The Academy

The guys had the same reaction as Cassie, Audrina, and Claire. Sam’s was a bit stretched though he was trying to pretend like he hadn’t known for the past two months. The other’s faces dropped just as much, if not more than the girls’ and got over it just as fast when they decided to run on the beach. Danny’s idea. Thankfully I was able to convinced them to keep their clothes on.

It was now the morning of New Year’s Eve. Everyone else was still sleeping so I took the quiet as a blessing to make my coffee, grab a book of poetry off the shelf in the library, and sat on the deck watching the sun rise and reflect on the ocean. Poetry was a guilty pleasure of mine. Though I never wrote any, I enjoyed reading it when I could.

Dylan, Nicki, Katie, and Nick would be visiting tonight since they start school up again the day after New Year’s like many public schools. I was kind of nervous for my Beverly Hills friends to meet my Kloss friends. I loved both groups equally even though I only knew the Kloss group for a few months. I knew I shouldn’t have anything to worry about though, they’d all get doing just fine…I hope.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sliding door opening. I turned around to see Devin, tired eyed and messy haired. He rubbed his eyes so they could adjust to the light from the sun.

“Oh, Riley!” he exclaimed. “I’m sorry. I thought everyone was still asleep.”

“It’s fine, Devin,” I laughed and patted the seat next to me. “I’ve been up for about an hour. Thought I’d relax out here for a bit.”

“I can leave if you want me to,” he said, hesitantly sitting on the seat.

“No, no, really it’s fine. I could use the company.”

“I never pegged you as a poetry kind of person. You seem more like a Stephen King fan.”

“I love Stephen King, but poetry is more of a guilty pleasure.” I closed the book and set it on my lap. “I only ever read it up here, in the morning when it’s quiet and the waves are crashing.”

Devin and I were quiet for a while, absorbing the Laguna sounds. The waves crashed and birds sang. The great thing about the Laguna house was that it was far from the hum of heavy traffic. Quiet and relaxing, no rush hour drivers for miles. I laid my head back and closed my eyes.

“You never told me how you liked the set from the club,” Devin broke the silence. “As a music producer’s daughter you have to have an ear for music.”

“You guys were really good. I loved it.” I smiled at him, putting my hand over my eyes to shade them from the harsh rays of the sun. “There’s a working studio downstairs if you guys want to record a demo. I could give it to my dad too.”

“You’d do that for us?” Devin asked, shocked.

“Of course. I know how everything works down there thanks to my dad. We can do it before heading back to Kloss.”

“You’re fucking awesome, Riley,” He laughed.

I shrugged modestly and pulled a little half grin. “I just like helping my friends and finding undiscovered talent.” I yawned a bit; there really is no attractive way to yawn. “I guess I’m a still tired.” I looked at the cup of coffee sitting on the table between Devin and I. It was empty. “The coffee hasn’t worked its magic. I’m going to lie down for a little before everyone else gets up.”

I stood up as did Devin. He followed me into the house without saying a word. I laughed and turned around. “I think I can find the way to my room safely, Dev.”

“Oh sorry. I was just heading back to my room to see if Andy was awake. I didn’t mean to make it seem like I was following you,” he laughed.

“I’m sorry. I’m used to having guys follow me like lost puppies a lot,” I shrugged. “I just figure that’s what everyone is doing. I’m not really out of my “partying state of mind” just yet.”

“Well, I’m going to check and see if Andrew’s awake yet. I’ll see you later Riley.” He walked in front of me and headed into his room. I headed to my room and laid on the bed for a bit. I closed my eyes and took in the soft sound of waves crashing against the beach. Five minutes later I felt three separate jumps on my bed. I groaned but kept my eyes shut.

“Riley!” Cassie sang. “Get up! We wanna go lay out!” I heard Claire and Audrina laugh slightly.

“Then, go ahead,” I laughed turning over away from the direction of her voice. “You don’t need me to hold your hand and take you outside.”

“Oh Riley, come on,” I heard Audrina add. Crap, she was on the side I was now currently facing. “The guys are going to be playing a bit of volleyball on the beach before they have to start the barbecue and your friends come over.”

I sighed and weighed the options. Stay inside, fall asleep to the sound of the waves or watch the guys play volleyball and work on my tan. They’d be shirtless and probably sweaty, they’d also probably make a fool out of themselves while playing, which would be more than entertaining. “Fine. The New York weather was killing my tan anyway.” The three girls squealed and jumped off my bed and ran into their bedroom. They were like little kids the way they got excited about the simplest things around here. Though I couldn’t blame them, we didn’t have this around Kloss. No beach, no sunbathing. Just classes and our movie nights, though I wouldn’t trade the movie nights for the world.

