Realize (PUBLISHED)

Realize (36)

WARNING: Barely edited chapter due to stress and tiredness. In my defense, I wrote this when I was fourteen. That's why I've been editing this before posting here. I'm sure you can see the difference if you've read the earlier chapters or if you've read my other works/stories. You can see how big of an improvement I've made. Hence, this chapter is hardly revised. So this is technically done by the 14-year-old me, who is not quite good at constructing sentences for a novel yet.

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It was like nothing happened the night before. Things immediately turned back to normal. The only difference now was that Todd and Maxine were a tiny bit nicer to each other. They were still bickering about little things, though.

See, Todd liked having Maxine being outsmarted by him. Her annoyed face was always worth it for him. But he was now more than careful with his words around her. He didn't want to upset her like last night. He could admit that that was way below the belt.

None of the gang mentioned the event of last night. They all just stopped thinking about it — except for the part when Todd said what he truly felt for Maxine.

If truth be told, Todd was pleased that none of the guys told the girls about it. Although, Kim and Jen already knew even before Todd admitted it to himself.

The day passed adventurously. The gang went to sail on Peter’s yacht. The guys went skiing and the girls went sun bathing. By the afternoon, they all went scuba-diving. And at night, they stayed in the living room to exchange stories.

Maxine hardly shared any stories. Her life was uneventful until she transferred to Sky. It was Karl and Peter who kept talking and entertaining the gang with their past pranks that were always remarkable and well done.

In the middle of the talk, Jen unexpectedly asked why Peter was a ladies’ man. The gang then turned to him. They have never asked Peter this question once — or even wondered. So they looked eagerly at him, waiting for his answer.

Peter turned quiet. Feeling his best friend's uneasiness, Karl instantly changed the topic. Peter, cottoning on, talked more enthusiastically about something different.

The others figured that the reason might better be well forgotten, so they didn't urge him for information. Peter would tell them when he was ready.

New Year’s Eve came, and it made Karl anxious. It was the day that he'd finally tell Jen how he felt for her.

“You can do it,” said Brian.

“Yeah,” agreed Peter. “Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and say what you have to say.”

Todd looked at Karl and said, “It will turn out fine.”

The gang decided that their little celebration for New Year will start at Eleven o’clock that evening in the beach house. So Karl asked Jen to have a stroll around the beach that sunset. And by the time they decided to go back, it was already twilight.

Karl and Jen were walking down the beach with no one around. It seemed that the people went to their cabin or cottages for their own party.

Karl smirked as Jen pouted.

“So — Obviously, I won the bet,” he said gleefully. “You clearly saw that man fell off his surf board.”

“I’m sorry, what was the bet again?” she asked, forgetting what the consequence of the loser was.

“You would embrace me if I win,” he simply answered. He skipped a step and stopped in front of her, blocking her way. He stretched his arms wide, like a welcoming hug. “Here you go. You can embrace me now,” he added, grinning.