~Puck~
Day One:
The next morning…
"See?" I said, looking at Red, who was standing in the bedroom door. "Told you I'd need this."
I'd lived with Daphne long enough to know that an air horn was usually necessary to wake her up. That girl could sleep through anything.
"I was waking up just fine on my own," Daphne grumbled, rubbing her ear, and sitting up in the bottom bunk. "That was so unnecessary. Not very punk-rock of you."
I stepped back, smiling, I had missed the marshmallow and her deep sleep habits. Without being too obvious, I looked over the railing to see if Sabrina was still in the top bunk. It wasn't like I wanted to see her but I also didn't want her to oversleep or something.
"Well, get up." Red said, clearly not noticing that I was looking for Sabrina. "We're going down to the beach at eleven and it's already nine forty-six."
"Daphne?" I asked. "Do you know how to make scrambled eggs?"
Red and Daphne looked at me, both wearing 'are you serious' faces.
"Are you really a sixteen-year-old boy who can't prepare breakfast for himself?" Pinnochio sneered.
"Four thousand and sixteen-year-old," I corrected him. "And the old lady always makes them for me. I guess I just never learned. "
"I'll show you how to make them." Sabrina waltzed through the back door, in a bikini, already looking more tan than the day before.
My eyes widened at her body, but I tried not to let it show. I glanced at the table and saw Red and Daphne share a look.
"O-Okay, yeah, you can show me." I stuttered.
"So first, you have to…" Sabrina started saying.
My eyes drifted down to her blue bikini, I noticed that the color brought out her eyes and I wanted to say something. But I'd wait till we were alone. Before I could register anything she was saying, she handed me an egg.
"Crack it…" She motioned to the bowl that had been put in front of me.
She looked a lot different than the last time I had seen her in a bathing suit the summer before. She looked good, and I wanted to tell her, but not with a bunch of sixth-graders in the room. I also didn't want to make her mad, like she usually did, anytime I tried to compliment her.
"Puck!" She snapped. "Can you stop looking at my boobs and pay attention? I said, after you crack the egg, you mix it with salt and pepper, and-"
Daphne burst out laughing, spilling her cereal in the process.
"Shhh!" Pinnochio grumbled. "You're always so loud, Daphne!"
I watched Red shoot him a disapproving look, and the boy sheepishly looked down at his bowl of oatmeal. I needed to find out what was going on between them.
"Daphne, come get a paper towel and wipe that up," Sabrina ordered
Lord, she was hot when she was bossy.
"You can use a fork," Sabrina added. "But I like to use a whisk because it makes them less gummy."
I liked it when she was in a good mood like she was today. I liked seeing her happy. Her eyes got really bright and her cheeks always did this glowing thing. But it was also fun when she was mad.
"Like this?" I asked as I grabbed the whisk.
"Yeah, I'm surprised you caught on this quickly, with your one brain cell and all." I ignored her rude comment as she patted me on the back.
Ever since I first met her, every time the two of us touched there was an electric energy buzz. She quickly pulled her hand back and I knew she felt it too. I cleared my throat.
"Uh, thanks," I said.
"Uh, you're welcome." She mocked.
I hated that I was being awkward in front of her. But I couldn't be too nice, without Daphne and Red making some big deal out of it. And I couldn't make eye contact with her when I couldn't look at anything but her body.
"Puck, I know you don't know any manners, but you're supposed to make eye contact with people when you're having a conversation." Pinnochio blurted out.
"Pinnochio, I am this close to smashing your skull in," I yelled, lunging at him, over the countertop.
Sabrina grabbed my arm to hold me back. I wondered if she could tell I had been working out. Ew, I needed to stop. I was supposed to hate her.
"You can't say stuff like that! We're trying to encourage them to like each other." Daphne explained.
"Why would someone like Sabrina like someone like him?" Pinnochio wondered aloud.
I was going to beat that kid up by the end of these next two weeks. I felt my face turn red as I watched Sabrina giggle, but started laughing too when Daphne kicked him in the shin, under the table.
