Summer Love
IV
Three days later, everything in the house was scrubbed and cleaned a second time and all of our stuff was put in place. Matt, Zack and his friends have been busy with their band for the past couple of days so I haven't seen them, only a glance if they were practicing in Brian's garage across the street. Today mom started her new job and dad started his, but he worked from home. I decided to get up early, early being 10, to see mom start her new day. Max being the inconsiderate little twit that he is, is still sleeping upstairs as we speak.
"So, are you excited for work?" I asked mom as I sat on the counter in my pajama shorts and top and a bowl of cereal in my hand.
"Excited isn't the word, it's more like nervous," mom told me as she finished her cup of coffee.
"Calm down sweetie, you'll be fine," dad said and pecked her on the lips.
"Well, it's time for me to go," mom said and walked out the kitchen.
I placed my empty bowl in the sink and walked outside with my parents. I felt my stomach do somersaults as I saw Matt walking up the driveway with his hands in his pockets. He grinned at me, making his dimples pop out.
"Here comes Lover Boy," mom chuckled from between her open car door and her car.
"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell," Matt greeted.
"Oh Matt, I told you to call us Tim and Brenda," mom told him.
"Sorry," he sheepishly said.
"Don't mind her Matt. So what brings you here?" dad asked.
"Oh, I came to ask J.D and Max if they wanted to come to the beach with my friends and I,"
"Sure they can go, you can wait inside if you want," mom said.
Dad and I gave her disbelieving looks, but went along with it anyway. I subconsciously pulled my shorts down some more as Matt looked at me.
"That's okay, I can always come back in about 30 minutes," he grinned.
"No that's fine, you can come in and we'll talk about that basketball game last night," dad grinned.
"Alright," Dad had a big smile on his face because he was a big basketball fanatic and he usually never talked about it to anyone in the house. When Matt mentioned that he played on the school basketball team the other day, I swear dad's world lit up.
"Well, let me go wake up Max and get ready. See you later mom," I said and walked away.
I pulled my shorts down some more and walked back to the house. I felt Matt's gaze on me as I climbed the steps because my shorts rode up a bit.I hurried into the house and went upstairs to Max's room. I knocked and when I didn't get an answer I just walked in. I scrunched my face in disgust at the messy room and walked over to where Max was snoring on his stomach. When I couldn't wake him up I rubbed my hands together and slapped his back. He shot up with a yelp and gave me a disgruntled look.
"What the hell J.D?" he grumbled.
"Matt invited us to the beach so get up," I said.
"Okay," he said and laid back down.
"Get up, he's downstairs with dad," I said and walked back to my room.
I took out an outfit to wear that would be appropriate for the beach and a bikini to go with it. I went into the bathroom after Max was done brushing his teeth and took a quick shower. I went back in my room and brushed out my hair. I packed my beach towel and sunscreen in my messenger bag. I slipped my sunglasses on the top of my head and went downstairs. I saw Max, Matt and dad sitting on the couch talking and laughing like old friends.
"I'm ready," I smiled.
Matt stopped laughing when he caught sight of my outfit. He cleared his throat and got up from the couch. "You look nice," he complimented.
"Thanks, you guy's ready to go?"
"Yup, see you later Mr. Mitchell," Matt waved.
"Bye, have fun" dad called after us and shut the door.
"The rest of the gang is already there with their girlfriends," Matt informed us.
"Okay, that's fine," I shrugged and sat in the front seat of his car.
The ride to the beach was a comfortable one. Matt would every once in a while point out a shop to us and tell us about it. He parked the car near the boardwalk and we followed him down the beach. The sand was extremely soft, making my foot sink and making me struggle to keep up with Matt and Max.
"How far away are they?" I asked as I continued to struggle to keep up with their long strides.
"Just around that big rock. There's a secluded spot we usually go to where no one else bothers to go," Matt explained.
"Max?" I looked up at him. "Can you carry me on your back? I can't keep up with you guys," I pouted.
He nodded and I happily climbed on his back. Matt shook his head at me as Max held onto my legs and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We finally made it around the big rock and we saw a group of people sitting on the sand.
