Chapter Eight – I'm in Love with a Girl

Lydia cranked up the volume on her IPod and grabbed the large broom from the back room. She was back at the shelter today; she hadn't done any volunteering lately and was missing all the animals. With everything going on with her and Jude and then the fire it was nice to get back to something so familiar, something that she loved very much. Lydia flicked through a couple songs before settling on Firework by Katy Perry. She began sweeping the back room, while humming to herself Lydia began bobbing her head and moving to the music. "Baby you're a firework, come on show 'em what you're worth." Lydia began singing quietly to herself. She continued singing and her volume was gradually increasing, "You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine, just own the night like the 4th of July. Baby you're a firework come on show 'em what you're with, make 'em go ah, ah, ah, as you shoot across the sky, ay, ay!" Lydia was enjoying herself, and happily dancing and singing, when she heard a crash coming from the front room. She quickly ripped her headphones out of her ears and made her way to the front room. She stood behind the large secretary desk and saw someone crawling around the floor, picking up pens that were once in a holder next to the phone. She loudly cleared her throat and they quickly stood.

The person who stood in front of her way a boy, who looked about her age, with shoulder length blonde hair. He was wearing torn up blue jeans, an improperly buttoned flannel shirt and he had a skateboard hanging from his finger tips. "Was that you?" he asked, looking directly at Lydia and smiling. Lydia could feel her face beginning to turn red.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"Seriously, that was you? Man for such a hot chick you can't sing for shit." He said laughing. Lydia gave him her best glare, as she wasn't in the mood to deal with a smart ass skater.

"Is there a reason that you're here, or did you just come to knock shit over?" The guy stepped to the side to reveal a much younger blonde boy standing behind him; Lydia hadn't even noticed that he was there.

"Little bro wants a dog." While the younger boy looked almost identical his brother, his demeanor was completely different. His hands were clasped together and his eyes were focused on the ground. Lydia immediately felt for this boy, it couldn't be easy having a big brother who was a douche. She walked around the desk and knelt in front of the boy, "what's your name?"She asked him.

"Trip." He said quietly.

"And I'm Jay", his brother chimed in. Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Good for you." She held her hand out Trip, "why don't we go take a look at the dogs." Trip took her hand and she led him into the back room where they kept the dogs. "Do you want a big dog, or a small dog?" she asked. Trip looked up at Jay, who in turn riffled the boy's hair.

"Big." He said. Lydia pointed him towards the section of the room where they kept the large dogs.

"Pick whatever one you want." She told him. He cautiously walked forward and began looking in all the different cages.

"So what was that crap that you were singing anyway?" Jay asked. Lydia ignored his question.

"So I take it that you have all the proper supplies you'll need in order to take care of the dog? Food, collar, leash, toys, and you'll have to bring it back in two weeks for a checkup."

"How about you come and visit it at my place and you can give us both a physical."

"I'm not a doctor, just a volunteer."

"You don't need to be a doctor to give the kind of physical I'm looking for."

"You are such a son of a …"

"This one!" Trip interrupted.

Lydia had Jay fill out all of the adoption papers while she got Trip acquainted with the dog. Jay handed her the papers and she placed them on the desk. "This one's for you." Jay said, handing her a small piece of paper, torn off of the corner of one of the adoption papers. Figuring it was his number, she refused.

"No thanks," she said. Jay smiled, folded the paper and slipped it into her jeans pocket. Before she could object, he placed a kiss on her mouth and casually strolled out of the building. A shocked Lydia watched as he skated down the street with Trip and the dog running after him.


Casey sat on the bleachers at the river court, watching Davis and he dribbled the ball up and down the court making shot after shot. She watched him in awe as when he played ball everything about him was flawless. The wind blew and Casey began to shiver, while it was still early in the day there was no sunshine and it looked as though it was going to rain.

"I'm going to go grab a sweater." Casey hollered as she made her way to her car, which was parked just on the other side of the court. Davis watched her as she walked away and smiled to himself, it was hard to believe that he had managed to land a girl who was so incredible. Davis jogged over to the bleachers and grabbed his water bottle, he took a long drink before sitting down and wiping the sweat from his face. A buzzing noise soon caught his attention, he moved his towel and saw that Casey's phone was buzzing, the number read Unknown.

"Babe, your phone's buzzing." Davis yelled across the court; however Casey was not in the back seat of her car, shuffling though items in search of her sweater and did not hear him. Not wanting her to miss the call Davis decided he would answer it. "Hello?"

"May I speak with Casey Hawk please?" A female's voice asked.

"She's actually a little preoccupied at the moment, can I take a message?"

"Can you just let her know that Maureen from the Health Clinic called and that her test results are in?" Davis was rendered speechless; he actually took the phone away from his ear and looked at it, trying to process what he had just heard. "Are you still there?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'll give her the message."

