The Break Up Pact

Chapter 11

The faint sound of screaming children sounded out in the distance as Ava and I trailed at a casual pace down the winding path of our local park. Taking a quick glance to the side, I saw Teddy, my little Yorkshire terrier dog, running off-leash a couple yards away while panting and yapping away happily.

"You know, an enemies-with-benefits relationship with Sebastian doesn't sound all that bad," Ava drawled.

Interrupted from my little daydream, I snapped my head to face Ava in bafflement. I scanned her up and down, to check that it was truly Ava, my best friend, who had spoken those disgusting words back to me.

"Excuse me?" I snapped.

"What? It's true," Ava continued. "You can't exactly call him ugly now, can you? Puberty and swimming did that boy some real good. He certainly didn't look like that at thirteen, that's for sure," she laughed.

I rolled my eyes, in the hopes of drowning out her words. I never liked to give too much thought to Sebastian's looks. After all, a product can have fancy packaging but that still won't change the fact it's shit inside.

"Anywhere, where did Seb even say he was going to meet you, again ?" she asked while looking around.

"I don't know, somewhere in the woods," I sighed as I nodded my head over to the gap in between the trees.

Ava's lips immediately plucked up in amusement. "The woods? Yeah, he definitely wants a secluded place to hook up with you. Everybody knows that's the number one outside quickie spot."

I glared at her and immediately reached out to slap her arm.

"Ouch, what was that for?" she whined as she reached out to rub it.

"For saying something disgusting. I told you already – if you want to sit in on Sebastian and I's meeting, then you've got to be on my side."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," she mumbled dismissively with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

Eventually, we made our way in between the spacing of the trees and I whistled for little teddy to follow. A few yards in, the thick of the trees divided into a clearing and there I found Sebastian and the twins sitting on the barks of two parallel fallen trees. I raised an eyebrow in vague surprise, not expecting him to bring anyone.

The rustle of our moving feet must have caught their attention as once we got within a yard of them, the three of them broke conversation and glanced up at us.

Sebastian was the first one to catch my eye. He looked me up and down in an interrogational manner before drawing his eyes over to Ava and letting them narrow.

"Why's blondie here?" He called out abruptly.

Ava's mouth dropped open in offense.

Leon immediately gave Sebastian an aggressive nudge with his elbow while giving him warning glares, in a clear desperate attempt to get him to shut up. My lips twitched up a little in amusement, remembering he had a crush on Ava.

Clearing his throat, Leon turned shyly to Ava while struggling to maintain eye contact. "Please just ignore him, he's an idiot," he explained rapidly.

Ava completely oblivious just smiled back at him. "Yeah, no worries," she laughed. There was a moment of silence as Leon just awkwardly stared.

"Well, what are you guys waiting for, sit down," Blaire called out as she patted the bark beside her.

Throwing a fleeting glance back at little teddy who was chewing avidly at a twig, I made my way over to them and settled onto the bark beside Sebastian while Ava sat on the piece of log between the twins.