I'll Be Holding on to You

punching strangers in the park

"I swear to fuckin' God if you hit me with that Frisbee, Cameron, I will end you." Freak sat next to me on a blanket Mara had brought, drinking orange soda from a bottle. 

Mohammed and Cam were playing Frisbee.

"I'm so scared," Cam called, faking a yawn and almost getting hit himself when Mo tossed it back to him.

"You should be." She shook her head. "Unconscionable," she said to Gage, who was lying on his stomach and filling out one of her crossword puzzles. "Fourteen letter word for a douchebag with no conscience." She shot me a loaded look, because we'd known our fair share of them. "Thirteen down."

"I would have gotten that one," he protested. He had his hat turned around and was using a pen with no fear, like she did. "I'm not even there yet."

Erika would have had the whole thing done already. But he was pretty impressive.

"Muscat," I said with a bad accent, pointing to a row. "Capital of Oman."

"That one I would not have gotten," Gage muttered, filling it in.

"You can't spell unconscionable, either," Mara pointed out.

"I just did," he protested, holding up the book. "See?"

She raised her eyebrows and shook her head. She had on a tight red t-shirt with Betty Boop on it and had dyed her hair hot pink. It looked outstanding on her. I was really appreciating whatever it was she had against bras. "There were already like seven letters filled in."

"The fact remains, hater," he said haughtily.

Erika was not scowling for once. She was having fun despite herself, which made me happy. I was having a good time too. 

Evie had declined and informed Freddy that he was staying home with her, to catch up on shows and movies, and he was of course down for that.

Mo and Cam collapsed in the grass, out of breath. 

"Was it that strenuous, guys?" I needled them.

"Not as much as last night with your mom," Mo answered smoothly.

I raised my eyebrows. "I'll tell her you said so."

He winced. "Please d-don't."

I tossed him a cold water and he drank most of it. It was perfect weather, low 80s. Gage and Mara had brought sandwiches from the deli and a cooler of drinks after checking with me about preferences. We brought snacks and sweets. 

Mara's ipod was playing on little speakers, music we could deal with, which meant Twenty One Pilots and a few other things. We were kind of picky and intolerant when it came to music. We liked what we liked. 

Mo was half assed hunting in the bag for his sandwich, distracted by three girls sitting near us wearing bikini tops. 

"You're drooling," I teased, tossing him a napkin. I couldn't talk as my eyes were on Mara's incredible body as she leaned over the cooler. But damn.

"Says you," Freak said under her breath to me. I turned my head to look at her and she regarded me coolly. "Yes, Dorienne?" she asked in a regular voice, touching the braces on her front teeth lightly, without realizing it.

I ignored her, which was hard to do because she rocked my world. But I was used to it and also used to ignoring her when need be. I turned my attention back to the puzzle. "Music composition, nineteen down; etude."

"Thank you," he said, filling it in.

"I know words," I said, modestly.

Freak snorted. "You have a Master's in English, so one would hope."