Oh Yeah...It's Hot

I pulled up to Sam and Emily’s and got out of the car. There was a lot of commotion coming from inside so I hurriedly walked in to see what was going on. Emily was ordering Quil and Embry to take a couple things out to the car and Jake was helping Sam with something on the back porch. “Hey Em.” I said walking over to her.

“Hey!” she said giving me a hug.

“Have you seen Paul?” I asked hugging her back.

“He went to the store for me with Jared and Seth.” She replied.

“You sent three werewolf boys to the store?” I laughed.

“They were the only ones who weren’t doing anything except sitting on their butts so I put them to work.” She said.

“Oh well do you need help with anything?” I asked. She looked around and thought for a minute.

“Um…oh would you mind going to get paper plates, cups and eating utensils? I forgot to have them get some.” She said.

“No problem. Be back in a few.” I said.

“Oh, here’s some cash.” She said stopping me. I took it and walked back out to the car and went to the store to get the stuff she needed. As I was about to pull up to the store I saw Paul, Jared and Seth loading Jared’s van up with food. I pulled up next to them and rolled down my window. “Hey sexy thang. How much would you charge for a night with you?” I asked winking at Paul. The guys laughed and walked over to me. Paul bent down and gave me a kiss.

“For you…it’s free.” He said.

“It better be.” I laughed. “You guys get everything?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think we did. What are you doing?” he asked.

“Errand run. Need to get plates, cup and utensils.” I answered.

“Fun. Want me to go with you?” Paul asked.

“If you want.” I replied.

“You guys got this?” he asked Jared and Seth.

“Yeah. Hey was Kim at Sam and Emily’s yet?” Jared asked.

“Uh not that I saw. If not she is probably still at home trying to think of what to wear.” I laughed as Paul got in the passenger seat.

“Oh Geez. Ok, see you later.” I waved to them and drove to the store. We got out and headed side. Paul got a cart and I got in the back allowing him to push me through the store. We got to the paper plates and I loaded the cart up with three packs that had a hundred of them. There wasn’t anymore room unless I got out so I hopped out and put four packs of cups in with them then got seven or eight boxes of forks, spoons and plastic knifes. Every time I would reach for something I would get distracted by the ring on my left hand and smile. I would look at the ring then look at Paul who would be looking at me.

“Why do you keep looking at me?” I asked shyly.

“I love to watch you smile when you look at the ring.” He said smiling.

“It’s just so beautiful.” I said standing on the back of the cart while he pushed it to the check out line.

“A beautiful ring for an extremely beautiful person.” I smiled and leaned over to him and kissed him.

“Thank you.” I smiled when I pulled back. I got off and started putting everything on the conveyor belt to be rung up. The total was $105.45. I pulled the money out of my pocket and handed the cashier the money and grabbed the bags into my hands, Paul doing the same thing. We walked back out to the car and put the bags in the trunk.

“Shot gun.” He yelled closing the trunk.

“Driver.” I replied.

“Opposed to?” he laughed getting in.

“Back seat drive.” I answered.

“You are such a nerd.”

“I know. But you love me anyways.” I said starting the car.

“Prove it.” He said cockily. I raised up my left hand and flashed him the ring.

“That’s the proof.” I replied.

“Yes it is.” He winked at me. I smiled and pulled up to Emily and Sam’s. We got out and walked into the house where Emily was packing stuff up.

“Carry this out to the van.” She ordered Jared. He grabbed the stuff and carried it out to the van.

“Need help Em?” I asked while Paul went out back to where Sam and Jake were.

“Uh, no. Just gotta get to the beach and set up. The guys are gonna set up the bon fire so we get to fix everything else.” She said.

