𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒, 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀

35. stars, stripes, and fireworks

"STARS, STRIPES, AND FIREWORKS," i read aloud, looking at the banner displayed in the front window of the store.

thud.

i averted my attention toward jack. he was throwing red, white, and blue rubber duckies into the cart one after another. there was practically a heap of them in the cart, with us only being here for five minutes.

"jack," i began, tilting my head to the side in confusion. "we don't need all of those. i thought we were only getting sparklers and firecrackers."

"well, a few rubber duckies can't hurt."

i frowned. "the whole cart is filled with them, jack. we can get one."

"what? no! i need all of them."

i scoffed. "what for?!"

he looked around. "uh, nothing."

i crossed my arms over my chest. "jack rowden hughes."

he groaned. "fine. if you really must know-"

"yes, yes i must."

"-luke, quinn, and i are planning to throw rubber duckies onto our neighbor's lawns."

i furrowed my eyebrows. "since, uh, when??"

"since, uh, for as long as i can remember. it's our tradition." he threw a few small boxes of sparklers into the cart.

"tradition??  i don't remember that being a tr-"

"well, you weren't dating me last year or the year before or the year before that one."

i rolled my eyes.

"fair."

by the time jack dropped me off at my house, it was already 6:05pm. my family and i had to be over at the hughes' household by 7pm for tonight. i was crunched on time.

i threw on a red tube top, ripped blue jean shorts, brown cowboy boots, and a blue cowboy hat covered with white stars. i sprayed some perfume on and left my hair down.

"yn!" my parents yelled in unison. "we're leaving, are you ready?"

"be right down!" i shouted.

we pulled up to their house a few minutes late, but didn't feel too bad when we saw other cars pulling up as well.

i followed my parents inside when ellen and jim greeted us.

"hi honey, thank you for coming," ellen spoke.

"we missed you lots, kiddo," jim added. "jack is downstairs in the basement with his brothers."

i smiled. "thank you. it's nice to see you both again."

i quickly took off my boots and ran downstairs, the sound of laughter and loud music welcoming me.

as i walked past the ping-pong table, i noticed the boys sitting on a couch with video game controllers in their hands. well, except luke.

"bro, why are you blasting sexy redd?" quinn asked.

"umm because i can," luke replied, a small black speaker in his hands.

"yeah, okay. play morgan wallen," jack insisted.

"no! can we please go one day without listening to his music?"

"no, now give me the speaker," jack asked, holding out his hand behind him.

to his surprise, i grabbed his hand instead and he whipped his head around, dropping his controller and standing up.