"Ouch! What was that for?" He cried.
"You're ruining our progress, egg-head!" Daphne yelled.
"Egg-head?!" Pinnochio shrieked.
Daphne smiled at Sabrina and me, standing in the kitchen, suddenly calm.
"Ok, well, we're just heading down to the beach. Just us three. You guys can stay up here in the house. Alone. Just you two. No one else. Anything could happen." Daphne gave Sabrina an exaggerated wink.
Daphne was a lot of things, but subtle was not one of them.
"I'm not going to hook up with Puck while you and Red spy through the window, Daphne if that was your plan," Sabrina said.
I tried not to laugh but failed, at the thought of the two girls squatting outside the window.
"And, no, you aren't going to the beach without us." Sabrina rolled her eyes.
My stomach dropped, I had wanted to get her alone.
"Granny's rules." She said.
"Aw man, Sabrina! Please just don't tell her." Daphne whined.
"Yeah! Just don't tell her, we can go alone. I swear you can trust us." Red agreed. "I'm a junior lifeguard. Granny signed me up for a class. I failed, but I still went to it."
"Hmm… no." She smirked, walking out of the kitchen and heading towards her as she walked up the stairs and into her bedroom.
This girl just wanted to torture me.
"Ew, Daphne," I cried, as she walked out of the bathroom in her swimsuit. "When did you get boobs?"
"I don't know, but you seemed to really like Sabrina's earlier." She giggled.
"I did not."
"You think she's ugly?"
"I never said that."
"So, you do like her boobs."
"No."
"Okay, I'll make sure to let her know."
"Daphne, stop."
"Just admit you like her boobs, then."
"Fine. I like her boobs."
"I knew it!" She shrieked, running off, most likely to find Red.
So what? Maybe I did like her boobs.
At the beach...
I waded into the clear blue water, as my eyes darted around near my feet. Granny promised me there weren't sharks at this beach, but you could never be too sure. I wanted one to bring back for my room. I knew a guy that could get a tank. Now I just needed the shark.
"Puck!" Daphne screamed, just as I thought I saw a dark shape swimming through the water.
"Daphne, the whole beach can hear you," I said, walking towards where she was standing, nearer to the shore.
"A crab bit my foot." She grumbled.
"A crab pinched your foot." Pinnochio corrected her. "Crabs can't bite."
"But, I can." I morphed my head into a tiger and growled at him.
The boy shrieked and fell backward into the waves. He sat up gasping for air.
"Do it again, Puck!" Daphne laughed.
"Nah, wouldn't wanna make Brina mad," I said, eyeing Sabrina, who was sitting on her towel, and glaring at me.
She didn't like when I was mean to Pinnochio.
"Puck, please pick me up, I don't wanna get bitten again!" Daphne exclaimed.
I lifted the girl up and slung her over my shoulder as I walked farther out into the water. Red and Pinnochio followed.
"Puck, don't drop me," Daphne said, sternly.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because If you do, I'll tell Sabrina you like..." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Her boobs."
Pinnochio gasped. I burst out laughing.
"Do it then," I told her.
"I will. As soon as you carry me back to the sand." Daphne said. "You can never be too careful."
"You can walk." I threw her into the salty ocean water, right as an enormous wave knocked all four of us over.
When Sabrina finally came into the water with us, Daphne took no time to start egging us on.
"Sabrina, you look a little burnt. Maybe Puck should rub some sunscreen on your back." Daphne suggested.
"It's okay. I actually just put some on." Sabrina answered.
I knew she was just trying to make Daphne miserable, but she was also making me miserable in the process. Sabrina turned and rolled her eyes. But Daphne was right, her skin did look burnt.
"So what's for dinner?" Red asked as she gobbled down a bag of barbeque-flavored potato chips."
"Yeah, what are we having?" Daphne repeated as she ate her own bag of some weird discolored chips that Granny had given her.
