N is for Naive

Drew knew that May was a lot of things, but the thing that irked him the most was how naive she could be about things around her. He sat on the beach, biting his straw while May splashed about in the water. It was the only thing he could think of at the moment to keep his sanity. Countless times he'd told her that it wasn't a good idea to bring him along if she wanted to go to the beach, but despite anything that he said, it went in one ear and out the other. And of course she was wearing a bathing suit that was close enough to a bikini to drive him up a wall. He sighed when May called his name, hoping by some stroke of luck that if he shrunk into a ball she wouldn't find him.

"What's with you lately?" May asked. She stood in front of him, peering down with raised eyebrows, her hands resting on her hips. "You're gloomy. At least smile a bit. I know I don't compare to your fans, but I'd like to see you smile too."

"Compare?" Drew let out a muffled laugh. "No, you don't compare to them at all."

He meant to say the last part quietly to himself, rather he'd prefer he hadn't said it at all and left it as a thought, but when May's face scrunched up, he knew that she'd heard it. Her eyes didn't get wide or fire burst inside of them. Instead, she crossed her arms, switching her gaze from Drew to the sandy next to him in repeat. Finally, after a couple seconds of silence, May shifted her weight to her opposite foot, letting out an exasperated moan.

"You don't have to rub it in! I know I'm not as important, but, geez, you didn't have to say it like that."

"Is that how you took it?" Drew leaned back on his towel, setting his drink in the hole he made beside him.

It took every ounce of willpower he had in him not to look at her red flower patterned swimwear. May standing inches away from him didn't help the situation much either or the images of her splashing around in the water from either that kept popping up in his head. When he looked back at May, he expected to see a completely different face than her flushed cheeks and panicked eyes. She caught his open-mouthed stare, and the the fire behind her skin burned even brighter. Her hands shot up in front of her as she took a few steps back, then were thrown hastily behind her back.

"Umm… well, I mean, how else am I supposed to take it?" May mumbled.

At that moment, she couldn't find the guts in her to look up from the ground. It was just Drew. Part of her, however, found it funny since there were so many times that he entranced her so much she couldn't take her eyes off him, but now it was like she had to look everywhere but at Drew.

"Obviously if it's not the first option, it's the second. There's only two ways to take that, May."

Something sparked inside of him to see May that flushed. It certainly took his attention off her bathingsuit, and for that, he was grateful. Thinking back, though, Drew realized how long it'd actually been since he and May got into their little quarrels. If it'd been that long, he was ready to rectify that. Since it was fun. And it was May who was more easy than scrambled eggs.

"The-the second being…"

"You know," Drew said as he stood up, stretching his arms behind his back, his eyes closing when his head lifted into the glare of the sun; "I think I actually want to go in the water now. It's hot out here."

May bit her lip. One of her hands held onto her other arm, her eyes still not looking anywhere close to Drew. "Y-yeah. It's pretty hot out here."

"Where'd you get that bathing suit, May?" Drew asked, walking past her. He chuckled when May's voice perked up.

"Me and Max picked it out!" she exclaimed happily. Forgetting whatever she was thinking about, she quickly caught up to Drew, bouncing next to him in anticipation. "Hurry up already, Drew, I want to swim. Hm... but why'd you want to know where I got it from?"

"Because it looks good on you."

Drew's smile grew from ear to ear when May rushed past him, diving into the water. When she came back up, she glared at him, splashing water in her direction. He didn't waste a second joining her, his smile still on his face as he canonballed into the water next to her.

Sometimes it irked him that May was so naive, but sometimes it didn't, because she was pretty gullible too. And that was okay with him.