My first conscious thought of the first day of summer was my ringtone. It pierced through my sleep, causing me to groan and roll over, swinging my arm around randomly until I had found the offending thing. The blurry screen said 'Derp' and I sighed.

"Dave! Omigod Dave finally I've been calling you like, all day! What have you been doing geez."

I let out a sigh, and flopped back to the pillow, mushing my face into it.
"Sleeping" I groan. I hear John let out a little sound of surprise and disappointment.

"Daaave" He whines.
"Jooohn" I say back, my throat stinging with lack of sleep.

"Dave, get up now. We're going to the pool. Right now. Up." He says.

I let out a long groan as I shuffled around in bed.
"But John, this comforting warmth that is my bed, it calls me back into it claws."
"Dave I'll be there in ten minutes"
"Help, Egderp, I'm being pulled, it's taking me under."
"You better be ready or I'll go Rango on your ass."

I mumble something, not really conscious of what it is, and throw the phone to the floor. Sighing, I slid the thin sheet on my bed almost completely over my head.

Something was cold. Everything was cold. And wet.
I woke with a start, and glanced up to see John standing over me with an empty bucket hovering over my face. Letting out a weird sound, I leapt up towards him, causing the derp to let out a gaggle of giggles, and we fell to the floor.

I pulled his hair as he wiggled a little.
"I warned yooou!" He gasped as I tickled his side. Sighing, I finally relented to his pointless little shoves that affect me oh so much, and got up, shaking out my blonde hair a little and scanning the mess that was my shelf for my kick ass shades.

Pools are always the same. They smell the same, have the same screaming kids peeing in the same spots.
It was one place that every summer, it never changed.

I could see the lifeguards were especially prissy on this hot summer day as they whistled at John about three or four times for running and jumping and pretty much being John.
Which wasn't really that cool.

Jade and Rose had already claimed a spot by a ring of trees someway away from the screaming kids and bluish water.
This had always been our spot, ever since we were little.

So why the hell were there other people there as well.
I scanned the little group that had gathered around the two girls.

And sure enough, there he stood.
I felt my stomach leap all the way into my throat, and I had to pause to swallow it down. John noticed my pause, but naturally as my face told him nothing he trudged forward in front of me, greeting the others with a wide grin.
I strided up behind him, suddenly conscious of every move I made.

But Karkat's eyes were glued to Jade, who looked really good in a bikini.
I knew, because I've seen it before. But today, instead of checking said chick out, I was staring at her boyfriend.

Because damn he took good care of himself.
He wasn't overly skinny like the two tall, lanky guys that milled around with him. No, his body was slender, and his pale skin seemed to clash with the black of his swimsuit trunks.

But if you looked long enough, you could see the imperfections that marred his otherwise gorgeous body. There were dark blue bruises along his ribs, and I watched, you could tell he was trying to hide them, holding his arms close to his body, trying to cover them.
"Dave. DAVE. Earth to Strider!"
I blinked, and looked at John, who had been waving his hand in front of my face. A smirk replaced his usual grin. I raised a brow, and he gave me this knowing look that made my insides squirm.

"Dave, you know Sollux, right?" The derp finally announced, and he gestured wildly to one of the tall lanky guys I'm pretty sure I had registered at one point but they hadn't been standing close enough to Karkat for me to register. Now that I got a good look, I realized that it was the guy that always did my work in Computers class, which usually ended up in him hacking into the school system. I let my lips quirk up a little. Closest to a smile he'll get.
"Sup Captor." I said coolly, jutting out my chin a little. He smirked and nodded, hands in the pockets of his trunks.

"Yoo, motherfuckers, let's go and motherfuckin swim in this most absolutely magical day." Said the other boy that had been milling. He swung an arm around John, grin stretching from ear to ear. I watched, suppressing a smirk as John's face quickly grew pink at the contact.
This other boy was Gamzee Makara, Karkat's best friend besides the genius that was Sollux. People say he gets high behind the school, but if you get to know him, you realize he really doesn't do drugs. He just holds his breath, and kills enough brain cells to always appear high. At least, that's what his friends say.

I registered that Karkat was growling, and sub consciously tuned into the conversation that was taking place beside us.
"No, I will not go out into the sun! I'll come back looking like a fucking crab!"
His voice is raspy and breaks every now and then, not really keeping a constant tone. A giggle was his response.
"But Karkaaaat! It'll be fun! What did you expect to do, coming to the pool!" Jade's voice was cute, the way she always makes it around boys that were not John or I. I could practically hear Vantas turning red, and feel the perverted thoughts he had had, the reason he had come to the pool. I knew, because I had been in his spot before.

