look at me go! im updating within a week. at least i think its been within a week. if not its been close! ive just been on a roll with this story lately. im already writing the next chapter too. you may be getting another update before i leave friday but i cant be extremely positive yet. just keep hoping! this is another long chapter for you. :)
im not gonna get all into a big long entry this time. i get bored of myself when i do it. so i introduce another new character in this chapter. i know im killing you with all these people. but believe there are only a handful that are meaningful. this new character is a little based off someone. and im sure you all will get it. your all very smart. :) you will see in the next couple chapters why i introduced this one.
other than that. nothing new. a little friend time we have here. all the stuff you know isn't mine, isn't mine. [i think you will understand when you see it] everything else is mine. even the new character. even though its based off someone! hmm. ENJOY LOVES! thanks for being amazing reviewers. ive gotten based 400 reviewers - just freaking amazing.
okay. to the good stuff!
Chapter Twenty-One: Full Moon
In the full moons light I listen to the stream
And in between the silence hear you calling me
But I don't know where I am and I don't trust who I've been
And if I come home how will I ever leave
Full Moon: The Black Ghosts
The next couple days were filled with intense party planning. All the invitations had been sent out, most have already RSVPed, and Stacey was glowing. Two days after the big dinner party, the family received an invitation in the mail for a New Years Eve party thrown by Tristan's mom. He had obviously done his dirty work and told his mother to forget about the birthday party. The smile from Stacey's face hadn't left since she read that invitation. She worked with an enjoyable pleasure, and her focus was on the Christmas party which was tomorrow.
Currently I was walking down the small boardwalk on my way to the caterers shop. No one else had enough time to help me, plus I don't think Stacey wanted me anywhere near the actual set up of everything. Yesterday I had knocked over an entire display of miniature elves. That one didn't seem to go over too well with Stacey. She has banished me to errand runner which is why I'm by myself on my way to the caterers to make sure everything is ready. I begged her to at least let Caity come with me, but that resulted in a big fat no. Caity was actually making some last minute decorations and she couldn't be disturbed.
I continued at a steady pace down the boardwalk. The sun was sitting high in the perfect blue sky, not a cloud in the sky to hide behind. A weak wind grazed at my bare shoulders. Sweat clung to every part of my body. Why hadn't I opted to at least ride a bike here? Stella yelled at me not too – ugh, stupid doctor.
The tiny catering shop loomed closer. The bright pink building – I swear – could be spotted from an aircraft flying over head. I reached Wanda's Winking Creations, pushed through the glass door, and was met with a burst of cool air.
"Ahh," I sighed relishing the coolness for the time being. The door closed behind me with a ding. The elderly lady behind the counter looked up and waved at me excitedly.
"You must be Stacey's helper," she called out in an accent – I wasn't sure which one.
I nodded walking over to the counter. "She has sent me to make sure everything is almost done and confirm when you are delivering it tomorrow."
"Of course," she smiled riffling through some papers in front of her. She pulled one out with Stacey's name at the top. "Come back with me, I will show you everything."
I followed her to the back of the shop. It was more like a kitchen than anything. Big bowls with even bigger mixers sat on the floor churning away. The elderly woman, I assumed was Wanda, caught me staring.
"Those are our mixers, we've figured out it's easier to make dough in mass quantities instead of thousands of individual ones. We also use them to mix other things together too."
"They are huge," I said peering into the bottom of one.
"Over this way Mitchie," Wanda called beckoning me over to the right.
I caught up with her and asked, "How did you know my name?"
"Stacey called ahead to tell me you were on your way. I think she wanted to make sure you got here alright. People on this island can be a little funky at times," she said with a laugh.
Her statement didn't have the same easy going affect on me. I've had my share of times with funky people and they never resulted in anything pleasant.
"Don't worry," said Wanda as she read the worried expression on my face, "I'm sure you won't meet any of them around here. They usually don't come out until night, and I think Stacey wouldn't ever allow you to go out alone at night. At least I hope Shane would have half the mind to keep you in seeing distance at all times."
Although I was curious to know how she knew about Shane and I, we entered another small room with shelves stacked high with incredible looking food. My mouth dropped and began to water. Wanda moved along the shelves counting out all the trays of food we'd ordered.
