A/N: Will we ever leave this barbecue?! Didn't think I'd spend four chapters on it, but here we are. Next chapter is a new day! Let me know what you think and which characters you want to see more of!
Chapter 6:
Akeala POV
As I trudged up the stairs like a punk rock Nancy Drew, my head swam in thought. What was the secret? What did "phase" mean? On the video chat Uncle Seth said something about vamps. What did Olivia know that I wasn't supposed to? Did they all know? I walked down the hallway looking for the hall closet with the makeup remover and opened a door on my right.
A girl with her top off, sporting a red silky bra, pulled away from kissing one of the junior muscle men. He yelled curse words into the air. My eyes narrowed. It was that beautiful model type girl...Ava. Ava who has just spent the last hour positioned so nicely in Will Cameron's lap, nuzzling his neck. And the junior muscle man all over her in the closet, it was Theo Uley. I stood there like a deer in the headlights.
"Fuck," she said exasperated, but not upset. She turned to Theo, "aren't you supposed to have supersonic hearing…?"
"I was a bit distracted, babe," he said, eyeing her half naked torso. She rolled her eyes. Supersonic hearing? Was that another clue?
"I won't say anything," I muttered unprompted. I sped to the hall bathroom, turned on the tap and splashed water all over my face to get the crazy makeup off. I turned off the water, waited until I heard no sounds and made my way back outside. My mom was talking with her cousin Emily, Olivia's mom.
"Hey Emily," I said quietly, trying to be polite, but unable to look Theo's parents in the eye. I quickly switched to face my mother. "Mom, can I go back to grandma's? I'm really tired from the flight." She started to rub my arm, up and down. She knew something was up.
"Are you ok, honey?" Do you feel ok?" She asked with concerned eyes.
"Yeah, I'm just tired," I said, lying.
"Okay," she said in a breath. "Go get your things and wait for Omar out front. I'll find him and you guys can go home together and check in on grandma. I'll just help Uncle Seth and Aunt Alex clean up before I head back, okay?"
I nodded, grabbed my stuff and headed to the front yard. I sat down on my skateboard next to the curb as I waited for Omar.
"Headed out?" said a smooth voice from behind me said. I turned to see Ava, completely unbothered.
"Oh, hey…" I said. "I'm really sorry…"
She plopped down next to me on the curb, stretching her long legs in front of her.
"I don't give a shit," she said calmly. "Except now you know Will lied during the drinking game...maybe unknowingly," she chuckled.
"Aren't you afraid that Will is going to find out?"
Ava shrugged. "Oh, he definitely will," she said smugly. "Doesn't bother me."
I looked at her blankly. "You heard them," she said. "They've both had sex with girls and didn't even know their names. Why do they get to treat girls like shit? Cause they're big hunky guys?" she said mockingly. "Fuck that shit. Will is just stringing me along. Theo thinks he loves me, but he just loves my body. Neither of them know me or really care about me. They both deserve a dose of their own medicine."
My eyes widened. Ava was fierce as fuck.
"Whoa," was all I could manage. She laughed and whisked back some of her hair.
"Anyway," she said coolly. "Leo's not a douche like his brother," she passed me a piece of paper with a phone number and a social media handle. "You should text him. He likes you," she smiled. I felt really hot all of a sudden, but took the small piece of paper and folded it into my fanny pack.
Omar walked over to us. "Ready, Keal? He said from a few yards away, and then "Oh, hey Ava." She stood up and smiled at him as he gave her his cool man nod and then she was gone.
"I'm ready," I said standing up.
"Good," he said "I just spent the last 30 minutes getting checked out by roid heads and Uncle Seth. This place is fuckin' weird."
I took a deep sign. "Tell me about it."
When we got back to Grandma's house she was at the sink doing dishes, clearly having a hard time holding herself up.
"I got it Grandma!" Omar said to her with a sweet smile and helped her move over to sit in a chair by the kitchen table. She asked us how the barbecue was and we both said fun, in unison. But that didn't quite capture it.
"Why didn't you go?" I asked.
"Hang out with a bunch of wild animals?" She said, laughing. "I'm afraid I don't have the stamina for those types of gatherings right now." I smiled at her and she touched my hand that rested on the kitchen table.I helped her go over to the couch and made her some tea, but by the time it was made she had fallen back asleep. I set it down on a coaster and went back to my twin bed in mom's old room.
I pulled out my phone and checked out Leo's social media page. Lot's of smiling photos on the beach with Axel Call and some other boys. A few of him in a wetsuit surfing. A really nice picture of he and his mom from last mother's day. Some dog pics. And lots of videos... of rubix cubes? I pressed play and watched Leo solve a rubik's cube in under 15 seconds. Holy crap, I thought in amazement. He was so hot and ripped, I could understand surfing and figured he was into other sports, but saw no evidence in the pictures. But rubix cube solving? It was actually incredibly impressive.
I pursed my lips and decided to send him a direct message.
From KealsWheels11: That last rubik's cube video is sick.
I pressed send and my heart raced a little. I immediately saw three dots indicating he was responding.
From LeoCam28: Hey Akeala! Thanks. Just saw your ollie video. Some awesome shit.
I smiled when I read that. It took me 4 months to make that 6 second video. I wonder how long it took him to solve the rubik's cube video so fast. Another three dots appeared.
From LeoCam28: Sorry I missed you before you left tonight. I really liked talking. Honest about seeing you skate in person. Axle has an empty pool at his house, can you use that?
From KealsWheels11: Um, yeah. I think so.
From LeoCam28: Cool. What are you doing tomorrow?
From KealsWheels11: Just helping out my Grandma while my mom works. She usually naps in the afternoon. I could go then. Maybe around 1pm?
From LeoCam28: Cool. I will come by your house and we can walk over to Axel's place.
I switched back to his photos. No pictures of girls. No pictures of kissing. He said he had friends with benefits and he also said he wasn't a virgin. Or was that just a lie to sound cool? I clicked on a video of him at the beach tossing water balloons. He hit Will right in the face. "You better watch out Leo," the audio sounded of Will snapping, "I'm gonna phase on your ass right now." Leo erupted in laughter.
There it is again. Phase.
