Summer Lovin' - Started - Closed :)

Spoiler

I check back in all day for someone to post, then the second I leave to do something everyone posts hahaha

Lakeland

"You're right," I say with an evil grin, "I can't stay mad at you, but-"

I jump at her with full force, diving under water and dragging her with me. When we resurface I laugh and finished saying, "But I can do that."

She sends a splash my way, and the small attempt to get back at me made me laugh uncontrollably. That is, until Lola started barking from the edge of the pool.

Standing up fully, I pulled my t-shirt away from my chest so it wasn't plastered to my skin and displaying the outline of my scar for everyone to see. Wading over to a dancing Lola, I let out a deep sigh. It made her nervous to be too far from me.

Grabbing her by her water-proof vest, I hefted the 80 pound puppy into the water. I held her by the back of her vest while she splayed her paws about, trying to grasp the water and become re-accustomed to it. She hadn't been in the water since her training when she was young. When she got the hang of it, I released her vest and headed back over towards Liz with Lola following me like...well, like a puppy.

Opal

Most everyone else had gone out swimming, but I didn't feel like it quite yet. I much preferred getting settled in and re-exploring the house as I did every year since my first. This was only my seventh summer here while everyone else had grown up here, and each time I explored I found out something new.

As I padded down the hard wood floored hallway, I couldn't help but notice someone's light on down the hall from my own room. Curious as to who had opted to stay inside, I approached the door and debated between just opening it and knocking.

The image of barging in on someone changing or something, however, made up my mind for me. I gave the door a light knock with my fist, waiting for an answer.

"Come one in." A voice said, muffled by the door.

I gave the brass knob a light twist and pushed the door open, poking my head around to see who occupied the room.

"Oh," I exclaimed, blinking a few times, "It's you."

"Yeah, It's me." Tyler said back, watching me as I made my way in to his room, shutting the door.

"I still forget where everyone's rooms are sometimes." I explain, ambling over to his dresser and tracing the edge with the tips of my fingers, "Isn't that odd? You would think I would have been here enough times already."

I could see him looking over at me from the corner of my eye, but instead examined the little trinkets on his dresser while I asked, "So what are you up to these days? We didn't get much of a chance to talk earlier. Didn't you feel like going out to swim with the others?"

"Didn't you?" He asked back simply.

Smiling, I looked up from the dresser and over to him, "No, not really. Not yet, anyways."

Katrina Anderson

Pulling Verine, we ran back out to the water. "It's Michelle!" Verine yelled. We both dived into the water and each grabbed one of her arms. She was choking so that was a good sign. When we got to shore I laid her on my towel I had brought out. She sat up with tears in her eyes and hugged us. "Thank y'all." She gasped. When she finally was able to breathe we got her up and I practically carried her back up to the house.

I opened the door to her room but no one was in there so I sat her on the bed. "Are you going to be okay?" Verine asked. Michelle nodded and Verine left. I sat on the bed with her for a while and she was telling me about her drowning and how she thought she was going to die. My heart was still beating fast. I had bad thoughts in my mind. "Can we stop talking about that now." Michelle asked after finishing the story.

I nodded. Michelle was like a sister to me. Compared to any of our friends, she was the sweetest. I smiled at her but tears welted my face as I begun to think. "I just liked Lakeland so much, then I find out Liz and him had a thing." I began to tell Michelle, not purposely but it just came out. I stopped talking and got up to leave. "Sorry Michelle." I say before storming out the door.

I had to go get some air so I walked out the backdoor where I was sure no one was. I sighed to myself and put my head between my legs. Before I knew what I was going to do I screamed. Needing relief of thoughts. "Lakeland!!!!!!!!" I yelled. Immediately I was freaked. So I ran down a hill and his high up in an oak tree so no one could go back there and see that it was me that had done it.

The view from a tree was pleasant.

Tyler Conners

Opal smiled and looked up at me. "No, not really. Not yet, anyways." She said. I smiled and went over to the dresser with her, where she was going through some of the knickknacks I kept up there. Opal looked at the small silver medal next to the Mickey Mouse toy, her eyes alight with curiosity.

"Under 18's Best Painting" it read.

"You're an artist?" Opal said, turning the medal round in her hands. I blushed, but managed to get out a feeble;

"Yeah." Opal looked impressed and I blushed again. Without thinking I blurted out;

"I can show you the painting. The painting that won." I regretted it as soon as I said it but Opal's face lighted up and she nodded.

