(A/N - here's the next chapter! I know the last one was super fluffy, and this one is pretty fluffy too. But not nearly as much as the last. hahah, enjoy!)
"Austin," Rocky shouted, walking into my room. "Want to head to the beach with us?" I saw that behind him in the doorway, Rydel, Riker, and Ratliff stood there, in bathing suits and holding beach bags. "Lacey is at her boyfriend's house, Thomas is at his girlfriend's house, and hey - why aren't you at Ally's house?"
I rolled my eyes and chucked a pillow at him. He ducked and it whacked Riker in the face behind him. "Hey," Riker shouted, tossing the pillow back at me.
I caught it and set it back down. "Sorry, that wasn't supposed to hit you," I said, glaring at Rocky who was snickering. "Ally isn't my girlfriend. And yeah, that sounds good. Let me just throw on a suit."
They all exited the room and I threw on a pair of yellow swim trunks, grabbing a t-shirt and pair of flip-flops. I ran down the stairs, and my cousins were sitting there, waiting. "Hey, why don't you invite Ally?" Rydel asked. I shot her a look, hoping that they could drop the teasing for just a little bit. "I'm being serious. We really like her and want her to come hang out with us."
I nodded my head and smiled. "Okay," I said, pulling out my cellphone. I clicked my first speed dial, and Ally answered on the second ring, as usual. "Hey, Als," I said into the phone, knowing a broad grin was spreading across my face. "My cousins and I are going to the beach. Do you want to come with us?"
"Sure," she said. I could hear the smile in her voice. "I'll be ready in ten minutes. Do you want me to come over, or are you going to pick me up?"
"We'll pick you up," I said, smiling. "See you in ten." I hung up the phone and turned back to my cousins. "She said yes," I said, and they all grinned. We hopped in the car, with Riker and Rydel in the front seat, and Rocky inbetween Ratliff and I in the back. We pulled into her driveway and gave a quick honk.
She came skipping out of the house in a bright red sundress, a large beach bag slung over her shoulder. I opened the car door, and she peered in. "Where do I sit?" she whispered. Oh, right - I forgot about that. There are only five seats in the car. Finally, I pointed to my lap. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"Come on," I smiled. She climbed in and I pulled her onto my lap, shutting the door. Then I wrapped my arms around her waist, since she doesn't have a seatbelt.
"You guys ready?" Riker asked. We nodded our heads and we all headed for the beach, ready for an awesome day.
When we pulled into a parking spot, Ally opened the door and tried to get off my lap, but stumbled in the process. I caught her around the waist and carefully helped her back into a standing position. "Careful, Als," I said, smiling down at her.
"Thanks," she whispered, a look of fear on her face. She came pretty close to hitting the ground, after all. She pulled me into a quick hug, and then all of us walked down to the sand. "I love the beach," Ally shouted, spinning around.
"You used to hate it," I pointed out, chuckling as she ran around, jumping. She even did a cartwheel - which I taught her to do a month ago.
"Yeah, but that was before I came with you," Ally giggled, still running around. Rydel nudged me with her elbow as she passed by, waggling her eyebrows. I just rolled my eyes and we picked a spot, setting our stuff down. I kicked off my flip-flops and chucked my t-shirt aside, wanting to get in the water immediately. I half expected Ally to lay in the sand, or write in her book that I knew was in her beach bag - it always was. But I looked over to see her shyly slipping her sundress off, revealing a bright yellow bikini.
I have seen Ally in a bathing suit before, but never a bikini. I don't mean to sound like a pig, because I honestly respect Ally too much, but - she looked beautiful. I must have been staring, because Ally blushed, reaching for her dress. I stopped her though. "You look great, Als," I said, smiling.
She smiled back and started slathering sunscreen all over herself. I did the same to myself, but started chuckling when I looked over at Ally. She had a huge smudge of sunscreen across her cheek, and I could tell that she thought she rubbed it in all the way. "What?" she asked, giving me an annoyed look, wanting to know why I was laughing.
The look plus the sunscreen made me laugh even harder - she looked adorable. "There you go," I said, reaching out and rubbing her cheek with my thumb until the white mark was gone. Then I turned around. "Can you get my back?"
She rubbed sunscreen into my back, and I tried really hard to avoid the smirks, stares, and winks from my cousins. When she was done, Riker, Ally and I headed down to the water with surfboards. Ratliff and Rocky were building a huge sand sculpture, and Rydel was tanning, claiming, "Washington gets no Sun."
