Summer Love

The next morning I woke up with a smile on my face and it never left, even as I was getting ready for work. Matt's goodnight kiss had left me wanting more, but I didn't exactly know how to go about it. I wasn't sure how Matt would act around me next time we saw each other. Would things be awkward between us?

I chewed on my bottom lip and shook all the negative thoughts from my head before heading downstairs to leave. I walked into the kitchen and kissed mom and dad on their cheeks and messed up Max's hair.

"See you guys later!" I shouted and left the house before Max could come after me for messing with him.

For once, Brian's garage door was closed and I was bummed. I was so used to waving to the guys nearly every morning before going to work that it felt foreign to me not to do so. I sighed, but nonetheless climbed into my car and drove to the diner.

Work had gone by real slow today, if it werent for Ben making jokes I probably would've died from boredom. The last customer had just exited the diner and Ben and I went over to clean the table.

"So, what did you do yesterday on your day off?" Ben asked me as I picked up the dirty dishes.

"I went to the carnival with my friend," I couldn't help but smile at the memory of yesterday.

"I can tell you had fun," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun with Matt," I sighed, completely missing the look of jealousy that flashed across Ben's face.

"Matt? Matt who?" his voice heightened.

I gave him a confused look and cleared my throat before answering. "Matt Sanders,"

Ben's face stiffened and I placed a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

"J.D, stay away from Matt,"

I chuckled. "Why?"

"He's bad news, J.D. Him and his friends are nothing but trouble," He clenched his jaw.

"No they're not!" I exclaimed and put a hand on my hip. "They've been nothing but nice to me ever since I moved here,"

Ben scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Please, he's just trying to fuck you,"

My mouth fell open and I slammed the basin full of dishes that was in my hands on the table, making Ben jump.

"How dare you say that about Matt?!" I glared at him and didn't even wait for an answer before storming off into the kitchen.

"J.D! Wait!" Ben called out and followed me into the kitchen. "I'm sorry I said those things, but I'm just looking out for you,"

I sighed and crossed my arms. "That's nice of you Ben, but I can look out for myself,"

The bell above the door chimed, indicating that someone stepped into the diner, and I patted Ben's chest and went outside to take care of the new customer.

My heart raced when I saw the guys and girls sitting at a booth. I was about to turn back and tell Ben to take care of them, but Zack saw me and called my name. I took a deep breath and forced a smile on my face as I walked to their table.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" I looked around the table, making sure to avoid Matt's face.

"The boys are still hungry, even after eating out two boxes of pizza," Raychel rolled her eyes from underneath Zack's arm.

"Yeah, we were lucky that we even grabbed a slice from the box," Lynn referred to herself and the girls.

"Yeah! You should've seen it Ducky!" Sarah piped up from next to Jason. "I nearly got my hand chewed off by these beasts here,"

I chuckled and pulled a writing pad and pencil out of my apron pocket. "What do you guys want to drink?"

I wrote down their order's and made sure not to look at Matt again. I quickly walked away and went to get their drinks. I looked through the small round window of the swinging door that led to the kitchen and saw Ben washing dishes. I remembered what he said earlier and swallowed the lump in my throat. Matt and the guys couldn't be that bad right? And if they were, what the hell did they do?

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't hear Matt walk up to the counter. "Hey,"

I yelped and jumped, making Brian's order of Dr. Pepper spill onto the floor. I cursed and grabbed a rag to wipe up the mess.

"Sorry," Matt chuckled.

"It's okay," I mumbled and kept my head down.

"So, I had fun yesterday," I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Me too," I swallowed the lump in my throat and finished wiping up the soda.

"I was hoping we could do it again some time soon," the idea hung awkwardly in the air.

"I don't know, I have to see when I'm off again," I kept my back turned and went back to filling up cups with soda's.

"Are you okay, J.D?" the way my name rolled off his tongue sent shivers down my spine.

Before I even got a chance to answer, Ben came out and started asking me something, but stopped when he took sight of Matt standing a few feet away from me. I looked behind me and saw Matt glaring at Ben and Ben doing the same to Matt.

"Matt," Ben stiffly said.

"Ben," Matt said through gritted teeth. I took note of his tight grip on the counter and he shifted his gaze to me. "I'll be at the table," he said and walked away.

In the distance I could see Johnny try to make a joke to Matt, but Matt completely ignored him and sat back down in his seat. I looked at Ben and he still had a hard look on his face.

"Be careful around your friend," he sneered and went back into the kitchen.

