the way you'd love her

S E V E N

BELLE

I was currently in the passenger seat of Gage's truck. He had gotten it for his seventeenth birthday, and he had been driving me everywhere. I have my license, but I don't have a car. I've never asked for one. I live in a nice house and my mother has a successful job as an attorney. She is lucky to be able to work from home most days. But with her saving up for my college tuition and paying bills...I don't know. It's never been a priority, because I've always had Gage.

Speaking of Gage, he's the one who helped me pick up my outfit. I had on a pair of Jean shorts and my black bikini top. I brought a hoodie to throw on for the bonfire, because Gage warned me it would get chilly. He had also helped me pick out some jewelry. I had on the bracelet he bought me for my sixteenth and some random rings I owned. I also kept the makeup look simple, with water proof mascara and chapstick. I slipped in and out of my birkenstocks, nervous.

I should not have said anything. I have a bad feeling about tonight, seriously.

"The only thing that will go wrong is that you will have too much fun." Gage paused. "That made better sense in my head." I giggled at his attempt of encouragement and took his words in. He's so right. Nothing will go wrong tonight. Maybe I'll miss a hit in volleyball or something, but that's it. That will be the worst.

Gage put his right hand on my thigh, trying to comfort me. I know he was just being nice. I know he had good intentions. But I couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like if those fingers just kept traveling up. I almost audibly gasped. My gosh. I needed a serious chill pill, because this little obsession was getting out of hand.

After what felt like an hour, we reached Carson's beach house. Wow was the only word that came to mind. This place was huge.
"Wait till you see the backyard." Gage smirked, as if he could read my mind.

If he actually could read my mind, I would probably die.

We walked in together around the back. I hope he had asked Carson that I could come. Oh my gosh, was I totally crashing this party? Nerves ran through me, and I think Gage could feel it. He put his hand on my back.

"Are you a mind reader?" I asked suspiciously.
"No." He laughed loudly.
"Good. I think we've made the rounds, time to get going!" I said cheerily, spinning us around.
"Not so fast, Belley. Cmon, let's hang. You have nothing to worry about when you're with me."
"What if I'm not enjoying myself?" I ask.
"Say...pool."
"What?" I furrowed my brows. I stood right around the corner to his backyard, next to the trash bins that were filled with empty boxes of truly's and coors light. We were currently one step away from being seen.

"If you ever need feel the urgent need to go home, say pool. I'll make something up and we'll dip. Cool?"
"You're the best, Gager." I smiled.
"So I've heard." He winked, grabbing my hand and walking in front of me to Carson's backyard.

Behind him, my mouth dropped. Holy crap. This place amazed me! Windows filled the house and the backyard was incredible. After the grassy area, you're met with beige colored sand that leads all the way to the beach. Wow. His parents must be freaking billionaires to afford a place like this. On the sand was a volleyball net, where almost everyone was playing a game. That's why they hadn't noticed us yet. I grabbed Gage's hand nervously. He gave it a big squeeze and then shouted out.

"Party has just arrived!" He screamed. Everyone stopped the game of volleyball to watch us. I suddenly regret holding Gage's hand, because I was getting a death glare but none other than Kylie. Gage's ex girlfriend.

See, Kylie was the mean girl. The popular, tall, skinny, blonde cheerleader that you know all too well. She goes on mission trips every year, then brags about how much the kids in Africa love her. I bet they all hate her guts. I know I do. She has been the worst since elementary school, not to mention how horrible she was for Gage. She tried to force him to stop talking to me, which is when he ended it with her. So me walking in with Gage was bad enough, considering she was always jealous of me. Me walking in with Gage holding his hand? I was practically asking for it. I let go of it, putting my hand to my side. Gage looked at me with a confused and upset look. Crap.

"My boy!" Carson shouted, coming over with two Mike's lemonades in his hand. One was blue, and the other pink. They slapped hands and he looked over to me, pulling off his sunglasses.
"Damn, Belle. When'd you get so hot?" He looked me up and down. I wrapped my arm across my other one and could feel my entire face turn red. I was speechless.
"Chill, man." Gage said with no emotion.
"My bad, didn't know you were hitting that." Carson put his hands up in apology.
"It's not like that." Gage responded with a clenched jaw. Yikes.

"Hey, Carson." I smiled. "How was your summer?" I asked him. He grinned at me.
"Shit was fucking mazin, babe. I was getting plastered every night with this guy right here." Carson threw an arm around Gage's shoulder, who swallowed. I looked at him, confused. I didn't know Gage got...plastered every night.
"Sounds fun." I moved my weight from one hip to the other.

"Are you guys gonna come play or what?" Santi shouted from the sand.
"You play ball, Bels?" Carson moved closer to me. He was actually really cute. He had these puppy dog brown eyes and a cute haircut.
"Yeah." I shrugged.
"Great. You're on my team." He smirked, grabbing my waist and leading me towards the net. I looked back at Gage, who still had his jaw clenched. Once he saw me looking at him, he threw up a small thumbs up. I smiled and turned back around.

"This is Belle Lockwood if you don't already know. And she's on our team!" Carson yelled.
"Hey guys." I said shyly, lifting up a hand. I was hit back with a bunch of greetings, and it felt like a heavy weight was taken off my shoulder.
"Hey, we had chemistry together last year, right?" Cameron asked me. I remember we had been partners for this one project on the periodic table. She had been pretty helpful.
"Yeah. Good to see you." I smiled.
"You too. Watch out for Didi. Between us, she has the tendency to hit the ball this way. She doesn't mean to, but she also doesn't know any better." She laughed. I giggled and nodded.

I caught Gage's eye and sent him a smile. He smiled back at me. I know we had just gotten here, but I was already having a great time. As I served the ball over to the opposite side, and got an ace, I was beaming with joy on the inside.

I was finally making friends.