I climbed out of bed and walked over to my closet. It was another walk in but it mostly had bathing suits and shorts, more of my laid back clothing. I mean it was a vacation house, right? Another reason I prefer California to New York. New York was higher end, business, and professional fashion; whereas California was laid back and light clothing, especially if you were from SoCal.

I changed into a bright pink bathing suit and slipped into some cotton short shorts before grabbing a pair of oversized sunglasses and heading outside. The girls had brought four beach chairs from the deck and set them on the beach already and the guys were setting up for volleyball. I sat in between Cassie and Audrina and the volleyball net was right in the middle of my line of sight so I wasn’t on one side more than the other.

It was Danny, Ben, Cam, Sam, and James versus Devin, Andrew, Brent, Jimmy, Jeff, and Zach. Ben was currently serving but couldn’t quite get it over the net.

“Stupid fucking ball!” He exclaimed. “It won’t fucking go over the fucking net!”

“Watch your fucking language, dude!” Devin yelled from the opposite side which caused me to giggle slightly. Ben finally got it over the net, only a few more f-bombs dropped, and the game continued on as normal. It really was never a dull day with these guys.

“Riley!” I heard a yell behind me, causing me and the other girls to turn around in our seats. The guys were too busy yelling at each other to notice. Nicki, Katie, Nick, and Dylan were walking down the steps towards the beach. I stood up and ran over to them, hugging each one. I got a whiff of alcohol on Katie who giggled when I hugged her.

“Katie, are you seriously already drunk?” I rolled my eyes. “It’s not even noon.”

“Oh Riley, you know she’s always been a lightweight,” Nick laughed, grabbing his girlfriend by the waist so she didn’t fall. “This is only after the hour car ride with some champagne.”

“At least she doesn’t have to drive home,” Dylan added. “Now show us the people who took our places over there in New York.”

I walked them over to where we were laying out and playing volleyball, by this point the game had paused to gawk at the new arrivals. This was the moment that made me so nervous wondering if my Kloss friends would be accepted by my old friends.

“Well, laying out, we have Cassie, my roommate, Audrina, and Claire. Then the guys playing volleyball are Sam, Ben, Cam, James, and Danny on that side, Jeff, Brent, Andrew, Devin, Jimmy, and Zach on the other,” I pointed them out individually and they waved. “Guys, these are some of my friends Katie, Nicki, Dylan, and Nick.”

“I guess that’s our cue to go and start preparing for the barbecue?” Brent asked. The guys sighed but nodded, ending their game with a draw and heading inside. Cassie, Audrina, and Claire followed as did I and my Beverly Hill’s friends. I took to preparing the salad at the counter and drinking lemonade. Unlike my old friends, I knew when I should be drinking, just not when to stop. Nicki walked over to me, a glass of water in hand, she always was smart before drinking, keeping hydrated on water.

“Those guys are hot,” She giggled. “Like seriously, some of the hottest guys I’ve met. I was talking to that Ben guy and sure he has a bit of a sailor’s mouth but the accent makes up for it. They don’t make them like that around here.” I just laughed and didn’t say anything. I was used to the way she talked about guys; she was like a guy in the way they talked about girls sometimes. “So, who’ve you gotten with?”

“What?!” I exclaimed, shocked.

“Oh come on, Riley,” She laughed again. “I’ve known you for years and if you haven’t gotten with at least one of these guys, there’s something wrong with all of them.”

“Don’t be silly, Nicki,” I laughed. “There’s nothing wrong with any of them, at least not that I’ve seen so far. Danny’s gang reminds me of you guys but Devin and them, they’re more laid back. It’s the best of both worlds.”

“I know you’ve gotten with someone, Riles,” She sighed, rolling her eyes.

“I go to a boarding school, it’s not like I can pull a guy into a closet to make out with him or go out on to a patio or a hot tub,” I lied. “It’s a bit more secure than a house party.” I wasn’t used to lying to Nicki about my personal business. When I lived here, I told her and Katie everything that happened, or at least what I could remember. Now, it’s like, since I don’t go to school with them anymore, they don’t have to know every piece of my personal life. It was a weird feeling. It’s not that I don’t trust them anymore, I do, I just don’t want them knowing certain things.

“Sure,” She rolled her eyes and gave up, walking over to flirt with Ben more. I wasn’t surprised in her interest in him; she always went for the “bad boy” types.

I finished the salad and put it in the refrigerator. Some of the guys decided they would work on the meat. Chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, any kind of meat that could be put on a grill, which made the guys excited. The girls and I relaxed in the pool while the guys took turns on the grill, going back and forth between that and the pool.