"Hey guys," Matt greeted the group.
A chorus of 'heys' echoed throughout the group and they all looked at us.
"Guys, this is J.D and her brother Max," Matt introduced I timidly waved at them.
"J.D, Max, this is Jimmy," he pointed to a tall guy with crazy hair. "There are Matt and Jason Berry and this little shit is Johnny," he clapped the back of a guy who looked to be around Max's age and my height.
"That's Zack's piece of property, Raychel," the brown eyed, brown haired girl threw her flip flop at a chuckling Matt. Her glare disappeared once she looked in my direction and turned into a smile. "I really like your outfit J.D," she cheerfully said.
"Thanks," I blushed.
"That's Jimmy's girl, Faunalynn, but we all just call her Lynn for short," he explained. "This is Jason's girlfriend, Sarah, the England native," a girl with bluish green eyes and chin length brown hair shyly waved at me.
"That short stack of fire is Angelica, the Yankee of our group, and Brian's other half," a girl with long curly purplish red hair waved at me. "And lastly, this is Nayja, Matt's girlfriend," a girl with snakebites grinned and waved.
The group started chatting again and I placed my towel on the sand. I stripped off my shirt and shorts and heard whistling. The guys were checking me out, except Max of course, and the girls giggled. I felt my face heat up and tried covering my body by crossing my arms around my torso.
"Don't be shy, you'll get used to it," Lynn reassured me.
I nodded and slowly took my arms away from my stomach. The guys stripped off their shirts and I felt my mouth open when I took in Matt's body. The boys ran off towards the water and I heard someone chuckle from beside me and close my mouth. I became startled and saw that it was Raychel who closed my mouth. The girls were giggling from on their towels.
"What?" I asked.
"You were so checking Matt out," Nayja chuckled.
"No I wasn't," I tried defending myself.
"Yeah right," Lynn scoffed.
"It's okay Doll-Face, we all know Matt has the best body out of all the guys," Angelica said.
I sat down on my towel and started applying sunscreen on myself. I finished up and leaned back on my elbows and watched the guys mess around in the water.
"Has he asked you out yet?" Sarah asked me.
"Who?" I asked, knowing full well they were talking about Matt.
"The cookie monster," Angelica sarcastically said. "We're talking about Matt,"
"No, why?"
"Because we haven't seen Matt with a girl since he broke up with Val last year," Nayja noted.
"And he hasn't been so happy since then," Raychel added.
"Yeah, only when he's singing with the guys, but never happy like this," Lynn commented.
"Really? But we just met the other day so we don't really know each other well enough,"
"That's why you go on a date," Sarah said in a 'duh' tone.
"I don't know, I mean I think he's cute, but do you guys honestly think he's ready to date again?"
"From the way he looks at you, I'd say so," Raychel confirmed.
I looked at the rest of the girls and they all nodded. I bit my lip and began thinking about what the girls said.
I don't know how long I was thinking about Matt until a shadow came over me. A drop of water fell on my stomach and I looked up to see Matt standing above me.
"Yes?" I asked.
"How come you aren't in the water?" he asked.
"Because I need a tan,"
"The water will help," he said and scooped me up. I squealed from the cold water on his body touching mine and demanded that he put me down.
The light blue water came into view and I felt myself being tossed up in the air at a great height. I screamed on the way down and I felt myself fall in the water. I shot up and tossed my hair back as I shivered from the sudden temperature change.
"You're such an ass," I said.
"I'm sorry," he chuckled and waded over to me. He wrapped his big arms around me and I accepted his apology.
Hours later, I was exhausted from horsing around in the water and I was ready to go home and sleep. The sun was setting and myself and the girls were sitting on a log as we watched the guys try to make a bonfire. I saw the Berry brothers and Max disappear and I watched them walk away.
Matt came and sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my newly tanned shoulder. "Did you have fun today?"
"Yeah, I enjoyed it, thanks for inviting me," I grinned.
The Berry brothers and Max came back with a cooler, marshmallows and stick to put them on. "So, you remember how you said you've never had any alcohol before?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, tonight we're going to celebrate you and Max moving here," he grinned.
