The Next Level *SEQUEL TO LPAG*

| Prologue : The Next Level |

A year and a half later…

I furrowed my eyebrows as I pressed down gently on the gas pedal – I was so focused on trying to not go too fast or run into anyone (even though it was basically vacant except maybe one or two people jogging back and forth from the football fields to the path) in the huge parking lot that I didn’t even realize what Alex was instructing me to do.

“Joce! Hello…” He spoke up and snapped his fingers. I jolted up as my heart skipped a beat.

“Geez, Alex! Don’t do that to me.” I frowned as I pressed on the brakes.

“Well, if you’d listen…” He frowned to himself before he spoke up again, “Did you hear any of that?”

The heat rose to my cheeks as I lightly shook my head and mumbled, “N-no…sorry.”

He simply rolled his eyes before he told me what to do again, “I want you to try to park in a parking space now. You’ve gone up and down the parking lot ten times now… It’s time you parked. Then we’ll back up and see how you do.”

I nodded slightly, frowning and wishing my dad would have come, but no… He had to go to work on a Sunday afternoon – of course. I drove up to a parking space and turned into it, pressing the gas pedal soon afterwards.

“No, you can’t turn too soon or too late… Especially too late, baby. Try again.” He said, coaxing me to try again. I bit my lip and nodded, putting it in reverse and backing out.

I drove to another parking space and turned right quickly, coming towards the sign but stopping quickly. He nodded and smiled.

“That was better. Good job.” He said giving me a thumbs up.

“Okay… Now what?” I asked, still biting my lip.

“Well… First you could stop biting your lip before you make it bleed, then you could back out of the parking space and pick up some speed in the parking lot. You can’t always go twenty-five miles per hour, Joce, especially in a fifty-five or sixty-five zone.” He stated with a soft tone. I replied by nodding and shifting his car into reverse before pressing on the gas pedal and backing out.

I took a shaky breath and then swallowed silently before I gripped onto the wheel and pushed on the gas pedal, making the car speed up. Once I came to the one edge, I slowed down and turned hard before I took the strip and roared out of there again. His ratty old car roared loudly as it shook a bit. He really needs to get a new car.

“Good, now ease up a bit and turn again, then we’ll try parallel parking, kay?” He stated more than questioned. I nodded nervously… I was so not going to pass this test.

~-♥-~

After I was done with my short little driving lesson Alex decided to take me out somewhere since I was such a “good girl.” He grinned as we got closer to the beach; but since it was still cool from the spring still bringing cool breezes and even though summer was right around the corner, we decided to not go in the water. Just walk along the shore line barefoot as he held my hand and I held his. Our shoes were in the opposite hand as we walked along and talked.

“What are you going to do now that we’re graduating from high school in two weeks, Joce?” Alex asked me.

“I don’t know…” I replied glumly. I honestly had no clue what I was going to do now – I certainly didn’t want to go to college, as well as it was too expensive, and I didn’t know what to go for so it would be a waste of money.

“Well if you want… I’ll help you, baby.” He replied, smiling lightly as he squeezed my hand gently and rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb. Shivers went up and down my arm as well as my back. I smiled lightly and nodded.

“Maaayybee…” I said, smirking to myself as I let go of his hand and ran off closer to the water then hopped away before the water touched my feet. Alex walked over and I grinned evilly to myself as I bent down slowly and played a little bit with the water. My fingers went down in the water then down in it. I smirked as I grabbed a handful of water and flung it towards Alex, hitting his tight shirt.

I stood up quickly and smiled innocently at him as he narrows his eyes and rolled his eyes. I looked out towards the horizon, watching the waves crash against the big rocks in the distance before I felt water spraying onto me. I jolted back and squealed before I looked over at Alex. He shrugged and looked at the horizon as well before I started splashing him.

“Dingy!” I squealed at him as we splashed each other.

“You started it.” He pouted out slightly before he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. I smiled lightly as his lips kissed my cheek lingeringly then went towards my ear. The goose bumps he gave me always made me shiver as my stomach did flips. There was an entire zoo in my stomach whenever I saw him, he did this to me, or I thought about him.

The game was definitely over. We were real.

I hugged him close and smiled softly to myself.

“Game over…thank you for playing.” I whispered softly as his forehead rested on mine gently.

“But maybe I want to play more…maybe the next level is still undefeated.” He said with a tone that meant he wasn’t done.

A/N:

Hey! So I wanted to post the prologue...sorry it's taking me so long to start the book - I've just been really busy. Here's what's coming and I hope you'll enjoy it...sorry it's so short. But I'm pretty sure the first chapter will be really long. I hope you will enjoy TNL once I start it and will enjoy it just as much as LPaG...enjoy! :)