"That'd be great, do you have it here?" She asked, putting the medal down and looking up at me. I nodded and started rummaging through my bag. I always brought a bag of my artwork and supplies wherever. I went. I slid out the small canvas and gave it to her.

"It was last year I painted it. It was for a school project, where we had to draw something beautiful. That's all the teacher said, and a lot of people drew celebrities and their family but I thought back to something that didn't have to be groomed to be beautiful but was just raw and lovely. So I painted a simple daffodil in a field." I found myself saying, caressing the flower with my fingers.

Opal look amazed and ran her hands over it. "It's amazing."

Christian

We drove down the road, mom blasting some old music, and singing along with it. I couldn't wait until we got there.

We were probably going to be last, considering the fact that we left late, because Case slept in, and forgot to pack the rest of her things the night before.

As we pulled in front of the familiar house, I recognized several faces. Older faces.

I waited until the car was parked, and jumped out, Casey was squealing in excitement.

I opened the trunk, and pulled out my one bag, and two of Casey's. She's such a girl.

"Oh, Chris! I'll carry the third one. It's fragile." She grinned at me, and grabbed her other bag out of the back.

Once we turned the corner, Case's face lighted up even more, and she dropped her bag, practically running to the other girls.

Quickly, I freed my right hand, and reached out, before it hit the ground, and grabbed it.

"Fragile. Huh." I huffed.

I moved towards Casey, and tossed her duffle bag next to her feet. ""Could you tell me where you want these?"

"CHRISTIAN!" I heard a girl scream, then felt little arms wrap around my torso.

I turned my head to see who it was, and smiled when I saw her. "Opal! Long time no see, eh?"

She grinned, and released me.

"Oh, I'll talk to you later. I gotta put Case's stuff in her room." I said, and motioned towards the bags I was holding, and the one on the ground.

"Well, alright! I'll see you later then!"

She gave a little wave, and walked away.

I looked back down at Casey, and made a face.

She stifled a laugh. "You're such a weirdo."

"So, where do you want your bags, sis?"

Peej



I found my self laying on my surfboard next to Hayden who was changing the wheels on her pennyboard.

"Hey P.J.!" I heard someone yell from across the beach.

I sat up moving my sunglasses off and looked over to see Christian running over his baseball in hand. I smiled at him as he tossed the ball into my hands.

"I'll go get my glove!" I said to him dropping the baseball into the sand.

Christian nodded as I ran up the beach and into the house. I dashed into my room, grabbed my Nationals baseball cap and my glove, and was back out. I ran down the beach to Christian who was talking to Hayden.

"Ready?" I called to him.

He whipped around the face me and nodded. I scooped the ball off the ground and threw him a curveball. I smiled at the hard smacking sound the ball made when it hit his glove. Chris smirked at me as he threw a fast one making my hand burn. We kept going at this competitive throwing thing till both of our hands were red raw and burning.

"Nice arm dude," He said smacking my back.

"I learned from the best," I replied giving him a wink.


Hayden



The sun was hot and the fun kept coming. Mom had bought me some new wheels from a skate shop down the road to replace my worn out ones from my penny board. I decided to change them on the beach since it was so nice and the wind wasn't too bad. I unscrewed each wheel then putting the baby pink ones to replace the old ones.

Peej had ran inside to get something so I was left with Christian.

"Sweet board," He said admiring the mint green deck of my penny board.

"Thanks," I replied spinning the wheels, "I'm going to go long boarding in a bit, you want to come?"

"Me and Peej are gonna play baseball so I guess not." Chris replied with a shrug.

I smiled at him just as P.J. came out and they started going at it. I picked up my board and carried it inside.

I changed out of my damp bikini and into a pair of white cutoff short shorts and a black crop top. I slipped on my black vans, grabbed my gloves, helmet and board and was out the door. I hopped onto my board and rolled down the driveway and towards Beach Drive. I picked up speed moving my left foot along the pavement causing me to pick up much more speed.

I laughed into the wind as a curve came up. I bent down into a crouch and moves my right hand onto the ground. I turned sharp down the corner my long hair blowing in the wind behind me.

