut short, pretty clean cut.
"Wouldn't miss a party," Drew smiles back. They look at me and the one with longish blonde hair that reached his shoulders said, "you brought a friend too."
"Guys, this is Carissa. Carissa, this is John," the burly one nods, "Richard," the blonde smiles, "and last but not least, this is Jacob" the quieter of the three boys shakes my hand.
"It's nice to meet you," I say.
"Ayo, where's Josie?" John asks.
"You know she doesn't come to these things." I'm not sure why, but this made me think that he and his girlfriend weren't that close after all. I started having doubts about Drew then, when he just didn't care. But you know, who am I to judge? They could be just fine for all I know. I felt a little odd though, like I was misplaced, I shouldn't be here with him. We're just friends I thought. Me and my dumb preteen thinking again, you know where if a guy talks to you, suddenly he likes you? I refuse to think like that.
"Well, we certainly don't mind a pretty girl like Carissa," Richard spoke up. He seemed like one of those guys who'd flirt with any random girl if she was pretty enough or he was bored enough. I smiled at this, as expected.
"Careful, Rich, she's a heartbreaker, this one," Drew replied. A heartbreaker?
"A heartbreaker, you say? Are you a heartbreaker, Carissa?" he looks at me, seemingly trying to flirt as he stands a little closer now.
"Maybe, maybe not." I smile.
"Oh, I like this one, she's shy now, but I bet she's feisty," John laughed.
"Game time!" Some guy yelled from across the room, having set up a ping pong table and many cups. Beer pong.
"That's my jam," John says excitedly walking over.
"Want a drink?" Drew asks me.
"Sure," I reply.
"Come on, it's gonna get really loud in here in a few minutes, these games get really intense." He explains looking back. He grabs two cold beers out of the fridge, handing one to me, and says, "come on, I want to show you something." I follow him up a flight of stairs, and another, until we reach a door that leads us onto the roof. I didn't even know that was possible, but this is a really nice house. He sits down with the beer in hand and waits for me to sit too. He smiles at me, waiting. I join him.
"It's nice up here."
"I come up here sometimes when I just want some air."
"Alone?"
"No one else to come up here with. Not like I can bring John, Richard, or Jacob."
"I'm glad you shared it with me," I smile, and I genuinely am. I feel like I'm getting a real look at Drew.
"You're really something you know that?"
"I think you're getting lovey dovey."
"Nope, too early yet. The night is young." And so we sat up on the roof for what only seemed like half an hour, which was actually four hours. Drew had had a few more drinks but I stopped at one. He told me about his childhood memories, his parents, his little brother. He grabbed his phone and checked the flashing screen.
"Shit," he said.
"What?"
"Twenty text messages. From the same person."
"Stalker?"
"Girlfriend," he groaned.
"Is there an emergency?"
"She's just freaking out because I didn't call her."
"I'm sorry?"
"She can be a little needy."
"I'm sure she's asleep by now. Maybe she was worried about you or something."
"Or something."
"Hey, what happened to the night is young? Cheer up, she'll be fine."
"You're right," he says putting his phone back in his pocket.
"I usually am," I reply teasingly to lighten up the mood.
"Oh, are you now?"
"I am."
"You know, this would be great if we didn't have school tomorrow."
Ughhhhh, I forgot about school. "Ew," is all I can say.
"I should probably get you home."
"I'm not letting you drive."
"I already said you could drive," he handed his keys over. He stood up, wobbling a bit.
"Whoa, careful." I stood up grabbing his hands to steady him. Being this close to him, touching him felt so right. Yikes! I'll have to make sure I don't think like that again. Maybe it's the alcohol. Yeah. We managed to say goodbye to his friends. Jacob had won beer pong and apparently John was brooding. I was a little nervous having to drive his "baby." He loved his car and he told me he'd put a lot of work into it. It also hit me that if I was driving, he couldn't drive home. I guess he could crash in the guest bedroom. I turned on the car, surprised by how much power was stored away under the hood. He smiled a goofy grin, pretty much to himself. You could tell he was proud of his car. When we pulled up to my house I told him I wasn't letting him drive home like this. I led him to the guest bedroom.
