Grace.

Chapter 10.

Since Naomi and Austin reconciled we hardly got to spend much time together. The only time I got an opportunity to actually talk to her was when we went for a late night swim by the lake with the guys: Caleb, Hunter and Josh. Brooke joined us as well even though she hadn't fully healed. Josh and Hunter tried their best to act normal but Caleb couldn't help himself.
"Brooke, what happened? Are you okay?" He worried.
"I'll be fine, Caleb, don't worry about me," she smiled.
It was actually the guys' idea to go to the fields at night and blow stuff up. Anything we didn't want anymore or hated. After that we'd go swimming in the lake. But while the boys started a fire in the dirt bin, and the others set up the picnic blanket, I pulled Naomi away from everyone for a sec. We ran into the darkness giggling at nothing as we held hands. We stopped at a spot which had some light from the moon.
"You're looking extra pretty." I said to her, pushing her thick curls behind her ears.
"You're pretty. Did you kidnap me because I haven't called you five nights in a row?" She chuckled, nervously.
"Yes. I can't believe how easily you forgot about me."
"I'm sorry. It's not intentional. I'm...in love," she blushed.
"I never saw it coming. Remember how you cried when I spoke about us being with our princes?" I chuckled.
"That's because I wanted us to be together, you psycho." She laughed, playfully shoving me on my shoulder.
"Wow, look at us now. You found your prince, and I'm being followed," I revealed.
"Followed? What are you talking about?"
"It's stupid."
"I don't care. Tell me."
"Okay. I...I feel like I'm being watched. Like someone is following me. It's weird."
"It's probably some crack head who clearly has no life. You shouldn't walk alone."
"No, never again."
She smiled at me and then grabbed my hands, swinging them side to side. "What are you doing?" I laughed.
"I haven't seen you so up close in days! Let me have my fun with you."
"Can we hug? I think that's normal. Then we can go back to everyone."
Before I was friends with the others, I was friends with Naomi first. Then we became best friends. Twelve whole years together. I loved her and we knew everything about each other. Literally everything...except how I had a serious crush on her brother. I felt guilty about keeping it a secret from her but it was complicated. If Lucy also didn't have feelings for Edgar, maybe I would've said something. But it was just a stupid crush.
We returned back to the party and the fire was ready. I didn't have anything I really wanted to burn or blow up. So I just burned old things and watched the others blow up their stuff. Bebe looked really happy for a change. She was laughing and having the time of her life. Everyone was. It might've been something we all needed.
My friends and I have traditionally held a chill session every Thursday since the first year we discovered alcohol.
The sole purpose for that session was for us to catch up, as friends. We'd talk about everything! How our week was, what or who pissed us off. All of that jazz. But since we befriended the guys we found ourselves having more chill sessions than we'd anticipated. But I was not complaining.
I liked the guys, especially Josh. Him and I were...close. Josh wasn't popular...at all. He is the nerd who gets drunk at parties but aces every damn test and exam. He was my competition. Sometimes I felt as though he'd purposefully not do great just to let me pass. He was sitting next to the snacks and I decided to join him.
"Of course you'd be camping here!" I joked, taking a seat next to him.
"Whoever brought these prawn chips is the future kid," he snickered.
"You're so silly," I laughed.
"Don't make it too obvious. My plan is to finish all this while everyone goes playing in the water," he winked.
I laughed and grabbed the bag of snacks away from him. He managed to pull the packet of prawn chips out. "Here, have a beer." I offered. I took one for myself. The others were dancing around the fire. Josh and I sat and watched.
"So, are you ready for this year?" He asked me.
"Soooo ready!"
"Of course. Just so you know, I'll let you win again this year," he smirked.
"You honestly don't have to. And also, is that your way of licking your wounds? Convincing yourself that you're doing it for me?"
"C'mon, we both know I'm smarter than you."
"We're both smart." I concluded.
"You've got to taste these. Here, have one."
He pulled a chip out of the bag and fed it to me. Surprisingly, it was out of this world! Some crumbs were left on my top lip and he helped me wipe them off.
"I think I smudged your lip gloss," he muttered.
"I-I'll just put on some more later."
"Right."
"Homecoming is around the corner! You ready?" I asked.
"Er...I'm not looking forward to it," he revealed.
"What? Why not?! No date? Don't worry about it, I don't have one either." I tried to cheer him up.
"Not that. I...can't dance," he chuckled.
"See, I know you're lying because I see you dance all the time when we go out!" I laughed.
"I'm not talking silly dancing. I'm talking waltzing," he corrected, face in his hands.
"Oh. Well, do you want to try it out? I offered. Not that I could dance. I myself had two left feet!
"Try what? Dancing?"
"Yes! Come on. Let's get groovy!"
I jumped up from the ground and held my hand out for him. For some reason he just couldn't stop laughing. I didn't know what was so funny, but he took my hand and we walked away from the picnic blanket to find a spot closer to the music but further from the rest. My favorite song was playing.
"So, h-how does this work?" He giggled.
"Put your arm around my waist, and hold your other one out." I instructed.
"Okay, like this? Then what?"
"I-I don't know!" I laughed. "We dance?"
It didn't take him long to realize that I wasn't as good at dancing as well. So eventually after many failed attempts, we just ended up slow dancing to the music. Swaying side to side.
"You actually smell good," he complimented.
"You sound...surprised!"
"I haven't been this close to you. You're actually good at this."
"Me? You're the one leading. Now that you've got it in the bag, the only thing left to do is get the girl of your dreams." I said.
"In my dreams. No girl likes me, Grace. Haven't you heard? I'm the nerd," he chuckled.
"I'm a nerd too." I reasoned.
"Not really. You're intelligent and you're gorgeous. Any guy would kill to hold your hand or have you call them at night right before they go to sleep and right after they open their eyes in the morning."
After saying that, he quickly let go of me and stepped back. I was taken aback by it. But I chose to believe it was just an innocent declaration.
"You really think so?" I joked.
He smirked, "Come on, let's go back to the others."
And so we did. We played a little game of chicken fight in the lake and after an hour or so, we finally called it a night.