Achievement Unlocked

Chapter 11

When I returned home, I was greeted by the house smelling of burnt popcorn.

"What have you done?" I ask, tossing my keys onto the bookshelf. 

"I tried to make popcorn. It didn't go so well." She replied, walking from the kitchen and sitting on the couch.

"I can see that. What's up?"

"Not much. Where'd you go?"

I walked over to the couch and took a seat next to Dani. I let out a long sigh, "We went to go eat at McDonald's."

"Did you have fun?" 

"Yeah, it was alright." 

Dani said up and turned her body towards me, crossing her legs. She smiled wide and said, "I'm staying over tonight. We're gonna watch movies all night."

"Yeah, I'm down. What movies?"

"Whatever, man. Let's watch low budget horror films and make fun of them." 

"Sounds good to me." I shrugged and reached for the remote sitting on the coffee table. I pulled up the Netflix menu and leaned on the arm of the couch. 

"Lullaby," I read a movie title to Dani, "That sounds alright."

"Yeah, let's watch it. I'm gonna go attempt to make more popcorn." Dani said, standing up and making her way into the kitchen. 

"Don't burn the house down." I called to her. She let out a groan in response. 

For the rest of the night, Dani and I watched movies and shared a few laughs. It was nice not having Dani pressure me about Gavin, or talk about him. I needed a break from her and her stupid ideas. 

"Hey, Eli, you've got a text from Gavin." Dani said, holding my phone.

"Give me that." I demanded, holding out my phone. She smirked and placed the phone in my palm. I unlocked my phone and looked at the message.

"What's it say?" Dani asked, leaning over my shoulder to look at the message. I moved my phone out of her field of vision.

"He wants me to come over."

"Go!" Dani squealed, jumping up into the air. 

"It's nearly midnight. Don't you think it's a little too late?" I ask, looking at the clock on my phone. 

"So? Come on, go!" She continued to grin. 

"Do I have to?"

'Yes!" 

I let out a long and frustrated groan and walked over to the door, picking up my keys and putting on my shoes. 

"I'll be back later." I said quickly, walking outside and to my car. I pulled out of my driveway and made my way to Gavin's house, wondering what Dani's thinking. She obviously wasn't upset about me ditching her, I thought to myself. Actually, I didn't ditch her, she encouraged it. Right? Oh, now I feel like a dick. Maybe I should go back? No, Dani would be mad at me for not going to Gavin's. Which doesn't make sense to me. Why does she want me to be with Gavin so badly? Maybe Geoff's in on this, and him and Dani are planning this out. Maybe Geoff didn't even have to leave for a family emergency. Maybe he left to get Gavin and I alone together. Goodness, Eli, listen to yourself. That doesn't make any sense, you're going mad. My thoughts ended as soon as I pulled into Geoff's driveway. I parked and got out of my car slowly, trying to stall. I made my way up the porch steps and knocked on the door quietly. Gavin answered and smiled, holding the door open for me. 

"Hello." He greeted as I walked it. I smiled softly and waved. Gavin walked over to the couch and sat down, then pat the seat next to him. "Have a seat." He said quietly.

I went over to the couch and took a seat next to Gavin.

"Thanks for coming over." Gavin smiled.

"Yeah, not a problem. I didn't really have anything to do, so." I replied, shrugging. 

"Yeah, I didn't stop to think that it would get really lonely here without Geoff and the girls."

"I know the feeling. I like to be alone, though. Gives me time to think and organize my thoughts."

Gavin nodded and played with a loose thread on his sleeve. 

"Oh!" Gavin's head popped up. "I just remembered, Geoff cleaned out the pool and filled it up." Gavin said excitedly. "Do you want to go swimming?" He asked me. 

"I didn't bring a suit." I reply softly, looking down at my hands.

"One of Griffon's will probably fit you." 

"That's a little weird."

"You can just go in your clothes, I guess." Gavin suggests. 

"Yeah, that'll work." I smiled as Gavin got up and began to walk towards the back door. I quickly got up and followed him. Gavin turned on the back porch light and walked me over to the pool. 

"The water looks so pretty at night." I commented.

"Yeah, it does. What's that in the pool?" Gavin asked, standing next to me and pointing out something that was floating on the water. 

"Hmm, I don't know, maybe you should get a closer look." I smiled mischievously. Gavin knelt down and got closer to the water. I place my hands on Gavin's back and pushed him into the pool. He hit the water with a large splash as I struggled to contain my laughter. 

"What was that for?" Gavin asked as soon as he came back up to the surface. 

"I thought it'd be funny, and I was right." I laughed. 

"You're going to pay for that." He warned and swam over to the stairs. I shook my head and jumped into the pool, joining him. 

"The water's so cold!" Gavin complained, getting out and sitting on the edge of the pool.

"Are you serious?" I said blandly. 

"It's really cold, I can't do this." Gavin whined as I swam over to his place and pulled myself up and out of the pool. 

"Uh oh," Gavin said. "I may have forgotten to bring towels out." 

"God damnit, Gavin." I chuckled and sat down next to him, turning my body towards him. 

"I'm sorry I ruined the swimming." Gavin looked up at me. 

"Yeah, apology not accepted." I replied. "The water wasn't even that cold!"

"It's really cold! It was like stepping in a wet freezer." 

I stared at Gavin for a moment, trying to comprehend what he had just said.

"Wet freezer?"

"Shut up. I'm basically an ice cube because of you."

"You're also a wimp." I teased.

"I am not a wimp! It really was cold!"

"You're a wimp." 

"Am not!"

"Yeah, you kinda are." I chuckled and looked up at Gavin.

"Yeah, well, if I was a wimp, would I do this?" Gavin finished his sentence by placing his lips on mine, kissing me softly and sending shivers down my spine. I froze, not knowing what to do in this kind of scenario. Gavin pulled back and whispered, "Huh? Would a wimp do that?"