"I'll wake you up bright and early so you can take a shower. You can borrow something of my brother's so you don't have to go home, you guys are pretty much the same build and height." Drew was probably around 5'8", he was kind of muscular but not buff. He had darkish brown hair and really pretty blue eyes. "You should probably let your parents know where you are." I said before walking out.
"Car," he called.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
-----------------------
Beep, beep, beep, beep.... I woke to the sound of my alarm. Dumb alarm. At least it's Friday. The events of last night came flooding into my head. Drew was in the next room, in my house, sleeping. I got up, took an impressive fifteen minute shower and made breakfast. I knocked on the door of the guest bedroom. No answer. I kept knocking. Still no answer, so I decided to walk in. He must be one of those kids you have to pull the covers off of before they'll get up.
He was sound asleep.
"Drew, sweetie, wake up." I nudged his shoulder. He looked a little confused opening his eyes. "Rise and shine, time for school." At this he groaned, but he smiled at me.
"I brought you some clothes to change into. You have plenty to pick from and breakfast is ready."
"You made me breakfast?"
"I made us breakfast, I'm hungry too."
"My mom would love you," he shook his head laughing. I walked out so he could change in private.
"Damn girl, you're a hell of a cook," he said eating the blueberry pancakes and chocolate chip waffles I'd made.
"Doesn't take much to make pancakes and waffles."
"Best damn pancakes and waffles I've had," he said taking another bite.
"Thanks," I took the compliment.
"What time is it?" he asked looking around for a clock.
"It's almost 8, we still have some time." School started at 8:30, pretty late but it was nice.
"Can you please not tell anyone that I spent the night here? I know that sounds kind of shallow, but I just don't want Josie to find out." Ah, Josie, his girlfriend. I wonder what she'd think if she found out that her boyfriend spent the night at my house. Josie was a dancer, a junior like me. She has these big brown eyes that are really cute, and pretty brown hair. She seems nice.
"Yeah, don't want your girlfriend getting mad at me." He looked a little uneasy as I said this, but he just smiled politely.
"Well I'm gonna go get my stuff so we can leave. Wait, you don't have your backpack! Oh no, I should've thought of that earlier."
"It's fine, I don't need it."
"Are you sure?" How could he not? I probably couldn't make it without my stuff, but then again that's just me.
"Yeah, it's fine." Five minutes later, we were heading to school in our own cars. Drew had called his mom to tell her that he'd had a few drinks last night so he thought it'd be better if he spent the night at a friend's house. To my relief, she didn't ask who the friend was. I didn't want both his girlfriend and his mom to think I was a ho. We got to school and parted ways, I headed to my first class. Calculus AKA death. The most boring class known to man. It was 8:29 and I was not late!
"Carissa Singleton! Where have you been?! I called you last night!" Izzy came marching over to me.
"My phone died and I was studying for a test," I lied. My phone was most certainly not dead, I just hadn't bothered to check it. I definitely didn't have a test today either.
"You could've charged it! You were home."
"I was lazy."
"Car, I swear." She was mad and I could tell.
"Was there something you needed to tell me?"
"There was, but I'm not gonna tell you now."
"Izzzzzyyyy, please," I begged pouting.
"Maybe later, I'll have to think about it." the bell rang. Ten minutes into class, I wrote her a note saying "I'm sorry. Please tell me what happened! Please? I love you:)" She passed it back telling me that she and Matt had gone out to dinner last night! Matt was the boy she'd been crushing on these last few weeks. We could tell Matt liked her, but he's a shy kid. Izzy, is not. Izzy is gorgeous. She's a dancer too, like Josie. She has a petite frame, gorgeous dark brown curly hair, big green eyes, and she's Greek which means that she has olive skin. She's a true mediterranean beauty. Matt, on the other hand is cute. He's not your typical cute guy, more so he's cute but in a different way. No hot body with gorgeous hair and sparkly eyes. He's tall, dark and handsome.
"DETAILS!" I write back.
He texted me before dance and asked if I was free after, so we could hit a movie or something. So he ended up picking me up after dance and we got dinner and a movie.