"Now, tell Stacey we've gotten all the cold stuff cut and ready. Tomorrow we will make everything else so its fresh and delicious. The party starts at seven right?"
I nodded.
"Tell her we will have the food there by four if that's when she wants it there."
"Thank you," I told her as we wandered back to the front of the store.
She stopped at a table laden with toppings for a cake. "Would you like to sneak a taste?" she asked me waving a knife towards the white frosted cake.
I nodded eagerly. She expertly cut a little piece off the side; no one would ever notice it was missing. "This is amazing," I breathed. "What kind is it?"
"It's a chocolate recipe I've been working with. I put some peanut butter and a dash of cinnamon in it."
"It's ridiculously good," I told her. "Is this the kind we're having tomorrow?"
"One of the kinds," she said nodding. "Thank you for stopping by. Here, take this with you and give it to Stacey." She handed me a small box full of candy. "She wanted them for some table when you walked in."
I nodded not really caring what she needed them for. I was still in cake deliciousness heaven. I thanked her one last time for the cake and off into the sweltering sun again.
The time seemed to pass even slower on the walk home. It may have been because of Wanda's warning. I kept turning around every thirty seconds feeling as if someone was following me. Then I thought realistically. Why would anyone want to follow me home? And why would they anyway? There are many more rich and better looking people on this island to terrorize. I told myself I was being paranoid which I was. If anyone should be allowed to be paranoid it would be me right?
Setting aside all paranoia that I was feeling at that moment, I half-walked half-ran the rest of the way back to the house. Finding it oddly quiet, I set the box of candies on the counter and walked out on the deck. Laughter flitted up from the beach. The sand was littered with most of the family. I searched the water for Caitlyn, Nate, or Shane – nothing. Before I had a chance to turn around a pair of hands covered my eyes. Scared as I was from all the paranoia I screamed. A hand covered my mouth to hold the screams in my body. Alarms set off in my head.
"Hey there beautiful," the all too familiar voice of Shane breathed in my ear.
I pushed him off me in one huge shove. "That is not funny Shane. You really scared me there for a second."
"Someone's being paranoid," laughed Nate, he was standing a couple feet behind Shane.
Caitlyn pushed Shane aside so she was in front of me. "Leave her alone," she told him. "What's got you all wound up?"
"Well, I just walked all the way to Wanda's by myself. And when I get there she's telling me how I shouldn't be walking by myself because there's sketchy people on this island. So the whole way home I feel like someone is following me," I ranted. "And that is why I'm feeling paranoid at the minute. Thank you very much Nate."
He grinned sheepishly at me, but Shane was frowning. "Wanda told you there were sketchy people on this island?"
I nodded. "She said there were some."
"She is getting extremely old," explained Nate. "She's been here almost as long as my parents have been alive."
"At one time we thought she was a witch," added Shane. "I think she's just trying to scare you a little bit. There's no reason to be afraid of anyone here."
"But what if she's right?" I asked in a small voice.
Shane grabbed a hold of my shoulders so I was forced to look him straight in the eyes. "As long as I'm here, I am not allowing you out of my sights. I told you I was going to protect you," he whispered only loud enough for me to hear.
Closing my eyes to keep the sudden tears from falling I nodded. "So," I said shakily, addressing my other two friends, "what were you guys doing?"
"We were coming up here to capture you and take you into the ocean with us but seeing as that is inappropriate now we're just going to take you to the water," Nate said.
I cocked my head to one side and looked at him. Caitlyn and I burst out laughing as he shrugged. The boys looked at us like we lost our minds. "What are you laughing about?" Shane finally had to ask.
Caitlyn shook her head. "Nothing, you wouldn't understand. Come on Mitch, let's go get you in a bathing suit."
My best friend dragged me away from the boys still laughing. "I love confusing the hell out of them," I laughed. "Did you ask Stella if I was allowed in the water yet?"
She nodded excitedly. "She said yes and if anything starts to hurt or whatever you must immediately come out. So it's all on you there girl. You've got to be the judge of your limits."
