Seashells

June 23rd, 2007

The next day, you asked me to hang out. Just me and you.

That was definitely good, especially with the way you treated me the day before. The only thing was we had no idea what to do. And it was kind of awkward too, because I had this feeling that you were upset with me for some reason. I didn't know if it was just me and my paranoia or if you were actually mad. So I was kind of quiet, not wanting to make things worse.

We went to your house. We kinda just sat around in your bedroom making small talk at first, because there was really nothing else.

"Oh yeah, thanks for the birthday present by the way."

"Sexy, wasn't it?"

"Of course," you said. "Nothing better than boxers with ice cream cones all over them."

"You should wear them everyday," I said. "Actually, that'd be kind of gross but you know what I mean."

"I'm wearing them now, actually."

"Oh?"

"See?" You pulled up your shorts a bit so I could see the pink and white pattern (yes, strawberry ice cream). I also noticed that you had extremely white thighs.

"I feel so special now."

"I know, I love having a part of you covering my ass."

After that, some of the awkwardness was gone. It seemed like you weren't mad at me after all. I still kept my guard up, though. At one point, the conversation was slowing and I looked around your room. I could see your butterfly blanket peeking out from under your bed (not a good hiding place, Aden). When I looked at your desk, I saw a white seashell on it.

"Ew," I said, totally interrupting what you were saying (I think it was something about shoelaces and how much you hated them).

"What?"

"That," I said, pointing to the shell.

"What about it?"

"It's gross."

"Why would that be gross?" you said, walking over to pick it up. You held it out to me. "See? Nothing gross about it."

"Seashells are evil."

"Uhh..."

"Don't you remember? I got stabbed by one once."

"Oh, that," you said. "That was like two years ago."

"Yeah, well I hate those fucking things. Why do you even have one in your room anyway?"

You sat back down next to me, causing the bed to move. I almost fell off because of that. "I was going to put this one on a necklace, actually."

"What, and wear it around?"

"Nah, for my mom. This one is kinda plain but I picked it up because it wasn't broken or anything. It had a hole in it already so... yeah."

I took the shell from your hands, running my fingers over the smooth surface and the small circular hole. "Did you do that?"

"No, I found it like that. Haven't you ever looked at a seashell? A lot of them are like this."

"No, I hate them, remember?" I said, handing it back to you.

"Yeah, well that's how most of these things die. Some type of snail or something comes and drills a hole in it. And then eats it."

"How nice," I said. What a great way to die. "I always see you pick up shells, Aden."

"I know, I collect them."

"Yeah, but I see you throw them back on the ground all the time."

You shrugged. "I don't keep every single shell I see, you know."

I laid back on your bed (which was quite comfy, actually). "Butterflies and seashells. What's next, rainbow unicorns and meadows of flowers?"

You rolled your eyes. "They can be used as weapons too. You should know."

"Shut up."

"That's pretty manly, right?"

"...if you say so."

After that, I left your house because it was time for dinner and I couldn't miss that. My mom was making my favorite meal (spaghetti) and I was not going to let Austin have it all.

When I was done with my delicious dinner, Sim gave me a phone call.

"Hello?"

"Cassie!" she said, sounding overly excited.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I have some great news for you. You'll like this."

"So what is it?"

"How would you feel about going on a date tomorrow?" she asked me. "To the tourist side of town."

"...sorry Sim, I'm not into you that way."

I could almost hear her rolling her eyes on the other end of the call. "No, not with me."

"Then?"

"With Aden, of course."

My heart definitely sped up then. But just as I had earlier that day, I kept my guard up. "Wait, what?"

"Well, see, I'm gonna go on a date with Matt tomorrow, and-"

"Since when did you like Matt?" I asked, cutting her off.

She laughed. "He's so hot, even you should know that."

"That doesn't really answer my question, but okay," I said, knowing that she probably wouldn't give me a full answer anyway. "So what's this about me and Aden?"

"Even Matt noticed you two had a little something going on there. So we thought you guys could double with us."

"And you told Aden this?"

"Yeah, and he said that it sounded cool."

"What time and where?" I asked.

"I dunno, let's just meet at my house tomorrow and we can decide from there. Anyway, I gotta go now," she said. "See you tomorrow, Cass."

"Yeah, okay. Bye," I said. I hung up the phone and felt a smile on my face, knowing that I wouldn't be getting much sleep that night. The thought of you just made me too excited to sleep at all.