"Oh no, I can't,"
"It's okay, we won't let anything happen to you," he reassured.
I chewed on my lip as I contemplated on what Matt said. "I guess I can take a beer or two," I sighed.
What the hell did I just do?
"So, are you excited for work?" I asked mom as I sat on the counter in my pajama shorts and top and a bowl of cereal in my hand.
"Excited isn't the word, it's more like nervous," mom told me as she finished her cup of coffee.
"Calm down sweetie, you'll be fine," dad said and pecked her on the lips.
"Well, it's time for me to go," mom said and walked out the kitchen.
I placed my empty bowl in the sink and walked outside with my parents. I felt my stomach do somersaults as I saw Matt walking up the driveway with his hands in his pockets. He grinned at me, making his dimples pop out.
"Here comes Lover Boy," mom chuckled from between her open car door and her car.
"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell," Matt greeted.
"Oh Matt, I told you to call us Tim and Brenda," mom told him.
"Sorry," he sheepishly said.
"Don't mind her Matt. So what brings you here?" dad asked.
"Oh, I came to ask J.D and Max if they wanted to come to the beach with my friends and I,"
"Sure they can go, you can wait inside if you want," mom said.
Dad and I gave her disbelieving looks, but went along with it anyway. I subconsciously pulled my shorts down some more as Matt looked at me.
"That's okay, I can always come back in about 30 minutes," he grinned.
"No that's fine, you can come in and we'll talk about that basketball game last night," dad grinned.
"Alright," Dad had a big smile on his face because he was a big basketball fanatic and he usually never talked about it to anyone in the house. When Matt mentioned that he played on the school basketball team the other day, I swear dad's world lit up.
"Well, let me go wake up Max and get ready. See you later mom," I said and walked away.
I pulled my shorts down some more and walked back to the house. I felt Matt's gaze on me as I climbed the steps because my shorts rode up a bit.I hurried into the house and went upstairs to Max's room. I knocked and when I didn't get an answer I just walked in. I scrunched my face in disgust at the messy room and walked over to where Max was snoring on his stomach. When I couldn't wake him up I rubbed my hands together and slapped his back. He shot up with a yelp and gave me a disgruntled look.
"What the hell J.D?" he grumbled.
"Matt invited us to the beach so get up," I said.
"Okay," he said and laid back down.
"Get up, he's downstairs with dad," I said and walked back to my room.
I took out an outfit to wear that would be appropriate for the beach and a bikini to go with it. I went into the bathroom after Max was done brushing his teeth and took a quick shower. I went back in my room and brushed out my hair. I packed my beach towel and sunscreen in my messenger bag. I slipped my sunglasses on the top of my head and went downstairs. I saw Max, Matt and dad sitting on the couch talking and laughing like old friends.
"I'm ready," I smiled.
Matt stopped laughing when he caught sight of my outfit. He cleared his throat and got up from the couch. "You look nice," he complimented.
"Thanks, you guy's ready to go?"
"Yup, see you later Mr. Mitchell," Matt waved.
"Bye, have fun" dad called after us and shut the door.
"The rest of the gang is already there with their girlfriends," Matt informed us.
"Okay, that's fine," I shrugged and sat in the front seat of his car.
The ride to the beach was a comfortable one. Matt would every once in a while point out a shop to us and tell us about it. He parked the car near the boardwalk and we followed him down the beach. The sand was extremely soft, making my foot sink and making me struggle to keep up with Matt and Max.
"How far away are they?" I asked as I continued to struggle to keep up with their long strides.
"Just around that big rock. There's a secluded spot we usually go to where no one else bothers to go," Matt explained.
"Max?" I looked up at him. "Can you carry me on your back? I can't keep up with you guys," I pouted.
He nodded and I happily climbed on his back. Matt shook his head at me as Max held onto my legs and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We finally made it around the big rock and we saw a group of people sitting on the sand.
"Hey guys," Matt greeted the group.
A chorus of 'heys' echoed throughout the group and they all looked at us.
"Guys, this is J.D and her brother Max," Matt introduced I timidly waved at them.