What movie? What restaurant?
It was some romantic comedy Rachel and Dempsey or something, idr. He took me to Cal's.
AW! How'd it go?
It was awesome! He told me he liked me!!!!!
OMG! yayyyy! Then? What'd you say?
I told him I liked him too:) So he asked if I'd like to be his gf!!
Izzzzyyyyyyyyy! :) 3 :)
Are you doing anything tonight?
I don't have any plans.
Will you please please double date with us? I'll find you a date! I promise! You cannot bail on me tonight! CANNOT!
Fiiine. What time? I was not excited about this, but I felt bad for missing this big moment in her life.
8, we're going to the dinner then the lake.
I refuse to make out with whoever it is you're pinning me with.
Why must you be difficult? Can't you just be glad you're getting something? Or do you like someone????
No, I don't like anyone. But I refuse to make out on a first date, that's ridiculous. Make sure he's good looking but has a personality too. I remember when you put me with Reid. All he wanted to do was talk about himself!!! And after he kissed me, he asked if I thought he had nice teeth!! I will kill you if you do that again.
That was one time!
What about Fred?
Ugh, fine! You've made your point.
Someone had to.
What about Greg?
from anatomy?
Yeahhh. He's nice and he's cute! Try not to live up to your last name here.
Ha ha. Fine, but with my luck he'll probably turn out to be a freak.
He won't be! Promise! Thank you thank you thank you!
So it's just us?
Well... almost.
You invited someone else??
Drew and Josie might be coming...
Might? Why'd you invite me if you already had someone going with you?
Pleeeease? You promised!
Ughhh, this one time. I will regret this, but for you I will.
I love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! I folded then note putting it in my backpack. A half hour later, I was headed to my next class. If it weren't Friday, I'd seriously have considered skipping. Spring Break cannot come soon enough!
I was walking to my locker when I saw Drew and Josie arguing about something. Josie looked sad and Drew looked frustrated. Relationships, don't they suck? I'm sure they'd work it out and be back to a happy couple tonight. But for some reason, my stomach tightened thinking about them, together. Cramps? Nope, it wasn't that time of the month yet. Maybe I hadn't eaten enough breakfast. Could be. I kept walking. The rest of my day was pretty boring. In Anatomy, Greg asked me if I was okay with tonight.
"Hey, Carissa, can I talk to you a second?"
"Yeah, what's up?" I asked.
"Are you okay with doubling with me tonight?"
"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I didn't know if it was your choice or not."
"Aw, no! I'm glad it's you! It could've been some weirdo. If anything you've saved me." He smiled at this, guess i gave him a confidence boost.
"See you tonight then?" he asked as I turned around to walk back to my table.
"See you," I should've been more excited. Greg was a sweet guy and he was cute! But the truth of the matter was, I wasn't excited. It was just another Friday night, but I guess it's better than staying home.
The rest of the day passed along fine, boring, but no blips. Izzy met me after school to tell me that I should go over to her house so I could help her get ready. We agreed I'd go over at 7 and we'd meet the boys at 8.
I went home, got dressed in my cutest outfit. I put on a pair of my cutest shorts, my ballet flats, and a sparkly top (more a party shirt, but it would suffice).
"Whoa! You look good! Gregory is going to drop his jaw when he sees you!" Izzy said when she opened the door.
"Let's find something for you then," I smiled.
"I don't know what to wear! I don't have anything to wear!"
"Isabelle, you have two closets! How do you not have anything to wear?"
"They're not cute enough for Matt." her forehead creased.
"You look cute in anything! Let's go." I said marching towards her room. I marched past her parents, then did a double take, saying "Hi!"
"Carissa, it's so nice to see you! I hear you two have hot dates tonight," Isabelle's mom winked at me.
"Hot?" Izzy's dad looked up.
"They're really nice," I lamented.
"They better be," his brow furrowed. We continued the walk to her room. In the end she decided on a skirt and a cute purple top. We were running a little late, but we'd just be fashionably late.
