It's been a long time coming, but I've finally finished this first chapter (I've been procrastinating for months) and uploaded it for all of you to read! A cover should be coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled!
"C'mon, G, just a peek!" Molly pleads as she tries to snatch a diary out of Gill's hands.
"No! And I told you to stop calling me 'G'!" He snaps, holding the diary above his head while she gropes the air.
I smirk. With Gill's testy demeanor and Molly's carefree attitude, it was rare to find my best friends not arguing. And today was no different. Mid-summer day at the dock? Yeah, the heat can get to anyone.
"Kasey, catch!" Gill calls, hurling his diary to me and snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh! I got it!" I shout, jumping backwards to catch the green book sailing over my head.
Wham! I smash into something and tumble to the ground, diary landing in the water.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" A familiar voice huffs. My heart sinks, and I don't bother to look. Kathy. Of all the odds, I had to bump into the girl who has been giving me butterflies on a daily basis.
Gill let's out a cry and dashes over to the edge of the dock. I try to speak, but between an angry Kathy and an angry Gill, my mouth feels glued shut.
"Well, Kasey don't got it!" Molly giggles. Kathy curses under her breath, gets up, and stalks away. I just stare as Gill tries to fish his diary out of the water. Oh Goddess, please don't kill me, Gill…
"I can't get it." He states flatly. "It's too far out." He turns to me. "You."
"Me." I agree grimly. "Don't blame him, G, you threw too high!" Molly says before Gill manages to speak.
"Stop calling me that!" He exclaims as I dive into the water. While my friends argue, I retrieve the diary.
"Got it!" I declare, clambering back onto the dock, the diary held up triumphantly in my right hand. Gill rushes over and seizes it.
"It's ruined." He says, flipping through the pages. Here it comes… I think, bracing myself. But to my surprise, he turns to Molly.
"This is your fault!" He points a finger at her.
"My fault? You're the one who threw it! You know Kasey can't catch to save his life!" Molly retorts. Ouch.
"What do you mean, he can't catch to save his life?! He was a goalie for his soccer team in elementary school!" Gill snaps.
"Notice that his elementary school team lost every game when he was on it!" She shoots back.
"Can we… not talk about this?" I ask tentatively. They both turn to me.
"Why couldn't you have caught it?" Gill starts. "You heard Molly, I can't catch to save my life." I mumble.
"Told you so!" Molly gloats. The two begin to bicker.
"Guys, cut it out!" I say. When they don't answer, I sigh. "Fine! But I'm not sticking around for this. I've got to apologize to Kathy." Still no answer. I shake my head in disbelief, thrust my hands into my pockets, and walk down to the Brass Bar. The bell jingles as I push the door open. Those two are unbelievable...
Hayden winks at me from behind the counter. "Hey, kiddo. The table over there's open." He says, jerking his thumb to a table in the corner.
"Ah, I'm not here to eat today." I say.
"Then what're you here for?" Hayden asks, cocking an eyebrow.
"To- uhhh- never mind." I mutter. "I'll just, um, do it later or something." Wimp!
"If you say so." Hayden shrugs. "But you should have a bite to eat. We haven't seen you here in ages! What you been up to?"
"Oh, I've just… been busy." I shuffle my feet uncomfortably, refusing to admit my infatuation with his daughter.
"Right." He says skeptically.
"Uh, I'll just go sit down then!" I say quickly, hurrying over to the table.
"Welcome to the Brass- oh, it's you." Kathy stops mid-sentence, staring at me with obvious irritation. "Well, what do you want to drink?" She sighs.
"W-water, please." I manage to stutter out. She simply nods as hurries away.
"I need a water!" She says to Chase as she grabs a dish of stir fry off of the kitchen counter. I watch her, mesmerized, as she works.
"Here's your water. Ready to order?" Kathy asks, setting a glass on the table.
"Oh, uh, just some mashed potatoes." I say quickly, before my stuttering has time to kick in. She briskly heads back to the kitchen without a word. I settle back into my entranced state.
The scraping of chairs brings me back to earth. Molly smiles as she takes her seat across from me, but Gill, however, throws himself into his chair.
"Heya, Kase!" Molly cheers.
"Kase? That's a new one. What happened to Gill?" I add, noticing how drenched he is.
"Molly pushed me off the dock." He says, his voice icy. Molly merely laughs.
"Here's your food. What do you two want to drink?" Kathy says as she returns.
"Ooh! Can I have a lemonade?!" Molly says excitedly.
"Nothing, thanks. I already had enough salt water to keep me satisfied today." Gill grumbles, shooting a look at Molly.
"Oh, get over it, Mr. Grump." Molly says, waving her hand. Gill sighs and moodily swats at her hand. As Molly swats him back, I begin to eat my food.
"Ooh, is that mashed potatoes?!" Her eyes light up as she snatches my fork from my hands.
"I was eating that!" I say as I grope for my silverware.
"I understand why! This is good!" Molly gushes.
"One lemonade." Kathy says, placing a glass on the table in front of Molly.
"Gimme that back!" I say, lunging and grabbing my potatoes.
"Hey! I wanted that!"
"Alright, you guys ready to go?" Molly asks about an hour later.
"Hang on, I'll be right with you." I say, standing up. I can do this.
"Hurry! I can only handle Molly for so long without assistance!" Gill pleads.
"Yeah, alright." I smirk. I walk over to where Kathy is, standing near the table waiting for Chase to prepare something. "Hey, can we talk for a moment?" I ask, surprised by how calm and collected I sound.
"Fine." She says irritably.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for slamming into you on the dock like that." I say, staring at my shoes. I see her smile out of the corner of my eye.
"I didn't even know you noticed! You just acted like I didn't exist."
"Oh, I noticed you." I say, smiling back. "I just thought it'd be better for me to keep my big mouth shut before I said something that made the whole situation worse." She laughs.
"A 'sorry' would have been fine." She says.
"But I did say sorry!" I say defensively.
"Yeah, yeah." She smirks.
"Kasey!" Gill calls. "Come on!"
"Oh, I've gotta go." I say, gesturing to my friends.
"Well, come back soon if you enjoyed our service." She winks.
"Yeah, I will." I say, waving. "See ya."
"See ya." She waves back.
I join Gill and Molly and we walk out of the restaurant. She winked at me?! What the heck is even going on anymore?!
That's all for chapter one! If you've got any constructive criticism or plot ideas, feel free to make a review and I'll see it soon!