"Thank you mo –" I began to say but stopped. If Caitlyn noticed she didn't press anything; I wanted to hug her.
We made it to our room, and as soon as Caity was through the door she raced to the dresser and pulled out a bikini for me. She threw it at my head and I looked at her curiously. "Are you sure? I do have stitches still. They might not be the most attractive things in the world," I wondered examining the brown and lime green polka dot two-piece.
She turned to me hands on her hips. "Mitchie Leigh, you are going to look fine. It's not like people haven't seen stitches before."
"What about my bruises?" I asked softly.
Caitlyn was hugging me in a second. "Put it on and we will see how it looks."
I struggled out of my loose tank top and loose shorts. My body has been recovering quite well lately. It's still a strain on my stomach sometimes – I do still have stitches there – but I've been feeling stronger and much better. Hopefully that means my ribs are coming back together. "Could you tie it for me?" I asked.
"Step back and let me look at you," she advised.
I stepped back holding my arms out awkwardly. "To tell you the truth I haven't really looked at myself since we've been here," I blurted out. "How do they look?"
"Well you have stitches in your stomach," Caity said reaching out to touch them. "The bruise is still there but it's probably only the size of my fist now and it's turning more yellow than purple. And, you have a cool ass scar on your left boob. Look at it!"
She pushed me in front of the mirror. In a bikini the scar stood out more than ever. It wasn't exactly on my boob but right next to it. It cut through the middle of my breasts and ended a few inches below. It was bright pink with a white tint to it – a recovering scar.
"I never noticed this one," I said drawing my finger along the raised line. "This must have been where they cut out the clot. Why doesn't it have stitches though?"
"Maybe they put in those dissolving stitches," suggested Caitlyn, checking out the rest of my body for any bruises or scars. "Your leg is still a little banged up but everyone's already seen you in a dress. You've got a couple bruises on your back, but the ones on your arms are disappearing fast. You're face is healing really well too. You just have a couple scars on there but those have been there for awhile."
"You think I'm okay then?" I asked.
"You're okay with swimming with just Shane's extended family. If one of the other families was to come over you might have a little problem. But leave that to me, I'll think of something if they ask questions."
"You're the best," I told her, hugging her tightly – my strength really was returning.
"Swimming time!" Caitlyn shouted and took off out of the room.
I followed her pushing myself more than I probably should have, but it felt so good to actually move. My stomach constricted slightly from the over excursion. I pushed through that pain and easily beat Caitlyn down to the beach.
"Even crippled I can still beat you," I told her excitedly.
"I never was one for that running stuff," she huffed, holding her knees to try and catch her breath.
I picked her up. "Don't do that you can't get air through your pipes as easily," I instructed her.
"Mimi!" shouted Hollace running from the sparkling blue water to me.
Stacey shouted after her. "Do not jump on her Hollace!"
She stopped short of me, waving. "Thacey thaid me no jump!"
"I still have some booboos," I told her pointing to my stomach.
Her eyes widened. Her fingers extended wanting to touch the stitches. "Can touch?"
"Be careful," I advised. She placed her wet fingers on the ridge of the stitches and squealed.
"Funny!" she giggled backing away.
"I'll race you to the water!" I exclaimed preparing myself for another run.
Hollace's eyes widened again. "No!"
I didn't have a chance to even ask what as my body was picked up in one swift movement. My capturer raced towards the water. "You know you're mother just told Hollace not to jump on me and here you are setting a bad example," I told Shane.
He carried me in his arms being very careful not to make any sudden movements. "I'm gentle though. Holl doesn't know how to be gentle yet. Might I add you look amazing?"
He set me down in ankle high water and I scoffed. "Yeah right, look at all my bruises. These stitches are hideous."
He scooped me up and it was then I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. Our bodies meshed together, skin resting against skin. My body temperature rose to 110 degrees just at the thought of him in only swim trunks. "I love all your scars and bruises," he whispered. "They give you character."
"A beat up character," I said disgustedly.
He used one hand to keep my face on his. The sun hit his eyes creating a sparkling affect that set my mind in a daze. "Mo, you look beautiful. I don't care what's on your body or what isn't."
"Shane! Mitchie!"
