CHAPTER FIFTEEN - Backyard Pools and Bikinis

It was another gorgeous summer day in Stoneybrook and Becca and I were lounging around my backyard pool, soaking up the rays. We were both in our bikinis and a pair of shorts, the stereo blaring my Blink-182 CD.

"It's days like these when I really love summer," Becca said lazily, lying face-forward on the towel.

"Mm-hmm," I replied from the plastic lounge chair, my legs stretched out as I crossed my feet and moved them to the fast beat of the song.

"Hellooooo ladies!" I heard a loud voice suddenly cry out. I lifted my sunglasses to get a better look as I turned around and saw Jeff and Jordan approaching with big grins on their faces.

"Hey guys!" Becca greeted. She jumped up and gave Jordan a quick peck as he came towards her. They sat down on the towel, snuggling together.

"Jeff," I said, exasperated. "Do you not know how to use a doorbell?" He smirked and came to sit down at the end of my lounge chair.

"We heard that punk music of yours three frickin houses away. So yeah, we kinda knew where you'd be." He lifted his shades and let them rest on his head, slowly looking at me from head to toe. "Damn, woman! You're hot." It was my turn to smirk and I kicked him gently with my foot.

"He's such a gentleman, isn't he Becca?" I asked, pointedly. They all laughed but then Jeff shook his head and said with a wink,

"You never did know how to take compliments, did you?" I blushed, but stuck my tongue out at him to cover for it.

"Hey dude, back off," Jordan said in a joking but firm tone. "She's my brother's girl now."

"God, Jordan," Becca scolded, swatting his arm. "She isn't anyone's girl. You make it sound like Byron owns her or something."

"Wait! Wait a sec!" Jeff cried out, laughing, raising both hands in the air. "Charlotte and Byron are an item now?" It irritated me that he made it sound so incredulous, like it was a joke.

"So what's it to you?" I shot back, getting mad.

"N-No. I didn't mean – " Jeff stammered, surprised by my angry reaction.

"Did you think I needed your approval or something?" I asked in a disgusted tone.

"Char!" Jeff chuckled, moving closer and taking my hand. "Calm down, will you? I was just... surprised, that's all. I think it's really great." The look in his eyes meant he was sincere, so I gave him a small smile. "I'm happy for you guys." He leaned forward and gave me a tight hug. "I guess that means I just gotta turn it down a notch with all the flirting, huh?" I laughed.

"Just a tad."

"Uh-uh. I say cut it all out," Jordan corrected, but ended up getting another swat from his girlfriend.

"As if you don't flirt with other girls," she retorted, smirking. "Flirting's totally harmless."

"You're kidding me!" Jordan protested. "If I saw some guy flirting with you, I'd – "

"You'd do absolutely nothing that requires violence," Becca quickly interrupted. Then she kissed him. "At least I know you care." At that, Jordan smiled. "Wanna walk me home?" she asked sweetly. "I need to change for the BSC meeting."

"Sure," Jordan replied, but then looked over at Jeff. "Oh. Sorry, man. You just wanna meet back here later?" Jeff shooed them away with his hand and said,

"Dude, when the girl calls, the guy's gotta go. I understand." They hit their knuckled fists together in that oh-so-cool, manly fashion and after saying good-bye, we both watched them walk away hand in hand.

"You guys have plans later?" I asked, bringing my knees up to my chest.

"Yup," Jeff replied, as he shifted his position, straddling the lounge chair to face me. "We wanna go check out what's playing at the Cineplex."

"Ahh.. some manly flick where there's explosions every ten seconds and chicks in bikinis?"

"That... or A Walk To Remember," he joked, grinning.

"Hey!" I protested, laughing. "You still don't blame me for making you come, do you?" I was surprised that he still remembered. Seeing that movie had been one of our more memorable dates when we were still going out. That night, in the theatre, we kissed our first kiss. I smiled at the memory.

"You mean forcing me to come?"

"Shut up! You told me you actually liked it," I teased.

"I just said that so you'd think I was this sensitive, caring guy and that you'd kiss me," he said mischievously. I mocked a surprised gasp and gently slapped him in the face.

"Jerk!" I cried out. He laughed,

"Don't lie. You liked it."

"So my first kiss was all a sham?" I asked, pouting. I saw his facial expression grow softer as he asked,

"That was your first kiss?" I slightly blushed.

"Um, yeah... I didn't tell you that?"

"I think I'd remember if you did," he chuckled. "But I'm glad you didn't. That would've put way too much pressure on the whole situation." I nodded in agreement. After a few moments of silence, Jeff cleared his throat,

"And that's that for the awkward sentimental moment of the day." I stuck my tongue out at him and we both ended up laughing.

I noticed that the CD had run it's course, so I slid off the lounge chair and popped it from the stereo. I excused myself for a sec to run up to my room and grab another one. Just as I grabbed my SUM-41 CD from my collection, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door to find Byron standing on the front steps.

"Hey you!" I greeted, smiling, giving him a hug. I stayed in his arms for a second longer, as he planted a kiss on my lips.

"I like you most in bikinis," he teased. I grinned and invited him in. As he stepped inside, he pointed in the direction of our driveway and asked,

"Who's visiting?" Before closing the door, I poked my head out and noticed that he was referring to Jeff's mom's red sedan.

"An old friend," I replied in a sing-song voice, leading him to the backyard. Once there, we found Jeff, now shirtless and lying down on the same lounge chair. It surprised me that Byron didn't greet him. After all, they were pretty close friends.

It was Jeff who noticed us approaching and said an enthusiastic "Hey, dude!" to Byron. He jumped up to give Byron one of those one-arm hugs, but Byron seemed awkward about it. I think Jeff noticed too, because he significantly lowered his level of enthusiasm and I saw him sneak at strange look at Byron. He didn't seem too perturbed though, as he asked,

"So, you wanna catch a movie at the Cineplex tonight?" Byron stuck both hands in his shorts pockets and glanced at me while he replied,

"I actually came over to see if Char wanted to do something tonight." I glanced at them both and said sheepishly,

"I'd love to... But I, um, have a BSC meeting... and then I'm baby-sitting the Crawfords 'til ten."

"Oh," Byron replied, frowning. "You can't change it? It's my only night off this week. I really wanted to do something with you."

"I really wish I could, Byron," I told him sincerely. "But you know how it is with the BSC. It'll be really bad for business if I cancel last minute."

"Hey, you can still hang out with us tonight if you want," Jeff offered him.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass," Byron replied. "Maybe some other time." Jeff just nodded, but with some obvious disappointment.

"And hey, we'll definitely fix a date for the weekend," I said, smiling, hoping it was enough consolation.

"Sure," Byron said offhandedly, which caught me off guard. "I guess I'll just head off then." With a small smile, he was walked away with hunched shoulders. Once he was out of earshot, Jeff turned and asked me,

"What's up with him? He seems really put-off by something." I shrugged and mumbled, frowning,

"All I know is, seeing my shirtless ex-boyfriend hanging out in my backyard pool certainly didn't help lighten his mood."

A/N: wooohoo for long chapters! =) hope it wasn't too long... i just had to stretch it out til i found the right ending. anyone sick of the storyline, yet? =P i'm thinking of keeping the outline of this specific story and making a set, like a different story for each of the different BSC members... (that's, of course, if i ever find time to do it!! =P) whatcha think??