Vacation

Confessions and Nosebleeds

I make a noise of surprise as Brandon's lips crash against mine for a split second before they're gone.

The others are all looking at him in surprise, and I do as well.

"I- I- I- what?" I stutter.

"Uh..." Brandon rubs the back of his neck, a habit he does when he gets nervous. "Sorry... I did that without thinking."

"No... It's okay. I... Well... I've had this massive crush on you for years." I say quietly, looking into the clear water. More gasps are heard from the other three. Bridgett's are purely surprised that I grew the balls to even admit that.

"So have I... Since sixth grade." He says. My eyes widen, and I look at him, my mouth agape in shock.

"Oh mines only been since ninth." I say sadly.

"That's okay. That's completely okay. I'm just glad I didn't just get rejected in front of my best friends." I smile awkwardly.

"Yeah. That's good." I close my eyes, and take a breath.

"Well then. Um... I think it's my turn to sit out." Bridgett says. I thank her inwardly for the distraction.

Lucas gets on Brandon's shoulders, and I get on Derricks.

"Ready... Set... Fight!" Bridgett yells. I growl a bit as Derrick walks forward. I grab Lucas' shoulders, and already know I'm about to lose. This man's built like a truck, and I'm built like a cereal box, so I just brace for impact.

He shoves me, and I fall back, kicking automatically.

"Ow!" I hear Brandon yell as I hit the water. I fight my way to the surface quickly to make sure he's okay. I am the doctor in training.

I break through the surface. "Oh my God are you okay?" I ask, grabbing the hand that he covered his nose with. I see blood seep through his hand and guess that I kicked him in the nose.

"Um... We should get to shore... I've heard sharks can smell blood from pretty far away." Derrick says, walking backwards towards shore, pulling Bridgett and Lucas'arm as he goes.

I nod, and grab Brandon's wrist, swimming to shore. We only went out far enough for the water to reach my chest, so we didn't have far to swim.

As soon as I stand on the deck and wrap a towel around my waist, I run inside to grab a first aid kit. Running back outside, I spot Brandon sitting on a lawn chair a couple feet away from the door. I hate to look while he's injured, but the way the water rolls off his hair and onto his neck and shoulders just make me feel things.

"Hey, don't tilt your head back, you'll choke on your own blood. Lean forward and press this," I hand him a cotton ball, "to your nose holes." I wipe the blood from his nose when he removed the.cotton ball he pressed there earlier. I cpuld tell it was going to bruise.

I poke the bridge of his nose to see if it was broken. As soon as I do, he jerks back like I've burned him

"Oh don't be a baby about it." I say, leaning over him to keep prodding.

"Well, it hurts!" He whines, leaning farther back.

A thing to know about the lawn chair he was sitting in: it had probably been in a shed, unused, for years. And as Brandon was leaning back in it, it ripped, making him fall backwards and me on top of him.

"Ouch." I say, my cheek squished against Brandon's toned stomach.

"DoN't Be A bAbY aBoUt iT." Brandon mocks me, his voice a few octaves higher than normal.

I punch his chest, making him let out an 'omph' noise.

"That's what you get." I grumble, reaching up to poke his nose again after sitting next to him on the dark wood.

"Stop poking it! It hurts!" He tries to move away from me, failing to do so as I pin his arms down.

Bridgett comes out of the house, dressed in a white tank top, acid washed blue jean shorts, and black flip flops. Behind her, Derrick stands shirtless in grey basketball shorts and a towel around his neck.

"Looks like you're having fun." Bridgett chuckles to me. Or Brandon I can't really tell.

"Wanna hold his hands down so I can make sure his nose isn't broken?" I ask, making Brandon shake his head, stopping when he realizes it hurts his nose.

"I'll get his ankles!" Derrick yells, bending down and holding his legs down.

They end up compromising and sitting on either side of Brandon, each holding a leg and a hand while I straddle his stomach, leaning over his face.

"Well this looks interesting." I look up to see Lucas leaning against the doorframe, dressed in black Tshirt and khaki shorts.

"We're making sure Brandon's nose isn't broken." Bridgett chirps.

"Well carry on then." He chuckles, and walks back into the house.

"Ok. This may hurt a little bit." I say to the angry man under me.

"Ya think?" He asks, and with no mercy, I poke and prod his nose until I'm sure on what's wrong.

"So I think you've just bruised it." I say, rubbing under his eyes to see if they had started bruising yet.

"Actually, you bruised it." Derrick says to me.

"Well, his face shouldn't have been that close. Anyways, it might bruise under your eyes for a few days, and your nose will be sore for a while, but you'll be fine. No need to worry." I pat Brandon's cheek playfully, before standing and grabbing my bathing suit cover from a chair and walking into the house.

Once I'm up to my room, I change into a Nirvana Tshirt and yellow athletic shorts, the shirt easily big enough to cover them.

I walk downstairs to the smell of grilled cheese. Bridgett is practically drooling as Derrick cooks them, and I sit next to her behind the island.

"He can cook?" I ask.

"He has like a gazillion sisters. He cooks for them, so yes." She whispers back, never looking away from the pan of food.

I roll my eyes, and make my way into the living room, sitting in the middle of the sectional couch. Brandon sits on one edge with an ice pack to his face, while Lucas sits on the other, minus the ice pack. They're watching one of the Final Destination movies. The one with the logging truck. That's where they are right now actually, when the truck wrecks and blows up everything.

"Oh I love this show." I say, crossing my legs.

"Me too. But you know what I don't like?" He paused for dramatic effect. "Broken noses."

"It isnt broken, Dimwit. It's just bruised. And you have to take my word for it because I'm the closest to a doctor here." I reply, putting my finger in the air like the know it all I am.

"Shut up you two, I'm watching the movie." Lucas hisses, scooching farther into the couch to get more comfortable.

After a while, Derrick comes in with a plate piled with grilled cheese and a Bridgett following like a puppy. Grilled cheeses are her favorite food.

The rest of the day, we sit and watch movies while eating junk food. Just like we've been doing since the third grade.