Player Next Door

Chapter 8

Dinner last night went oddly well. I couldn't believe how good me and Drew had got along, but what I really couldn't believe was Drew's singing. As it was Saturday, I was going out with Kelsey, Lily and Alice for some girl time. We were going to a local cafe and then to the beach which I must admit, I was excited about. I never went to beaches in England as: a) There weren't any nice, clean ones and b) the weather rarely got hot enough. 

I put on a cute orange bikini with a pair of light denim shorts and a white lace bralette. I got my new beach bag ready and decided against wearing makeup apart from waterproof mascara. After some fiddling around, I managed to fish plait my hair and I finally put on a pair of brown sunglasses. 

"Bye, mum!" I called, however just before I reached the door, she came rushing over to me.

"Have you got everything?" she asked, like the over protective mum she was. Typical!

"Yes, mum." I sighed, rolling my eyes. I knew this wouldn't be the end of it though.

"Are you sure?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. She knew how forgetful I was.

"Quite sure." I said with a smile, hoping I could go now.

"Phone?" she carried on. Come on, the girls were waiting!

"Yes. I have! Can I go now?" I asked, my hands on her shoulders.

"Okay, but be careful!" she warned me, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, I will!" I said, jumping up, kissing her on the cheek and running out of the door before she could stop me. Outside was Kelsey’s red roofless car. Kelsey was in the front, with Lily and Alice in the back. I walked around to the passenger side, which confused me slightly as the steering wheels were on the opposite side in England.

"Hey girl!" Kelsey exclaimed. Her hair was off her face with a few baby curls sitting on the top of her neck.

"Hi," I greeted them all.

"You're going to love the beach; the water's so clear and pretty!" Lily told me excitedly.

"Plus the cute guys are definitely a bonus." Alice added in.

"I can't wait! Where's the café we're going to?" I asked.

"It's only practically round the corner, we needed the car to get to your house anyway otherwise we could've easily walked." Kelsey explained.

"It's called Crave's. It's an ice cream parlour but they sell other foods at lunch times. You have not even tasted ice cream until you've tasted theirs!" Lily told me with a huge grin. I could tell today was going to be a good day.

***

When we arrived at Crave's, I immediately saw people I recognized from school, along with many other teenagers. We walked up to the counter to see what ice cream to see what flavours they had, and to be honest, I was gobsmacked: Vanilla, Chocolate, Apple Crumble, Bubble Gum, Cappuccino, Cinder Toffee, Mango, Chocolate w/ Nuts, Mint Chocolate, Coconut, Hazelnut, Banana, Honeycomb, Cookies & Cream, Lemon, Marshmallow, Chocolate Orange, Pistachio, Cherry, Praline, Peanut Butter, White Chocolate, Toffee Crunch, Strawberry, Turkish Delight... all the flavours you could ever think of and more. 

Alice paid for her Cookies & Cream one, Lily paid for her Strawberry one and Kelsey paid for her Bubble Gum one. Eventually I came to the decision of Cinder Toffee. I definitely made the right choice! After paying the girl behind the counter, we found an empty table outside to sit at. It was a very vintage looking table, painted an off white colour with a cute light blue sun parasol to sheild up from the sweltering heat and intense rays of the sun.