The Matchmaker of Decaydance

“Did you bring your swimsuit?”

“Of course,” Kacie scoffed, giving me a hug. “Like I would forget that.”

“Guess so. Here, come meet the kids.” I was really hoping she’d stay moderately quiet about this whole thing, and not go broadcasting it to the whole world. I had a feeling she wouldn’t, though.

“Peter!” I yelled, leading Kacie through the house. “Where are you?”

“Pool!”

I brought Kacie outside and was promptly attacked.

“Whoa…hey, Trav.”

“Hi, Lana-belle,” he said, sounding a teeny bit tipsy. Then again, that was kind of normal for Travie.

“Hey, this is Kacie. She’s cool beans. Fellow dancer.”

Travie wrapped her in a hug. The look on her face was priceless.

“That’s Travie. He’s a big doof.”

Travie sent a fake angry look at me.

“I mean, a big sweetie.”

“Damn straight.”

Pete made his way over, beer in hand. “Hi, I’m Pete,” he said brightly, sticking his hand out for Kacie to shake. She took it, a little dumbfounded.

“Um, Pete, this is Kacie. She danced with Derek yesterday.” I looked around for Ashlee. She was standing over by the pool with Gabe and Alex. “Hey, Ash, this is Kacie.”

Ashlee waved, and Kacie gaped a little more.

“You’re introducing me to these people like they were normal.”

“Well, they kind of are. I’ve obviously known Pete my whole life, and I went to high school with William.”

“William Beckett?” she gasped.

“Only my bestest friend ever.”

“He’s my idol. ‘We’ve Got a Big Mess On Our Hands’ was one of the best things to ever happen to me.”

I beamed. “I helped him work out vocals on that one.”

“No way!” she cried.

“Hey, Cobra boys!” I called to Alex and Gabe, who were wrestling in the grass. “Come meet my buddy.”

Alex stopped and stood first, eagerly making his way over until Gabe tripped him. Alex’s hands skidded on the concrete, and both Kacie and I winced.

“Damnit, Gabanti!” Alex wiped his bloody hands on the grass. He was blushing slightly when he got to us. “Hi,” he said, staring at Kacie. “I’m Alex.”

“Kacie.” She kept eye contact with him, and I knew my job was done.

Gabe leaned over to whisper in my ear. “He looks like he just fell in love.”

“Ta-da,” I whispered back. “By the way, that was mean.”

“What are you whispering about?” Alex asked.

“Just sweet nothings,” Gabe chirped. “You have your bathing suit on?”

I paused in the middle of rolling my eyes at his previous comment. This was suspicious. “Underneath this stuff, yeah.”

He started unbuttoning my jean shorts.

“Gabe…what are you doing?”

“This.” He lifted me up easily off of the ground and started working my shorts off.

“Hey! Gabe, no, not yet!”

“Need help, man?” another voice said.

“NO! William Beckett, I swear, if you -”

Gabe shifted me to be in his arms wedding-style, and William pulled the shorts off by their hems. Gabe worked my shirt over my head.

“You take the ankles and I’ll take the wrists.”

“I hate you guys so much!” I squealed as the carried me towards the pool.

“No, you don’t,” Gabe whispered in my ear.

They tossed me in.

When I resurfaced, they were yelling and congratulating each other.

“Dude, you just got hit by Gabilliam!” they shouted to me.

“What the fuck is a Gabilliam? Oh, wait…” I said, pulling myself out of the water. “And where the hell did you come from?” I pointed at William.

“The door.”

“Smartass. C’mere!” I cried, jumping at him and hugging his thin frame.

“Augh, no, Alana! You’re wet,” he whined.

“Sorry about that,” Travie called from over by the table.

“Eew, Trav, gross,” Pete groaned.

“Gabe, your turn!” I ran for him. Right before I reached him, someone pushed me so I fell into him, falling forward and knocking him over. I landed squarely on top of him, one knee on either side of his hips.

Gabe bent at the waist, coming up to whisper in my ear again.

“I love it when you’re wet and on top of me.”

“You know you do,” I replied.

“This is interesting,” a voice said from the gate.

“Hey, Katy,” I called from my position. Katy and I were sort of a special case. When she put her first single out, ‘I Kissed a Girl,’ the guys asked us to act out the song (all of them except Pete). We didn’t see any harm in it, so we did. So we’ve got a little bit of a different history in our friendship then my other friends.

“I missed something with you two, didn’t I?”

“Just a little.”

“What did you mean earlier, when I said Alex looked like he was in love and you said ‘Ta-da’?” Gabe asked.

I leaned a little closer so no one else would hear. “I found a match for Alex.”

“A match?”

“Like I did for Pete and Ashlee, and Trav and Katy.”

“Oh, really?”

“Like I said, The Matchmaker.”

“Stop trying to have sex with my sister!” Pete yelled at us from across the lawn.

“Shut up, Peter.” He was starting to get on my nerves again.

“Are you sure Alex and Kacie are going to get together?” Gabe asked, sounding a little unsure.

“Take a look,” I said.

“Gabe craned his neck over my shoulder, seeing Alex and Kacie sitting by the pool, chatting. They had small plates of food beside them, but those were so far unnoticed. Both had big smiles on their faces.

“See? Told you.”