Chapter 2
"So there's no school tomorrow, we've done everything we could have possibly thought of, and it's only four in the afternoon," I say, plopping down on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. "What are we supposed to do for the remaining… thirty-five hours before we have to go to school again?"
Caitlyn lies down on my bed. "Let's take a nap." She closes her eyes and fake snores.
I scoff and hit her shoulder. "That's boring. You're boring."
She looks up at me. "You're the weird one who likes dirt."
"Dirt is the most wonderful thing in the universe! Sometimes I just want to lick it."
My friend nods. "Okay, you really are crazy."
I lay back down in my bed. "I wonder if Shane likes dirt."
"I don't think so."
I sit up. "I mean, maybe he does. Maybe one of his lifelong goals is to sit in a huge pile of dirt and eat hotdogs."
"Uhh…"
"What?"
"I don't think so."
"Well, you're wrong."
"Isn't he a vegetarian?"
"No he isn't!" I yell and hop off my bed. I refuse to believe that he doesn't like hotdogs. Or dirt.
"You seem upset," Caitlyn says. "Want to go to Target?"
I nod. "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Suddenly, I get the best idea ever and I gasp. "I know what we can do!"
"What?" Caitlyn asks, getting excited. She gets off the bed and stands next to me.
I grab her arms and force her to look at me. "Caitlyn, you and I… CAN GET A MINI-POOL, FILL IT UP WITH DIRT, AND SIT IN IT EATING HOTDOGS!"
She smiles and nods. "Awesome!"
"Really!?"
Caitlyn stops nodding and puts on her serious face. "No."
I groan.
"How about," she suggests, "we get a mini-pool, fill it with water, and swim in it?"
"Eating hotdogs?"
"No."
"Ugh, fine. Can we at least put a little bit of dirt in it?"
"HELL NO!"
"Please? Just a little at the bottom?"
She stares at me with her serious angry face.
I sigh. "Fine."
Caitlyn grabs my hand and pulls me away. "Okay, off to Target!"
We both run out of my room and to the garage, getting two bikes. We start peddling down the street and to Target.
Summer's only a month away and I couldn't be more excited. There are so many things to do: Go to concerts, Caitlyn's birthday, seeing Shane every Sunday, sleeping until the afternoon, hanging out with friends, seeing Shane every Sunday, swimming, Boston, seeing Shane every Sunday… I mean, it's already really hot out. But then again, it's always hot here in Texas.
Sooner than I realize it, we're at Target. I lock up my bike to a shopping cart return thing and we walk inside together.
Target makes me happy. I have no idea why it makes me happy, but it does. I think it's the colors and the smell and… seeing Shane everywhere.
Yes, Shane and his brothers, Nate and Jason, are sell outs. They work for Disney and Disney thinks it's acceptable to plaster their faces on everything imaginable for money.
Honestly, it
doesn't bother me that there is Connect 3 merchandise all over the
place, because I get to see Shane's face everywhere.
Don't
tell him, but I have socks with Shane's face on them. And I'm
wearing them right now.
"Ugh," I hear Caitlyn say in disgust.
"What?" I ask.
She points to the giant card board cut out of Shane. "That."
"What about it?"
"Doesn't it make you sick inside? Disney is an asshole. That's our friend."
I kinda like it, but I'd never tell Caitlyn. "Yeah," I lie. "Disgusting."
She shakes her head and we walk to the back and look at the inflatable kiddy pools. I see a Hannah Montana one, a High School Musical one, and a Connect 3 one. I pick it up. "This one."
Caitlyn scoffs. "That's too weird." She points to Nate. "And that guy's an asshole."
Well, he is. He's a chalice ruiner. But Shane's on it, and he's hot.
I smirk and pick up one with fish on it. "Hey, Caitlyn."
She turns to me and screams. "PUT THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW!"
I shove it in her face. "THEY'RE GONNA EAT YOU!"
"Michelle Renee Torres, you put those scary fishes away right now!"
Yes, Caitlyn is deathly afraid of fish. And she calls ME weird…
"They're staring at me!" she hollers and turns away, shielding her eyes.
I put it back on the shelf and laugh at her expense.
She turns back around and while covering the fishy pool with her hand, she picks out one with a giraffe on it. "This looks fun."
"A giraffe?" I ask, amused.
Suddenly, someone behind covers my eyes with their hands. I start screaming and kicking whoever it is.
"Nate, let her go!" Caitlyn scolds.
The person releases me and I turn around and see Nate standing there, laughing, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap. I look him over. "Nice disguise," I say.
"Thanks," he says, putting his hands in his pockets.
"What are you doing here?" I ask.
He rocks back and forth on his feet. "Just… you know… stalking you." He smiles evilly. Oh, I know that smile. He's planning something.
"You're not funny," I growl. "You scared the shit out of me."
"Did I really?"
"Well not literally."
Nate laughs and walks away.
"UGH!" I scoff and roll my eyes, crossing my arms across my chest.
"Asshole," Caitlyn mutters. "So, let's go pay for this and go back to your house."
"Okay," I say and we walk to the front of the store. "Oh wait! I need tampons!"
We change directions and as I'm grabbing a box, someone says, "I use this kind."
I look over and see Nate handing me a box.
"NATE!" I scold.
He laughs.