"W-whatever. You guys just go, and I'll stay here in like a loser." He muttered, and Jade let out a little whimper.
"Karkat!" She whined, and I wasn't even paying attention to the conversation in front of me now, only nodding when Sollux looked over at me, and chucking when either boy got too close to John and his face turned tomato red.

"Jade, seriously. I can't go out into the sun for too fucking long! Do you know what a burn for a pale person feels like? It's like if someone were to slowly peel your skin off in an agonizingly and slow fashion!" Karkat's voice was sharp, but calm, and I could tell he this was the voice tone of voice that was only for Jade. Said girl huffed slightly, and I visualized her slouching an-

"DAVE MY GOOOOD!" John giggled, cutting into my train of thought rather rudely if I didn't say so myself.

"What." I said.

"Dave! Do you want to go to the water already, or are we just going to stand around here and be dweeeebs!" The two boys who had been shamelessly flirting with the smaller boy nodded, turning to look at me. I was tempted to glance back, to say that they should go, I'll stay here. But I knew that if I had done that, it would have been obvious. Especially with the fact that I had basically be staring at the boy of my affections the whole time I've been here.
So I nodded.

"Fuck you!" John called, splashing some water in my face. I sputtered for a minute as the other bit his lip and giggled. I had cannonballed right next to his face just seconds before.
"Jeez, bro, no need to come on so strong! I don't think we're even at that level, I'm sorry man." I said, letting myself smile a little as John's face lit up again. That boy is going to be brain dead by the end of the day, all his blood ending up in his cheeks, making them sag and his eyes glazed over what am I even thinking about oh there are hands over my head.
I was pushed underwater, barely getting enough air to last me seconds. Grabbing at the waist that was in front of me I flung my friend over my shoulder and into the water, high fiving Sollux as John surfaced, a pout etched onto his cute little face.
"Dave! That's not fair, you're way stronger than me!" He yelped as I picked him up again and threw him over to where Sollux stood. I let out a sharp laugh as John squeaked and swam backwards. Watching as Sollux and Gamzee teased the boy for his red face, I decided to swim over to where the two girls sat giggling.

"Sup ladies." I said, sliding my elbows on to the side of the pool and looking up at them from above my shades. Jade giggled as Rose rolled her eyes and flicked my head. I stuck out my tongue, before pulling up to sit beside them.
"So, what's new? What's the 411? Tell me alll about it" I drawled, twirling my finger around like the mom in that one movie Jade's friend Feferi had made the whole group of us watch once. Jade's smile faded a little, and she looked out to the pool.
"Jade thinks Karkat doesn't like her anymore." Rose stated bluntly, and I felt my heart flip a little, then guiltily telling it to shut the fuck up as Jade's face grew darker and she tugged at a lock of her hair.

"Oh, I doubt that." I said, reaching behind Rose's back to tap Jade's head. "I mean, why wouldn't he like you? There's nothing not to like."
Jade's eyes turned bright again.
"Do you really mean that?"
I made myself smile the Strider way. But it was painful, like someone was tugging at my heart.
"Of course."
"Dave, do you think you could go talk to Karkat about it?" She said suddenly, and it took me a second to register what she had suggested.
"Talk about..."
"Yeah! I mean, you're both guys, and you talk, right? So like, you could probably get it out of him! He doesn't keep secrets very easily!" I could blatantly see the look Rose was giving the other. It was a look of warning, and basically saying what the hell are you doing.
"Don't you think Egderp would be better to talk to him. I mean, they're pretty close, are the-"
"No, Dave, you have to do it!" She said, almost sternly. I studied her face, then finally got up and made my way over to were our stuff was place.
Over to where the boy of my dreams sat.
The walk there was nerve wrecking. It was like I was walking through slow motion. I tried to come up with clever conversation starters in my head, but all that came together were bumbles of random words and similes that didn't make any fucking sense and oh shit I was standing in front of him and he was looking up at me expectantly, his face oh so adorably pissed and he was opening and I can't stop looking at his very pink lips and what I would do just to lean down and kiss the-

"Strider. What are you doing."

Wow, thank you guys so much! w
And I don't know who to pair John with...
So uh, could you guys help me out a little?
^^u It would be a huge help.
Thanks again for the favorites and whatever!