I stood back up as the turned ended and slowed to a stop. I sighed knowing that I now had to run back up the hill to get back home. I swept up my board and started to jog up the long hill. I came to the top and happily boarded back home to be greeted by someone calling my name.

Casey

"Just set them here," I gestured to the bottom of the stairs. "Thanks, now go say hi to everyone! I'll catch up with you later." Chris smiled and set down my bags before going around back where everyone else was. I lugged them up the stairs and threw them into the room Hayden and I shared. I took in a deep breath of the fresh crisp air and opened up the window. I spotted Hayden riding down the hill on her board and instantly sprinted downstairs and outside to meet her. "HAYDEN!" I screamed as I ran into her.

"Case!" She squealed and hopped off her board to hug me back. "God, I haven't seen you in forever. Where's Chris?"

I shrugged. "We got here a couple minutes ago. Hey, I was hoping you could teach me how to surf this summer." I watched Hayden's eyes widen with excitement as she nodded.

"Hell yeah, I'll teach you!" She laughed and picked up her board. "Do you want to start now? We can change and head towards the beach. I thought I saw some other people already down there.."

"Sure." I agreed and we walked into the house. We raced upstairs and I snatched my bathing suit from my bag then locked myself in the bathroom. The mirror above the counter taunted me as I stripped in front of it. As soon as I had my bikini on, the sickness gnawed at the back of my mind. I painfully picked myself apart in the mirror. My arms were too flabby, my stomach looked like a fanny pack, and my thighs jiggled even when I stood still. I hadn't even eaten much today,how could I look this bloated and ugly? The urge to throw up was too overwhelming and I dashed to the toilet. I flipped the lid up and stared at the water, trying to calm myself. I ran through the techniques my therapist recommended, but I still had a hard time keeping everything down.

"Case?" Hayden knocked on the bathroom door and I instantly stood up, suddenly embarrassed. "Casey, you okay? Ready to go?"

"Yeah," I croaked and stood back over the sink. Without looking in the mirror I splashed my face with water then walked out to meet Hayden. She was wearing a small black bikini which extenuated her already slim figure, and made the bright purple ends of her hair pop. "Let's go." I followed her outside and we grabbed boards from the garage. Standing next to her I felt like the most hideous, overweight person ever. I needed to get into the water and focus on surfing. I needed something to distract me.

"Alright, so first thing's first." Hayden jumped through the waves and paddled out further, me tailing right behind. The cold salt water pricked at my skin but I quickly got used to it. "You have to have good balance. Timing, too. You have to be able to time the waves in order to ride them." She pointed to a wave which was building as it came over to us. "Let's try this one first." We paddled out and when the wave started to to crash we caught it. I was wobbly at first and the salty water sprayed into my mouth as I tried to stand up. I faltered and smacked back into the water. I came back up sputtering and saw Hayden swimming back out to me, trying to hold back her laughter.

"Practically a pro." I grinned and wiped the water from my burning eyes.

"Practically." She grinned. "But I'll make you a pro for real by the end of the summer. Which by the way, I have a feeling this is going to be a summer none of us will forget." She winked at me and I smirked. Hayden always knew how to have fun and how to find the thrills I've been looking for.

Opal

"Under 18's Best Painting" read the medal I now held in my hand, turning it to examine it from all sides.

"You're an artist?" I questioned - how did I not know that? Art is something I've always tried to do but never really had the knack for.

"Yeah. I can show you the painting. The painting that won." Tyler got out quickly.

"That'd be great, do you have it here?" I asked excitedly - whereas I couldn't create it on my own, I did love to look at it.

Tyler began to rummage through a bag, poking around in it for a moment before sliding out the small canvas and handing it to me.

"It was last year I painted it. It was for a school project, where we had to draw something beautiful. That's all the teacher said, and a lot of people drew celebrities and their family but I thought back to something that didn't have to be groomed to be beautiful but was just raw and lovely. So I painted a simple daffodil in a field." He explained, running the tips of his fingers over the painting gently, almost lovingly.

"It's amazing." I breathed, running the hand over the canvas, feeling the grooves and peaks of the paint, feeling the different textures of the different colors. I so wished I could do something like that.

"What else have you - " I listened for a moment, cocking my head towards the window, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Tyler asked, brows furrowed together.

Placing his painting on his dresser I strode over to the window and moved the curtains aside - I was right!

"They're here!" I cheered, bolting down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door to greet them.

