Bradin's training paid off. As the statewide competition neared, his performance had never been better. He was at the top of his form and incredibly pleased about it. When the letter came in the mail telling him that he'd be competing in no longer than two weeks, he was ready. The time had been reached where he'd have to tell his family of the competition, after all, Ava would need a reason for his leaving school for three weeks. She was thrilled, though not especially happy that he had been hiding the information from her for nearly a month.
In a fortnight, he'd be flying to Orlando, Florida and he'd be running against the other finalists in California, something like twenty surfers as the competitions had only been held in select cities. The top five of the whole state would then go against the finalists from around the country, a group of the utmost elite eventually emerging.
Bradin would be competing in the under twenty five section and would have to be competing nearly everyday in the three weeks in Florida, though the letter said that the competitions would only take three hours each day he'd have to compete, at the most. This meant he would have a great chunk of time to look around Orlando, a lot of time off school, and enough time to perfect his skill before each new day of competing.
The finer details of the letter also told him that he'd be allowed to bring one guest of his choosing, along with his trainer or guardian, whichever he'd prefer. All three of them would be flying and staying in a three star hotel free of charge. The only thing they'd have to pay for would be food and any other activities unrelated to surfing they would be up taking in Florida. Aunt Ava couldn't very well argue with that. Especially since she spoke to his teachers, who had for the most part agreed that he had been doing quite well and would probably have no trouble catching up- if he agreed to shoulder some work while away, which Bradin was happy to do.
With Ava's blessing to go, the only thing left to do was pick his companions.
"I know I've been really busy lately and I haven't been good company, if I was even any company at all, and I can explain. Right now, I can explain everything and I swear it's a good reason-" Bradin exclaimed to Jessica as he ran in front of her on her walk to school that day, the day after he found out he'd be going to Florida. He was giddy with excitement and happiness and his voice and face showed it. With a huge grin on his face he leaned in and pulled her face closer to him and gave her an ecstatic kiss.
"Who are you, again?" Jessica blinked, "Oh, Bradin Westerly, is that you? Wow, I haven't seen you in a long time."
"…And you're mad. Are you mad? Don't be mad." Bradin was rambling but he was too breathless and dizzy from the news of all that had happened to care too much. "You didn't wait for me to walk you to school today, why?"
"Because I waited everyday for a week until I finally figured out that you weren't coming anymore. You haven't even so much as called me. And when I asked what was going on, you wouldn't tell me." She sighed.
"So you're pissed, then?" Bradin sheepishly said.
"No. I've just missed you. So tell me, what's got you bouncing off the walls?" Jessica crossed her arms.
"Do you wanna go to Florida with me?" Bradin blurted. "I won this local surfing competition a while ago and I've been training for the finals ever since and I got the letter yesterday telling me I'll be going to Florida to compete with the best surfers under twenty five around the entire country and it's for three weeks and it'll be completely free for you and I was allowed to bring a guest, and a guardian or my trainer, and please come?"
"Okay, breathe first," she told him, "You, you won a surfing contest? What kind of surfing contest?"
"They said I was in the top five in Playa Linda and best new surfer. And I realize it was dumb not to just tell you in the first place but I didn't want people talking about it... and-" Bradin clarified.
The girl interrupted him with a massive bear hug and exclaimed, "That's amazing! I can't believe this, no that's not true, I've seen you surf and you were always a natural but oh my god this is huge!"
"That's what I've been doing lately, I just wanted to train harder so I'd be prepared for the big thing. I wasn't blowing you off." He said.
"You are such an idiot, why didn't you just tell me? You should've just told me." She shook her head, laughing.
"I know, but I didn't want to tell anyone, I didn't want people talking about it." He shrugged. "It wasn't like I didn't trust you not to spread the word, I just needed time to adjust to the news myself before I could even begin to tell others. I mean, I needed three weeks just to get over Erika's reaction."
"You told Erika?"
"Yeah, right after I found out." Bradin did not like the expression forming on Jessica's face. "Look. I had to tell her."
"You told her before telling me?"
"Are you seriously going to get mad and jealous over that? She's my instructor. I couldn't not tell her. I wasn't even going to tell Jay, but he found out and pushed me into telling Erika. Without the two of them I would never have been prepared enough for this thing." Bradin explained in exasperation. "You're still getting mad, aren't you?"
