Babysitter or Boyfriend?

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Alex and I rode the ferris wheel twice in a row before admitting we'd had enough of the carnival and wandering back towards the parking lot. "I don't want to go home yet," I admitted, dragging my feet a little. "Where else can we go?"

He thought for a moment, then shrugged. "The beach is only about a block that way," he pointed to the right. "I know we don't have suits, but we could stick our feet in for a few minutes."

"Sure, let's go," I replied, and we changed directions. As soon we went from walking on concrete to walking on sand, I stopped and slipped my sandals off. Alex did the same. "Heaven," I murmured, digging my toes into the warm sand.

Alex chuckled. We walked in silence for a few moments, and then he turned to me and said, "Are you ready for classes to begin?"

I nodded. "I'm ready," I responded with conviction. "It'll be nice to meet new people and keep busy with schoolwork."

Beside me, Alex grimaced a little. "Schoolwork. I don't know that I'm ready for that part of it, but then again, you and Jake were always a lot smarter than me."

"That's not true," I shoved him playfully. "You were a great student in high school. The teachers loved you." It was the truth-anytime Alex's name was mentioned, teachers would smile fondly and say something cliché like, 'I always did like that boy.'

"Teachers liked me for other reasons," Alex wriggled his eyebrows playfully at me. "The female ones, anyway."

I shoved him again. "You're so gross," I teased.

"I know," Alex replied. "I don't know how I live with myself."

We'd finally arrived at the ocean's edge, and I stepped forward just enough to let the cold water run over my toes. It felt refreshing and wonderful. I glanced over to see Alex staring towards the horizon, his eyes squinted in the fading sunlight. "Where are you taking Brooke tonight? For your date?" I asked. As if I really wanted to know.

Alex cleared his throat softly. "Well, they have movies in the park on Saturday nights...I thought that might be fun. Nothing too extravagant for a first date, you know? Maybe get ice cream...I would say go bowling, but I get the feeling that Brooke's not really the bowling type."

I was silent for a moment, and then quietly I asked, "Can I ask you something? Without being rude? I genuinely just want to know." Alex nodded and I continued, "Why do you like Brooke? Why do guys like girls like Brooke? I mean, she's beautiful, but she seems sort of...shallow. She's exactly like so many other girls in California. I'm just curious what's so attractive about her?"

Alex glanced at me, then back towards the water. "I don't know," he began. "I mean, it's not like I'm in love with her. I'm just interested in getting to know her more. I like that she's not afraid to flirt. Confidence is a big deal to me, I guess. Plus, yeah, she's pretty-is that totally shallow of me? It's not the only reason I asked her out, but there's nothing wrong with being attracted to her, right?"

I shook my head. "Right," I murmured.

"Um," Alex cleared his throat softly. "Did you and, uh, Conner make plans for tonight or anything?"

I gave him a strange look. "No," I said. "I think we both know it's going to be awhile before Conner asks anyone on a date-including me. Frankly, I was surprised he even bothered running with me."

"I'm not surprised," Alex said quickly. "You're awesome, Ave. You're a lot more fun to spend time with than you think."

I faked astonishment. "More than I think? I think I'm a lot of fun, Alex."