"CHRISTIAN!" I called, my bare feet hitting the gravel driveway as I ran in to him, wrapping my arms around his waist tightly.

He turned his head in surprise to see his attacker, but the moment he saw it was me he broke in to a smile, "Opal! Long time no see, eh?"

I smiled back and let him go, tossing a glance behind me to see Tyler making his way out the front door.

"Oh, I'll talk to you later. I gotta out Case's stuff in her room." Christian interjected, gesturing towards the plethora of bags littering the ground.

"Well, alright, I'll see you later then!" I said with a smile, turning on my heel and waving while Tyler finally caught up with me.

"Hey Tyler, want to go swimming now?"

Lakeland

"Lakeland!!!" Someone echoed, causing all of our heads to snap up towards the sound.

Lola looked back over to me, evidently confused, and paddled over to my side as if to see if I was okay.

"Did you guys hear that?" I questioned, thinking perhaps I was just hearing things.

"Yeah." A few of them chorused.

I looked at all of us here, swinging a hand down to pet Lola in reassurance and canceling out possibilities. Who wasn't here? It was definitely a girl, I knew that much, and it wasn't a cry of help rather...a cry of frustration? Had I done something? It wasn't anyone here, it wasn't my mom, it couldn't have been Opal, and Casey and Hayden had just shown up. Then there were Michelle, Verine, and Katrina. It had to be one of them, they were the only plausible explanations. I just couldn't understand why my name would be called out. Did I do something? Was someone hurt and I was standing here thinking about who it could be?

"I'm going to go check it out." I said to no one in particular, eyebrows furrowed, grabbing Lola by the back of her vest and helping her glide out of the water faster. Once it became shallow enough for her to stand she ran from the water and shook it off, looking back at me waiting while I ran to catch up.

The sand grew sharper the more shallow you got, the fragments of shells scraping up the bottom of me feet. I tredded carefully and speedily, now worried about what could be wrong.

Pulling my shirt away from my skin once again, I ran the rest of the way out of the water and over to my stuff. I looked back for a brief moment at everyone else and then turned, adjusting my position so that none of them could see my front. I wasn't ready for all the commotion of them finding out about my open heart surgery - I had neglected to tell anyone about that part.

Peeling off the soaked shirt, I quickly replaced it with a dry black one, slipped on my baby pink hi-tops, and clipped Lola's leash back on to her vest.

Leaving my wet t-shirt next to everyone else's stuff, knowing someone would grab it if they left before I got back, I began jogging towards the direction the sound came from: the house. The house was close by, the beach practically being our backyard, but by the time I got there I was winded.

"God, Lola," I said to her, placing my hands on my knees, "I'm so out of shape."

She rolled her eyes as if she could truly understand me. I was on strict orders from the doctors not to do anything requiring vast amounts of physical exertion until my heart was cleared 100% and we both knew it.

"Is anyone out here?" I called, rising to stand up straight, "Did someone call me?"

Michelle

Verine and Katrina pull me out of the water. I'm crying for 2 reasons, One, I'm an idiot for forgetting I can't swim, and two, I almost drowned. After I calmed down they basically carried me to my room. Normally I wouldn't let them, but right now I will. When we get there I tell them I'm OK and Verine leaves, but Katrina doesn't. She sits on the edge of my bed and I explain everything. Then Katrina tells me something which I'm not sure she meant to.

"I just liked Lakeland so much, then I find out Liz and him had a thing."

I almost burst out laughing at this. It may be the reason why she stormed out

"Sorry, Michelle"

After awhile I go back to sit out on the beach instead. When I go outside Lakeland is looking around. I'm not sure why but he's looking around with his dog. When I walk past him I just start giggling like I do when I'm usually around boys I like or in this case Katrina likes. He looks at me funny thinking I pulled a prank on him or something. I'm almost tempted to tell him.

"Katrina likes..." It almost slipped out! Katrina would be so angry if I told him.

"Hmm?" He gives me a puzzled look. I want to tell him so badly, but I can't. Katrina saved me and this is how I repay her. Telling Lakeland her secret crush. I can't do that to her.

"Never mind! I'll just be going swimming!" I start jumping around. This is my way of not telling him.