Shane hung his head grumbling. "I'm going to kill him. I really am going too."
I giggled as I waved at Tristan from the beach.
"It's been like four days he's been here and how many times has he already interrupted us?" Shane wondered angrily.
I knew exactly what he was talking about – the night of the dinner. "It's okay Shane. He doesn't know any better."
"Yeah right my ass," he mumbled.
Tristan, Caitlyn, and Nate splashed their way to us. I took notice of both Tristan and Nate's spectacular looking bodies. Tristan had the more chiseled muscular look. His deeply tanned chest left me to believe he worked hard on his farm and that's what all the sun was from. Nate was more of the scrawny type with a paler complexion – the look worked for him though. I was almost hesitant to look at Shane. Who knew what I would do when I finally saw him? I at least hoped I would keep myself together and not fall into the ocean from his perfection.
"What are you doing here Trist?" Shane asked, not a trace of disappointment in his voice.
"Well, Morgan finally flew in from school, and I've gotten sick of having her around already. So I decided to come over here and do something more productive."
"I think we're going to name you love sucker," Caitlyn announced suddenly.
Tristan gazed at her in amusement. "Why?"
"Can't you see!" she proclaimed loudly pointing to Shane and me.
His gazed shifted between the two of us. "Did I do it again?" he asked exasperatedly. He sounded genuinely upset at himself.
"No man," Shane said at the same time Caitlyn yelled, "Yes!"
The other time he is referring to is the night of the dinner after the charade showdown. Shane and I were celebrating our win. He was so close, closer than ever before, and Tristan somehow knocked into us and the moment was ruined. Although Shane and I haven't exactly talked about it, I can tell from how he is that he is waiting for the perfect opportunity. Many perfect opportunities have come and gone between us, and they all seem to fail. Maybe we just aren't meant too…
"I'm so sorry," he gushed running a hand through his hair. "I will make it up to you guys. I promise. Just leave it to me, it will be perfect."
"Don't worry about it," I told him. If the time was meant to come it will come eventually.
"Do you guys all want to come over and watch a movie tonight?" he wondered changing the subject. I suspected Shane was shooting him death glares. I let my eyes glance to the side and caught Shane's eyes in the process. I smiled to myself.
"Definitely," agreed Nate readily. "The Peppercorn's have this nasty movie theater they built in their basement. It's seriously one of the best I've been in. Almost the same as being in an actual theater."
"What are we going to watch?" I asked walking further into the refreshing water until it was up to my chest.
Tristan shrugged. "We have tons of movies. I'll let the girls pick it out if you want."
Caity and I smiled at each other. Oh the possibilities of torture we could put the boys through were endless then. "Agreed," Caity smiled.
"What time should we come over?" Shane asked slinking his arm around my waist under the water. Even in the slightly warmer water my body tingled all over.
"Whenever, after we swim if you want."
We all nodded our agreement.
"Let's body board!" suggested Nate preparing himself to jump on the incoming wave. He waited a second to long and was pulled under from the force of the wave. He resurfaced spitting up a mouthful of salt water. Our laughter brought a smile to his face.
Each of us swam out of bit farther to wait for the next big wave. Shane was next to me and the temptation to look at all of him was tugging at me. He leant down to me and whispered, "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay right now. We will see how body boarding goes," I said patting my stomach gently.
An oncoming wave slapped me in the back causing me to lose my footing and stumble into the breaking water. The water felt so good I never wanted to come back up. Shane's hand sought mine and pulled me to the surface. His laughter was contagious and soon I was doubled over in laughter, clutching my stomach.
I looked up into his eyes and my laughter faded into a small smile. Finally allowing myself, my eyes gazed over his bare body. Without thinking I reached out to run my hands over the contours of his chest and stomach. The tautness of his abs sent a fire shooting to my cheeks. I quickly dropped them out of embarrassment.
His hand brushed back a few wet strands which brought my eyes back to his. The smile on his face was unreadable. My breathing hitched as he took my hand and placed it back on his chest. I shied away from his undeniable perfect body. Feeling confidence grow in me I slid my hand up to the place where his heart rested. Under his beautiful skin his heart beat at the same rate as mine – faster than humanly possible.
