Keep your friends close and your enemies, closer

The next morning, as I was skipping down the stairs for breakfast, I heard a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it.” Ranger appeared from the kitchen, mouth filled with God-knows-what, and opened the front door.

“Hey, what’s up?” He started having a conversation with a guy I wasn’t able to see- I think it was a guy- on the other side of the door.

“Hey Power Ranger. Who’s that?” I asked, already at the bottom step of the stairs. Ranger turned back to face me, looked at what I was wearing and smirked.

“It’s your boyfriend!” He mocked, opening the door wider to show Kent standing out on the porch, staring at me.

I gaped at him. Oh my God! Ranger is so dead. Here I was, in my pj’s- which was a matching set of pink teddy bears tee and shorts-, and my ‘boyfriend’ was out at the door, staring at me as if I was naked.

“Uhm, hey.” Kent blushed, looking away from me to the floor instead. I couldn’t answer him. I was beyond speechless. Oh, crap. What do I do now?

Ranger rolled his eyes and walked over to me. “Excuse us, Kent.” He dragged me up the stairs. I was still in shock. I followed him up without a word or a fight. He pushed me into my room and told me to dress decently first before going down. With that, he left my room, closing the door behind him.

The sound the door made when it closed woke me up. I shook my head to figure out what had happened. I wanted breakfast so I went down to the kitchen. However, when I was walking down the stairs, someone knocked on the front door. And the person just turned out to be Kent, my ‘boyfriend’, whom just saw me in my jammies.

I took a pillow from my bed and screamed inside of it. I was so embarrassed. Stupid Ranger. I will plot my revenge tonight, and it will not be pretty one. I forced myself into the bathroom for my shower and exited it in fifteen minutes. I picked out a pair of white shorts and a black tee to wear before leaving my room.

As I walked down the stairs, Kent, who was sitting on the sofa, turned around to look at me and stood up. “Hey there, beautiful.” He grinned.

I grinned back. His cheeriness was so contagious today. “Hey yourself, handsome.” And although I said that mostly because Ranger was in the room, he did look handsome today. He was wearing a white button-down shirt and a pair of black Bermudas. So hot.

Whoa. Wait just a boyfriend-madness minute. Did I just say Kent was… hot? I shook my head. This dare is really getting to me.
I reached the living room, where Kent and Ranger were and sat down next to Kent. There was a plate of eggs and pancakes in front of me. “Whose is this?” I asked, looking at Ranger.

He answered, without looking at me. He was busy watching a cartoon show. “Yours. I, being the awesome brother that I am, made it for you.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. Awesome brother, my butt. Which brother would allow his sister to be embarrassed in front of a guy?

I took a bite of my breakfast and turned to face Kent. “I mean this in the nicest way possible, why are you here?”

He smiled at me. “Wanna go to the beach today? Everybody’s going to be there. And the weather seems perfect today. Not too hot or anything.”

“Who do you mean by everybody?”

“You know, Dustin, Summer, Melissa, Olesia and Harvey. I was supposed to pick you and Ranger up.”

Ranger, who had straightened up after hearing Olesia’s name, spoke up. “So what are we doing sitting around here now? Let’s go!”

Kent looked at Ranger all weirdly. “Neither you nor Ashlynn are dressed for the beach you know.”

“I am. I just have to wear my swimming suit.” I argued, finishing the last of my breakfast.

“Okay. So go get ready. You’re done right?” Ranger practically took my plate away from me and dumped them in the kitchen sink.

I rolled my eyes and excused myself to change. I stepped inside my room and decided to wear my pink-and-white striped bikini. I tied my hair in a sporty ponytail before packing up all my stuff for the beach.

“Okay, I’m ready.” I announced as I descended the stairs. Kent walked over to me with a smile on his face and Ranger trailing behind him.

“Hey dude, are we taking your car?” He asked. Kent nodded. We stepped out of the house and walked over to Kent’s car. I heard an audible gasp from Ranger and I turned to see if he was okay. He was my brother, after all.

He was staring at Kent’s car in awe. It was if the car was a fallen angel, halo and all. “Is that ’99 Covette 6-speed yours?”
“Yeah.” Kent replied, looking proud of his car. I rolled my eyes at the both of them. It was just a freaking car. What’s the big deal?

I walked over to the passenger side of the car and sat down. The boys finally woke up, from staring at the car, and made their way inside it.

“Pretty car, by the way.” I complimented Kent, who was fastening his seatbelt.

“Thank you.” He smiled before driving off. I was silently thanking God that he doesn’t drive like my maniac of a brother.

I closed my eyes and rested my head against the headrest, tuning out Kent’s and Ranger’s conversation.

“Ash, wake up hon. We’re here.” Someone gently shook me. I groggily opened my eyes to meet the soft blue eyes of Kent.

“Did I drift off just now? Sorry.” I mumbled, getting out of the car. I looked at the backseat, but I didn’t see my brother. “Kent, where’s Ranger?”

“Oh, he went off to where the rest were. I stayed to wake you up.” He replied, walking towards the right. I kept up with him while looking at my surrounding. The palm trees, which were found on the beach, were swaying slightly from the breeze. The sand was a white-ish color, and felt like silk beneath my feet.

I spotted the rest about a hundred feet or less from where Kent and I were walking. It was far enough for them not to be able to spot us.

I didn’t know what came over me, but I suddenly bumped Kent’s hand. “Sorry.” I murmured.

The first time was an accident. The second and third time weren’t. The fourth time I ‘accidentally’ bumped his hand, he grabbed it and held it. I felt a smile spread across my face. Wait. Why was I smiling? Stop smiling, mouth. Stop it.

Kent and I walked ahead without looking each other. I peeked at him through my peripheral vision and saw that the corners of his lips were twitching up into a smile. I faced in front and squeezed his hand. I swear, my heart almost burst out of my chest when he squeezed mine back.

Wait. What was wrong with me? This was Kent! Why was I feeling this way? Heart, you are one sick organ. I was about to tear my hand away from his, but I couldn't. The others had already seen us. Might as well just get everything done and over with.