"Just be careful this time." Someone must have told him. Probably everyone knows by now. I can't find Katrina so Verine must have told someone. I run off because this conversation is getting too awkward and I don't like it. I run into the water, but still in a place were I won't drown. Someone comes up behind me and makes me fall over.

"Hey, are you OK?" It was Elizabeth. That wasn't so bad I mean I love her she's my sister.

"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks sis."

"OK now be careful. We don't want another accident, now do we."

"No. OK, bye" She could probably tell I was annoyed because she left me sitting in the cold water. It felt nice, but cold. This was my summer and I know it had a rocky start, but this is gonna be my best summer ever.

Liz

The sun was setting, casting a beautiful orange glow over the water. Lakeland and I decided to take a walk on the beach before it got dark. With Lola's leash in his hand we began to walk.

"So have you and Ira started your world tour yet?" He jokes.

I smile and shake my head. "No, mom says we she would miss us to much." I joke back. "I got you something." I say. I have been trying to hide it, but I was too worried it was going to melt.

"What?" He asks.

I reveal it to him and smile. "Your favorite." I say, holding up to the grape popsicle.

He gasps a dramatic gasp and smiles. "You know me so well." He says.

I shrug and laugh. "I do what I can."

He smiles. "So how is New York treating you." He says.

I sigh. "To be honest, I am getting sick of the big city. This is my kind of place, relaxed, calm, beautiful. I am sick of concrete and skyscrapers." I say. "Sorry, I did not mean to complain."

He smiles and nudges me. "It is okay, I asked." He says, holding the stick to his grape popsicle.

"What about you and Ireland?" I ask.

"Fine, it's fine." He says.

"Good." I say. "My family is talking about coming to visit you guys one day. One, mom wants to see your mom and two who does not want to go to Ireland?" I smile.

He frowns, but I can tell he is pretending. "So I guess you don't want to see me?"

I laugh and push him gently. "Of course I do, did you even have you ask?"

We turned back around and headed back to the house because it was getting so dark. Everyone was in the living room sitting around watching TV. Well, most everyone I could see. I could not find Ira though. "I will be right back." I tell Lakeland.

He nods and I dart up to his room. He was laying on his bed, on his phone. "What are you doing up here." I ask.

He shrugs and looks at me.

"Well come on. That piano is not going to play its self." I smile. With that, he darts up. I hand him the guitar I got from my room and we run to the piano. Some people began to come in. We did this every year. Ira and I would play and everyone would sing. I grab Lakeland and drag him in there with me. "Will you sing with me?" I ask.

Tyler Conners

Almost everyone's gone inside by the time we get to the beach, but I don't care. Opals changed into her bright green bikini and is charging into the water, her hair looking golden against the sinking sun. I run after her, diving into the refreshing and clear water. I sneak up behind her and grab her foot and she screams.

Laughing, I swim away but when I come up for air she assaults me with a wave of water. I'm grinning like an idiot, just watching Opal. I swim over to her.

"So how's Ireland?" I ask.

"It's good I guess. It's beautiful over there, but it's a different beautiful to here." She says thoughtfully.

"The family good?" I ask, looking up at the sky, which was streaked with red and gold. Opal nods then smiles devilishly at me and grabs me by the waist and dunks me in the water. Spluttering, I chase after her, and by the time we both get up to the sand with giggling like little kids.

Katrina Anderson

Not even ten minutes later I see that Lakeland was inches from me but didn't even realize it. I finally climbed down from the side of the tree to go see him. "Was...was that you?" He asked. I immediately looked at him like he was crazy. "Was what me?" I ask completely dumbsighted. Hopefully I had pulled it off right too.

"I heard someone yelling my name, and I thought it was coming from here." He replied in total concern. "Nope I didn't hear a thing." I say as I walk past him. "As long as you're here, maybe we can hang out?" I ask. "I'm sorry Katrina but I had plans with Liz so I got to go. Maybe later.." Lakeland replied. Scoffing, I just stood there, that was total rejection and I was humiliated!

Practically marching up the hill I walk into the house and stand there, I had no clue what to do. Then I seen someone walking up, it was a guy, without another word I charged towards the door. As it came open I grabbed the guy by the neck and kissed him with all I had.


(A guy can take the lead now lol, I just wanted to make something fun, hmm, maybe some drama can occur? =) I hope y'all are okay with this.)

That doesn't seen very like Lakeland, he would definitely be a bit more apologetic and less frank. Fiction has never made a charrie like that in her life hahaha
But I'm all over this!