"I would have been a lot less upset if you would've just told me about all this in the first place. I would've understood that you had to train. Instead, you just ignored me without giving an explanation. If you could tell Erika-" Jessica muttered.
"I didn't mean to ignore you. And I'm sorry that that hurt you. But if you're actually going to get pissed about my telling Erika first, I have nothing else I can tell you, she was the one who taught me how to surf and who psyched me up for the Florida competition. I don't think I did anything wrong in telling Erika first, as she is my instructor, and I wanted to share this with you now. So what do you have to say?" Bradin questioned.
"That I've had enough arguments and fights with you to last two lifetimes and I'm tired of being mad… and that I'm really proud of you. And picking a fight over something as ridiculous as who you told the news to first is plain stupid." She grinned. "You deserve this." Jessica gave Bradin another warm hug, much to his relief.
"We have really gone through a lot of drama, haven't we?" Bradin chuckled.
"Sap and teenage angst, don't you love it?" smiled Jessica, "So when do you leave? How long are you gone fore? How much more do you have to prepare? Will there be a lot of people? When did you win this?"
Bradin laughed. "Yeah I guess we've got some catching up to do. Listen, do you already have plans for lunch?"
"Not really," she answered.
"Great. Do you want to meet me for lunch? It feels like I haven't seen you in a month." He smiled, taking her hand.
"Do I want to meet you for lunch? Has it been that long, or have you forgotten that we used to have lunch together every day until your until recently unexplained disappearance? Don't be so formal, Westerly. I'll see you at noon." Playful smile on her face, Jessica gave him a quick kiss before pulling away. Before she could fully turn around and walk away, Bradin had looped his arm around her waist and pulled her back, crushing his lips against hers in a long kiss that would keep a smile on both their faces for the rest of the day.
"It's been way too long since we've done that." The blonde smirked, "And you're not getting off that easily." He bent forward again, and gave her a light, sweet kiss.
She grinned. "Bye."
As she turned around to walk to her locker, Bradin said, "See you in a few hours, sexy."
She stopped walking and turned around. "…What?"
"Heh. Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention," Bradin laughed, a look of sheer amusement covering his face.
"Right…" Jessica shook her head. "See you later, freak."
"Tacos?" Bradin suggested, nestling his chin on Jessica's shoulder as he came up behind her when the lunch bell rang. "Or sandwiches? Which, honestly, are boring and completely not lunch date material."
"Tacos are great," Jessica laughed.
"You know, I've missed this." He told her as he slung his arm around her shoulder as the two strode out of the school.
"Me too." She replied. "I haven't been able to have a proper conversation with you in weeks."
"And Jason noticed, I'm sure." Bradin rolled his eyes.
"You know I barely talk to him any more. And he completely avoids all mention of you now. Its kind of funny." She smirked.
"It's nice to see him squirm a bit now and then." Bradin grinned. "But hey, if it weren't for his cave man antics maybe we'd still be teetering on non-friend dom. Now come on, let me buy you some curly fries before you launch into some feminist rant."
"Ha ha. But I'd rather not." She shook her head.
"It's three bucks." He said pointedly.
"Hey, I just feel like a quesidilla, all right my stalwart knight?" she laughed. "You are so funny."
"Chicken or beef?" he sheepishly said.
"Chicken's good." Giving his shoulder a squeeze, she smiled, "It's cute how traditional you are. Annoying at times, but cute."
"I'm not traditional." Bradin told her, as he pulled out a chair and helped her sit down.
"No, you're just a gentleman." She smiled. He could see the look of adoration in her eyes, even if she didn't realize she was doing it.
"Promise me something?" Bradin said, holding her hands from across the table. "Never stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?" Jessica questioned, a look of confusion flitting through her face.
"Like there's nothing wrong in this world, like being in Taco Bell is a fine date, like the way I want and need you to look at me." Bradin said lowly.
"You know we could be in Paris for all that matters to me. I don't care about that shit, I'm just scared you'll leave again." She shrugged. "For a moment there I thought you had lost interest… What with you and Erika-"
"We are, were, and always will be just friends, the only thing I had for her was an immature crush. I knew I shouldn't have butted you out for so long, but there's nothing going on with us."
"Oh crap, we've got to get back." Jessica groaned, looking at her watch. The two rushed back to the school, screeching to her locker.