Riker and I were catching waves. "Bro, you haven't lost your touch since you moved away from Florida," I called over to him.
He laughed as he rode another great wave. "Washington isn't too far from California," he said. "I drive down there every few weekends and surf."
Ally was floating out in shallower water, since she didn't know how to surf. "Hey, Als," I called, waving her over. She swam over to us and gave me a questioning smile. "You're learning to surf today." Riker nodded his head beside me, and Ally began to protest. "Ally, you have two awesome teachers right here. And I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you."
"Fine," she grumbled. We all headed up to the shore, since it was easier to stand on the board in the sand first. Ally balanced well, which Riker and I both found surprising. Even in the sand, most people fell a few times when first learning.
Then, we took her out to the water. "Okay, Als," I said, after we paddled out on boards. "The first few, you're just gonna ride in on your belly. Then, we'll try it on your knees, and if you feel comfortable, eventually we'll do it standing."
She nodded her head, and we waited for a wave to come by. "Okay, this one," Riker called out. We all started paddling, and I knew that each of us caught it at the right time. Riker and I quickly got to our feet, feeling free. I looked over to see how Ally was doing, only to see that she was already on her feet, riding like a pro. It shocked me so much that I fell off my board, being engulfed by a wave. A few seconds later, I was washed up on shore, spitting out salty water, and sprawled out on the sand.
"Austin, are you okay?" I looked up to see Ally hovering above me, her face laced with worry.
I nodded and pulled myself into a sitting position. "Uhm," Riker said, walking up to us. He was covered in sand, so I knew he ate the wave as well. "What was that?"
"What do you mean?" Ally asked, looking confused. She sat down in the sand beside me.
"He means," I said, looking over at her. "That was totally awesome. You've never surfed before, and you just rode that like a pro. I wasn't even expecting you to get on your feet for a few hours."
"You're a natural," Riker exclaimed, nodding his head.
Ally blushed a bit and looked away. "Well," she said, stretching out the word. I shot her a sideways glance, not knowing where this was going. "I actually started surfing a few months ago. I wanted to surprise you."
I broke into a wide grin as I put my arm around Ally. "And that you did," I said. "I'm glad you like doing something that I like. But you're still a natural. Riker and I have been surfing for years, and we still wipe out all the time."
"Thanks, Austin," she said. "I'm glad you're not mad that I didn't tell you about me surfing." I looked up to see that Riker had joined Rocky and Ratliff in building a sand sculpture.
We both laid down on the sand, the waves washing up to just past our ankles. "I could never be mad at you, Als," I said, smiling. Somehow, our hands found each other, and we intertwined our fingers.
"Good," Ally said, looking over and beaming at me. I smiled back, and our faces were only inches apart. We were staring at each other, and I began to think that maybe this would be a good time to tell Ally how I feel about her. She might feel the same way, right?
Suddenly, I heard Rocky calling my name. "Austin, Ally," he shouted. "You guys have to come see this." I groaned and hopped to my feet, pulling Ally up and grabbing the surf boards. We walked over to where my cousins were, a giant sand elephant stood. I was shocked - Rocky has always been artistic, but this was incredible.
"Wow," I breathed, looking over at Ally. Her mouth was hanging wide open, and there was a large group of people gawking at the sand sculpture.
Everyone was clapping, taking pictures and telling my cousins how good they did. Eventually, the crowd dispersed, and we all packed up our stuff and left. "I think Ally and I will just walk home," I said to my cousins. Rydel gave me a knowing glance and winked.
Ally and I began to walk towards her house, which was about ten minutes away. We chattered about everything, then ended it at her doorstep in comfortable silence. "Thanks for another awesome day, Als," I said, smiling down at her.
She wrapped her arms around me and grinned. "Thank you, Austin," she said. "I love spending time with you and your cousins." I kissed the top of her head in a platonic, friendly way.
"See you tomorrow, okay?" I asked. She nodded her head into my chest, then gave me one last smile and wave before heading into her house.
I walked back to my own house, wishing that our flirty gestures and conversations meant more. I thought about it, and decided that I was going to take my cousins up on their challenge - as if I had a choice. By the end of these two weeks, I will tell Ally how I feel. Now I just need to find the perfect time.
(A/N - So, what did you think? Austin has decided that he is going to tell Ally soon.. When/how should he do it? Review, please! Thanks!)