"What do you guys want?" Sabrina groaned.
She was laying across the enormous couch, her body covered in a sticky aloe vera gel, and her face smeared with some strange sun-burn remedy that Granny had suggested.
"Can we order in?" Pinnochio asked. "I'm feeling a bit tired, and not up to going out."
Personally, I wanted to go out to eat. It was way easier to embarrass Brina in public. But, I was too tired to open my mouth and suggest it.
"Let's do pizza!" Daphne exclaimed.
"I don't like pi-" Pinnochio started.
"Yeah, pizza sounds good," Red said, over him.
"Mmm… I love pizza!" The boy rephrased, glancing at Red, who didn't seem to notice.
I watched him look down at the table in defeat but quickly pepped up again when Daphne pulled up the restaurant's menu.
"Do they have veggie pizza?" Sabrina called out.
"Yup, it has onions, black olives, bell peppers, tomatoes-" She took a deep breath. "Artichokes, spinach, and… I think that's it."
"Sounds good." Sabrina yawned, before rolling over and groaning as her sore skin stuck to the couch's cushions.
"This is exactly why sunscreen is necessary if you're going to be in the sun." Pinnochio scoffed.
Daphne shot me a look as if she was saying I needed to defend Sabrina.
"Nah, sunscreen's for...for," I stuttered. "Nah, sunscreen's for wimps."
My face turned red. Why was I suddenly scared to stand up for her? I'd done it a million times before.
"Sunscreen is for people who care about skin cancer, you imbecile." Pinnochio rolled his eyes at me.
I would normally be flattered to be called an imbecile, but coming from him, it wasn't a compliment, so I said the only thing I could think of. "Listen, puppet-boy. I guarantee that my foot will be so far up your-"
"Guys!" Red shouted, I went silent, I had never heard her yell before. "Quit fighting!"
"Sorry, Red," Pinnochio said quietly.
"Aww…" Daphne squealed. "Love is in the air!"
"You know what else is in the air?" I asked, lifting up my leg.
I stopped when I saw Sabrina giving me a dirty look.
"You know, Puck. I have known you for quite a while, and you have been just as gross for the entirety of it." She readjusted the couch cushions and shut her eyes again.
I felt my face turn red. Lord, I hated how she could do that to me.
"Shhh!" Daphne hushed the room. "I'm on the phone!"
I layed on the couch opposite Sabrina. I was a little burnt myself, and the cool leather felt good on my skin.
I didn't realize I had fallen asleep on the couch, but Daphne violently shaking me sure woke me up. My eyes bolted open, in case of an escaped murderer, a burglar, or any other reason to give me a heart attack.
"The pizza has arrived, sleepy-head." She said, smiling sweetly.
The smell of the freshly baked dough filled my nose, and I eyed the warm boxes that were sitting on the table. I looked at Sabrina, who was still asleep on the other couch. She looked pretty, all sunburnt and freckled. I noticed that her dark blue shirt made her hair look lighter than normal. I watched her chest rise and fall as she slowly breathed. She looked so peaceful.
"Got a staring problem?" Daphne asked, her mouth suddenly filled with cheesy food.
"I could ask Pinnochio the same thing," I said, looking at the boy, who was making googly-eyes at Red.
"Shut up." The boy said, flatly, before looking down at his pizza.
"Aw, Puck, be nice! I think it's cute!" Daphne squealed. "Love just makes me want to dance!"
The three of us stared as Daphne proceeded to twirl across the room, before transitioning into some sort of strange tribal dance.
"Love is in theeee aiiiiiiiirrrr! The air! The air!" She sang.
I struggled to hold back my laughter.
"Puck and Sabrina and Red and Pinnochiiiiiiiiii-ohhhh!" I was surprised the windows hadn't shattered yet, at the pitch she was singing.
She finished with a giant leap that caused a few books to fall off the shelf. The crash made her jump, and she screamed. Sabrina opened her eyes and looked around the room, clearly confused.
"Huh?"