"Some catching up that was, huh?" she smiled. "I'll catch you later."
"Wait up after school, I'll walk you home." Bradin offered, leaning against her locker.
"Aren't you busy with your half a dozen extra curricular activities? I understand, now, I do. It's fine." She shook her head.
"No, it's not fine. I can take twenty minutes out of my hectic life for my girl. Nothing is that important that I can't make time for you. So wait up, okay?" he smiled. The bell rang at that moment so Bradin leaned in and gave her a hasty kiss before squirming through the hallway of people to his own locker.
"His girl…" Jessica smiled under her breath, the words filling her with a warm glow.
It was six in the evening when Jessica opened her door to find Bradin perched on her doorstep.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"We never did have a second date, did we?" Bradin countered. "Do you want to go out with me?"
"Right now?" exclaimed Jessica.
"Sure. I wanted to surprise you. I told Erika and Jay that I wanted the night off, and I didn't have any homework. You're not busy, are you?" he shifted his feet a bit on the doorstep.
"Uh, no, I'll just ask my parents if I can go." She smiled, still a bit bewildered.
"Are they still iffy about me?" Bradin asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Luckily for you I kept all of your exploits to myself." Jessica smirked. "Or they'd probably ban me from dating you."
"Aw. Am I that bad?" Bradin chuckled.
"A misguided youth, as my father put it. Ha ha, just kidding, they know you've made some bad choices but your charm has made them believe that you're generally a good guy. Though if they ever catch you or me with weed or beer you'll be completely out of their limited amount of understanding." She shrugged cheerfully.
"If you do anything bad, they're going to blame it on my bad influence, aren't they?" he said suspiciously.
"Oh yeah, evil Bradin made me do it. They're not that dense. You've won brownie points for meeting them before we started dating. Now hold on a second, I should be allowed to go no problem." She waved off his comment and darted back in her house.
A moment later Jessica's father had appeared in the doorway. Bradin hoped he always had a chronic frown on his face and it wasn't just him. The man was a good two inches shorter than Bradin, but still managed to look imposing all the same.
"Short notice like that isn't a good idea. We might have been out, or having a function. You should call before showing up on our doorstep." He reprimanded.
"Sorry sir." Bradin answered. "But I haven't really been around Jessica for a month and I wanted to make it up to her."
"Bring her back no later than ten. And remember, this town isn't that big, if something happens I will find out." He crossed his arms.
"Sir, nothing will happen." He smiled. "Come on, Mr Wong, we've met before and you said I was a nice kid."
"Yes. You should come over for dinner sometime soon. So we can catch up. Remember, ten o'clock. Have fun. But not too much fun." Said he, a slight smile creeping up.
"Not a problem." Bradin grinned.
"Bye, dad." Jessica rolled her eyes and took Bradin's arm, leading him away from the door. "He can be a bit of a tight wad."
"It's kind of cute, the way he's acting it's as if I'm the first guy you've ever gone out with." Bradin chuckled.
"Don't laugh or freak," the girl swallowed, nervously rubbing her arm, "But you are the first guy I've ever been serious with."
"Really?" Bradin said, taken aback. "Wait, are we serious?"
"Aren't we?" Jessica cocked her head.
"This is only our second date." Bradin pointed out.
"I shouldn't have said that, forget it. Fine, you're the first guy I've felt seriously about, is that better?" she crossed her arms.
"How serious are we talking?" Bradin asked, a crease deepening on his forehead.
"I wouldn't want to inflate your ego." Jessica laughed. "Now where are we off to?"
"Wherever you want to go." Bradin shrugged.
"Can we just walk and talk?" she questioned.
"Sure." He nodded. "Look, I don't want you to think I was freaking out about things when you mentioned that thing about being serious."
"Can we talk about something else?" Jessica muttered. "I know we've only gone on one date before this, okay? But we've been hanging out for months and I don't care if that wasn't official to you and if that doesn't count in your mind as dates but the thing you've got to remember is that I've had feelings for you since Kansas. And if I go on much more you're going to panic, because I realize we've barely started dating and we're already having a relationship talk."
"You're confusing, has anyone ever told you that?" Bradin hung his head.
"Actually, yes." She smirked. "Look, let's not worry about any of that right now, okay? We're dating. Can we agree on that?"
