Sorry for the wait! I have been busy and then it's Fall Break. My computer was dead and I had to find my charger. My computer also deleted part of this chapter and I had to rewrite a bunch of it.
We drove in the car for about ten minutes and finally Seb stopped at a park. "Why are we at the park?" I asked and looked over at Sebastian.
"It shall be a romantic picnic by the pond." He reached into the back of his car and revealed a picnic basket and a blanket. "Wait just a second." I did what he said while he got out of the car. He walked over to my side of the car and tried to open the door. I guess he didn't think it would be locked. "It's stuck." He said through the car door.
I laughed and said, "No, it's locked." His face flushed a little and I unlocked the door for him. He opened the door and gave me his hand to get out. I was sure this was sort of hard for him because he was also holding the basket and blanket. He laced our fingers together when I got out and he shut the door with his back.
"Ready, madam?"
"You are so proper." I said to him and laughed.
"Would you like me to be something else?"
"No, I like you the way you are. And yes, I am ready." He led me to a path through the woods. We walked a little ways and finally we came to a pond as promised. I looked all around and saw the beauty of the place. There were a few other people here, but mostly older couples. I really wanted to draw the place. It was surrounded by woods and the pond. There were a few paths that led to another part of the park. I saw a few children playing around there families. It looked like they were friends. Seb led me to a spot by the pond and laid the blanket down. He set the basket down and sat down himself. I sat down beside him.
"I brought you a surprise. I think you'll like it, but you have to close your eyes." I did as he told. "No peeking!" He warned. I smiled and finally he said, "Okay, open your eyes."
I opened my eyes and to see a brand new sketch book and sketching utensils in Sebastian's hands. "Thank you! Oh my God! It's great! Thank you!" I was very excited. I needed new shading pencils and my sketch book was getting kind of full. I reached over and hugged Seb.
He hugged me back and said, "I thought you would like this."
"When did you have the time to get these?" I couldn't remember him having time to do anything.
"While Iz had you. She was getting you ready and I thought I should get everything we needed for today. I saw this at the store and bought it. I'm really glad I didn't mess up."
"This is amazing. You're so sweet!" I kissed him. Everything was forgotten for a moment in that kiss. I was very happy. Normally I have to buy my own art supplies because my parents are hardly home for me to ask. That can get expensive because I have to save my own money up for it.
Sebastian started to get the food out of the basket and I saw that he brought us sandwiches, cookies, chips, practically everything a normal picnic would have. I didn't realize I was smiling still. I looked at Seb and saw that he was very happy for this. I didn't actually feel like a first date.
We had our food and I laid my head down on Sebastian's lap. I was watching the clouds and pointing out things I saw, like a little kid. Sebastian was playing with my hair and kissing my head, sometimes my lips. I giggled when he started to tickle me. I got him to stop by kissing him. He had music playing from his phone and the song "The Best I Ever Had" started playing. I stood up and pulled Sebastian up with me. We started dancing and couldn't stop laughing. He twirled me around and I almost lost my balance, but Seb caught me. We started singing while dancing, and I realized Seb had a good voice. The song ended and "Sweater Weather" came on. we sat back in the positions we were in before and I started singing. I have been told that my voice is good, but I haven't actually believed it. Sebastian started singing with me and I smiled up at him. He was smiling at me and when the song ended he told me I had a great voice. I told him his was wonderful too. We soon realized that it was getting late so we started packing up. We got to the car and Seb opened the door for me. I was allowed to carry my art supplies and the blankets. Seb didn't allow me to carry the picnic basket though. He said it was "heavy." It was a great day and one of my favorite first dates, even though I haven't had many. We drove back to my house and we were there too soon. Sebastian let me out of the car and walked with me to the door.
"I had a fun time today. Kind of wished it was longer." Sebastian said shyly beside me.
"Today was great. And don't forget that I still have to ask my mom for that dinner." I smiled at him and he leaned over to kiss me. When we came apart, I started to open the door to find that it was already opening.
"Clary! I'm glad you're here! Jace and Si are already here so whene-" She stopped talking when she saw Sebastian. "And who is this?"
"Hello, ma'am. I'm Sebastian Verlac."
"Well, it's nice to meet you. I didn't know who she was spending her time with today." Mom looked over at me, asking.
"This is my boyfriend." A smile came on her face and I could see she was happy.
"Well, why don't you stay for dinner? We have room." Mom asked Seb. I looked over at Seb, wondering what he would stay.
