Move Along

Chapter 3

I yawned, flipping over onto my left side, away from the window. It is way too early. I snuck a peek at my alarm clock, and abruptly sat up, shocked at the time. Aw, shit. I'm supposed to be ready in thirty minutes. Ashley had texted me the night before, reminding me to be ready by 12:30. A small group of us were going to hang out at the beach for the day, and once the sun sets, the real party would start. Everyone would arrive; there would be a bonfire, snacks, drinks, and all that jazz. Apparently this was an annual after-school tradition, and there were always those few boys that threw all of their past year's work into the fire. I was pretty nervous, since I didn't know any of these people aside from Ashley, and wanted to look at least semi-decent so they would have a good impression. Alas, my lazy bum got up too late, so now I was going to have to rush to get ready.

I ran into my bathroom, took a shower, running a brush through my hair, and brushing my teeth in 10 minutes flat. I didn't bother drying my hair, since I knew the wind would do it, and my hair would just dry flat and straight, like normal. One of the perks of having naturally straight hair was for days like these, the ones where I had no time to do anything with my hair. I slipped my bikini on, and put a pair of shorts and a baggy shirt on top. As I was grabbing my cell phone and bag, a honk startled me. I glanced out my window and saw Ashley sitting in her car, sending a text to someone. I ran down the stairs, grabbing a pair of sandals that were sitting by the door, and down the driveway. Ashley glanced up as she heard the gravel crunch underneath my feet, sending me a smile as we made eye contact. I slid into her car, glancing around quickly before saying hello.

"Hey! You ready to meet the rest of my clan?" Ashley said excitedly. "They're really excited to meet you. Some of the group is still gone on vacation, but most of us are here for the time-being."

"Great! Thanks for inviting me, again. I really needed something to do; my mom told me to get out of the house and do something." I laughed, "So, who's going to be there today? Any people whose names I should remember in particular?"

"Hm, well there's Drake Lambert. I think you two will get along the best, actually. He's pretty funny, and don't be fooled by his cockiness. He's a total dork. Oh, and then there's his girlfriend, Bailey Carter. She's really sweet, but totally sassy. Drake and Bailey argue a lot, but trust me, they love each other. Caty Cooper isn't here right now, but she's always with us. She's pretty shy, but she opens up once you get to know her. Oh, and she's really smart. Seriously, if you ever need help on homework, she's the one to go to. There's the other couple in the group, Maddie Lewis and Parker Brown. They hang out with us occasionally, but they're a riot. Drake and Parker have been friends for forever, and they're hilarious when they're together. Gabriella Moore prefers to be called Gabby, and she's a total sweetheart. She's always teasing Drake, though. " Ashley paused, thinking. "Oh, and then there's Nate Daniels and Will Anthony. Nate's new to our group, sort of like you. He's pretty judgmental, but you'll love him once you get to know him. He's actually a really nice guy. We think Caty might have a crush on him, but she's denying it as of now. Will doesn't really hang out with us, but he's friends with Drake, and since all of Will's friends are gone for college, he's hanging with us for the summer." Ashley stopped, taking a deep breath.

I sat there, staring at her blankly. "Okay, I really didn't understand a single thing you just said. I just know there's Drake, who's dating Bailey, Maddie and Parker are dating, Caty likes Nate, Gabbie is chill, and Will is kind of just there."

"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it," Ashley said, laughing. "We better get going, we're already running late." She started up the car, and almost immediately, One Direction starts blasting from her stereo. I look at her, just to see her staring at me, eyebrows raised. "If we're going to be friends, you're going to have to realize and get over the fact that I'm obsessed with One Direction."