Ira

As the sun was setting and most everyone had already returned to the house, I was just making my way back and taking my time doing so. It's so peaceful here, and I knew the second I walked in to the house it would be broken.

I took each step slowly, looking down at my feet as I prolonged the process, the door drawing ever nearer. Reluctantly, I reached for the handle and took a deep breath, only to have the door fly open before I could push on it myself. Before I could blink, before I could move, before I could even see who it was, someone's lips came crashing against mine, their arms wrapping behind my neck to pull me close.

My eyes snapped open in shock, revealing none other than Katrina. Within seconds of her demanding kiss I pushed her back, causing her to stumble back slightly as I stared at her with wide eyes.

"K-k-ka-katrin-Katrina," I stuttered, blushing deeply both due to the embarassung moment and my horridly worsened stutter, "I-I-I d-don't-t...y-yo-you...I-I-I'm so-sorry, I...d-don't li-l-like y-you li-like th-th-tha-that."

My blush deepened as I spoke the words feeling suddenly horrible. It wasn't my first kiss by any means, and we had all kissed each other when we were kids, but this was the first time someone I grew up with like we had had kissed me at this age. And it was Katrina! Katrina, who I saw as a sister.

I looked to the floor, knowing full well my cheeks were flaming red.

"I don't...I don't either!" She said, clearly exasperated, "I just...he doesn't like me."

Sliding my gaze back up to her, I questioned, "Wh-who?"

It was her turn to blush, and she simply shook her head no and said, "It's...it doesn't matter anymore!"

After I left Michelle and Katrina alone, I walked back outside to go swimming. I sighed softly as I kept walking, looking up at the bright sky. I really should've stayed home... I don't feel wanted here anyways. I walked on the sand, staring at everyone else who are playing and laughing, basically having fun. I noticed Tyler and Opal swimming together, smiling at each other. I smiled to myself. "Pfft, that guy still has a crush on her."

I walked back inside to my room, putting on my blue hoodie over my bikini. When I walked out the room, I bumped into someone without looking, making me stubble back a little. "Ah... sorry." I looked up and saw I accidentally bumped into Lakeland. "Ah, it's you."

"Hey, Verine." Lakeland smiled at me as I noticed that Liz was standing beside him. Very closely. Ah. They seem close... Lakeland and Liz kept walking down the hall. I looked up at them, wondering to myself. "Very close..."

I walked out the hall, holding a book close to my chest. Then suddenly, someone ran into my back, making me drop my book on the floor. Why is everyone bumping into me today?! I turned and saw Tyler standing behind me. "Oh, it's you again."

"I have a name y'know." Tyler glared at me, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Yeah, yeah. How was your little date with Opal? I can't believe you still have a crush on he-" Tyler then quickly covered my mouth. "Don't said that out loud, you dummy." I looked up at him, moving his hand away from my mouth.

"Such a girl, just tell her how you feel. She likes you after all." I smiled, turning my back to him as I walked back outside, holding my book tightly.

I sat on the steps of the summer house, opening my book and started reading. I smiled to myself, reading the book closely, trying to understand what the book was about. "Hey, Verine!" I looked up, seeing Christian running towards me as he smiled and waved at him. I waved back at him as he stopped in front of me, trying to catch his breath.

"Hi, Christian." I went back to reading my book. Suddenly, Christian grabbed my book, smiling at me. "W-What are you doing?! Give it back!"

"Don't be such a geek. Come on, it's summer break. You should be having fun." Christian grabbed my wrist gently as he pulled me towards him. "Come on, let's go play baseball." I looked up at him then sighed softly. "You always want to play baseball."

Christian chuckled as he started dragging me, making me follow him. "You may be one of the youngest ones here, but you can still have fun with the rest of us."

This guy...

P.J.



The sun had started to set and everyone started to run in from the beach to start our annual fist day back bar-b-que. Tyler and I manned the two grills while everyone else pitched in to build a fire. The mom's had gone out for a fancy dinner together so it was just us kids left at home. Hayden had started a game of truth or dare and the burgers had started coming off the grill.

Everyone started eating and partying, ad it was honestly the best time I have had all year. I joined Hayden's truth or dare circle sitting my self right in between her and Christian.

"Ok Peej, truth or dare?" Hayden asked with her annoying little smirk.