Surprised, I looked back up at him. His smile widened into one of his crooked grins. "This is what you do to my heart."
"Hello Mrs. Peppercorn," Caitlyn and I greeted later that day as we stepped into the Peppercorn's mansion of mansions. The house was roughly twice the size of the one Shane and his entire family stayed at.
"Oh call me Niki darlings," she said hugging us both warmly. "I'm so glad you all could come over. Tristan seemed extremely bored earlier." She pulled us a little closer as if to tell us a secret. "Just between us three, I called a surprise here for him. It should be arriving any minute now."
Caitlyn and I moved further into the foyer wondering if Niki always acted this strange. "I wonder what kind of surprise she got him."
We wandered into the kitchen where Tristan and the boys were preparing popcorn and other assorted snacks for our movie watching experience. Shane smiled widely at me from over the bowl of popcorn he was assembly. My heart pattered irregularly. I don't think I was ever going to get used to it.
Tristan's younger brother Harold wandered into the kitchen a beautiful girl in toe behind him. I instantly recognized her as one of the Chatzi girls; her long, luscious black hair was a dead giveaway.
"Oh yeah Harry is watching the movie with us too," muttered Tristan, not paying his brother any attention.
Harry rolled his deep brown eyes and smiled at Caity and I. "This is Gaea, I don't know if you remember her or not."
We shook hands with the small Greek girl. "I remember you, I just didn't remember your name," I answered truthfully. "You're extremely gorgeous."
Gaea smiled warmly. She seemed kinder than her sister and the Abbott girl. "Nice to finally meet you two. We've all heard so much about you." Her English was almost perfect save for her slight Greek accent.
Caity laughed. "I hope all good stuff."
Gaea nodded.
The doorbell dinged; everyone looked up with confusion. Shane spoke first. "Did you invite someone else Trist?"
He shook his head. "I'll go see who it is."
Tristan left the room and we all followed indiscreetly – so nosey. "This must be the surprise Niki was talking about," Caitlyn muttered.
"Yah think," I said sarcastically.
She punched me in the arm. "No need for sarcasm now my love."
I rolled my eyes kneading out the pain in my arm. We crowded around the foyer unbeknownst to Tristan. He easily opened the door and stopped short as he saw who was standing on his doorstep.
"No way!" Tristan exclaimed enveloping whoever stood outside the door.
"Who is it?" was the question on everyone's mind.
Tristan finally led the person into the light of the house. Everyone except Caitlyn and I rushed forward with excitement to tackle the tall girl who entered the room. We shrugged our shoulders at each other and strained to get a better look at her. She was tall only falling a couple inches shorter than Tristan. Her hair was blond and extremely curly in the natural way. A splash of freckles covered her small nose. She was effortlessly beautiful.
The crowd diminished giving the new girl some room and space. I wondered how they all knew her. My question was about to be answered.
"Mitchie, Caitlyn this is my really good friend Regina Walters," Tristan said introducing the strikingly beautiful tall blond girl to the small brunettes standing in the corner.
She rolled her soft brown eyes. "Call me Raine, he knows I hate the name Regina but he insists on introducing me like that all the time," she said, her accent similar to the Peppercorns'. "It's really wonderful to finally meet you. Everyone speaks so highly of you girls I've been dying to meet you."
Caitlyn and I were beginning to feel everyone around here knew a lot more about us than we expected. It was freaking me out a bit. "How do you know everyone?" Caitlyn blurted out.
Raine laughed easily. "I've been coming down here almost as much as they have. I've been friends with Tristan since before we were born. Niki called me last minute to invite me."
I nodded, understanding. My eyes fell on the guitar in her hand. "You play?"
She held up the guitar almost guiltily. "I can't go anywhere without it."
"Mitchie plays too," Tristan added.
"Really?" she seemed interested.
"Yeah, I'm still learning."
"That's bull, she's one of the best in Jason's classes back home," Nate explained.
I glared at him.
"We should play together sometime," she suggested.
"Okay, yeah," I said nodding. "That would be fun."
