My Sweet Summer Romance

Chapter 2

"Serena, I swear to God this guy's been watching you for the last hour." Alex giggles. "He's really hot."

"What? Alex, no guy is watching me..." my voice trails off when I spot an attractive, tall guy looking over in our direction.

I've never been one to get fuzzy feelings like from all those cheesy romance books so you can understand the fact I nearly topple over in my chair when I realize my body's getting warm from the inside out.

He has that cool guy, 'I'm a winner attitude' with just the right amount of mysteriousness. He looks like he just fell down from heaven; his beauty is so hypnotizing. I can't tear my gaze away from his muscled, perfectly tan arms or his beach-blown dark hair. I want to see what color his eyes are but his shades obscure them from view. To me, the boy is a surfer-looking angel.

"Serena? Serena! Stop staring with your mouth open! You're drooling all over your book!"Alex exclaims, bringing me out of my trance.

"Oh geez." I snap my mouth closed and look at my novel, expecting to see a giant wet splash on the pages. When I find none, I shoot a glare at Alex. "Not true!" She just winks.

"Come on!" she urges. "Go talk to him!"

"But I'm not ready!" I complain. "Besides, he's so hot it's impossible he's still single. I'll just wait and see if he comes first. He's the guy... it's up to him to make the first move."

"Serena, what's up with you? Usually, you would have jumped on the opportunity right away! Go find out if he's really into you!"

"Well if fate wants us together, he'll be at the party tomorrow."

"I guess." She hesitantly says.

"Alright. Let's go shop until we drop!"

We walk away, laughing like two idiots at my lame movie remark. At this point, I didn't really care about what the gorgeous guy would think about Alex or me. It doesn't matter because tomorrow, I'm bringing out my A game.

***

"Alex! This dress is perfect! I want to get married to this one! It's beautiful and I love the material." I gush. "I think if I were a dress myself, I'd so have a crush on this! You know, come to think of it, I already do despite the fact I'm human. Oh Alex! This is-"

"Serena," Alex stops me. She rubs the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "It's the fourth time in the past thirty minutes that I've heard you say that. But," she tries to lightly pull the blue summer dress out of my arms but I keep my hold tightly, forcing her to let go. "You have to pick only one. You can't wear all of them at once. You have to give three up."

"Or what? You can't make me. They're my babies. I'll buy them all if I want to." I give a 'humph' for emphasis.

"Serena, don't make me go there. You haven't even tried them on!" she gives me a little shove in the direction of the dressing rooms. "After you've gone through all of them, we're going to go eat since we can both agree three o'clock is too far from lunch. I'm going to go try mine on too."

"Fine," I sigh. "I'll go let down my beauties gently."

"Please make it short. I'll be waiting for you at the front."

After quickly going from one dress to another, I pick the one that most screams 'Serena, buy me'. Once I've paid, Alex and I walk to the food court, our arms full of shopping bags, and we manage to find a seat.

"This might be my lucky day, Serena! Be discreet because he's looking our way right now. Hottie at nine o'clock."

I twist in my seat, looking very nonchalant.

Alex gives me an urgent look.

"Not your nine o'clock; mine!"

Oh.

With the same nonchalant expression, I turn around again, pretending I'm stretching, getting an eyeful of a buff guy who's staring at my best friend like a meal. He doesn't even notice me, or anything else for that matter. He's all for her. They look so cute, looking at each other.

I see her blushing like mad, and it seems pretty obvious that they're made to be together.

"Do I look okay? Do I have something in my teeth?" she asks quickly.

"Yes, you look fine. And no. Your teeth are perfect." I say.

A shape shifts in the corner of my vision and the guy who Alex is obviously in love with starts approaching our table. I smile and get up, planning to leave them alone so he can ask Alex for her phone number without the pressure of a random stranger watching.

"I'll be right back. Hey, feel free to let him into my seat." I wink at her and leave for the bathroom. Thing is, I am still unable to wink. So it was pretty awkward. I wait a couple of minutes, giving me time to set a reminder on my phone to find some time to practice my winking, and when I come back, he is leaving. I wave him goodbye and sit down, facing her.

"Serena, I have his phone number and he accepted to come by tomorrow at the party! Can you believe this? I still can't! Max... What a wonderful name." She mused, looking almost enchanted. Did I really look like that with the pool boy?

"Gosh, I'm so happy for you! But this means I really have to pray so that the hottie by the pool shows up at the party so I can win the Competition!"

"Not happening! I'm so beating you!" Alex taunts.

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that." I roll my eyes and smile. "You know what the prize should be?"

"Yes. A new boyfriend."

"Well, that too. But as an item, the loser has to buy the winner a pair of shoes."

"Look like you're going to be buying me a new pair of walkers." Alex grins.

"Not if the pool hottie asks me out first tomorrow! Don't talk too fast, darling!"

"Whatever." She says suddenly standing up. "Let's go home, Serena. The mall's about to close."

I look around and notice the used-to-be packed mall, emptying out.

"Okay." I agree.

Alex and I walk back to our condos and try and soak up the rest of the dying sun on my deck. When the moon has taken its place, we go to bed, not knowing all the surprises the next day would bring.