Dodge Mason // Mystery Boy

16

Didn't think I would be this bold while drunk.

—

After Dodge leaves us to get some drinks, I decide to cut in and listen to Summer and her friends' conversation while Heather and Natalie go to dance a bit.

"Anyway, Hunt says the story, it's all bullshit," Shawna says.

"Yeah! Fake news," Drew agrees.

"Yeah, if he actually hit somebody, they'd be in jail," Troy adds.

"Exactly," Shawna says.

"Well, Spurlock and the D.A. are friends from high school," Summer ponders.

"So you think he helped to cover up a murder?" Shawna asks.

"No, he didn't kill the girl," Summer explains. "She's just paralyzed." The words ring in my head for a bit as she goes on. "My cousin works at a hospital in Freetown, and he says she's gonna be in a wheelchair for life." Could it be... Dayna— what, no. There's no way. I don't know. My head begins to spin trying to piece things together that just don't quite fit just yet. The table moves on talking about other things and Heather comes and pulls me over to Natalie. A herd of teenagers form and the music is blasting. There are yells and laughter as beer starts spraying over the crowd. Everyone is drenched and dancing. After our energy dies down a bit, Heather separates to get another drink and Natalie slips away. I spot Dodge on the side and he puts his hand out for me. I take it and he spins me like a princess.

"How are you still cute even when you're drenched in beer and reek of alcohol?" He laughs. Even though he's messing around, I can't help but blush and laugh to try to cover it up.

"Talent, I guess," I shrug. I spot the jacuzzi and my eyes widen. He looks over at what i'm seeing and rolls his eyes.

"Alright, c'mon," he sighs as we begin to walk over together. We take off our outer layer and get in the warm water.

"Look," I say as I hold my hand right under the surface of the water.

"What?" Dodge asks coming closer to further inspect my hand. I immediately ball my hand into a fist causing the water to splash him right in his face. I immediately start laughing up a storm as he resists a smile.

"I'm a dolphin!" I say splashing him some more.

"The most annoying dolphin i've ever met," he purses his lips.

I scoff with my jaw dropped. "You don't mean that," I say getting closer. "You can't get enough of me," I say bringing my face only a few inches from his. It's nearly impossible for him to hide his blush. Didn't think I would be this bold while drunk. "So Dodge," I start softly. "You never answered my question."

"What question?" he replies in the same volume.

"You never told me what you're afraid of."

"Well, what do you think I'm afraid of?" I look him up and down for a second before returning my eyes to his.

"I don't know," I admit. "But I want to find out," I give in.

"Okay," he starts. He looks me up and down and moves in just a little closer. "You wanna know what I'm afraid of?" I nod scared to break the distance between us. "Dolphins," he says seriously before jumping up and smashing into the water with his arms. I yell and start laughing. He starts laughing at me causing me to initiate a splash fight. After a bit, I give in and let Dodge win to catch my breath from the giggling and trying to avoid getting the water in my face.

"Truce! Truce!" I yell grabbing his hands in mine to stop him.

"Fine," he says breathing heavily. "But I actually win because you forfeit."

"Fine," I say catching my breath. I let go of his hands and put my arms around his neck. He puts his arms around my waist and we slowly bring ourselves closer. We stare at each other and the tension builds as we look back and forth between our eyes and our lips. I lean in to close the space and our lips meet. Dodge immediately leans into it and we kiss for a while only coming apart to catch our breath.

"I think we should go find the others and start heading home," I suggest remembering how late it must be getting considering we arrived around 9. We get out and dry off and put our clothes back on before beginning the search for our friends.

"Check it out, it's starting!" Some girl yells out. Dodge and I look at each other and then around to find where the crowd is forming. We walk over to the wall that everyone is looking at and see Diggins hunched over reading a piece of paper with red ink on it.

"Friday. From Dusk till Dawn. Graybill House." He reads aloud.  The wall has a red symbol on it over the taped note and it looks... shiny? "Can't wait to clean this shit," Diggins rolls his eyes. Dodge reaches over and touches the symbol.

"It's still wet," he inspects. "Couldn't have gone up more than a few minutes ago," he concludes.

"But that means..."

"The judges are here," Heather finishes for me. We all look at each other and whispers rise from the crowd.

"At least one of 'em anyway," Diggins scoffs. We all find ourselves staring at the wall and each other.