"Sure." Bradin said. "I think we should just leave all the technical stuff for later. Let's have a good time, and leave it at that."
"Okay." Jessica half shrugged. "You know, out of curiosity, how many girls have you gone out with? Not one night stands, or casuals, but really actually gone out with?"
"I've had about three really serious girlfriends, and probably something like ten who lasted for two dozen dates or more." Bradin answered, digging through his memory.
Jessica silently groaned. She must have seemed like such a loser. "Quite the heartbreaker."
"Hey, I've been dumped a few times." Bradin held up his hands.
"How long was your longest relationship?" Jessica asked.
"Can we stop with the grilling?" he uncomfortably answered.
"That short, huh?" she raised her eyebrows.
"A year a half. Nineteen months to be exact." Bradin retorted.
"Wow. Didn't think you could be tied down for so long." She joked.
"Have a little faith," he shook his head.
"So why'd you break up?" Jessica said, turning to face him fully.
"Why are we talking about my ex girlfriends on our date?" Bradin looked at the sky and laughed.
"Just curious about what I'm up against. Aw come on, this'll give me some insight into who you are. Whether that's for better or worse is your problem." She answered.
"We just drifted apart, it wasn't anything specific. It was a mutual decision, and we had both been so busy with everything that we just stopped caring about each other anymore. We didn't want to make the effort, to make time in our lives for each other. And I was younger and immature then, I wasn't ready for a serious relationship." Bradin replied.
He knew he was slightly lying but he knew the truth wouldn't go over well. The truth was he was bored of being chained, and it wasn't mutual. His girlfriend at the time had actually said she still loved him. And then there was the little fact that the hot new transfer student had been flirting with him for a month. Not that he flirted back, he would never cheat. The point was Jessica would have a cow if she found out.
"Now come on, this topic is going to fry me alive. If you insist on talking about relationships, let's talk about yours." Bradin grinned.
The two had reached the beach by this time and so they both sat down. Jessica stared up at the quickly setting sun, trying to stall.
"This is embarrassing." She murmured.
"Like mine weren't. I won't judge, come on. Well, unless your stories have anything to do with leather and chains-" Bradin snorted.
Jessica smiled secretly and doggedly said. "You laugh now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he perked up, his interest tweaked.
"Oh shut up, you are such a guy." She laughed.
"Okay, so what about your past? Am I seriously your first?" he raised his eyebrows.
"You know how shy I used to be… there were a few dates but I was a sad child and you could say my crush on you kind of wiped out the chance anyone else ever had." She said.
"Did you really like me that much?" Bradin snorted.
"Hey. I wasn't even allowed to date until my fifteenth, which was only in June. So shut up, it's not like I'm that pathetic. And then in June, we moved here and I didn't even know anyone before you came up to me so really, what chance did I have of having a serious boyfriend?" Jessica said defensively.
"You weren't allowed to date until you turned fifteen?" Bradin's voice was incredulous.
"You've seen how conservative my parents can be," she said. "If they had it their way I would be with a nice Chinese church boy and arranged marriages would still be happening. Imagine their amazement that I chose to go out with a blonde surfer."
"That makes me sound like such a cookie cutter jock Californian." He crinkled his nose.
"Fine, then, a blonde surfer who has a weird affection for comics and super heroes." Jessica rolled her eyes.
"It's called graphic novels." Bradin stuck up his chin. "And I only like a few. And I'm not nerdy."
"It's endearing. Especially how you feel the need to hide that fact, I mean most of the people in the school have no idea their residing King is a major Green Lantern fan." Jessica reached over and ruffled his blonde hair.
"I don't hide it, the topic just doesn't come up that often." He protested.
"You care about your cool guy image, admit it." Jessica stated. "Giving into peer pressure, the horror!"
"Oh be quiet and watch the sun set." Bradin rolled his eyes, chuckling as he placed his hand firmly over her mouth and pulled her so she was leaning on his shoulder. As a moment passed, he let his hand slide from her mouth to her own hand and smiled again as the girl shifted so that she was lying on his lap.
"Maybe one day we'll be normal, and have a date that's not dysfunctional," she smiled.
"And a conversation that doesn't involve you insulting me." Bradin added teasingly.
"It's called teasing, and it's good to keep you on your toes." Jessica said. "Besides, I wouldn't cross the line. Or at least you'd shut me up if I ever did. You know how much I like you, I've got to bring up some of your faults."
