Chapter Ten: The Beach
Jacob had called the next day to give me the final information about the beach date. Turns out that we actually wouldn't be meeting on the beach so much as we were meeting and hanging out on the cliffs. He said something about diving and that had me a little concerned. The possibility of jumping off a cliff had my stomach in a knot. Sonas was yipping and bouncing around my feet as I tried to get ready. I don't have a swimsuit and I hadn't had time this week to go buy one. Hopefully I would be warm enough in a pair of shorts and a tank top, though I threw a pair of jeans and a long sleeve in the car, just in case.
"Oh come on girl." I scooped Sonas up with a groan. She had doubled in size since we'd bought her and definitely getting too big to pick up. She yipped again and licked my face. I smiled and pulled her away. I carried her out the kitchen and set her down on the ground as I picked up my keys, slipping my feet into my sneakers.
"I still think this is a bad idea." Jack muttered as he sat drinking his coffee at the table. I glared at him as I set my hands on my hips.
"Oh, how hypocritical! You can have a girlfriend, but I can't have friends?" Jack's frowned deepened.
"She's not my girlfriend." He argued with a small glare.
"Oh, pardon me! Your female acquaintance that you take to lunch every Thursday and talk with late at night when you think I'm sleeping." Jack avoided looking at me while he took another sip of his coffee. He picked up the paper off the table and shook it out to cover his face.
"That's what I thought! Now… when do I get to meet her?" Jack glanced over the top of the paper.
"When she agrees to be my girlfriend." I grinned and ruffled Jack's short hair as I walked past him.
"Good, I won't be out late. I'll be home before nine." I closed the door behind me, stopping Sonas from following me. It was only a short drive to the beach, but not knowing how cold the water would be, I didn't want to have to walk home. The parking lot of the beach was nearly vacant, only two other cars where there. I thought Jacob had said most of the people from the party were going to be here? As I put the car in park, I saw Jacob come out of the trees a couple feet ahead. He gave me a grin as he came closer.
"I'm glad you could come. We're all up on the cliffs." He waited as I climbed out of the car and locked the doors.
"How many are up there?" I glance around the nearly empty parking lot again.
"Nine of us. Most of us were at the cook out, so only a couple introductions." We started the hike up a densely forested trail. At the top I could recognize almost everyone. Even the boy I had met at the beach, Seth, was here and the woman that had called for him. When Seth spotted me a bright grin lit up his face as he stood. I had thought he was tall before, but he seemed to have sprouted a couple inches.
"Nice to see you again, Aideen. Where's Killer?" Seth asked brightly as he came close and stuck out his hand to shake. I smiled as I shook his hand, I couldn't believe how insanely feverish his hand felt.
"Nice to see you too, Seth. He's at home with my brother today." Jacob was looking confusedly between the two of us.
"Mind explaining how the two of you know each other?" Jacob was looking more toward Seth than he was me and was giving the poor guy an almost death glare.
"I literally tripped over Seth while I was on a run my first day here." Seth chuckled and I could feel the blush filling my cheeks. Jacob's glare dulled as he cracked a smile.
"Well, then the only introduction to be made would be to Leah." Jacob said and started to led me toward the other side of the cliff toward the tall woman that Seth had been standing with.
"Aideen, this is Leah. She's Seth's sister. Leah, this is Aideen." She glanced me over and gave me a hard nod. Somehow the action seemed dismissive and rude.
"Nice to meet you, Leah." I said and she scoffed. Jacob looked irritated, but quickly led me away toward another group of people. Sam and Jared where over here with Kim and Emily. Kim smiled as she saw me and waved enthusiastically. The rest of the small group looked over as we walked closer. Emily smiled while the guys nodded their greeting.
"Jack decide not to come along?" Jared asked.
"No, Jack's a party pooper. All work, no play." Jared and Sam smirked as I spoke and nodded.
"We got that impression." Sam mused.
"I'll get him to come around eventually. I mean there's no way he's going to avoid me." I smiled devilishly, causing the older guys to laugh.
"You seem like someone who would be very hard to ignore." Emily stated with a small smile on the unmarred half of her face.
"You're right. You'd think he'd give in with me pushing him his whole life, but he's stubborn." I frowned and they all smiled.
"Well I'm glad you came. We need more girl power around here." Kim stated and left Jared's arms to led me off to the food and drink table. When we were a good distance away from everyone else Kim turned on me.
"You like him, he asked you out. Why aren't making a move?" I sighed and leaned against the tree to my right.
"Kim, we went over this at the diner." She crossed her arms over her chest as she sent me a glare.
"Refresh my memory, because the only thing I got from our talk was that you are clinging to your past. What better way to move on than to start something with Jake. He's a great guy, he could help you through anything, if you let him." I let my shoulders sag as I looked away back toward the small groups of friends who chatted happily.
"Kim there's a lot to my past, more than I feel comfortable divulging to anyone. It wouldn't be fair to Jacob, I'm not ready to get that close to someone again. Is that enough, Kim?" I questioned as I looked back to her. She had a small frown on her face, but she nodded before leaning forward and giving me a tight hug.
"That's enough, I'm sorry." She pulled away and held a serious expression for a total of ten seconds before a bright smile came to her face.
