"John…." I whispered shaking his arm.
John groaned and rolled over in his bed before pulling the blanket over his head. I frowned before poking his arm again. John didn't move and I bit down on my lip.
"John please wake up." I begged.
"Ella, go back to bed."
"John, I'm scared." I said, my voice cracking slightly and a few tears started to go down my face.
"What's the matter Ella?" John asked his voice thick with sleep as he slowly sat up.
"I had a nightmare."
"It was just a dream, nothing to be afraid of." he said as he lifted the blanket and patted the bed beside him.
I scrambled across the bed and into the spot. "It was scary."
"Wanna tell me about it?" John questioned as he wrapped his arm around me and tugged me closer.
"No."
"Well then how can I make it better?"
I played with John's blanket for a couple moments and I could feel his eyes on me. I knew what I wanted but I didn't want to be a nuisance. I chewed on my lip and when I shut my eyes all I could see was the nightmare. I looked up at John who was watching me patiently.
"Can I call Nick?"
"Of course, I don't know if he'll be awake though. It's almost four am there." John said as he grabbed his phone off of the bedside table and handing it to me.
I dialed the well-known number and then leaned my head against John's chest as it rang. It rang until it went to voicemail and I sighed before hanging up then handing the phone back to John. I bit down on my lip and tried to convince myself not to cry.
"He didn't answer."
"He's probably asleep Ella, is there anything I can do for you?"
I shook my head and took a deep breath. I was seconds from crying when John's phone rang and he looked down at it.
"It's Nick, here." he said handing me the phone.
I took it from him, pressed accept and then put the phone to my ear. "John? Is Ella okay? What's the matter?" Nick's panicked voice filled my ear.
"I'm fine." I said and I heard Nick let out a breath of relief.
"Why are you calling me so late then?"
"I had a nightmare."
"Was it the one where the man was chasing you?"
"Yeah." I said as tears began to fill my eyes at the thought of the dream.
"You know we would never let anything happen to you baby girl."
"I know but it was so real."
"Ella, nothing is ever going to get you. I promise."
"Okay, I trust you."
"Good, now put John on the phone." Nick instructed and I offered the phone to John who was half asleep against the headboard.
"What's up Nick?" he asked tiredly.
I listened to John talk to Nick for twenty minutes and I couldn't really figure out what Nick wanted him to do. John mostly just said yes or no; sometimes he would say a couple more words. Finally they finished because John offered me the phone.
"Nick?" I asked once I took it back and pressed it to my ear.
"Ella, I explained everything to John. He's got everything under control. Just go back to sleep, okay?"
"But Nick-"
"No buts, you're fine. I promise. John said he would let you stay in his bed tonight."
"Okay."
"Okay, I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"I love you too."
"Get some sleep." Nick said before hanging up and I looked over at John.
"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, okay? You trust me, right?"
"Yes."
John smiled and ruffled my hair fondly before scooting down so he was lying down. I followed his lead and snuggled into his side, my head coming to rest on his chest.
"Just go to sleep, alright?" he said while stroking my hair and I bit down on my lip.
"John, I can't."
"Why not?"
"Cause Nick always sings to me when I have a nightmare, I can't go back to sleep without it."
"Alright, what does he sing to you?" John asked.
"Usually one of his songs."
"Crap, uh. I don't really know a lot of their songs."
"Then sing me one of yours?" I questioned sleepily and John nodded.
"[i]There was a new girl in town, she had it all figured out.
Well I'll state something rash. She had the most amazing….smile.
I bet you didn't expect that, she made me change my ways.
With eyes like sunsets baby and legs that went on for days[/i]"
I listened to John sing and I felt myself slipping into a deep sleep. Thankfully the rest of my dreams weren't filled with scary men chasing me and I was actually able to sleep. The next morning I woke to movement and I slowly opened my eyes to see John trying to untangle himself from my arms.
"I didn't mean to wake you up; I just really need to pee."
"It's kay." I said sleepily before rolling over and burying my face into John's pillow.
"Don't go back to sleep, Jared texted me and said to come over for a bit so you gotta get ready."
"Not moving."
"I'll drag you out of bed by your toes Ella, don't test me."
I sighed and sat up, the bright light that was pouring into John's room making me squint a bit. I was rubbing tiredly at my eyes when John walked back into his room and laughed at me.
"Your hair, it's a mess." he said and I frowned.
"Yours isn't so nice either." I said before sticking my tongue out at him.
"I know, I saw in the mirror. Why don't you get up and take a shower?" he asked while throwing a towel at my head.
"Why do we have to go so early?"
"Ella it's almost noon." John said and I searched around for something that had the time but John didn't have a clock.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, so get up and get ready." he said and I huffed before climbing off his bed.
"Jared is a butt."
"Mhm, go shower before my brothers get up or we'll be waiting in line for the bathroom for hours." John warned.
A half hour later I finished in the shower and I walked into the guest room to go get ready. I heard John walk into the bathroom and I began to search through my suitcase for something to wear. After slipping on underwear and a bra I pulled out dark washed shorts and a white, blue and green striped shirt.