I hit him. "You're such a creeper! Leave me alone!"
Laughing hysterically, he quickly leaves.
"What the hell was that!?" Caitlyn yells after him.
I grab a box and groan. "Let's just go before he creeps on us again."
"Good idea," she agrees.
Once I've paid for the stuff and got back over to our bikes I stop.
"What?" Caitlyn asks, seeing that something was wrong.
"How the hell are we gonna do this?" I ask.
"Do what?"
"Carry this pool back on our bikes?"
"Wow, we didn't think this through, did we?"
"Nope."
"We basically fail at life."
"Yes, we do." I sigh. "I'll just call my mom and have her pick us up."
We sit down on the curb and wait for my mom to pick us up. I load up all the bikes and the stuff we bought and then Caitlyn and I hop in the backseat. When we get home, I go out to my backyard, set the pool on the patio, and then realize that the only way to blow it up is with an air mattress pump. Which I don't have.
"Shit," I curse. "I don't have an air mattress pump. We can't do this."
"Do you know someone who has one?" Caitlyn asks me.
I nod.
"Who?"
"Nate."
"Then let's go over to his house and ask to borrow it."
"Are you crazy!?" I ask. Well, she is.
"Well, it's either we ask him for it or we don't swim!" Caitlyn explains.
I sigh when I realize she's right. Sure he's an asshole and I hate him, but then again we're friends. It's complicated. I mean, I grew up with him, I kinda have to like him a bit. Plus, we go to the same church and we might as well get along or spending a week in Boston together is going to be hell.
"Fine, let's go," I give in.
Luckily, the Gray's are my next-door neighbors, so we didn't have to walk very far. I ring the doorbell and Nate answers. He smirks. "Are you here to stalk me now?"
"No," I say, clenching my teeth. "We need to borrow your air mattress pump."
"Air mattress pump?" he asks.
I nod. "Yes."
I hear Jason yell from the back of the house, "FLUFF!!!!!"
Random, yes. Stupid, yes. Jason is both of those.
"I'll see if I have one," he says and closes the door on us.
Caitlyn and I exchange glances.
He comes back about five seconds later. "Nope. Don't have one. Sorry." He starts to close the door, but I stop it with my hand.
"I know you have one," I say.
Nate raises his eyebrows. "How can you be so sure?"
"Cause you threw it at me last weekend."
He stares at me for a second intensely and then sighs. "Fine." He closes the door and then returns with an air pump, holding it out for me. Right before I could grab it, he pulls it away from me. "Not so fast."
I groan.
"What do I get out of this?" he asks.
"Absolutley nothing," I say, trying to take it from him.
He holds it up in the air, out of my reach. Damn him for being taller than I.
"Give it to me," I demand.
"Pushy, pushy, pushy!" he laughs a bit.
"Nate…"
"I'll tell you what. I'll give it to you, if you let me go swimming with you."
"How do you know we're going swimming, you creeper?"
He shrugs, a smirk plastered across his face. "What do you say? Let me swim with you and you get the air pump?"
"Haha no."
"Fine then. No air pump for you. You know, most girls about your age would die if Nate Gray asked to go swimming with them."
He closes the door yet again, but I stop it with my hand. "Ugh, fine, you can go swimming with us." I roll my eyes.
"Great!" he exclaims. "I'll go get my swimsuit! I'll be over in a sec, here's the air pump."
I snatch it from him angrily. Damn him. Caitlyn and I walk back to my house and set up the pool. Right as I'm filling it up with water, Nate hops over our fence and into our backyard. "Aight, let's do this!"
"Well, hold your poops in your pants," I say. "It's not done yet."
"Hold my what in my what?" he asks, a hint of amusement in his voice.
I glare at him. "Shut up and fill up the pool while I get my bathing suit on." I shove the hose at him and go into my room with Caitlyn.
Right as I close the door, I groan. "He is SUCH an asshole!"
Caitlyn shrugs. "I guess. I mean, he's kinda nice to me."
I grab my bathing suit out of my dresser. "You cannot take his side!"
"Well…"
"Well?"
"Well… go away. You like dirt, you weirdo." She goes into my bathroom to change.
I kick the wall. Stupid Caitlyn, stupid Nate. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Once we both get changed, we head outside.
Nate is sitting in the pool and he looks over at us. "Sexy," he says, laughing.
"Fuck you," I grumble and sit down in the pool.
"I compliment you, so you respond by insulting me?"
I give him the evil eye and he shrugs. He splashes me and I gasp. I stand up, only to stub my toe on the ground. Damn uneven patio rocks!
"SHIT!" I scream and sit down, holding my toe. "Fuck my life!" This really hurts!
Nate suddenly looks worried. "Mitchie, are you okay?"
I look at him, rage building up in me. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
He comes racing over to me. "What's wrong?"
"Screw you!" I say and hop out of the pool.
Nate gets out of the pool too and hands me his towel. "I'll go get you some ice."
"I don't need anything from you!" I blow up in his face. "You stupid son of a bitch! I hate you! Don't ever come near me again!"
"Wow, that was really hostile and uncalled for," he says, keeping his cool.
"You stupid chalice ruiner!"
"That was like ten years ago!" he defends.
I give him the middle finger and storm off into my house, Caitlyn following me.