"I don't want to intrude. I know that you need to catch up with Jace and Simon."
"Well, how about we schedule a dinner then? That would give us some time to get to know the boy our daughter is dating." She winked at me. God, she was weird.
"That will be nice. Thank you. I will leave you all to your dinner. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Fray. Talk to you later, Clare."
"Okay." I gave him a peck on the lips and watched him walk to his car.
"He's cute." Mom whispered to me. "And he calls you Clare? I thought only Si and Jace did that."
"That's the first time I've heard him say it." And as an after thought. "And yes. He's very cute." I turned around and started to follow Mom into the house.
"You're here." Jace said not that nicely from the place he was sitting on the couch.
"Yeah, I'm here." I turned to Mom and asked, "Do you need any help?"
"No. I'm almost done. Go ahead and sit down. I'll call when dinner is ready."
I nodded my head and sat down on the couch beside Jace. "Was your date good?" Simon asked from the chair he was sitting in. I looked at him and he had a smile on his face. I had to ask.
"It was wonderful. And your date?"
"It was great. We went to the movies and a little café. Iz was wonderful. I thought she wouldn't be that interested, but she hardly looked at another guy!" Si was beaming and I knew that he really liked Izzy.
"That's wonderful!" I was smiling, thinking how Iz must be feeling right now.
"Yeah, wonderful." Jace muttered from the couch. I looked over at him. He had a frown on his face and looked in deep thought. I didn't think it was wise to bother him, but I couldn't help it.
"What's wrong, Jace?" He looked over at me when I said his name.
"Nothing. Just a little bored." He replied.
"Well, I have no clue what to do. Maybe we could..." Si tried to think of something, but it was useless. We couldn't do much until after dinner.
"Well that was nice." Jace said while going towards the stairs. We had to sit at the table for about two hours. My mom and dad just kept asking Jace and Si- mostly Jace- about their lives and what was up. My brother wasn't here and that was probably a good thing.
"Where are you three going?" Mom asked from the doorway to the kitchen.
"To my room." I said.
"Okay, but remember. No fooling around."
"MOM!"
She started laughing. "Have fun!"
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Luke called from the kitchen where he was helping Mom.
We ran upstairs and went to my room. I sat down on my bed and Si plopped down next to me. Jace stood awkwardly in the middle of the room before going over to my desk chair.
"So, what should we do?" I asked nobody in particular.
"Tell us about your date!" Si said excitedly. I smiled at his enthusiasm. "We can be girls for a few minutes!"
"Excuse me? Do I look like a girl? No! I look like a child of Apollo. Or even Apollo himself. Not a girl. Although I can't say the same about you, Si."
"Whatever. He can be Aphrodite. I'll be like Izzy."
"I said Apollo!"
"Just start your story."
I smiled and launched into my story. I didn't leave out one little detail. I did forget my art supplies in Seb's car, but I could get those later. I told about our dance, the food, the gift, the scene, how Seb was such a great singer. Not one little detail was left out.
"That's so romantic!" Si yelled when I was done with the story. "It's like a fairytale."
"Wonderful story." Jace mumbled. Louder he said, "I didn't know Verlac could sing. Or be romantic. Or get a girlfriend. Or-"
"Yes, well he did all of those." I replied before Jace could get far in his rant.
"Most people wouldn't expect it though, considering-"
"We got it! Now shut up." Si said.
"So!" I needed some suggestions on stuff to do.
"Prank calls!" Si yelled.
"No, those are for children. How about a club?" Jace asked.
"No. Mom won't let us go." I said.
"Star gazing!" Si yelled again.
"Not dark enough." Jace said immediately.
"Movies!"
"Not in the mood."
"Night swimming!"
"Clare has a pool?"
"Yes. Now I like that one. We're doing it." I said before anyone could say no.
"Okay. Where are the swim suits?" Jace asked.
"Jon's room." Si answered while getting up. "C'mon Jace. Gotta get ready." The boys walked to Jon's room and I walked over to my drawer. I pulled out my favorite bikini. It was black and gold was splattered on it. I painted it and I also painted one for Jon just like it about a year ago. I quickly put it on and threw on my black cover-up.
I walked to Jon's room and knocked on the door. "Come in!" Si called. I walked in and found the boys looking at a few swim trunks.
"Can you not decide?"
"No, this is hard work! I must look fabulous!" Jace yelled.