I had just finished putting on my green and black DCs when John walked in. "You ready to go?"
"Mhm." I said holding out my hand and John grabbed it before pulling me up from the floor.
"Let's go then."
John and I walked out of the house and into the hot Arizona sun which I had still hadn't adjusted to after a week of being here. John and I got into his very hot car and thankfully the first thing he did was turn it on then roll down the windows.
"It's pretty but it's hot!"
"It's not that bad."
"It really is."
"It's cause you live in Massachusetts, sixty degrees out and you guys think it's cool to wear booty shorts."
"Not true."
"So true. Was there last year in April and it was only like sixty-five out, most of the girls had shorts on."
"You saw me when you came! Was I wearing shorts?" I questioned and he shrugged.
"You own a lot of clothes; I can't keep up with you."
"I think it's cause you're wrong and you don't want to admit it."
"Shut up."
"Admit it."
"Okay, you're right, I'm wrong. Happy?"
"No. I already knew that. I'm [i]always[/i] right."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
John and I bickered the entire ride to Jared's. We continued to fight as we got out of the car and all the way into Jared's backyard where all the guys were. John sat down in a lawn chair and I plopped down on his lap, turning to face him and continued to say yes repeatedly.
"Shut up Ella." John finally said clapping his hand over my mouth. I licked his hand and he pulled his hand away sharply.
"Shouldn't have put your hand over my mouth."
"You are gross." John said as he wiped the spit onto my face.
"You love me." I said going to lick his face and he pushed me away.
"Will you guys just date or fuck already?" Halvo asked and we both turned to glare at him.
"Eiw."
"I'm eiw? You're eiw." John said and I frowned.
"I think I'm pretty damn hot." I said and John rolled his eyes.
"You are pretty damn conceited."
"Nah uh!"
"Shut up both of you!" Garrett said and I stuck out my tongue at him.
"What are we doing today?" I questioned as I leaned back against John's chest.
Halvo, Garrett, Jared, Kennedy, Pat and Pat's older Tim were all sitting around. Poor Garrett and Jared were bright red from the heat. Tim and Halvo were both shirtless and Kennedy was fanning himself.
"We were gonna do something but it's too hot." Kennedy whined.
"We can go swimming."
"No pool." Halvo told me.
"How about we play in a sprinkler?" I offered.
"No sprinkler." Jared told me.
"Oh! I have an idea! Let's make a slip and slide!"
"How do you do that?" Garrett asked. Both him and Pat leaned forward, suddenly interested.
"Well we need a big tarp or two if we want to make it really long! And something that we can use to hold down the sides that won't hurt if we crash into them, plus no tears soap so it's really slippery."
"We should do it!" Pat said excitedly looking at the other guys.
"I second that!" Garrett shouted and Tim nodded.
"I'm in." John said and they all looked at Kennedy, Jared and Halvo.
"Alright but we can't do in my yard. My dad will freak." Jared said.
"Let's do it!" Kennedy shouted and Halvo nodded in agreement.
"Alright, we need a place to do it at though."
"We can do it at my place." John offered and I turned to smile at him.
"Okay, I have a plan!" I shouted and all the guys looked at me.
"Halvo, Jared, Tim and Pat go to the store to get everything we need. The rest of us will go back to John's and make sure the backyard is clear of all rocks."
"Sounds good, let's go." John said standing up and lifting me with him. I locked my hands around the back of John's neck and he went to walk out of the yard but stopped for a moment. "Get some burgers and shit, we'll grill too."
"Alright, be there soon." Halvo said standing up.
John carried me out of the yard and when we got to the car he let me drop down. "You get backseat." Kennedy said pushing me aside to get to the front and I glared at him.
I climbed into the back and Garrett got in on the other side. The drive back to John's was a lot more quiet then the ride to Jared's and when we finally reached John's we all climbed out.
"Dude, I need to borrow shorts." Garrett said as we walked into the house.
"Yeah, me too." Kennedy said.
"Alright, come upstairs." John said climbing up the stairs.
The guys went into John's room and I went into the guest room. I quickly pulled out my green bikini from my suitcase that was on the floor by the bed before kicking off my sneakers. I quickly striped down and then put on my bikini. I frowned when I couldn't tie the back and I sighed before walking to the door.
"John! John! I need your help." I called down the hall.
John didn't answer and I sighed before holding the bikini up to cover my chest. I looked both ways and then ran out of the room then down the hall to John's room. I was about to reach John's door when Ross stepped out of his room and I banged into him before falling to the floor.
"Oh crap, I'm sorry." Ross said holding out his hand to me but I shook my head.
"Uh….gotta stay covered." I said looking down at my chest and Ross blushed.
"What's going on?" John asked coming out of his room with Kennedy and Garrett not far behind.
"I needed your help and I banged into your brother." I said as John looked from me to a very red faced Ross.
"Yeah….sorry…" Ross said before ducking his head down and going back into his room, slamming the door behind him.