Niki rushed down the stairs and screamed as she spotted Raine. "You made it! I thought that was the doorbell but I wasn't sure. How was your flight?"
"Excellent," said Raine giving Niki a one armed hug, "barely any turbulence."
"I see you've already met Caitlyn and Mitchie, excellent girls. You three will have fun together. Now why don't you get to that movie? It's going to be three in the morning before you get done with it."
"Raine, why don't you show them where the theater is and the guys can help me get the popcorn and drinks?"
She nodded. "Let me put my stuff in my room and I'll show them."
"I'll take them for you," Niki said dismissively. "Go have fun!"
Niki wandered off carrying Raine's guitar and rolling her suitcase in tow. Raine shrugged and beckoned us to follow her. "How has your break been so far?"
"More than perfect," breathed Caitlyn. "The weather down here is so nice and everything I so beautiful."
"You're dating Nate right?" she asked curiously.
Caitlyn smiled happily. "Yes, he's amazing."
Raine laughed. "You have already fallen for the good boy charm. I always knew Nate would find someone. He always had his doubts on himself," she smiled. "That means you've finally snagged the ever changing Shane Gray."
"Not exactly," I said. "We're not exactly dating."
Her pretty eyes bugged out of her head. "Has he had a mental lapse or something? What's wrong with him? I'm going to have to talk to him."
I laughed loudly. "That's exactly what Tristan said."
"Well lord knows Tristan and I are too much alike for our own good," she drawled.
"Does that mean you two are dating then?" wondered Caitlyn.
Raine made a gagging sound. "Seriously? Tristan is my best friend. He's like a brother to me. That would be just disgusting."
"Oh come on," I dragged out. "You can't say you've never felt more than just a best friend vibe from Tristan. I mean he's positively gorgeous."
"There was that one time in ninth grade where things grew awkward," she said thoughtfully, remembering a trying time. "He put that one away though quickly. We decided we were best friends nothing more than that."
"Did you both decide that or did he?" I asked taking note of her tone.
Her eyes fell away sadly. "It's a little more complicated than you think. I'm happy with how we are though. If we would ever move passed best friends it would have to be his move not mine."
"I can work on that," I smiled. "He already owes me a favor, so maybe I can talk to him about it."
Raine shook her head. "You don't have to do anything. I'm really not looking for us to become more. We are really good at being best friends. It's easy, less complicated." She paused outside a large wooden door. "I did wonder why Niki invited me down here, but to hell with it. I'm going to have some fun. I already like you two more than I should."
We all laughed together. Raine pushed open the door and we walked into the homemade movie theater. "This place is insane," muttered Caitlyn running her hands along the fabric walls. "Are these supposed to keep the sound in?"
Raine nodded. "This whole place is completely sound proofed. It has surround sound so it gets pretty loud at times. It's so awesome though. You feel like you're in the movie."
I fell in to one of the plush arm chairs. There was a cup holder in one arm. Raine reached down and pulled a lever. The chair fell back, reclining. "It's stadium seating too, so you won't have to strain yourself to see over the dude with the afro in the seat in front. It's the best experience you'll ever have watching a movie."
"Where's the TV?" asked Gaea. All three of us turned around; we had completely forgotten she followed us down here.
Raine walked to the back of the room. With how tall she was she just reached up and pressed a button on the projector hanging from the ceiling. "We just use the wall. There's no reason to limit ourselves with a TV."
A blue screen filled the entire wall in front of us. "That is so cool!" I exclaimed. "What movie are we going to watch?"
Raine said, "Come here and we can pick out one." She walked through another door in the back. A light turned on and the walls were illuminated with a soft yellow glow. The entire room was covered from top to bottom in DVDs.
Caitlyn gapped. "How are we ever going to pick?"
"The walls are grouped by movie type," she said pointing to the left wall, "action movies." She pointed to the far one. "Comedy." The right one. "Romance or chick flicks." The wall with the door. "Everything else."
"That still doesn't mean we will ever be able to pick one," I said wandering over to the chick flick wall.
"Well, what are you feeling tonight? Do we torture the boys with a romantic movie or do we be nice and pick something they would actually like?"
"I don't know," I laughed, "Shane did love The Notebook."
