FIFTEEN:
"So, what are we doing today?" Jake asked me right when I walked into my house after school.
"Geez, I don't know, but can I at least put my books down first?"
"I come here to visit you and instead I get stuck sitting around, doing nothing all day," he whined.
"Oh yeah, like you never do that while you're at college," I joked.
He sighed, "C'mon, I wanna do something!" He jumped up and down, which reminded me of a hyper five year old. Yup, that's Jake alright.
"Fine, we can go bowling later. Does that sound good?"
"What about bowling?" Stephen asked as he walked in the room.
"We're going bowling later. And we get to meet Laney's friends."
"Wait, what? I never said I was inviting anyone."
"Yeah, but I want to meet them. You always talk about them in your e-mails, so I think we should approve of them, right Stevo?"
Stephen rolled his eyes at the nickname, "Yeah, we want to make sure they're not bad influences on you."
"You're both bad influences, but I still hang out with you," I stated.
Jake dramatically slapped his hand over his heart, "Laney! I'm hurt that you think that. We are absolutely NOT bad influences," he joked.
I laughed and shook my head, "Whatever, I need to go call everyone then."
"Hey guys, these are the two idiots I've mentioned before, Jake and Stephen. Guys, this is Cody, Nate, Beth, Tonya, and you already know Jason," I said once we met up in front of the bowling alley. Everyone nodded and waived hello to Jake and Stephen.
"Alright, you look like a bunch of normal teenagers. I guess we can let you hang out with Laney," Stephen joked.
"Laney?" Tonya wondered.
"They call me by my middle name because I hated my first name when I was younger," I explained. I forgot to tell them that earlier.
"Oh, okay. Well let's bowl!" she shouted excitedly, just like Jake was doing the whole ride here.
"Finally, someone who shares the excitement with me!" Jake said as he slung his arm across Tonya's shoulders. I wasn't surprised because they both have flirtatious personalities, so they'd get along well. I warned the guys about not trying anything before we left though.
Everyone walked in the building, except for Jason and me. I stopped for a second because I saw someone familiar on the side of the building. It was Bryce. He was walking away though, so I didn't say anything to him. He must've been bowling earlier. Or he worked at the bowling alley. Unless he was just visiting someone who worked here. Whatever the reason, it reminded me of the other day, when Jason apologized to him during lunch.
"You okay?" Jason asked me as he put his arm around my waist.
"Yeah, I was just thinking."
"About anything interesting?"
"I was just wondering what Bryce said to you when you apologized to him a couple days ago. He looked mad, and you looked...I don't know, surprised."
He nodded, "I was surprised."
"Why, what'd he say? He didn't yell at you, which surprised me."
"Yes, that surprised me too. But, basically he just told me to treat you well."
YOU ARE READING
Always Outspoken
RomanceI had no say in moving to a new town, but it turned out to be better than I expected. I made new friends, screwed up my chances with the guy I liked, dated two other guys, and fought with my family constantly. Sound confusing? Believe me, everything...
