She Had Me At Bonjour

“I think we should just go on without them. I won’t hurt if they miss one race.” Honestly, I just wanted to be able to do something without Zack glaring at Marcus and I. I seriously don’t see what his problem is. Marcus is great, he gets along with everyone, and they all like him. Zack just needs to chill out.

But something was a little off with Kara today. She was quiet and stuck to Rian or Zack’s side the whole time. I’ll have to ask about that later.

Everyone else nodded their heads and waited in line so we could all race against each other. When it was out turn, the operator told us we needed to get in groups of two. Jack and Cree both latched onto Angela.

“They said 2, not 3 silly gooses!” Jack tugged on Angela’s arm, releasing her from Cree’s grip.

“Hey! That’s cheating!”

“Sorry, buttercup, but looks like you have to share with Alex!” Jack stuck out his tongue and got in the drivers seat while Angela hopped in next to him, still giggling. Cree looked over at Alex and wincing, walking over to the driver’s seat.

“Hey, who said you were driving?”

“I did. So I’m driving.”

“No, I’m driving. I’m a better driver anyways.”

“Better driver my ass! You’ve never even seen me drive! Besides, you drive like a fucking madman!”

“Just because I drive a little over the speed limit doesn’t-“

“ALEX AND CREE, SHUT UP. Rock paper scissors, right now,” Rian crossed his arms and waited for them.

“Rock paper scissors.”

“Alright, Alex wins. Cree, get in the passenger seat.” Cree huffed and stomped into her seat, clearly pissed off.

“You’re not going, Rian?”

“Nah, I have no partner since Kara’s not here. You go ahead with Marcus.”

I nodded my head and slipped into the driver’s seat, revving the engine. I giggled and did it again.

“You have such a cute giggle,” Marcus smiled at me and I blushed back.

“T-Thanks.”

I focused my attention back to the lights that flashed red, then yellow, then green. I slammed my foot on the pedal, keeping up with Jack and Alex who continuously rammed into each other.

Jack ran into Alex’s car, sending him and Cree flying into a set of tires.

“YOU’LLL NEVR CATCH US ALIVE, COPPERS!” Jack yelled over to Alex. Angela was doing a victory dance in the front seat with Jack.

“What. The. FUCK! What’re you waiting for? CATCH UP TO THEM!” Alex glared at Cree before speeding past me to catch up to Jack. I put more pressure on the gas, passing Alex. I stuck my tongue out at them.

Jack and Angela ended up winning every single race, no matter who was driving. They both drove like maniacs anyways.

We were all laughing (well, Alex was sulking and Cree was glaring at the sulking Alex) and walking back to the table where Zack, Rian, and Kara were. Marcus grabbed hold of my hand and laced our fingers together. Zack glared at our hands and Kara looked up from her conversation with Rian to glare at Marcus. Rian just looked up at him with a disappointed look on his face.

We all must have had a confused look on our faces, ‘cause Rian coughed, breaking the silence. “So who won?”

“Angelalalala and I did! Every single time!”

“Because you guys cheated.”

“And drive like maniacs,” Cree added.

“Whatever. Let’s just play some arcade games.” Kara got up from her seat, grabbing Rian and Zack and dragging them with her to the arcade area.

“Geez Louise, what’s up Kara’s patoot?”

_ _ _

“Jack, how did you get that many prize tickets when all you did was spazz around? You almost knocked out an old man!” I scolded. All he did was throw the balls around, blindfolded. That poor old man has a big welt on his forehead now!

“Skeeball is just my thing! WAZAH! I think I might have enough to get what I want!”

“What do you want, Jackers?” Angela looked at him with her eyes wide, like a little girl.

“That’s a secret, ladybug!”

Jack stopped in front of a big machine with flashing neon lights and Japanese techno music blaring from the speakers. He stuffed his tickets into a red bad and shoved it in Rian’s arms, running over to the machine.

“DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION! LET’S PLAY!” Jack stepped onto the “player 1” dance pad and pulled Alex up with him, pushing him onto the “player 2” pad. They put in 2 tokens and chose beginner mode. Jack got to choose the first song, so he scrolled through and chose “Love Shine”. When it started, Alex looked like he was having a lot of trouble, even on an easy level. Jack on the other hand, was doing it no problem.

“FUCK IT I CAN’T DO THIS SHIT!” Alex stormed off the pad in the middle of the song. No one stepped up, so I jumped on the pad, easily finishing the song with Jack.

“You can pick the second song, Kryshie!”

