Heartbreaker

S E V E N T E E N

Paul was on the phone when I saw him at the end of the day.

He sends me a small smile that seems to brighten up his entire face. I wasn't sure if I should go over, sometimes people want to be alone when they're on the phone. But he motions for me to come over anyway.

On the opposite side of the parking lot, Eden catches my attention. She was standing next to our brothers. We look at one another, our eyes simultaneously widening in fear. My brother would have a total meltdown if he found out I got into the same car with Paul.

"Hey," Paul says as I get closer. He still had that charming smile. The one that always manages to get me to. "How was the rest of your day?"

"Good," I tell him, still watching my group of friends. "Mind if we, like, sprint to the car?"

"Why?" He asks, trying to follow my field of vision.

Jake glances over to where we were and I move out of the spot I was in. I drag Paul along with me and we quickly walk so that cars would block us from him. I don't realize I took ahold of his hand, instead of his arm until it was too late.

"Josie, what's going on?" Paul asks as we jog through the open aisle of cars. "Have to hide me from your boyfriend or something?"

"Try my brother," I tell him, finally dropping his hand.

"Ah," He smiles and unlocks his black truck. "I honestly forgot about him."

"I wish I could," I tell him, hopping into the passenger seat. "He's up my ass twenty four seven. And he's not exactly your biggest fan, so..."

"He'd kill you if he found out we were hanging out?" He asks, a smile on his face.

"He'd kill you."

"He couldn't touch me," Paul says cockily, rolling his eyes. I give him a look, rolling my own eyes at his comment. He starts the car, letting the engine easily roar to life. It was newer to the point that it didn't even make any funny noises when it started. "So Jared called me before."

"Yeah?"

"He left school early, Sam pulled him out for... reasons. And he was wondering if I could stop by the beach."

"For reasons?" I repeat his suspicious wording.

"Yeah," He says, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "Do you care if we stop by?"

"No," I tell him. "As long as I get some sort of sweatshirt first." It was almost the end of November, meaning it was easily forty degrees if not colder outside. I wouldn't last longer than ten minutes if I sat outside in what I was currently wearing.

"I have one," Paul says, "In the back."

I nod slowly, and I see him glance over at me. My eyes stay on the road the whole time, even though I wasn't the one driving. I do trust Paul while driving, it must be a force of habit.

"You okay?" He asks.

"Yeah," I say, my eyes leaving the road. We were stopped at a stop light now. "Is it just Jared who's going to be at the beach?"

"No," He tells me hesitantly. "I think everyone's going to be there."

"Everyone?"

He nods, "Yeah." He starts to drive again. The beach comes into view a couple of seconds later. Does that mean that Sam's going to be there? "If you're really not okay with this we can do something else."

"No, it's okay," I say.

"Are you sure? You're quiet," He says. "I know you said you didn't want to go to the beach earlier."