I Love Your Bubblegum Smile

Summer sucked.

It wasn’t summer in general, but rather the long, scorching summer days.

The days of summer where you holed up in your bedroom, with the air condition on maximum only clad in a tank top and shorts, because you feared that if you wore anything less revealing, you would die of third-degree burns.

Since Jack and some unknown girl currently occupied the bunk area and the air-conditioner on the bus was broken, Harley felt as though she was about to die.

She was currently curled up on the couch, watching black-and-white reruns and eating a bag of popcorn.

In fact, she was so occupied by the colorless programme, she didn’t even notice when the door of the bus opened, revealing a tired looking Rian and Alex.

“You look attractive,” Alex chuckled, stopping to gesture at her outfit of soffee shorts and stained v-neck.

That was what heat did to her. When it was hot, Harley sweated, and the sweat caused her clothes to stick to her petite frame, providing a rather unflattering image.

The temperature was in the triple digits, and sunlight seemed to drill through the almost non-existent clouds to make the bus even warmer.

Rian just glanced at her, before retreating deeper into the bus.

Ever since her ‘date’ with Travis, Rian had been avoiding her.

At first, Harley was grateful, if not a least bit irritated, at Rian’s lack of reaction. After four days of the cold shoulder however, Harley began to become aggravated towards his infantile behaviour.

Rian was the older sibling; therefore he should at least act somewhat near his age, and not have to resort to childish games in order to make her feel guilty. Admittedly, it was working, but Harley had a large conscience and Rian was using that to his advantage.

“Don’t I always?” Harley retorted, casting a glance towards the direction that her brother had fled, before resting her eyes back on the TV.

She didn’t even notice when Alex fell in place next to her, taking up a fair share of the couch space.

“That’s questionable,” Alex smirked, before sticking his hand in the popcorn bag and stuffing his face with a fistful of popcorn.

As he reached for seconds, Harley groaned, before smacking his hand away in disgust.

“It’s my popcorn, Gaskarth.”

“It’s my bus, Dawson.”

“It’s our bus, dear.”

“I’m the lead singer, so it revolves around me, honey.”

“I can't believe you just said honey."

"I'm a man of surprises."

"Whatever,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her attention back to the television.

Alex let out a small victory cry, before dunking his hand in the bag of popcorn once again.

“So...” he broke the silence, examining her profile from the side, “what are you doing today?”

She cast him a sideways glance, chortling slightly, “This.”

“Seriously?!” Alex frowned, “Shouldn’t you be doing something productive...like cleaning?”

“I’m quite comfortable here, thanks.”

“You’re never going to get a guy by sitting on your ass like that,” Alex smirked.

“You’re never going to get a girl by insulting her,” Harley smirked back.

“I’ve had more girlfriends than you have, so let me be the judge of that.”

“I’m not a lesbian Alex, I don’t have girlfriends. I have boyfriends.”

“You could’ve fooled me.” Harley let out an insulted gasp, “So you’re coming then?”

“What?” she glared at him, taken aback. “I’m not going anywhere with a jerk like you!”

“We’re getting ready to stop in Dallas...see you in fifteen minutes!” He laughed, before grabbing the last handful of popcorn and slamming the bathroom door shut, leaving Harley to seethe on the couch all alone.

__________________________________________

Twenty minutes later, Harley was struggling to catch up to a fast-paced Alex.

Dressed in a blue and white plaid shirt, skinny jeans and Nikes, Alex confidently strutted down the road.

“Slow down!” Harley shouted, bursting into a full-out run to keep up with Alex’s long strides.

“That’s funny,” Alex laughed, making no attempt to slow down, “usually girls tell me to go faster.”

‘You’re sick,” Harley scowled.

“You know you like it,” Alex smirked, his big brown eyes twinkling.

“In your dreams,” Harley scoffed, attempting to walk faster than Alex.

“Every night,” Alex cackled, before coming to a stop in front of a chain-link fence that seemed to stretch on for miles.

“Where are we?” Harley scanned the area, attempting to find a trace of civilization and finding none.

The desolate space contained a few patches of ragged bushes, a narrow unpaved road leading up a steep hill, and plains of dark green grass sprouting from beneath her feet. She wouldn’t be surprised if tumbleweed blew past.

“It’s a surprise,” Alex mumbled, kicking off his shoes.

“What are you doing?” Harley asked, watching as he rolled up the sleeves of his plaid shirt. Upon receiving no response, Harley tried again, “Alex?”