"You Notebooked him!" proclaimed Raine. "Damn girl, he must have it bad for you."
Caitlyn was shifting through movies on the action wall. "I saw we pick something that all of us would like. A movie with a little bit of everything."
Raine, being her tall self, moved behind me and picked a movie off the top shelf. "I hate tall people," I told her lamely.
She laughed lightly. "How about Twilight?"
"Perfect," Caitlyn and I agreed.
"That has a little bit of everything."
"Plus Edward is exceptional to look at," Raine said. "I like to imagine myself as Bella sometimes."
"I think you could play a better Bella than the girl in the movie," I scoffed. "She ruins the whole movie for me."
"Maybe for the next one you should audition," joked Raine. "You kind of look like the Bella I always pictured: dainty, short, sweet, maybe we could add a little red tint to your hair. You'd be perfect!"
"Plus I think Mitch could act better than her without a doubt," added Caitlyn.
"You act too?" wondered Raine. "A girl of many talents."
"Well I got the part of the lead for our school musical; we shall see how that goes."
"A singer too, man no one can compete with that. No wonder Shane is gaga over you."
"He is not gaga over me," I sighed following Raine and Caitlyn back out of the room.
The footsteps of the boys were growing louder. "I've been here for," she checked her watch, "exactly twenty three minutes and I can already tell."
I didn't have time to retort, the boys burst through the door laden with delicious snacks. "Have we decided on a movie?" Tristan asked handing a bowl to Raine.
Raine held the box up for everyone to see. A collective groan rippled through the boys. "Oh it's not that bad," Tristan said. "I've already seen it. It's pretty good actually. That Bella girl is extremely good looking."
I stared at Tristan wondering if he and Raine shared the same brain. "What?" he asked.
"Oh nothing," I said with a laugh. Raine had understood and was shaking with silent laughter.
"Harry and Gaea you two get the front," Tristan instructed. "We have to be able to keep an eye on you."
Harry glared at his older brother hatefully.
"Love you too little bro!" called Tristan. He turned to Shane and muttered something to him that caused Shane to elbow him in the gut. He held his hands up in defeat.
Shane walked over to me rolling his eyes. "What did he say?" I asked, amused.
"He said we could have the back," he repeated. "It's the perfect opportunity."
"I hoped you hit him hard," I said with a laugh.
"Elbows of steel," he mused handing me a big bowl of popcorn. "I got you some lemonade."
"My favorite," I smiled gratefully taking the drink from his other hand, "if only there was mac and cheese too."
"I contemplated it but Tristan yelled at me."
Tristan clapped his hands from the front of the room. "Attention everyone: the movie will be starting momentarily. Please take your seats, turn off all your cell phones, and enjoy our future presentation!"
Raine booed him from the second row throwing popcorn at his head. "Get out of the way!" He rushed towards the back and pressed play on the projector.
Shane and I settled into the row with Tristan and Raine. Caitlyn and Nate occupied the row behind us – obviously wanting some privacy. There were still a couple other rows and plenty of empty chairs to go around. Tristan leaned over Raine and I to ask Shane, "Are you sure you don't want the back?"
Raine hit him square in the chest. "Stop being a dirty perve. The movie is about to start." He settled back in his head rubbing his chest sadly. I rolled my eyes. Although they couldn't see it, I definitely could.
Shane's hand clasped around mine as the opening scene of the movie began. I watched as the poor deer was hunted mercifully. Although the movie didn't have the best actors, it did have some beautiful scenery.
"When the full moon turns white that's when I'll come home," I sang softly along with the opening song. He gripped my hand tightly rubbing his rough fingers against mine. I loved the feeling of our hands being together.
I quieted down, settling myself in for a relaxing night with my friends and Shane. There was nothing more on this earth I wanted more at this moment. I looked to the beautiful boy next to me and that was all I needed to remind me of how lucky I am. I sighed, brought his hand to my lips and kissed it quickly. His smiled widened, and my heart lurched forward. From now on it was going to be hard not to picture Shane as my own Edward – and so the lion fell in love with the lamb.
chapter 22 and the christmas bash are coming up soon hopefully! thanks for reading. :)