Granted Wish

Chapter 11

The days leading to today were like hell to me! I'm scared and frankly terrified of her reaction! Both Nathan and Alex tried to ensure me that she'll be cool with it and even if she wouldn't they'd just beat her. I know for a fact that my sister couldn't harm a fly, she might pretend she's the toughest but she's way too kindhearted for that.

"Are you ready?", Alex enters my room already in her bikini with a simple white dress on top but the bright pink of her bikini clearly visible. She opens the bag she's carrying, revealing multiple towels, two big ones to lay onto and two smaller ones to dry off with. "I got you covered.", she smiles reassuringly and I don't know if she's talking about the towels or the fact that I have to come out to a stranger in a few minutes."Thank you.", I slip into a blue T-shirt, wearing the red trunks as pants.

With a quick text to the messenger group Claire created, I tell everyone we're on our way now, letting Nathan know to come outside since he'll drive us there. "Hey baby,how are you?", he smiles as soon as he sees us walk down the sidewalk towards his black pickup. "I'm good, just... nervous. And you?", I ask, leaning in for a kiss. "Don't be nervous, it shouldn't matter to you whether or not a total stranger thinks of us.", he rubs over my cheek, calming me down a little. "I know but still. Let's just head out.", I mumble, getting in the passenger seat, while Alex hopped in behind me after hugging my boyfriend. I'm glad everyone gets along with each other!

I quietly give Nathan the directions towards the pool, the nervousness increasing with every meter we're getting closer to our destination. My watch vibrates a few times but I wait for second before checking what's going on in our new group,wondering why even they added Anna here.

Mika: I'm here, should I find us a place in the shade, if that's even possible?

Anna: I'm here as well, could you maybe describe yourself lol

Mika: Haha, I'm short and have gray lilac colored hair and wearing light blue trunks

Anna: Spotted you, I'm the one waving.

Anna: No, other way!

Anna: Yes, here! I saved a spot for you guys.

Mika: Awesome, looking forward to seeing all of you again! We're on the far right.

Claire: Same here, I'll be there any minute now.

Alex: We're here!

I look up in shock, she's right! We really are here! I didn't notice that the ride was over so quickly. Glancing over at Nathan, I catch him staring at me but I get out without another word, turning to face my sister who scanned the area for Claire. "Do you want to wait for her?", she asks, tilting her head slightly. I simply nod, the thought of having her with me is calming. And it didn't take long for her to get here, her car pacing over the packed parking lot to a free spot a few slots next to us. As she heads over to us, she immediately launches herself into my arms,hugging me tightly. "You can do this, okay? We're all here for you!", she assures me, smiling brightly and with full honesty.

"I know, let's do this.", I feel better with her here, she's had this effect on me since we were kids. Nathan pushes himself past my sister, their shoulders brushing together as he appears by my side and grabbing a hold of my hand, squeezing it lightly. "I'm here.", he states, eyeing me closer than usual. Is he testing me? Why would he though? We all start to head for the entrance, a lot of teens buying their tickets in front of us. Through the fence I could see the mass of people flooding the three different pools and the meadow, hundreds of towels laid out on the grass. A colorful mess of bikinis, trunks and towels. Their sudden movements, running, jumping from the towers, swimming accompanied by the quietness is still unsettling. So rushed.

We pay for our tickets entering the grounds and searching for our friend. And Anna, of course. My watch vibrates multiple times, probably one of us and the two that are already at our meeting spot. Nathan leads me alongside the fence to the right end, stares following us on the connection of our hands as we pass dozens of people sitting on their towels. After a few minutes of wandering around I recognize a head with familiar gray lilac hair waving over at us. We head over there, each one of us greeting the two others. I'm currently shaking, waiting for my turn to introduce Nathan the correct way.

"Hey Anna, it's been a while.", I greet nervously, not sure if I should hug her or not. But to my surprise she seems quite nervous as well! Her gaze avoiding mine multiple times. "Yes, it's good to see you again.", she smiles gently, her brown eyes appearing lighter than the first time I met her due to the sun. "Oh, I didn't introduce you guys last time but this is Nathan... my... boyfriend.", I stare at him intensely, not dating to look anywhere else than his face. So does he and I could see the relief in it, the happiness. Why did this make him so happy?

"Yes, hey! I'm his boyfriend.", he states again, slowly peeling his eyes off of me and onto the girl in front of us, so do I, scared of what I'm going to see there. "Damn it , I figured you guys were dating, I saw you two exiting a store while holding hands. But that's totally okay! I have quite a few bisexual friends, so I'm more than fine with it, just kinda liked you.", she admits with a slight blush contrasting on her pale cheeks. "I'm glad, I was really worried you'd react differently.", I sigh, the huge relief washing over me. "No,don't be worried. I hope we can get to know each other more.", she smiles brightly. "So do I, thank you. But there's one more thing.", I point to my right ear, "I'm actually deaf, so please don't wonder why I don't respond should I not see your face but I can read lips perfectly." She stares at me in surprise, telling me how she would have never noticed if I hadn't told her.

After introducing her to my other friends and sister we decide to head for the water since we are all more than hot. A strong grip holds me back and I look over to Nathan."You're still wearing your shirt. Lift your arms.", he order,letting go of my hand. I do as I'm told, waiting for him to take my shirt off, which he did. "Now, let's go!", he grins, placing my shirt on one of the towels Alex brought for us. I take his hand in mine again, trying to just ignore the stares we're getting and enjoy myself with my friends.

"When did you guys meet?", Anna asks as Nathan and I join them in the water, the cold feeling amazing on my heated skin. "Uhm, about a month ago, or not?", I look behind me seeing my boyfriend chat with Mika and Alex, but no sign from Claire. "Yeah a month should be right.", I laugh since he didn't pay attention and just winked at me when he noticed I was staring at him. "That's awesome, I wish you the best, Skylar.",she smiles, sincerity written all over her face. "Thank you. How old are you by the way?", I ask, guessing her to be about our age either way. "14 and you?", oh, younger than expected. "I'm 16,so are Claire and Mika and my sister is 15 and Nathan's the oldest with 17.", I explain, pointing at the individual people, except for Claire, since she seemed to still be missing and it started to make me nervous.

"Damn, so I really am the youngest,thought maybe Mika would be younger.", she laughs, scratching the back of her head. "But that's not too big of a gap.", I smile,"Say, have you seen Claire, she's not here?", I ask her, looking around one last time. "She went to use the toilet.", Anna explains. Of course, I could have guessed that as well! "Oh okay,thanks, I was just wondering.", the girl in front of me looks at something behind me, quickly adverting her gaze back to me, trying to hide a smile. Perplex, I turn around, but there's nothing when suddenly I'm being lifted out of the water and thrown a few feet further to the middle.

Breaching the surface, I can't help but snort in laughter. "Damn it, Nathan, you scared me!", I try to pout, the laughter betrayed me. "Oh, I'm sorry, do you need to be hugged?", he asks, holding his arms out. "Yes.", I whine,swimming into his embrace. I see Alex and Mika from the corner of my eye, smiling at each other while talking. I push myself out of his hug to look at him. "I love you.", I whisper, placing my lips over his carefully, not intending to deepen it any further than how it is before releasing him and turning around to focus back on Anna."Sorry about that.", I chuckle, a slight blush spreading over my cheeks. "It's fine, you guys are really cute together.", she smiles, only her head sticking out of the cold water.