We showed up at 8:07, which you know isn't that bad, but everyone was already there. I saw Drew and he smiled, looking happy to see me. Josie smiled at us, waving, glad she wasn't the only girl there anymore or at least that's what I guessed.
"Heyyyy," I said as we walked up to the table. They all smiled back. Izzy sat by Matt and I took my place beside Greg.
"I'm glad you made it," he smiled at me.
"Sorry about running late," I said to the group.
"I love your shirt, where'd you get it?" Josie asks me.
"You know, I really can't remember." The waiter comes by to ask Izzy and I what we want to drink.
"Sweet tea for me please," I tell him. He's kind of cute. He's around my height, black hair, green eyes, and super long eyelashes.
"I'll have the same," Izzy says. Matt puts his arm around her. They are really cute together. Suddenly, I feel kind of lonely. I look up to see Drew looking at me, he smiles when he catches me looking. I wish we could repeat last night again, that was nice. The waiter comes back with our drinks. i see him slide something under my cup, he does it so swiftly no one else notices.
"Here are your drinks, ladies." He smiles at me and walks away. I lift up my drink and there's a piece of paper with his name and number. His name is Gabe. I laugh and everyone turns to look at me.
"He gave me his number," I say. They all laugh at me.
"Of course you'd get hit on," Greg says laughing.
"Second time today," I laughed.
"Really? I guess I'm really lucky then."
"Be careful, I'm a heartbreaker, or so I hear." I tell Greg. Drew stifles a laugh.
"I guess I better be careful," he teases. It's getting hot in here, or maybe it's just me. Everyone looks fairly comfortable, but I feel so out of place. I don't want to be with Greg. If not Greg, then who? I don't want to answer this question so I look for an excuse to get away for a few minutes.
"Hey, do you wanna go for a walk?" Greg asks.
"I'd love to," I smile. Fresh air would do real wonders for me right now. Matt and Izzy are laughing and Josie is whispering something in Drew's ear, so they're all good. We'll just sneak off.
"You seemed a little uncomfortable in there." He looks at me, probably hoping that it's not him.
"I just needed some air, you read my mind," I laughed.
"Really? That's pretty awesome."
"It's a nice night." The stars are bright and it's a clear night. It's not cold, it feels so good.
"Can I tell you something?"
"Of course," I turn to look at him.
"I've wanted to ask you out for years." Well, now. This caught me off guard. Greg. A perfect night, a perfect conversation, but not the one I want to share it with.
"Really? Why didn't you?"
"I was scared, I mean look at you, you're gorgeous and I'm just... me."
"Greg! What are you talking about? You are so cute! Plus you're such a nice guy." I tell him. He looks surprisingly relaxed.
"So tell me, how was your day?"
"Boring!" I make a face to emphasize it, he laughs.
"You were always so funny. I remember freshman year when you organized the whip cream raid."
"Not my best moment, and I got in trouble for that."
"It was so worth it. I doubt our senior prank can top that."
"Was it the warrior costumes or the fact that everyone brought whip cream?" I laughed remembering all the kids who'd dressed as gladiators and brought in whip cream to fight with. It was so great. And I actually didn't get in much trouble for it, the principal just laughed it off, but made me clean it up.
"Everything, it was hilarious, and I bet no one will forget it. One day they'll tell their grandkids about you, Carissa Singleton." Pulling stunts like this one had always kind of been my thing. I guess when you have a whip cream fight and don't have get suspended or even a phone call to your parents it kind of pushes you to do more. It was nice talking to Greg, maybe I could give him a shot. I heard the familiar ringer of my phone, "Buttercup baby..." It was Izzy.
"Hello?" I answered.
"You should get back, we're going to the sports park."
"Be there in five," I said.
"We're heading to the sports park," I told Greg as I closed my phone.
"Oh, so now I can whoop you in go cart racing! Yes!" He teased.
"Haaa, not on my watch," I pushed him.
"Oh we'll see!" When we got back to the diner, I go to pay for my sweet tea but Gabe tells me that Drew had already taken care of it. I would thank Drew for that later. We walked across the street to the sports park. Greg paid for my entrance and I thanked him.
"What does everyone wanna do first?"