"Now come on. I get to teach you how to cliff dive." She grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the small group of Sam, Jared, Jacob and Emily and beyond them, the cliff.
"Kim, are you crazy! I'm not going over that edge!" I exclaimed and tried to dig in my heels, uselessly, into the hard rock under my feet. Who would have thought this girl was so strong?
"Oh you big sissy! It'll be fun!" Kim grinned as she pulled me closer to the cliff. Sam and Jared where laughing as Kim pulled me passed them, Emily was smiling sympathetically and Jacob was watching attentively. In a final attempt to prevent taking the dive, I wrapped my arms around Jacob's waist as Kim pulled me passed him, using him as a weight to stop Kim from pulling me any farther.
"Help me, Jacob! She's gone mad! She's trying to kill me by throwing me off the cliff!" I fake cried pathetically. Jacob chuckled, but wrapped his arm around my waist, stopping Kim from pulling me further to my doom. I stuck my tongue out at Kim victoriously, while she pouted and tucked herself into Jared's side. The guys continued to laugh at us, shaking their heads.
"Told you I wasn't going over that edge." I taunted. Big mistake. Before I knew it Jacob had scooped me up into his arms and was running to the edge. I screamed as he jumped, my arms wrapping tightly around his neck as I clamped my eyes shut. A burst of adrenaline ran through my bloodstream making the fall seem longer before we made impact with the cold water below. Even as we were lightly thrown around by the waves Jacob didn't let go and kicked our way back to the surface. I sputtered, spitting out the nasty tasting salt water that had gotten in my mouth and sucking in a deep breath to my air deprived lungs.
Jacob laughed as he looked down at me. I probably looked like a drowned rat. I hadn't gotten the chance to tie my hair back and contain the disaster that it would turn into. I'm already dreading brushing my hair later to get all the knots out. I glared at the handsome, laughing boy and slapped water in his face, causing him to choke a little before I started swimming to shore. Everyone was laughing as we got back to the top. Emily was kindly trying to hide the fact she was laughing, but was failing miserably.
"I knew you'd survive!" Kim bragged as she laughed.
"I'll get both of you for this. Mark my words, you'll pay for this." I promised, glaring at Kim and Jacob as I started ringing out my hair. My usually light red hair was now a dark, almost brown color as I rung it out and put it up in bun at the back of my head.
"She looks like an angry kitten!" Jared said as he laughed.
"Watch it buddy!" I said and elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ask Jack what happened when he added food coloring to my shampoo." I grinned evilly at Jared. His laughed stopped short as he seemed to think about the situation.
"What happened?" Sam asked curiously.
"That's for me to know and someone to find out." I continued to smile evilly and walked away to the food table to get something to eat. As I filled my plate I began to brainstorm what I could do to them that they would never see coming. They would be expecting the pay back soon, but I would wait and bid my time. I would get them when they were least expecting it. The day went on and I did dive off the cliff one more time before the guys started a fire and we all settled around it. Jacob took the seat next to me quietly, moving ever so slightly toward me every couple minutes. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't ready for a relationship, but he was nice and willing to just be a friend. But for how long would he be willing to only be a friend before he starts looking elsewhere?
I shook the thoughts from my head and leaned back against the log I had been sitting on. I was suddenly very tired, I was having trouble keeping my eyes opens. The adrenaline and hiking back up the cliff had drained my energy and the heat radiating from the fire and Jacob next to me was slowly lulling me to sleep. Everyone started to part after the sun had sunk below the horizon and the fire began to die. I stood drowsily, starting to say goodbye. I started to walk away, hoping that the walk back to the car would wake me up. I was almost to the trees when a boiling hot hand grabbed my arm. I spun around to see Jacob, he looked worried.
"Can I help you?" He smiled and shook his head.
"Let me drive you home." He said and I shook my head, Jack would kill me for bring someone to the house, especially a boy.
"I'll be fine, Jacob. I'll see you at the diner." I smiled and moved to walked away, but his hand still held my arm.
"I insist. You can barely walk, how are you going to drive?"
"Jack would be pissed if I brought you home with me. And how would you get home after you dropped me off?" I questioned. Jacob smiled.
"Don't you worry about that, Jack will never know I drove you home unless you tell him. Give me your keys." Jacob looked down at me pleadingly and I melted into a puddle of goo at his feet. I sighed, pulling out my keys from my pocket and handing them over. I was lucky they didn't fall out when I had been in the water. Jacob walked silently next to me back to the car. He held my door open for me, like a gentlemen, making me smile. I must have drifted off because before I knew it Jacob was shaking me awake as he pulled into my driveway.
"Aideen, wake up." Jacob whispered as he shook my shoulder. I leaned forward and rubbed my eyes. He smirked at me as he put the car in park.
"Told you, you're too tired to drive." I nodded and reached for the door handle. Jacob handed me the keys.
"Good night, Deen." Jacob whispered as he placed the keys in my hand.
"Good night, Jacob. Thank you." I said and he smiled before he took off into the trees. There was something strange about that boy, but I think I'm starting to like him.
A/N: Please, pretty please review! I desperately need feedback to see what you all think of this story. If you have an opinion let me know! Any and all suggestions are welcome! :)
~Miss. E. Thompson