Firecracker

Chapter 9

The journey to gravity force was...amusing to say the least. Turned out it was literally just around the corner from the boys flat so we did the logical thing to do which would be walking. I feel like just within this 5 minute walk I got to know the other boys a lot. Brooklyn was the goofy one, always making a jokes and being annoying- in a good way, if that makes any sense. Mikey had the bad boy look about him but he seemed to have the personality of a marshmallow. Andy was sensible and sarcastic, I mean what else do you need in a friend aye, Jack was the Irish one - obviously. He was shy at first but soon enough he got more comfortable around me. Rye and I walked side by side the whole walk there, occasionally joining in with the boys crazy antics.
"Look here Sky" Rye said nodding towards our old secondary school - the place that we met. The old gray building hadn't changed one bit since I saw it last.
"I bet Mr Murphey misses our crazy pranks" I said laughing.
"That school must be so boring without their famous firecracker" Rye said, smiling. The others looked on with confused looks on their faces. We just smiled and left it at that. That nickname was just for Rye to call me, nobody else.
We arrived at gravity force a few minutes later and checked in, the minute we got the all clear from the workers to go on the trampolines the boys took off towards the foam pit. I joined Rye on the trampoline lanes. I watched in admiration as he flipped and tumbled all over the place. If I'm honest, the look of concentration on his face was extremely attractive, he back flipped so effortlessly and landed it every time and I just sat there checking him out, hoping he would be too concentrated to notice, unfortunately I wasn't in luck today,
"Like what you see babe?" He said with that famous smirk on his face. I've come to love and hate that smirk throughout the years that I've known him.
"You wish" I replied, laughing. "How do you even do that,without breaking your neck?" I asked giggling.
"Come here, I'll teach you" he said with a beaming smile on his face.
I contemplated saying no, all due to the fact that being that close to him will definately trigger the butterflies in my stomach but on the other hand I craved the way he made me feel. I bounced over until I was standing about a foot from Rye. I looked up at him smiling . His hair was messy, held back by a bandana and his pants were loose around his waist, as usual. He started demonstrating how to backflip but once again I got lost staring at him.
"Why do I get the feeling that you got none of what I just said?" He laughed. I gave him a sheepish smile.
"Maybe if you stopped checking me out then you might actually learn something" he teased.
"I was not checking you out!" I protested, a deep blush covering my cheeks.
"You sure about that babe?, that blush says otherwise"
"Just shut up and teach me how to backflip then" I said. He laughed, sensing the sound of defeat in my voice.
"Okay, I've got you, I'll spot you on the first few attempts and then let you off on your own, sound good?'
"Yeah?" I answered, not exactly sure how this would go.
"You'll be fine Sky, I'm here anyway and I won't let you die" he said, rolling his eyes at the fact that I thought I would die. He placed his hand on my lower back as I jumped, before flipping me and catching me as I landed on my feet.
"See, not that hard" he said as he stared right into my eyes. I couldn't concentrate properly, my heart was beating so fast I'm almost certain he could feel my heartbeat due to the close proximity of our bodies.
"Now try it on your own" he said, a small smile playing on his lips.
I jumped. Jumped again. I probably jumped for about 5 minutes before finally attempting a backflip. Surprisingly I landed it on the first try,
"I DID IT" I screamed while jumping up and down.
"You're so cute" Rye commented while watching my victory dance. His words took my by surprise
"Cute aye?" I said with a smirk, teasing him just like he did to me.
"Uh yeah aha, you're cute" he said again while scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. I blushed again, probably for about the 100th time so far today. I was about to thank him but the boys came stampeding towards us like a herd of elephants.
The rest of the day at Gravity Force was spent with Rye attempting to teach the rest of the boys how to backflip and me admiring him from afar. Mikey came and sat next to me while Andy was on his 10th try at the landing.
"You like him don't you?" He asked.
I was about to pretend I knew nothing of what he was talking about before deciding that Mikey seemed like a trustworthy person.
"Yeah. I like him a lot" I whispered.
" I think he likes you too you know, before you came back he used to talk about you all the time, he'd kill me if I ever told you all this, he missed you a lot Skylar, he used to stare at this picture he had on his phone of the two of you, sometimes he'd smile at it and sometimes he looked like when was on the verge of tears. I don't know you all that well yet but I'm genuinely so glad you're back, even thought it's only been a few days he's so much happier and you can tell he has some kind of feelings towards you, don't worry though, I won't tell anyone you feel the same."
"Thanks Mikey , that means a lot" I replied, giving him a grateful smile before he went back to whatever crazy antics him and the guys were doing.
By the time were all ready to head back to the flat it was dark outside.
"Hey Sky, since it's late now do you maybe want to scrap Nandos and spent the whole day in Windsor tomorrow to catch up?" Rye asked as we walked back towards the boys flat, he sounded nervous and it was adorable.
"I'd love to" I replied, smiling up at him since he was so much taller then I was.
"This is where we part ways" I said to the boys.
"I'll walk you home, just to make sure you get home safe and all" Rye stated.
Mikey gave me a knowing glance before I said goodbye to all the boys.
" I really enjoyed today, the boys are so nice , I'm glad you have them as friends and not to mention you're all crazy talented!" I gushed.
"Yeah the band have really helped me a lot and the roadies are amazing" he smiled. We continued taking about the most randomest of things before we came to a stop at my doorstep. I turned to face him before going inside.
"Thanks for walking me home"
He took a step closer and I could feel my breathing become uneven and my palms get sweaty.
"Anything to make sure you're safe, I'll come pick you up at about 10 tomorrow if that suits yeah?"
"Yeah I'd like that"
We fell into a moment of silence before he leaned in and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. I closed my eyes, only to open them as I felt his soft lips on my cheek, "bye babe" he whispered. And just like that he was gone, leaving me breathless on my doorstep. 'Could he possibly like me back' I thought to myself. I probably stood outside in the freezing cold smiling like an idiot for 5 minutes before my dad opened the front door,
"Uhhh hi?"
"Hi" I replied giggling.
"I'm not even going to ask...." He said before walking inside with me following behind