A Jumper's Life

Chapter Twelve

Jackson's friends walked over to us and gave him a bro-hug or whatever it is called. They then shamelessly looked me up and down, lingering on my chest. I then regretted my choice of bathing suit, but it was too late to change. I smiled at them and greeted, "Hi, I'm Lacey."

One of the boys stepped up and shook my hand. "I'm Troy, but you can call me anytime."

I laughed and replied, "In your dreams." Troy was one of the cuter ones. He was tan (like I mentioned before) and had bright blue eyes and shaggy blonde hair.

"You sure will be in my dreams tonight," Troy panted with a flirty smile. His eyes started to slowly travel downwards when somebody pushed him into the pool. He looked exactly the same as Troy, and I realized that they're twins. 

"I'm Tanner. Don't mind Troy. He's always been a bit of a player."

I laughed. "Thanks Tanner. I'll keep a sharp eye on him."

All the other boys introduced themselves, some shaking hands, others being bold and giving me a hug.

After introductions, Jackson announced, "Let's play some volleyball!" All the boys yelled their agreement. "Troy, Tanner, Lacey and I will be on the shallow end." he said. Then, pointing at the other four boys, said, "You guys will be on the deep end."

We all went to our sides, and Jackson threw the ball up...

***

The ball was flying towards me. My hands automatically went in the position to set it. I jumped up in the air and set it over the net. The boys on the other side went to get the ball, but they were too late, and the ball hit the water and splashed them in the face.

"Yeah! Good job Lacey!" Troy yelled. He ran up to me, or at least tried to, and swallowed me up in a bear hug.

"Troy...I can't breathe!" I sputtered from lack of air. Troy quickly let go of me and sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry. I just got caught up in the moment."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the game. We played for another fifteen minutes, then Jackson called off the game. I hopped out of the pool and dried off. I picked up the sunscreen and lathered up. I laid out on one of the lounging chairs and looked up at the clouds. I closed my eyes, getting my tan on.

Not even a minute passed when a shadow hovered above me. "Hey, what gives?" I opened my eyes to see an amused Troy smiling down at me. I frowned and asked, not too politely, "Could you move? You're blocking my sun."

"Princess, I'm not sure that the sun is yours alone," Troy replied.

I folded my arms, my frown deepening. "You know what I mean. Now, can you please move? I want to get a tan."

"Now, what would a pretty angel like you want to get a tan for?"

Luckily Tanner pulled away Troy before I could say something stupid. Tanner bent down next to me with a questioning look on his face.

Before he could get a word out, I said, "Yes, I'm fine, Tanner."

He chuckled. "That's not what I was going to ask, but it's good that my brother didn't get to you."

"What were you going to ask?"

"If you were going to come to school on Monday. It'd make sense, because Jackson goes, so why not you?"

I smiled at Tanner's reasoning. "I'd have to see if President Williams would let me go. I think that it would be fun."

Tanner patted my thigh and got up. "That's the spirit." Tanner then walked into the house, along with all the other boys. I let out a sigh of relief.

Finally. Some alone time. I settled back into my chair and started a timer so that my tan would be even.

***

I walked into President Williams' office, once he called me in. He looked up from his paperwork and asked, "Miss Lacey, what did you need?"

"Well, you know how Jackson's friends came over?" He nodded his head. I continued. "Well, his friend, Tanner wanted to know if I could go to his school. So, President Williams, can I please go? To school, I mean."

President Williams started stroking his non-existent beard. "Hmm. Well, I guess that you could go to school. Under one condition."

"What is that?"

"Call me Eric."

I squealed like a little girl on Christmas morning and ran up to Eric. I threw my arms around his neck and gushed, "Oh, thank you, Eric! I won't let you down. I'll get good grades and you'll be like a second father. Thank you so much!"

Eric laughed at my giddiness and hugged me back. "You better not get bad grades. And don't disappoint me."

I vigorously nodded my head and bounced out of the room with a huge smile on my face. Tomorrow's going to be a big day. I need to get my stuff packed up, and outfits planned. There's so much work to do! I pounded up the stairs and ran to my bedroom, planning out the perfect outfit for tomorrow.