“Alright, but I’m changing the level.” I went to my side of the menu and changed from beginner to intermediate and changing the speed from 1 to 3.

I was scrolling through the songs when I came across one of my favorites to dance to, “Butterfly”. I selected it and the music started immediately.

Jack was having a little bit of trouble, but he managed to keep up, even though he was a level below and 2 speeds slower. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I stomped my feet to the beat of the music, hitting most of the notes with either a “Great” or “Perfect”. When the song ended, I was covered in a thin layer of sweat. I took off my hoodie and handed it to Cree, who folded it over her arm.

We went through the last song perfectly and high-fived each other. We were both sweating like pigs by now and fought for the water fountain.

“Duuuuude! You still got it!” Angela gave me a hug and moved onto Jack.

“Just like high school, baby!” Cree handed me my jacket and I smiled at her.

Everyone else stood around with an impressed expression on their face.

“What? I was really good at this game in high school. I liked to dance.”

I felt a pair of arms snake around my waist. I looked up and saw Marcus standing behind me, a smile of his lips. I put my hands over his and heard his voice whisper in my ear.

“So that’s why you were such a great dancer at the party.”

I blushed about 10 shades of red and playfully slapped his hand, which was resting on my stomach. I could see Alex, Cree, Jack, and Angela giving me this weird perverted look. Zack, Kara, and Rian on the other hand, were NOT happy. If looks could kill…

“Yo, what crawled up your asses and died?” Alex pointed to the 3 and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s nothing,” Kara said through clenched teeth. From the corner of my eye, I could see Marcus give Kara a look like he was victorious.

_ _ _

“Let’s all have a sleepover at our house! Please?! We could all go swimming tomorrow to beat the heat!” Jack got on his knees and pouted to Alex. He put his hand on his chin and started stroking his imaginary beard.

‘I don’t know. I guess we could discuss this over a cup o’ tea. Shall we?”

“You guys are such dorks. We have nothing to wear.”

“Borrow Kara’s extra clothes! She leaves stuff at our house all the time!” We all nodded and drove to the boy’s house. We all changed into pajamas and sat around the living room, blankets draped all around us.

“We should so play truth or dare.” Alex grinned from ear to ear, looking around for any protests.

“That’s so middle school, Alex.” Cree scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Alright, it’s settled. We’re playing.” Alex pulled a bottle from somewhere and set it inside the circle. “I’ll go first.”

He spun the bottle and it landed on me. “Krysha, I dare you to… kiss Zack.”
_ _ _

Whoa. That was the weirdest game I’ve ever played. It was all dare, no one asked for truth. All the dares ended up being kissing, except for one that Cree had to do. She had to run around the neighborhood in her bra and panties. Jack and Angela kissed, just a small one, nothing drastic, but it was probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. They both became really embarrassed and shy.

Alex kissed just out every girl except Kara, and he also kissed Jack and Rian. Jack kissed every single person there except Marcus, who wasn’t playing. Angela kissed Jack, Alex, and I; and Cree kissed everyone, but she got really into it with Alex. Jack of course, decided to be a major cockblock. Rian only kissed a few of us, he wasn’t really awake Zack kissed about 3 or 4 of us. I kissed everyone there, but when I kissed Zack, oh my god. It was more then what it should’ve been, much to Marcus’s dismay. He looked pretty pissed afterwards.

“BED TIME CHILDREN!” Jack skipped around us, clapping and yelling obnoxiously.

“One, you’re the child. Two. We can’t go to bed when you’re being a child. So shut up.” Alex stuck out his arm when Jack came skipping and he tripped, falling on his cheek.

“OW! Alex! You’re such a-a-a A COTTON-HEADED NINNYMUGGINS!”

“I’m soooo hurt.”

“You should be!” Jack cuddled into his blanket and “hmphed”, closing his eyes and falling asleep. Soon everyone followed suit. I thought I was the only one awake, but I heard someone sit up. I looked over my shoulder to see Zack sitting up, staring at his hands in his lap. I turned around and lay there. I didn’t realize I was staring until Zack spoke up.

“You know, Krysh, I’m not the only one who thinks you could do better the Marcus. Rian and Kara are on the same page as me.”

“It seems like you guys are keeping something about him from me. What’s going on?”

“I- uh, shouldn’t say. You’ll find out.”

“I have a right to know what’s going on when it involves my boyfriend.”

“So now he’s your boyfriend, huh?”

“Zack, I’m too tired to argue. Just save it,” I snapped. I turned back around and shut my eyes, sleep overwhelming me within minutes.