“Sounds like a plan.” I smiled. The guys ran over to the beach to set the fire pit up while Emily and I drove the cars to the beach that had the supplies in them. Once we got there Seth, Quil and Embry helped up carry everything over to the area that we were sitting everything up at. After about an hour we had everything ready. People started showing up and they brought some stuff like extra hot dogs, marshmallows and stuff for smores, and some drinks too. Kim showed up with Leah, Sue, Claire, and Billy about ten minutes later. I ran over to them and hugged them except Leah since she wondered off. “You ready to party?” I asked Kim as I wrapped my arm around her waist from beside her.

“You know it!” she yelled. Billy and Sue made their way over to Sam and Emily while Claire ran over to Quil. She was so cute. Kim and I went over to where Paul and Jared were finishing up the fire. It was almost six and the entire senior class was at the beach and so was some of their family. I stuck around Paul for a while since Jason kept staring at me.

“Who wants to play some ball?” one of the guys from our class asked as he tossed a football into the air.

“I am so game.” I said.

“You can play football?” Paul asked.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“Think you will win?” he asked teasingly.

“Well yeah. Girls are better at everything.” I answered.

“Oh really?” he asked smiling.

“Like my shirt says ‘Boys are ok but…GIRLS ARE BETTER’.” I replied.

“How about we do boys vs. girls.” he said.

“Is that a challenge?” I asked. Several girls walked over to me and some guys walked over to Paul.

“You bet it is.” He smiled.

“Ok, we’re on.” I said sticking my hand out. He grabbed it and pulled me into him.

“May the best MAN win.” He winked.

“You mean woman.” I replied removing my hand from his. Jason was playing on there team which gave me a weird feeling. The girls and I walked to one end of the beach while the guys walked to the other. The guys took their shirts off showing off their tan abs. The started flexing their muscles and showing off. “They are such show offs but we got more to show off.” I said looking at the girls. I started to take off my shirt and the girls followed revealing our bikini tops. The guys stopped and started whistling at us. We had the ball so we got to start the game. We ran down the beach toward the guys and I passed the ball to one of the girls. She passed it to someone else who passed it to me. I ran toward them and Paul made a move to grab me but I flipped over him and kept running. Just before I got to the end zone I was tackled from behind. My arms shot forward and I fell to the sand with the person who tackled me. I rolled over and saw Paul grinning at me.

“Oh, so close.” He said pecking me on the lips.

“Oh, look up.” I said keeping my hands above my head. He looked up and a frown replaced his smiled. “Oh.” I said standing up. “TOUCHDOWN!!!!!” I yelled throwing the ball to the sand and started dancing around. The girls ran over to me and cheered while the guys helped Paul up. He looked at me and shook his head smiling. I smiled but then stuck my tongue out at him. The parents and the rest of the seniors were watching us play. The girls and I ran back to the other end and got ready again. We played for about another hour getting three more touchdowns. The guys scored five touchdowns but we ended up getting the last one ending the game in a tie. Both teams admitted that we were both good at it but we girls knew we were better because it’s in our nature to be better at everything. The sun was starting to set and I couldn’t help but think about my mom and dad as I sat on the sand by the water. I thought about they wasn’t here for graduation, how they won’t be here for my wedding, when my kids are born, nothing. I knew my dad intended to be here but he couldn’t be. My mom, I didn’t know anything of her. I didn’t know if she wanted to be here, if she ever thought about me, or if she even remembered me. She could have been here if she wanted to but she wasn’t. I looked down at the sand in front of me and let a tear slide down my cheek. When I heard someone walking over to me I wiped the tears from my face and straightened up.

“Hey cuz, what’re you doing over here by yourself?” Jake asked sitting next to me.

“Oh uh just thinking.” I said trying to hide the sadness in my voice. Unfortunately Jake knew me better than that.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Dad, my mom, how they couldn’t be here to see any of the most important days of my life. I know dad didn’t have a choice but my mom does but she chooses to stay away. She didn’t wanna see me graduate, she don’t wanna see me get married, had kids, or anything. She left me to rot without someone I can have helped me get ready for graduation, my wedding, kids birthdays everything.” I said starting to cry.

