The Relationship Status (1)

Stephanie

"What the crap were you thinking, Jenn!?" I called to Jennifer as I was slipping on my bathing suit from her bathroom.

"What? I figured you wouldn't mind if I brought Donnie over, anyway." She said behind the door.

"Yeah, but..." I hated to admit it, but she might've been right... "What about what Misty said?"

"That's your call, pal. I mean, she told me all about how he had like five different girlfriends last year, but only had each of them for less than a week. It's quite a risk if you're willing to take it." Thanks, Jenn. Super helpful, as always.

"Yeah, but what if you're not so sure about taking the risk?"

"Then keep a distance at first, check his background, and if he seems like he's worth it, then go for it!"

"Go for it?"

"Omigosh, Steph. You know what I mean. When whatever type of time comes, you'll know what I mean. Now come out! I wanna see your bathing suit!" Jenn and I just bought new bathing suits for the occasion. We both bought one pieces. Mine was a teal-y blue, and hers was a salmon pink. We had our hair down so if we had our hair up, we wouldn't get a headache. And we were ready to go.

We had finished applying sunscreen to ourselves, and Jordan and Donnie rung the doorbell right on schedule. I started getting butterflies all over again. Keep your distance. I remembered. And who knows? He might not be so bad... Considering the fact that I already had instant feelings...

Jenn answered the door, "Hey guys! The gate to the pool is just to the side.We'll just meet you over there."

I got more butterflies the closer we got to the pool.

Then the boys walked in and it began. Jordan walked in with purple trunks, and Donnie walked in with... tie-dye!?

I stopped Donnie as he walked in, "Omigosh! I love your shorts! Tie-dye is the bomb dot com!"

"Really?" He smiled. "Well, I love your blue bathing suit! It brings out your eyes."

"Thanks! So, we have two tubes to float on if anybody wants to. But traditionally, Jenn and I do this..." And her and I hold hands and jump into the pool. When we come up to the surface we whip our hair back in unison and get out of the pool. When we finally climb out I add, "Or we could do that pool fight thing where the boys hold us up and Jennifer and I fight."

So we did my second idea, instead.

It was actually really fun! I don't think we've ever done that before and only knowing Donnie for a little while, we trusted each other quicker than I thought!

In the beginning it took a second, but then he said, "Don't worry, I won't bite." And I thought it was kinda cute when he put it that way.

In the end, Jennifer won two out of three rounds and I actually ended up winning! Although, I think it's because Donnie gave me an advantage by raising me up once in a while...

But after we did the three rounds that felt like they were quick but actually took forever, we were all laughing by the end, then Jenn said, "Ok, lets take five and get some water!"

Her and Jordan got out of the pool, dried off a little, and grabbed some water bottles from the cooler.

I looked down at Donnie (since I was still sitting on his shoulders), and said, "Ok, Donnie, you think you could bring me down, now?"

He teased back, "Sure! Going down..." And he practically brought us down to the bottom of the pool where I could swim away from him and looked at each other smiling with a bunch of bubbles all around us. I swim to the surface when I start getting low on oxygen and climb out of the pool.

I help Donnie get out and hand him a water bottle. He says, "You know, you look even more beautiful underwater."

I blushed and smiled. "I'll be right back. I think I forgot my towel inside."

"I'll be here!" He called back.

I started toward the gate but there was already another teen boy behind it, "Well, well, well. Stephanie Banks! Donnie's told me all about you. I wasn't sure if he was faking the amazing girl he was yapping about, so I decided to get a piece of the action."

How'd he know who Donnie was? He looked like Donnie, but a little bit older... And he was ripped... "Um, who are you?"

"Hey! Get away from Stephanie, you punk!" Donnie yells at the boy. He pushes him and his well-groomed hair into the pool. I highly doubted that he was gonna even swim if he was ever invited. Donnie leans on the side of the fence like a pro and nonchalantly says, "Hey, good lookin'. I was wondering what was taking so long." I couldn't help but become flushed, once again.

The kid gets out and says, "This isn't the end, Wahlberg! I will embarrass you in front of your little girlfriend!" I was surprised Donnie wasn't one of those boys that would say, "She's not my girlfriend!" But he just took it in, swallowed it, and watched the boy leave.

I took my water and (Jennifer ended up giving me a towel a little later) Donnie and I let our feet dangle in the pool. "Who was that guy?" I started. I just see Jordan giving Jennifer a piggyback ride in the pool.

"That 'guy' is my D-bag-of-a-brother, Mark. He's practically the definition of one. Stay away from him, seriously. He will take a girl, chew her up, and spit her out. Now, I don't know if you ever knew about it yet, but I used to be a bit of a flirt last year..." Too late..! "I wasn't near as bad as Mark was. But I swore to myself that I would be different this year. No more hopping to different girls every five seconds. This time, I just wanna find one girl, stick with her, and treat her right." And he smirked at me. Once again, I blushed like I ran the hundred yard dash on Field Day. For some reason, when he smirked at me, it was special. Like, nobody else but him could make that facial expression the way he did. And I thought it was the cutest thing on Earth.

Jordan walked over to us randomly like he knew exactly what we were talking about, "Mark is a skunk."

I tried, "Um, don't you mean a skank?"

"No, a skunk!" And then he wobbled off to Jennifer like he was a five-year-old in pre-school.

I turned back to Donnie, "So, what if I run into him at school and he tries to talk to me? But he doesn't look like he's in our grade..."

"Mark's a sophomore. He thinks he owns the school." He rolled his eyes. " But if none of the three of us aren't there with you, I feel like you'll know what to do. You seem like one of those sweet and innocent girls who can also pack a punch if they need to, ya know?" I liked that. Not everyone thought I was tough. But Donnie understood me. He got it.

"Donnie! Jordan!" Donnie's mom called from the gate. "It's getting late and us mom's gotta make dinner for you guys, and you still need to unpack!"

"Just a second, ma!" Jordan and Donnie called back in unison (I hope Jordan was aware that that's not his mother.).

Donnie grabbed his water and looked at me, "Hey, so I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I mean it is public school, right?" I laughed.

"By the way, I wanna bring you somewhere after school, if you're up for it." Oooh!

"Totally!" I chirped.

The boys said their goodbyes and they left the gate. Donnie was right; Mark was practically the definition of a D-bag..! Who cares about abs? Donnie was adorable and real. And I loved that about him.

Jennifer and I sighed when the gate closed. She turned to me and said, "So, what's your point of view on Donnie, now?"

I looked down at the ground, smiling, "He's not so bad..."