I was floating on my back with my eyes closed. I felt something come up between my legs causing them to go up and my head to go under. I quickly shot up to find it was Danny who then pulled my hands and helped me onto his shoulders. Jimmy had done the same with Audrina.

“Chicken fight!” Cam yelled from the grill as he cooked the ribs.

Audrina and I laughed and grabbed each other by the shoulders. She pushed but I pushed back. Audrina was tiny, but strong. She kept pushing me, making me stumble a few times, but Danny had hold of me. After the last time she pushed me, making me almost fall off, I pushed her harder and down she went, both her and Jimmy with a splash. Danny threw his hands up making me lose my balance and fall off of his shoulders. I laughed as I pushed my wet hair out of my face and gave Danny a high five. Audrina came up to me and gave me a hug and laughed.

“Ben!” I heard Nicki whine. “Come play Chicken with me! We can play against Danny and Riley!” The thing with Nicki is that when she is interested or with a guy, she is extremely possessive and clingy and from what I knew of Ben, he hated that. I wouldn’t be surprised if she sat next to him at dinner.

“Uh, I’m cooking the steaks right now,” He said cautiously. “Maybe after dinner.”

“Hrumph,” She crossed her arms and leaned against the side of the pool. When she wanted something, she wanted it now and if she couldn’t get it, she’d act like a four year old and stand in a corner. I laughed and shook my head as I swam over to Cassie.

“You’re friends are a bit...eccentric…” She said, motioning to Katie and Nick who were dancing drunk on the patio by the pool, beers in hand. They weren’t insanely picky.

“Trust me, I wasn’t as bad as them,” I laughed. “Okay, I was bad, I’ll admit, but they’re crazy when it comes to alcohol though they can make it entertaining. Just don’t let them bother you, they’re not easy to ignore when they’re drunk.”

“I don’t think they’re easy to ignore when they’re sober, either,” She laughed. I shrugged and nodded, agreeing.

“Foods done!” Brent exclaimed from over by the grill. The guys in the pool jumped out while the girls took the logical approach and used the stairs or ladder, everyone wrapping towels around their waist and sitting down at the table. Like I guessed, Nicki took a seat right next to Ben and I could see he was suffering a bit. She never knew when to stop.

Everyone piled food on their plates and pretty much devoured the entire meal. So far, everyone seemed to be getting along good. My California friends were drinking with the guys from Kloss and the girls weren’t but everything seemed to be going smooth.

“Why aren’t any of you guys drinking?” Katie giggled drunkenly, leaning on Nick who had his arm around her. She motioned to Audrina, Claire, and Cassie. “Are you guys like prudes or something?”

“Katie,” I whispered yelled at her. “Does it really matter if they drink or not?”

“Oh come on, Riley,” She giggled again. “There was a time when all you would think about was getting drunk on the weekends. You always questioned what went through the mind of people who didn’t drink.” She took a sip of her umpteenth beer. “I’m surprised that you haven’t shown these three how it’s done yet.”

“Katie, that’s enough for you I think,” I said, taking the beer off her. It’s not that I didn’t like drinking anymore, I just wasn’t into the peer pressure of making people drink. In all honesty, that’s what happened to me. I was pressured by Katie and Nick to drink more and more every time we hung out. It just took me a while to realize what was actually going on.

“When did Riley Williams become a prude?” Nick laughed, taking a swig of his beer.

“Come on, Riley, teach the little girls what drinking is all about,” Nicki added on. She was leaning very close into Ben, who was leaning over in the opposite direction. What she said caused her, Nick, and Katie to laugh. Dylan, I’d noticed, had been strangely quiet all night. Something I was not used to from him. When it came to drinking he was the smartest but he still got loud when he was around us.

“That’s enough!” I exclaimed. “I will not pressure my friends into drinking if they don’t want to. If you can’t deal with the fact that some people just don’t want to drink, then you don’t have to be around them. You can leave.” They all just stared at me like I had three heads, which they could have possibly been seeing. “I’m serious. If you guys don’t like my new friends because they don’t drink, then you don’t have to be around them.”

Dylan was the first to stand up. “Okay guys, obviously, you’re all too drunk to realize what’s going on, but Riley wants us to leave.” My heart sank into my stomach, I didn’t mean to kick them out but I wanted to prove a point. “Come on, I’m the sober one here so I’m the designated driver.” They walked through the house and I heard the front door close.

“Are you okay, Riley?” Claire asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Just a bit disappointed in my old friends.”