I blew air out of my nose and sighed, "Dare I guess,"

"Alright big brother, I dare you to go inside and bring out the four six packs of beer from the fridge." She said giggling.

I shrugged and walked inside and into the kitchen. I grabbed the packs and went back down stairs to a cheering Hayden and Casey. I smiled and place the bottles in the middle of the circle grabbing one for my self. Half of the other people grabbed one and then it was my turn to ask someone.

"Alright, Hayden, truth or dare?" I said taking a swig from the foaming beer.

"Dare me brother!" She said smiling.

"Okay, you have to kiss one person here. I don't care where just kiss someone, and it can't be me." I said smiling like an idiot.

She shrugged and stood up and pranced over to Ira and kissed his cheek. I saw her whisper something to him, but couldn't make out what it was. She started daring Opal to do something but I got up and started manning the grill again. I flipped a couple more burgers before being greeted by Casey.

"Okay P.J., I swear to god that this is a dare so don't like stop being friends with me or anything." She said with a serious face.

I shrugged at her and she smiled. Casey took my face in her hands and started to kiss me. I surprised even myself and kissed her back. Tonight will be something to remember.


Hayden


I crawled out of the icy water tired from my two hour, surf boarding lesson with Case. She was giggling the entire was back up to the house and so was I since it was kind of funny when she got completely washed under.

I went into the bathroom and changed into skinny jeans, a tank top, and P.J.'s letterman jacket from football a couple years ago.

"Hey Hayden, you know hot to straighten hair?" Casey asked waving around her straighter.

I nodded and took it from her hands and straightened her already beautifully curly hair.

"I wish I had your hair," I said sighing.

"Its annoying, trust me." She replied laughing.

I shrugged even through she couldn't see me and continued to straighten her hair. I finished it up and then started to do my own hair. I took the boring straight strands and fish tailed the over my shoulder.

"Ready?" I asked Case who was sitting on her bed.

"Yup!" She replied following me down the stairs.

Everyone was already down there so we started a good old game of truth or dare. We started with the lame ones like "Do a cartwheel!" or "Roll around in the sand!". But then P.J. decided to take it into the next level with me. When he asked me to kiss anyone my immediate thought was Ira. I had liked him since we were little and now I could finally do something about it.

I skipped over to him and kissed him on the cheek. I saw him blushing and whispered. "That kiss wasn't just for the dare."

I smiled at him and walked back over to my spot. A few more dares came around like this and soon I was being kissed by Tyler and then Ira again. Everyone by the end had kissed someone except P.J..

"Case, I know your gonna pick dare, so just kiss Peej. But not just a peck, like a 10 second long thing." I said to Casey poking her arm with my finger.

She groaned and stood up. I watched as she said something to P.J. then she started kissing him. He, to my surprise, kissed her back receiving a avalanche of hoops and hollers from our crowd. Tonight was definitely something I was proud of.

Casey

Hayden poked my arm and I tossed back my beer, the bitter liquid tingling down my throat. I set the can down and walked over to P.J. at the grill. "Okay P.J., I swear to god that this is a dare so don't like stop being friends with me or anything." I mumbled and to my surprise, he shrugged. His smile was intriguing and slightly like he was daring me to kiss him. I raised my eyebrows and grinned before pressing my lips to his. At first, he was still but then his hands found the small of my back and his tongue flicked against mine. I tangled my fingers in his hair, ignoring the cat calls and hollers from everyone. We probably kissed longer than the ten seconds of the dare, but it's not like I cared. Something stirred inside me as he kissed me back, something I haven't felt in a while and to be honest, it scared me a little. Kissing Peej was a new kind of thrill.

"Hey you two!" Opal laughed. "The burgers are burning."

We broke apart, both slightly panting. "Woah." He breathed. I bit my lip and winked at him before walking back to join the group. The game was finished and now they were getting supplies for s'mores.

"Sooo..." Hayden teased and handed me skewer. I laughed and gently pushed her.

"No, it was just a dare." I rolled my eyes but a part of me kinda hoped it wasn't just a dare.

"Are you sure?" She grinned, impaling a marshmallow on her stick. "Looked like you guys were pretty into it."

I shrugged and tried to hide my smile. I listened quietly while everyone else chatted and kept sneaking glances at P.J. from across the fire.