He didn’t say anything, but instead clung onto the intersecting wires of the fence, his toes barely fitting in the empty diamonds of free space. He looked around quickly, before hoisting himself further up onto the fence.

He gripped onto the thin wall of metal like a spider, scaling the fence as though it was a barrier between heaven and hell. Harley’s eyes widened upon realizing what Alex was doing.

He was trespassing!

“Alex! Get down from there!” Harley called, realizing that he was already higher than she could reach.

He was hoisting himself over now, carefully crawling down towards the ground of the other side.

Alex just laughed, before jumping off and landing on his feet. He cocked an eyebrow, as though to challenge her, before smirking. “Your turn.”

“You can’t be serious,” Harley laughed, the sound coming out as a strangled squeak. Alex just shrugged, watching her slightly.

Realizing that this was getting nowhere, Harley kicked off her worn sneakers and sent a pointed look towards Alex. He watched her with a small smile on his face, and crossed his arms over his chest.

She carefully maneuvered her feet into the small holes, her fingers gripping the wire. She began climbing upwards, as she had seen Alex doing before.

She almost slipped, but managed to make her way over to the other side without any physical harm done. Alex nodded approvingly, before gesturing for her to follow him.

“I swear, if you’re dragging me into a dark corner to rape me, I will scream,” Harley warned, surveying the area uneasily before picking up her pace.

“Chill, we’re almost there,” Alex laughed, before turning a corner.

Harley followed, and her eyes widened immediately afterward.

Laughter bubbled from her lips, and she found herself smacking her hand over her mouth to silence herself.

Large stepping stones littered the floor, decorated with different colored hand prints, obviously from an elementary school. They trailed across the ground, leading up to a giant jungle gym.

Worn brick-red paint covered the railings, while vibrant hues like canary yellow and electric blue dotted the slides and swings. The chains rattled together in the barely-existent breeze, and Harley found herself getting excited very quickly.

“A playground?!” she giggled, “you brought me to a playground?!”

“Of course,” Alex nodded, taking off towards the see-saw.

She watched him cautiously, before following. The sun beat down on their backs, and they both felt like small children getting ready for a day of fun.

“I don’t think it can hold your weight, Gaskarth...” Harley watched as Alex mounted the right side of the see-saw.

It hissed at the sudden addition of weight, and sunk towards the sandy floor in defeat.

“It’s all about balance,” Alex smirked, before nodded towards Harley. “Are you joining me or what?”

Harley walked towards the see-saw, her feet sinking deeper into the sand, before mounting the see-saw as well.

The tiny movement shot Alex up in the air, as Harley plummeted downwards. It was only a small distance, even though it seemed like miles when they were smaller, but it still sent a rush of adrenaline through both Alex and Harley.

Both of them sat in comfortable silence as they rode the see-saw, enjoying their time away from the stress of touring and enjoying their time together. Finally, the see-saw came to a halt. Harley slowly looked down to see Alex’s feet planted on the sand.

“Want to go on the swings?”

Harley nodded wordlessly and watched as Alex got off the see-saw and walked towards her, holding out his hand.

“What are you doing?” Harley eyed his hand skeptically.

“Helping you up,” Alex said, as though he was speaking to a child, “I’m not completely heartless you know.”

“I know,” Harley murmured, though a few minutes before she was thinking quite the opposite.

She grabbed his hand as he pulled her up, and she felt something in her stomach.

She gotbutterflies nauseous when Alex touched her!

They sat side by side on the swings, their feet awkwardly skimming the ground.

“We should swing together,” Harley noted, staring up at the blue sky.

It was bright blue, like something described in a picture book, with bright white clouds contrasting greatly. Alex turned to stare at her, taking in her long dark hair that had been pulled into a ponytail moments before, and the small smile playing on her lips.

“In time, I mean.”

“Okay,” he said simply, biting down on his lower lip while gripping the metal chains.

“On the count of three?”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

Harley squealed, as she kicked off the ground.

She hadn’t been on a swingset in a while, and it took her some time to figure out how to get higher. She tucked her legs under as she recoiled, and cast a glance at Alex who was in the same position. He flashed her a smile and a wink, before swinging higher.

Soon, she was swinging back and forth, like a pendulum, feeling adrenaline. Her dark hair framed her face as it blew in the breeze, strands of hair whipping around her face.

Laughter filled the air as Alex and Harley swung side-by-side. No other words were exchanged, and that was enough.

She smiled and pushed harder, the sun reflecting in her eyes.

It was almost as if she was flying, and she loved it.