Driven by Confidence, a Ross Lynch Fan Fiction

Chapter 6

The car ride home alone was spent with the tears still flowing down my cheeks. How could I be so stupid to not research into this guy?

The barbeque and pool party at the Lynch household was at four, and it was three-thirty. Mom and dad were getting ready in their room. I rushed to my room and sat on my bed, inspecting my calf. There was a hand-sized bruise already. The dark purple painted my skin in a sinister beautiful way. I lifted my dress to look at my stomach, where another large, purple bruise tainted where my diaphragm was. There was no way I could swim. People would suspect something, and I didn't want to know what Jace would do.

I stood painfully and took off my dress and sandals and changed into acid-washed skinny jeans and a plain black v-neck. I put on socks and my black Converse and took a deep breath.

I needed an excuse for not swimming. Um... Well, I did have a slight migraine from hitting my head in the car. I'd just use that and exaggerate the pain a bit...

I also needed to act extremely happy. If I had to pretend Jace was my boyfriend, I had to be girly and lighthearted and happy because he became my boyfriend that day. I could do that.

Someone knocked on my door. I checked the mirror to see if my eyes were swollen from crying, and they weren't. I grabbed my phone and went to my door.

My dad said, "Ready?"

I nodded and followed him and mom across the street. Mom had a bowl of my favorite food in her arms: fruit salad.

Riker opened the door, and a wide smile spread across his face. He called behind him, "They're here!" He turned back to us. He was really tall. "Come on in! I'll take that." Riker reached for the fruit salad and mom thanked him. "Everyone's outback swimming. Bring your swimsuit, Dianna?"

Lie. Lie. Lie. "I actually have a kind of killer migraine right now, so I'll just watch!"

"Awwww," he pouted, "Okay. If it goes away, feel free to join us!"

I smiled and nodded. We followed him outside, where Mr. Lynch was barbequeing.

Rocky, Ross, Ratliff, and Ryland were in the pool. Rydel was lounging on a beach chair. The adults - the Lynch parents and the Ratliffs - were surrounding the barbeque, talking and laughing. Upbeat music provided a good background tune.

Everyone looked to us and cheered and whooped at our arrival. Stormie walked up to us and hugged us each tightly. Her hug hurt my bruised stomach, but I concealed a wince.

"Welcome to the neighborhood!"

Rydel pranced up to me. "Riker told me you don't want to swim. I have killer cramps, so I'm not either. Wanna sit with me?"

I was so grateful for her kindness. She made me feel comfortable immediately. I followed her to where she was lounging and sat on the chair next to her.

The boys that were in the pool soon found their way up to us, all shirtless. I fought off a blush as I refused to look at anything but their faces. They all greeted me and chatted with Rydel and me a bit before jostling each other and pushing each other in. Rydel and I cringed away from the splash zone.

"Ross told me you had a date with Jace! How'd that go?"

She gets right down to business. Wait, Ross talked about my date?

I lied. "It went really well! He asked me to be his girlfriend."

Her eyes flashed to the pool sadly before returning with a smile to me. "That's great! I'm really mad at Ross for messing things up with you."

I smiled smally, sadly. "I was too. But what's done is done. I actually had a question for you though."

"Shoot!"