"Thank you, have a nice day." Davis kept the phone next to his ear until he heard the line go dead. Test results from a health clinic, why would Casey being going to a health clinic, and why would she need tests done and why wouldn't she tell him? Davis's mind was going a mile a minute, and it was then that he heard Casey's car door shut and looked up. She was now, dressed in a Raven's Cheer hoodie and walking towards him. He quickly placed her phone back on the bench and tossed his towel over it, as if he had never touched it, secretly wishing he never had.

"I couldn't find anything else so I had to nab this from my cheer bag." She said cheerfully as she sat down next to him. "What?" she asked, noticing the strange expression on his face.

"Nothing, just nothing."

"Okay?" Casey said, not fully believing him. Davis rose and made his way back to the court. He and Casey were finally a real couple, so why was she lying to him, and what was she lying to him about?


"You have the most random taste in music." Jenny said, as she sat at Alex's computer and scrolled through his many songs.

"Why are you looking through all of my songs anyway?" Alex asked, from his spot on the bed.

"I need a playlist for the pool party that I'm planning with Sawyer."

"You and Sawyer have been getting along pretty well, huh?"

"I suppose you could say that. We have a lot in common, not just including you and Johnny." Jenny said, giving Alex and optimistic smile.

"I love you." Alex hadn't meant to just blurt it out, but he wanted her to know how he felt about her. He was in love with her, the way she laughed, the way she smiled, everything about her was perfect. He felt as though he saw the world in a brighter light when he was with her. Instead of proclaiming her love for him, like he had hoped, Jenny froze. She looked like a deer in the headlights, staring at him, not sure what to say. Alex briefly thought about continuing the conversation, but he really wanted to know what she was thinking.

"I should see what songs Lydia has." That wasn't what Alex was hoping for. "She's a hippie child, I bet she has some really cool sixties songs." Jenny stood from her chair and grabbed her purse from the floor beside her. Alex sat frozen in his spot, unable to process what she was saying. "I'll call you before the party and let you know the time, see ya." She placed a small kiss on his cheek before rushing out of his room. Alex remained still, he had just told the girl of his dreams that he loved her, and she rambled on about the sixties and then took off. Alex wasn't sure how he was expecting the conversation to go, but it sure wasn't like that.


Jude had just gotten home from the river court and entered him room to find a long legged blonde lying in his bed. "Revenge sex?" he asked, jokingly, Sawyer laughed.

"Ew, not on your life. I just thought I would come over and say hi."

"You mean you were coming over to check up on me after my breakup with Lydia." Jude clarified.

"Perhaps."

"Well, there's no need to worry, I'm fine." Jude and Sawyer had never been super close, she was always much closer to Davis while Lydia was the one who was close to Jude, but things were different now.

"You're not a very good liar Jude." He let out and exhausted sigh.

"Look, it sucks that we broke up and that we couldn't make it work, but I'm not going to spend the rest of my summer being sad about it."

"Do you think you could try and spend the summer being friends?" Sawyer asked, hopefully.

"What is it with you people and wanting us to be friends? We haven't even been broken up that long; I'm trying to just give it some time."

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, how are you and Johnny?" He asked, changing the subject. At the mention of his name, Sawyer's face lit up.

"Good, really good. I missed him so much and it just feels right being with him again."

"That's good, I'm really happy for you guys. I feel like an ass for thinking he was in to Lydia, but they're a weird guess for friends. At least I think so."

"It was unexpected, and its weird having your boyfriend be best friends with the girl who used to be your best friend, but I trust them."

"I should have."


Lydia locked the front door to the shelter and hopped into her car. She wanted to relax and thought a good way to do that was to go to the movies. She could just sit in a dark theater, eat popcorn and forget all about the world outside. While she did want peace, the idea of going to a movie alone just seemed depressing. She pulled her phone out of her bag and dialed Johnny's number. It rang several times and she was about to hang up when he finally answered.

"Lydia, hey."

"Hi Johnny."

"What's up?" He asked.

"I just finished up at the shelter and I was wondering if you wanted to catch a movie or something, my treat?"

"That sounds like fun, but I'm actually on my way to Sawyer's house right now, I'm having dinner with the family."

"Oh, well that should be fun, Lucas and Peyton are awesome."

"I hope everything goes smoothly."

"I'm sure it will. I should let you get going, call me tomorrow and let me know how it goes."

"Will do, bye Lyd's."

"Bye." Lydia hung up the phone, but kept it in her hand. She didn't want to just go home, not yet, the night was still young. She couldn't call Davis because he was probably with Casey and Jenny would be with Alex and well it was obvious why she couldn't call Jude. She was about to give up and settle for a night of sweat pants and comedy specials when she remembered the piece of paper in her pocket. She pulled it out, unfolded it and stared at it for a good five minutes before reluctantly dialing the number. It rang twice before he answered.

"Hello?"

"Jay?"

"This is him."

"It's Lydia, the girl from the shelter."

"I had a feeling you'd call."

There you have it, the most recent chapter. Please REVIEW and let me know what you think.