“Destiny, you are better off without her. You have turned into an incredible girl. Everyone here sees it, especially Paul. I know that your dad can’t be here for your wedding but if you want I’m sure Billy would like to go down the aisle with you or I can walk you down.” He said putting an arm over my shoulder. He had always been a great cousin to me; we were more like brother and sister than cousins.

“Sometime I just feel like…she’s gonna come back and everything will be ok. She will come home, we will do mother daughter stuff, and everything a mother is supposed to do. But other times I feel like I’m not good enough for her.” I cried. He pulled me tighter to him and I sobbed into his chest.

“Destiny, you’re too good for her. She is the one who is missing out on a great girl. When she left you guys my mom was ready to find her and kick her ass for doing that to Tyler and you.” He said. I sniffled and laughed lightly.

“Thanks Jake. You’ve always been a great cousin.” I said sitting up.

“Well you’ve always been there for me when I needed you especially when my mom died; you were even there when you lived in LA.” He said.

“Well that’s what cousins are for.” I smiled. He pulled me into a hug and I hugged him back. “Love you Jake.” I said.

“Love you too Dest.” He replied. We pulled apart and sat on the sand talking till Paul came and got me. Jake followed us over to the fire and we started eating. While we ate the seniors all sat in a circle and told each other what our plans for the future were. When it was Jason’s turn he didn’t say anything he just stared at me and passed. It was really awkward so I cowered toward Paul. It was finally Paul’s turn to tell about his future.

“My plans are to marry Destiny, have some little rascals, work with Jake in his garage and living happily ever after.” He said looking at me.

“Ok, my turn I guess. My plans are to find a job somewhere close, uh marry Paul, open my own clothing business and have kids.” I said holding Paul’s hand. It moved around the circle till we were done. There were garage lights that provided light in areas that weren’t around the fire. We played a few more games like volleyball, chicken, and freeze tag. We even sang some campfire songs by the fires. I had gotten a professional camera to take pictures with and I had Emily take a picture of all of us standing behind the fire but in front of the ocean. I would send everyone a copy when I got them printed. We had gotten our yearbooks a few days ago so we signed each others yearbooks with the usual stuff you would find in a senior yearbook. ‘Don’t change.’ ‘Good luck in the future.’ ‘Stay in contact (the person’s number)’ Stuff like that. I tried to stay away from Jason as much as I could. “Before we leave how about we sing the senior song.” I suggested. We all gathered in a circle and held hands.

When we finished everyone hugged and there were a few tears in people’s eyes. Including some guys but the girls were definitely crying. When it was time to leave nobody said ‘good-bye’ because we would be seeing each other again. Everyone left except the pack, Kim, Billy, and Sue. Claire had fallen asleep so we cleaned everything up. Once everything was picked up and the fire was put out we all headed home. “See you guys tomorrow.” I said before getting in the car. Once Paul got in the driver’s seat he pulled off and headed to the house. I was so exhausted that once we got into the house I collapsed onto the couch. Paul made his way over and sat next to me. I lend up against him and he put his arms around me. “I can’t believe we did it. We finally graduated.” I said.

“I know.” We were quiet for a few minutes till I spoke up.

“So…when do you wanna start?” I asked. He looked down at me with the goofiest confused look on his face.

“Start what?” he asked.

“Planning the wedding.” I giggled.

“Oh, uh when ever you want to start.” He replied.

“Ok well do you wanna get married sooner or later?” I asked.

“I don’t care…as long as I marry you.” He replied. I reached up and touched the side of his face gently.

“Aww…” I replied. He bent his head down and placed his lips on mine. “Let’s go to bed. I am so tired.”

“Do we HAVE to go to bed?” he asked.

“I’m tired.” I wined.

“Fine but you owe me.” He said.

“Whatever you say.” I said getting off the couch.
We made our way upstairs and took off my shorts. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a burnt out light bulb.