John came up behind me and tugged me to my feet before taking the strings. "Did your top drop?"
"No."
"Then why was he so red?"
"He asked if he could help me up and I said I couldn't let go of my top."
"Oh. So asking him if he wants to join on the fun would be a bad idea?" Garrett asked and John nodded as he finished tying the bikini for me.
"I think he has a little crush."
"Shut up." I said and John laughed.
"Come on." John said wrapping his arm around my shoulders and we started down the stairs.
We walked into the kitchen to find John's mom standing by the AC, a cup of iced tea in her hand. When she heard us walk down she turned and smiled. When I had met her almost a week ago I had decided I liked her, a lot. She was extremely nice and sweet.
"What are you doing?" she questioned curiously.
I just realized it must look funny, me in a bikini and the three boys in just basketball shorts. The O'Callaghan's didn't have a pool and we all burned so it wasn't like we were going to tan.
"We're going to clean the yard of rocks cause we're making a slip and slide!" John said happily.
"Making?"
"Yeah, you'll see when we make it." John said and she raised an eyebrow.
"Why don't you ask your brothers if they want to join?"
"I don't know, they'll hear us outside. If they wanna then they can, come on guys." John said walking towards the back door.
"Wait! Sunscreen, all of you." Mrs. O'Callaghan said.
John sighed and we all waited while she searched for sunscreen. When she finally found it she made us put it on before going outside and making us take the bottle with us so the other guys could use some when they came.
"Spread out and looked for anything we can get hurt on. I don't feel like going to the hospital today." I said and all of the guys nodded before spreading out.
We spent the next half hour in the blazing sun, sweating and picking up anything we could get hurt on. Finally when I thought I was going to pass out from the heat, all of the guys showed up with their hands full of stuff. We all scrambled over to help and when we got everything to the porch all of the guys looked at me.
"What do we do now?"
"Uh, you guys spread out the tarps. Make sure the first and second are overlapping." I said pointing to Tim, Jared and Kennedy. "You guys put the sand bags on the corners." I said to Pat and Garrett. "And you go get the hose." I said to John before going to help Pat and Garrett with the sand bags.
Twenty minutes later we had managed to lay out the tarp, get it pinned down and John dragged over the hose. I was searching for the bottle of the no tears soap when I heard the door open. John's mom was standing in the doorway with Ross and Shane and I smiled at them.
"All of you make sure you put on sunscreen." she warned and while everyone put on sunscreen John and I covered the tarp with water and soap.
"Okay, we're ready!" I said placing the hose down by the top of the tarp and threw the soap a foot away from the tarp.
"Try it out." John said pushing me gently.
"Oh, I get to be the one to get hurt if I go flying?"
"It was your idea." John said and I rolled my eyes before backing up a bit.
I was a couple feet away before I started running and then I jumped right where the tarp started. My stomach landed on the wet tarp and I slipped and slid down the entire tarp. I landed in the grass and I sat up, giggling before holding up a thumb.
"It's sweet!"
All of the guys scrambled to be next, pushing each other so they could all get into line. I stood up, wiped the soap from my face and then ran around to join the end of the line. John was at the back and I leaned my head against his chest.
"It's so much fun!"
"You're all soapy." John pointed out and I nodded.
The rest of the day we played around on the slip and slide until the sun started to go down. We were all tired and hungry so John's parents offered to cook us food on the grill while we started a fire in the fire pit. I was exhausted though and I curled up with John in the hammock that was a few feet from where the guys were sitting around the fire.
"I had fun today." I said as I yawned and leaned my head against John's chest.
"Mhm, so did I." John said while he moved over slightly.
"It's so nice out." I said looking up into the star filled sky.
"Yeah, do you want a s'more? I want a s'more."
"Yeah, can you get me a hoodie too? It's kind of cold."
"If you put on pants then you wouldn't be cold." John teased.
"I don't feel like changing out of my bathing suit." I whined and John smiled.
"Alright, I'll be back." John said before climbing out of the hammock then walked towards the fire. I watched as he convinced Garrett to make us marshmallows before he walked into the house. I shut my eyes as I waited and before I knew it John was back in the hammock with me offering me the hoodie in his hand.
"Thanks." I said as I pulled on the hoodie that I knew belonged to John. It smelt of his cologne and it was kind of soothing. I grabbed the second s'more in his hand before leaning back against his chest.
"I hate that you live so far away, it would be awesome if we could do this all the time."
"Yeah." I said around my mouthful of s'more.
"You've got marshmallow everywhere."
I shoved the rest of the s'more into my mouth and then licked the leftover marshmallow off of my hands. John laughed at me and I smiled at him before shutting my eyes.
"I'm tired."
"Sleep." John said and I yawned.
"You won't leave me out here, right?"
"Right, I won't." John said before kissing my temple. I sighed contently and leaned my head against John's chest. I really wanted the rest of the summer to go this way, having a good time just hanging out with my friends and I hoped nothing would ruin the summer.