I blew my bangs out of my face and placed the cups on a platter and carefully walked to the booth. I saw the girl's glaring at the area where I was just standing and gave them a questioning look.

"What's wrong with you guys?"

"How come you didn't tell us that you worked with that asshole?" Nayja asked me.

"Who? Ben?"

"Yes, that asshole," Angelica added.

"Alright, what's going on here? He told me something this morning and then him and Matt here just had a staring contest when he came out to ask me a question,"

"What did he say?" Matt asked me.

"I'm not telling you guys anything until I know what's the problem here,"

"He's had it out for Matt ever since Matt got with Val back in middle school," Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"That's it? Are you serious?"

"There's more to the story than that, but I'm not exactly in the mood to go down Memory Lane with you right now," Matt snapped and climbed out the booth. He pushed past me and stormed out the diner without another look back.

No one said anything for a few more minutes until Brian broke the silence. "So, J.D, did you want to come to my birthday party?"

"When is it?" I brushed my hair out my face.

"July 7th,"

"Isn't that like, 3 weeks away?"

"Yes, but I have to give you time to buy me a present," he smiled from ear to ear.

"Alright," I chuckled.

For the rest of my shift, I tried pushing the conflict between Matt and Ben out of my mind.

XXX

About a week and a half had gone by and I haven't spoken to Matt since. I'd see him in Brian's garage across the street when I left for work, but I always kept my head down so I wouldn't have to meet his gaze. Things with Ben had gone sour too since that day. Conversations between us were limited and never went farther then 'how are you doing?'. He knew I was upset with him for bruising my friendship with Matt and kept his distance at the shop.

Today, I chose to relax with the girl's by going to the mall to shop for Brian's birthday present. I had just finished getting dressed when I heard the doorbell ring. I grabbed my phone, keys, and wallet and ran to the door.

"Hey," I greeted Lynn and shut the door behind me.

"Hey, you ready to go?"

"Yup," I followed her to the car and got into the backseat with Sarah, Nayja, and Angelica.

"Why isn't Sarah sitting up front?" Angelica whined as Lynn drove down the PCH.

"Yeah, she's taller than the rest of us, she should be up front taking up space instead of Raychel," Nayja added.

"I called shotgun first, that's why I'm up here instead of squished back there," Raychel stuck her tongue out at us.

"You better stick that back in if you want to keep it," Angelica warned.

Raychel stuck up her middle finger and Angelica was forced to take it since she was stuck between Nayja and the window.

We made it to the mall in no time and we scrambled out of Lynn's tiny car. Now I know what those clown's in the circus feel like when they're stuffed in those tiny cars.

The first store we went in to was F.Y.E so we could pick up some new CD's that Brian wanted. The group seperated and I walked to the 'M' section of the Rock area. I started looking for Metallica and I spotted one last CD of theirs. My hand, along with someone else's, reached for the CD at the same exact time.

"Sorry, I need to buy this for my friend's boyfriend for his birthday," I said and grabbed the CD out of the person's hand.

"So do I," the person tried grabbing the CD out of my hand but I yanked it back.

I saw that it was a girl a few inches taller than me who was trying to grab Brian's present out of my hands. She had big hazel eyes and bleach blond hair that went down to her shoulders. Standing next to her, I felt average compared to her good looks.

"Maybe you can ask an employee to see if they have anymore of these in the backroom," I suggested and hightailed it back to the girl's who were at the cash register waiting for me.

"Oh my god, this girl nearly went to war with me for this CD," I said and placed the disk on the counter.

"Really? Why?" Sarah chuckled.

"Because it was the last one and I wasn't letting it go," I handed money over to the cashier.

"Where's the girl who was fighting you for it?" Nayja asked.

I took the change back and stuffed it in my wallet and then grabbed the shopping bag off the counter. My eyes scanned the crowded store and I caught sight of a patch of blond hair near the back of the store.

"There she is," I pointed her out.

The girl turned sideways and the girl's gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, let's go," Raychel had grabbed my arm and dragged me out the store.

"Who was that girl?" I asked when I finally got my arm free of Raychel's grip.

"Did she say anything to you?" Lynn asked me.

"Yeah, when we both reached for the CD I grabbed it and told her I needed it for my friend's boyfriend for his birthday, and she said she did too,"

The girl's exchanged looks and Angelica had a pissed off look on her face. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing, let's keep shopping for Brian," Sarah nervously said and dragged me further away from F.Y.E.

I sighed, knowing the girl's were hiding something from me, but didn't press the issue any farther.