"J.D, Max, this is Jimmy," he pointed to a tall guy with crazy hair. "There are Matt and Jason Berry and this little shit is Johnny," he clapped the back of a guy who looked to be around Max's age and my height.
"That's Zack's piece of property, Raychel," the brown eyed, brown haired girl threw her flip flop at a chuckling Matt. Her glare disappeared once she looked in my direction and turned into a smile. "I really like your outfit J.D," she cheerfully said.
"Thanks," I blushed.
"That's Jimmy's girl, Faunalynn, but we all just call her Lynn for short," he explained. "This is Jason's girlfriend, Sarah, the England native," a girl with bluish green eyes and chin length brown hair shyly waved at me.
"That short stack of fire is Angelica, the Yankee of our group, and Brian's other half," a girl with long curly purplish red hair waved at me. "And lastly, this is Nayja, Matt's girlfriend," a girl with snakebites grinned and waved.
The group started chatting again and I placed my towel on the sand. I stripped off my shirt and shorts and heard whistling. The guys were checking me out, except Max of course, and the girls giggled. I felt my face heat up and tried covering my body by crossing my arms around my torso.
"Don't be shy, you'll get used to it," Lynn reassured me.
I nodded and slowly took my arms away from my stomach. The guys stripped off their shirts and I felt my mouth open when I took in Matt's body. The boys ran off towards the water and I heard someone chuckle from beside me and close my mouth. I became startled and saw that it was Raychel who closed my mouth. The girls were giggling from on their towels.
"What?" I asked.
"You were so checking Matt out," Nayja chuckled.
"No I wasn't," I tried defending myself.
"Yeah right," Lynn scoffed.
"It's okay Doll-Face, we all know Matt has the best body out of all the guys," Angelica said.
I sat down on my towel and started applying sunscreen on myself. I finished up and leaned back on my elbows and watched the guys mess around in the water.
"Has he asked you out yet?" Sarah asked me.
"Who?" I asked, knowing full well they were talking about Matt.
"The cookie monster," Angelica sarcastically said. "We're talking about Matt,"
"No, why?"
"Because we haven't seen Matt with a girl since he broke up with Val last year," Nayja noted.
"And he hasn't been so happy since then," Raychel added.
"Yeah, only when he's singing with the guys, but never happy like this," Lynn commented.
"Really? But we just met the other day so we don't really know each other well enough,"
"That's why you go on a date," Sarah said in a 'duh' tone.
"I don't know, I mean I think he's cute, but do you guys honestly think he's ready to date again?"
"From the way he looks at you, I'd say so," Raychel confirmed.
I looked at the rest of the girls and they all nodded. I bit my lip and began thinking about what the girls said.
I don't know how long I was thinking about Matt until a shadow came over me. A drop of water fell on my stomach and I looked up to see Matt standing above me.
"Yes?" I asked.
"How come you aren't in the water?" he asked.
"Because I need a tan,"
"The water will help," he said and scooped me up. I squealed from the cold water on his body touching mine and demanded that he put me down.
The light blue water came into view and I felt myself being tossed up in the air at a great height. I screamed on the way down and I felt myself fall in the water. I shot up and tossed my hair back as I shivered from the sudden temperature change.
"You're such an ass," I said.
"I'm sorry," he chuckled and waded over to me. He wrapped his big arms around me and I accepted his apology.
Hours later, I was exhausted from horsing around in the water and I was ready to go home and sleep. The sun was setting and myself and the girls were sitting on a log as we watched the guys try to make a bonfire. I saw the Berry brothers and Max disappear and I watched them walk away.
Matt came and sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my newly tanned shoulder. "Did you have fun today?"
"Yeah, I enjoyed it, thanks for inviting me," I grinned.
The Berry brothers and Max came back with a cooler, marshmallows and stick to put them on. "So, you remember how you said you've never had any alcohol before?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, tonight we're going to celebrate you and Max moving here," he grinned.
"Oh no, I can't,"
"It's okay, we won't let anything happen to you," he reassured.
I chewed on my lip as I contemplated on what Matt said. "I guess I can take a beer or two," I sighed.
What the hell did I just do?