I walked over and picked up a pair of swim trunks. "For Si." I picked up another pair. "For Jace. Now get ready." Si walked to the bathroom. I turned to Jace to find him taking off his shirt. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Changing." Jace said simply.
"Not when I'm in here!"
"Then leave or turn around. I have to get ready somewhere." I turned around and waited. A few minutes later Jace said, "Done." I turned around and saw that he was wearing the swim trunks I made for my brother. And then it dawned on me that we were matching. I noticed that he had abs too, but I was definitely not staring.
"I made those for Jon." I said so I didn't look too obvious about the staring thing. I know I have a boyfriend, but I couldn't help it. I finally broke my gaze away and looked up and Jace.
"You sew?"
"No, I painted them. I'm actually wearing the swim suit that matches those."
"Oh. Well, that's cool."
Si walked out of the bathroom. "Ready?"
"Yep!" I replied and we started walking to the pool.
"There's a diving board!" Jace was very excited about my pool. "Can you do a flip or something? That would be cool."
"Uh, yeah I can do a flip." I said while walking over to a chair. I took off my cover-up.
"Will you do one?" Jace asked while turning around. When he saw me, his jaw dropped.
"Stop drooling, Jace!" Simon called from the diving board where he was perched. He could be so weird.
"I wasn't drooling!" Jace snapped back.
"JACE STILL HAS A CRUSH ON CLARE!" Simon called.
"I do not!"
"You do!"
"You better shut up and run, Lewis!" Jace called while running over to Simon.
Si was laughing but he went ahead and jumped into the water. Jace dove in after him and soon enough they were horsing around. I decided to just sit on the edge of the pool for a while. The water was warm. I sat there looking at the stars until I realized the boys weren't playing anymore. I started to look for them when I felt something on my legs pulling me. I screamed and was pulled into the water. I broke the surface of the water gasping and grabbed ahold of the side of the pool. I glared at Si and Jace.
"Got ya, Clare!" Si said while swimming away.
"And now that you're wet," Jace said with a smirk, "why don't you show us your flip? I would really like to see it."
After I did my flip, we swam for about two hours. We kept jumping off the diving board and rating each other. We played games that became complete fails because we only had three people. Si got out at some point and turned on the radio that we have sitting by the pool.
We are now watching "Doctor Who" and making smoothies along with popcorn. We also tried making a cake, but Jace messed it up. We were practically making as much noise as we could in the kitchen.
"Ohh, I like this episode!" Si said while watching the TV in the kitchen.
"You like every episode." Jace reminded while eating the cookie dough I was trying to use. I swatted his hand. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Don't touch the cookie dough!" I told him. He tried to put his finger back in the bowl, but I grabbed. "I said don't touch it!"
We started fighting-me, trying to keep Jace away, and Jace, trying to get the cookie dough. Somehow we ended up tangled together and I was being pressed against the counter while pushing Jace's hands away from the bowl. Jace was starting to over power me and I was being crushed even more if that was possible. I decided to bring Jace's hand to my mouth.
"Ow! You bit me!" Jace moved a little and I used that to get away from the counter. I twisted Jace around and pinned his arms at his side.
"I win. Now don't touch the cookie dough!"
"I wouldn't say you won, I am much stronger than you." I looked up at him and saw that he was smirking.
"Well, since this won't work for long, what do you need? What can I do to make you leave the cookie dough?"
"Um, I can probably think of something. I'll let you know when I think of it."
"You mean, like, a favor? I have to do you a favor?"
"Yep, that's exactly it. Now, can you let me go?"
"Fine." I let him go and went back to my cookies. I put them on a pan and stuck them in the oven.
"Oh, can I have the dough in the bowl? And the spoon?" Simon asked from his chair. I guess he just realized that I was making cookies. I suppose he missed mine and Jace's fight.
"Yeah." I handed him the bowl and spoon.
"What? I fought you for one little taste and he gets the bowl and spoon willingly? That's just not fair!" Jace was a little mad about that.
"Well, you should've asked. That's what I did." Simon teased and took a bite of the cookie dough.
"Ugh! I liked it better when you were zoned in on 'Doctor Who'!"
Si and I started laughing and finally the cookies were done. I took them out and set them on the cookie racks. I grabbed a smoothie and a cookie. I walked into the living room and turned on "Doctor Who" and sat down on the couch. Si turned off the TV in the kitchen after grabbing all the cookies he could grab and came to sit by me. Jace soon followed with the popcorn and another smoothie. He sat on the other side of me. We watched TV until we fell asleep on the couch.