Love Is Real

Chapter 3

"I'd also like lemonade with the burger please." I tell the waiter as she jots down the note.

"Who drinks lemonade?" Asks Olivia, from the booth in front of ours. I'm sitting next to Shawn and in front of me sits Carter and Matthew. Olivia sits with Nash and in front of them sits Monica and this guy I don't know.

"I do." Carter raises his glass for her to see.

"Since when?"

"Since always!" He replies and she rolls her eyes, snuggling into Nash.

After a while of laughter and fun, our food arrives. The lady hands me my burger and the drink. I look at the cup from the top and notice that it's brown.

"I don't think that's lemonade.." Carter says, also looking down at my drink. Carter, apparently, talks too loud cause I spot Nash's eyes looking back at the brown liquid. I open the lid and realize it's coke.

"That's fine, let's just eat." I calmly say as I dig into my fries that came with the plate. Along the meal, I don't bother to even take a sip from the cup. I literally HATE any kind of carbonated drink. Weird? Yeah. I know.

"Why aren't you drinking?" Nash quickly looks back and says, giving me a suspicious look.

"I don't like coke. But it's okay if I.." I begin, but he cuts in at my words.

"MOLLY!! She ordered LEMONADE not COKE!" He spits out to the waiter across the room. Everyone in the room looks towards us.

"I'm very sorry, we must've gotten it confused." The lady smiles, as she replaces my drink with lemonade.

"What? No thank you?" Nash asks me, smiling.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that" I assure him.

We spend our dinner laughing. I realize that I ate a lot, since I didn't have lunch this afternoon. I check outside and notice it's getting darker.

"I just have the best idea ever!" Matt screams which stops the group from talking. We all stare at him and wait for him to talk.

"Let's have a POOL PARTY tomorrow!"

"And is that because there are only three girls out of like.. What? A million guys?" Monica asks, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe." He replies and we all laugh. Laugh. Something I haven't done ever since my dad had..

"But it does sound fun. You can even invite some of your girlfriends. We could have a blast." Nash tells Olivia, looking down at her.

"Fine.." She begins and the guys cheer. I know I'm always prepared, but this is the only thing I haven't brought with me:

A bathing suit..

We decide we'll meet up at Nash's house around 3:00 pm. I need Matthew to drop me off at Target though..

The group gets up, saying their goodbyes, and we all head to the door. I whisper what I had in mind about shopping on a Saturday night for a bathing suit to Matthew and he seems fine with it. But the only problem is, he wants to choose with me..

...

"How 'bout this one??" He points at a bikini that has strings tied together in the back. It's a white colored one which is always my least favorite.

"No. Definitely not. No bikinis." I hold up a blue 1 piece suit and wait for a thought. But all he does is shake his head.

"Can you just try? You'll look really hot in it." He begs.

"Fine.. But just because I'm trying it doesn't mean I'm buying it!" I warn him. He puts his hands up in the air and I smile.

I take the bikini from him and head to the changing rooms. At first, it feels tight but after some adjustments, it feels matched up with my skin. I take a glance at myself and find a girl that is truly different than who I really am.

I head out to Matthew.

"Wow." He stares at me the moment he turns around at the sound of my footsteps.

"Do you like it?" I ask, hoping for a no.

"It's perfect. The white color matches your tan skin. Plus, you've got the curves to show off." He says, trying to sound girly then laughs and I join.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Positive." He looks me in the eye which makes me want to trust him. I go back and change then bring the clothes to buy.

After the shopping, we get back to the car and he drives me back to the dorm. Once we get there over a car ride filled with laughter, he stops the car in front of the doors.

"So how do you like here so far?" He suddenly speaks up over the silence.

"It's great. But you know, it could change. It's just my second day."

"Yeah. That's true. But you'll have lots of fun with us, trust me."

"I can see that already. I just don't think Olivia and I will get along. That's pretty much the only problem."

"I'm sure you will. She's just upset cause she's jealous of how Nash was eyeing you."

"He was not." I state.

"Yes. He definitely was." He smiles and I do too. "It's nice how you're part of us now, even though we're a year older."

"Yeah." I reply. "Can't wait till tomorrow."

"Same." He says. "Well I should go, my parents are probably wondering about me. It was nice meeting you Grace."

"You too." I smile and head out the door, waving goodbye. The moment I get inside, I find Monica sleeping and go straight into my bed, realizing its 12:34 am. I slowly drift to sleep, already dreaming about tomorrow..