The Balcony Scene

I had my hair up in a high ponytail, my oversized sunglasses sitting at the bridge of my nose. I was wearing one of Jaime's tank tops that fit me just right, and my swimsuit shorts. It wasn't too hot out today so that was good. Everything was nice about today. Except for being alone with Vic for a few hours.

"Hand me that pole thing?" Vic asked, pointing at some pool thing.

"This one?" I asked, making sure. He looked back up and nodded so I walked over to hand it to him. "Here you go."

"Thanks." He replied. I gave him a 'mhm' then walked away back to the lounge chair.

Vic walked over to me, after a few more minutes of work, sitting at the lounger next to me. I pulled my sunglasses off, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"What?" He asked. "I'm tired. I'm taking a break!"

I clicked my tongue at him, shaking my head.

"What?" He asked again. I just shook my head, smirking. "What!"

"It's just.. You know, I bet Mike could get this done without taking a break." I said. He was always teasing me, so I guess it was finally my turn.

"That's not fair! Mikes bigger and has more energy than me."

"And stronger."

"Mike is NOT stronger than me!" He shot back, defensively. He stood up and went back to work on the pool making me burst into laughter. "Awh, what now, Conrad?!"

"Nothing." I laughed some more. "You just get so damn offensive. It amuses me."

"You're a bitch." He shook his head, smiling slightly. After a couple minutes he stood back up, stalking over to me again.

"What, Vic?" I asked, but he just continued walking to me. "Go away and clean or something."

Vic got closer, scooping me up from the lounger easily and walking to the side of the pool. "Don't you fucking dare, Vic! Don't do it!"

"Yeah? Or what?" He said with the biggest grin on his face.

"Or... or I'll fucking murder you!" I said trying to sound threatening.

"Ehh.," Vic started, shaking his head. "I doubt that. "He said, letting go of my body. But me being smarter than that, I grabbed hold of his arm, taking him in with me.

I touched the bottom of the pool and resurfaced soon afterwards. I spun around when I heard Vic surface seconds after me.

"You're such an ass!" I told him, swimming over to the edge of the pool.

"Awh, Vienna, come on! Swim with me! It's hot and we have nothing better to do."

I thought about it for a second. Hell, what bad could it do of I swam for a bit? It was hot anyways. So I hopped back in. "There. Happy?"

Vic shook his head. "Nope." He then started walking a bit closer to me, pulling his arms back, then thrusting them forward hard, splashing my face. "But I am now." He laughed, most likely at my expression.

"You dick!" I exclaimed, repeatedly splashing him back. He retaliated by grabbing a nearby pool noodle and started hitting me with it. "Hey! That's not fair!" I tried grabbing the noodle from him but he was too strong. So instead, I grabbed a water gun and started spraying him with it, though that did little damage. Throwing the gun to the side, I swam towards Vic, jumping up on his back and dunking his head under the water.

"Hey!" He took a deep breath of air once he resurfaced. "That Is attempted murder!" He said and pointed his finger at me accusingly, making me laugh harder.

"Says the guy beating me with a pool noodle! That's abuse!" I said then splashed him again. He started swimming towards me so I backed up, hitting my back on the pool wall. "Don't you dare dunk me under, Vic!"

But he kept getting closer. "Yeah? What are you gonna do?" He had on a devious looking smile, making me wish I could back up some more.

"You wanna die today?" When I thought he was about to push me under, I swung my right arm back, punching him on his bare chest.

He chuckled. "Was that supposed to hurt?!" He asked. So I swung my left arm at him, then my right, then my left again. I kept going until Vic finally grabbed hold of both my wrists. "You're not strong enough to hurt me, Vienna." He smirked.

I stuck my tongue out at him childishly, making him laugh. His eyes looked at my left wrist quickly then looked back again, taking note in what he saw. Shit. My bracelets had fallen down, revealing my thick cuts.

I immediately pulled away looking away from him. He saw. My darkest secret. The thing not even Jaime knew about. I wanted to leave right away.

After a few moments of embarassing silence, he asked,"Vienna.. why..?" He said, looking down at me

"It doesn't matter, Vic. I don't need you judging me on my biggest secret. It's not important." I said not meeting his gaze.

"Vienna... I would never judge you on something like this." He said, genuinely.

"And why not?" I scoffed. "Any normal person would." I said, and tried walking away from him, but of course he wouldn't just let me leave.

"I wouldn't do that." He told me, trying to get me to listen. "Hey, I've cut before too, okay? I get it." He said.

"You' have?" I asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just you're way of dealing with stuff, right?" He said, trying to make me feel better about it. I didn't respond. I didn't know how to. "I won't tell anyone." He said reading my worried expression.

"Thank you." I said softly. Still trying to avoid his intent look on me.

After a few silent seconds, I looked up to see his eyes still focused on me. His eyes traveled down to my lips, and then back up to my eyes. My breath quickened. Vic placed a hand softly on my cheek and started slowly leaning down. My heart was going faster and faster.

Just as his bottom lip met mine very slightly, I pulled away, and blurted, "I should go."

This seemed to snap Vic out of his trance. With a shake of his head and a couple blinks of his eyes, he pulled back and said, "yeah... I uh..I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

I nodded my head, shakily and got out of the pool. I grabbed my bag and my board and started heading to the front of the house. I looked back at Vic before I turned the corner, and saw that he was still in the same spot I left him, in the pool.

I felt uneasy a little ways down the block, so I stopped, kicking my board up to my hands.

I was seriously confused. I like Jaime. I want to be with Jaime. So why didn't I pull away from Vic sooner? Maybe, just maybe it was a heat of the moment thing. A bit of the old me shinning out. Because the old me would've attacked Vic's lips if ever given the chance. But that can't be the new me. I had to stay faithful to Jaime because... Because I think I might be falling for him.

I shook the thought out of my head. I, Vienna Conrad, did not and will not ever fall in love. It's a stupid myth you only find in the pages of a children book. And this was the real world. Nothing is ever 'happily ever after', so why even bother?

My mind wandered back to Vic. How the water cascaded down his tone chest. How his long hair stuck to the side of his face. The soft touch of his hand and how it gave me goosebumps. The way he bit his bottom lip right before he leaned down to try kiss me...

My train of thought was interrupted by a voice.

"Hey, you okay there?" He asked, his voice concerned. I turned around to see a guy that looked my age with short brown hair, and blonde covering the front of his hair. He eyed me oddly. I didn't blame him though, given my hair and clothes were fully soaked.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry, this must be your house." I looked to the suburban style, two story complex. "I'll just be leaving then." I put my board down and was about to leave but then he started talking again,

"Hold up." He said, walking up to me as I stopped to turn to face him. He extended his arm to me. "In Alex. Alex gaskarth."

I shook his hand. "I'm Vienna, my last names not important though. But I probably should be going before my dad flips on me again." I layed my board back down. "Nice meeting you Alex. See you around." I saluted him before kicking my leg forward, pushing me down the street.

"You too Vienna!" Alex called to me. I looked back at him for a second and waved again before continuing my way back home.