"Go carts!" I exclaimed. The guys laughed at me, but the girls weren't as excited, at least Josie wasn't anyway. After a long night of go carts, laser tag, the batting cages, and mini golf, we decided to call it a night. I said my goodbyes, told Izzy I'd call her in the morning, and headed towards my car. It was around midnight when my phone started ringing, it was Drew. I couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, you," I said picking up.
"What are you doing right now?" And that's how I ended up driving around with Drew at midnight. He picked me up and we just cruised.
"So do you like Greg?" he asked.
"He's a nice guy."
"But do you like him?"
"I wish I did." He smiled at this, probably because he thought I was funny saying this.
"What about Gabe?"
"Ha, no. Oh! Thanks for paying for my drink by the way."
"It was the least I could do after you let me crash at your place last night."
"What'd you do after you left tonight?"
"I had to take Josie home, she didn't really have much fun."
"I'm sorry."
"It's getting harder to be with her these days, she's gotten kind of possessive." I just sat quietly, I didn't feel like saying I'm sorry again.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to unleash all my problems on you. You're just so easy to talk to," he confessed.
"I have an idea, I think it'll cheer you up. Let's go back to my place so I can get my car though." He raised an eyebrow. "Trust me," I said.
"I already do." I pulled my car out of the garage and he put his in.
"You're getting a two for one deal," I told him.
"Yeah?"
"I'm taking you to my favorite place and you get a ride in my car."
"It's turned out to be a good night after all." He smiles. I put the car in first and start up my street. I give it some gas and then change into second gear. Gas, third. Eventually I have to stop, but this continues until we get on the highway when I put the car into fifth. I do 120 where I know there won't be any cops.
"My God, how much does this thing put out? It's doing 120 like it's nothing."
"420," I smile. I slow down, going only a little over the speed limit now.
"That's exhilarating. Approved." He pretends to stamp my car. I laugh.
"Is it bad that I love to speed so much?" I ask.
"No, on a girl, it's hot." Again, I laugh. "So where are you taking me anyway?"
"I'd say goodnight to Josie now if I were you," is all I say. He whips out his phone, texts a few words and puts it away again.
"Done. Are you kidnapping me?"
"It's not kidnapping if the person agrees to go." We ride for an hour until we get to the beach. It's a long drive but sometimes when I've really had enough of everything at home, I just drive to the beach and watch the sunset or the sunrise. We sit and talk for hours waiting for the sun to come up. How can it be this easy to talk to someone? How is it that we haven't run out of things to talk about it?
"The beach is your favorite place?" I just nod. "Do you come here a lot?" he asks.
"When I just need to get away sometimes, this is where I come. It's really peaceful." He smiles. "What?!" I ask. "I don't know, it's just cute, is all." I parked my car close to the board walk and grabbed two blankets out of the back, I always kept blankets in my car, mostly for tennis.
"You're prepared." He observed, grabbing a blanket out of my arms.
"Say no to drugs," I pretended to be a commercial, "and sex."
"Sex? That's ludicrous." I laughed.
"Sex too. You sex crazed teens these days," I shook my head.
"Oh come on, you know you like it."
"That's crazy talk."
"You obviously haven't done it with the right person." Umm... seeing as I was still a virgin... ha.
"How many people do you think I've done it with?"
"I don't know, I'm pretty sure a guy wouldn't turn you down though."
"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I'm a virgin sweetie."
He laughs, "I kind of thought so."
"Is it obvious?"
"No, I've just gotten to know you. I know you're not a ho, and you probably want it to be "special."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, nothing! I'm just saying, the first time is a little hard, not exactly how you picture it."
"How'd we get on this topic?"
"I'm pretty sure you brought it up."
"Did I? Damn."
"Okay, so new subject. I know about your brother, but I don't know anything about your parents."
"My dad's name is Sam, he's a carpenter. My mom's name is Vanessa, she's a teacher."
"That's pretty cool. My dad's name is Cole, he's a car salesman. My mom's name is Caroline, she owns a hair salon."
"I guess that's why you're good at business then," I laugh.
"It's all too possible."