"And I like it that way. If we ever ventured into a typical relationship, things wouldn't be this much fun, or interesting. Besides, typical relationships and normal people tend to break up and good things tend to end. And stupid things happen. Being slightly off balanced will save us from that." He said, cupping his hand around the smooth sand surrounding them and peering at Jessica's face.
"We can hope." She said softly.
"Don't be such a pessimist." Bradin said, edge of his mouth twitching.
"Like you said, we should call it as we go. Leave the technical stuff out." Murmured Jessica.
"Maybe. But I wasn't saying we should see where the waves take us, because I have every intention of staying with you for as long as you want me. After all the hell you put me through before agreeing to date me, I'm not letting you go." Bradin told her.
"Don't make promises you can't keep and don't say words you don't mean, all right? I don't mean just now, I mean always." Jessica said, staring up into his green eyes as dusk enveloped them.
"I won't. Now, I realize that you never answered me. Do you want to come with me to Florida?" Bradin asked.
"I don't know." She said.
"You don't know? It's free, it's Florida, and you get to miss school, what else is there?" Bradin frowned.
"You get two guests, right? Who's your guardian?" Jessica asked.
"Jay. I talked it over with him and he's fine with leaving the shop for a little while. Colby, Johnny, and Nikki all are gung ho about watching it for him." Bradin answered.
"Jay? And you want to take me? What about Erika, then? She's trained you and helped you, I'd have thought you would have wanted to bring her instead." Jessica pointed out.
"Erika's been a great help, but I'd rather spend three weeks with you, plus I have Jay who's both guardian and trainer, I'd rather not have two trainers hounding at me. And then there's the fact that you would never trust me to spend three weeks with Erika in another state." Bradin smirked.
"I'd trust you! But are you sure, I mean I don't want you to snub Erika." She told him.
"Come with me." Bradin firmly said. "I could use your support, and your snarks to keep me grounded."
"I don't think I can miss school. And my parents would never agree to that, three weeks with you with only Jay as supervision?" she muttered.
"I can talk to them. My aunt and Jay can talk to them. That's not really an issue. And with your grades you're already ahead, you wouldn't even have to catch up so you can't use that as an excuse either. The thing is, do you want to go?" he sounded just a little wounded. "Don't you want to come with me?"
"Don't give me those eyes!" she looked away. "Of course I'd want to see you surf and to spend time with you but…"
"What?" Bradin leaned over her, hurt and anger etched across his face.
"I'll think about it." She said.
"What is there to think about?" Bradin demanded.
"Don't get upset, Bradin!" frowned Jessica.
"Whatever. I've got to go." He sighed, getting up and causing her head to hit the ground.
"But it's only eight-" Jessica protested. He was already up and walking away.
"That's just great." She sighed, hitting the sand in frustration.
A few minutes passed when she heard his voice again. "I said I'd take you out on a date and I keep my word. I'm sorry if I hurt your head when I stood up." She looked up and saw that Bradin was standing a few inches away. He crouched down and rubbed his face. "I've just been a little worn out sometimes and maybe my temper's a bit shorter than it was."
"Bradin, I didn't mean to hurt you, three weeks is just a long time." She sighed.
"Yeah, I know." He removed his hands from his pockets and put out his hand for her to take. "Come on, I'll walk you to the café."
She smiled and took his hand. He dusted off the sand on her clothes and tightened his hold on her hand.
"Let's just not fight. I'm sick of it." Bradin said.
"That wasn't really a fight." She couldn't help but say.
"Yeah, but every time something good happens something's got to screw that up and I'm tired of it. It's not worth the anger." Bradin exhaled.
"Kiss and make up to the almost-fight?" she suggested with a grin.
"The only useful thing that comes from fighting." Bradin nodded. "Come here." The streetlights glinted off his rings as his free hand cupped her face and his lips met hers. "You're gorgeous, you know that?"
"Less flattering, more contact." She kissed his nose and enveloped him in a hug. "I've seriously missed you."
"Come on, let's go get some lattes." Bradin smiled, kissing the side of her head.
A/N: God forbid I actually updated! I know it's been another month. I'm sorry! But this is an extra long chapter that's long enough to befour of my normal chapters. Should I have divided it up or is this okay? Hope it's not too bad. R n R, if you will : P
