Anarchy

Chapter 13: Defying Orders

I was still following the group towards the harbor when I felt someone grab me by the elbow and lead me away from the group.

"Come on, Ana. This way," Nick said.

"Don't we have deck duty?" I asked, confused. We were headed away from the harbor and back towards the part of town where I was dropped off.

"Yep."

"But the harbor is that way..." I trailed off.

"We were assigned deck duty," he confirmed. "That doesn't mean we have to do it."

"I like the way you think," I grinned, happy that at least one of the DQs lived up to their name. "But how do we get past Banks?"

"Don't worry about him. He's in the office until noon; we'll be back before then."

"So what are we going to do instead? Play dominos? See who can spit the farthest? Because if so, I can already tell you that I'll win." Jamie likes to challenge me to spitting contests; he's not bad at it, but lets just say I'm better.

Nick didn't answer. Instead he turned down another street, leaving me to follow him. We were silent for a while; him leading us somewhere away from our duties, and me, more than willing to follow.

I started to recognize my surroundings; he was walking towards the shop where I first met Angie Wilkins and her older brother Logan, or Lala, as she calls him.

The bell rung as he opened the door to the quaint little shop. Hearing this, I saw Angie's head pop above the counter, checking to see who had come in. When she saw us, her entire face lit up.

"Ana!" She cried, running over and throwing her arms around me.

Nicks eyebrow popped up, questioning me. I smiled sheepishly, shrugging my shoulders but nevertheless hugging her back.

"Hey Angie. How are ya?"

"Good! Last night Mr. Twinkle ate a firefly!" I looked over to see Nick perusing the bait and tackle section. "Do you think he'll start to glow?"

"Um, maybe?" How could I answer honestly without squashing her hypothesis?
"Who is Mr. Twinkle?"

"My cat," she said, her voice filled with love for the creature.

"Oh well, in that case, yes, definitely."

Nick scoffed from the other side of the store. What's got his panties in a bunch?

"Lala says it's silly, but he also doesn't think Tinkerbell is real, so I don't really trust him. Besides, he didn't see it happen. I think I'll try to catch another one tonight—maybe Mr. Twinkle has to eat one everyday.." She crossed her arms, seemingly deep in thought.

Nick made his way to the register with a jumble of fishing line and hooks. He set them on the counter and rang the bell.

Angie, pulled from her reverie, skipped over to the counter and began scanning the items.

"Where's Logan?" I wondered aloud. Hadn't Angie said he's usually there to help out?

"Oh he went to get more bait," she answered, continuing to scan each item. She was clumsy and it took forever, but it seemed like she loved the little beep after each code was scanned.

Suddenly, door to the shop opened, and in walked Logan, speak of the devil.

"Hey Nick, hey Ana," he greeted, walking over to deposit what was probably the bait in the refrigerator before coming to stand behind Angie at the register. He took over for her, ringing up the payment. "Going fishing?"

"Something like that," Nick answered, elusive as ever.

"Total is 7.34. Do you want that on your tab?" Nick simply nodded, picking up the bag of tackle. "Alright, we'll see you guys later," Logan said cheerfully, despite Nicks apparent lack of enthusiasm.

I waved goodbye. Nick just walked out.

"You're very polite you know," I teased him once we were out on the street. "I mean really, your manners are fit for the queen."

"I'm not here to make friends," he mumbled, almost low enough that I didn't catch it. But I have spectacular hearing.

"Oh really?" I began, sarcastically. "And what do you think I'm here for? Vacation?"

I saw Nicks lips turn up at the edges, as if he was fighting a smile.
Looks like even Mr. Moviestar can't resist the charm of Analise Connors.

We kept walking towards the harbor, to where I assumed we would be going fishing. I'm not super into it, but hey, it beats swabbing the deck.
Just as we were approaching the water though, Nick turns and keeps going, heading for the boat club.
I was confused. Again.

"Um, Nick, the water is that way," I pointed out, stopping along the side of the road.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," he said, continuing to walk away from what I thought was the fishing spot.

"Aren't we going fishing?" I asked, running to catch up to him.

"Nope."

"So you just bought fishing line and hooks for the fun of it?"

"Nope."

"Alright. I give up," I sighed, exasperated. "What are you planning?"

"You'll see," he deflected.

And I did.

********

Nick had led us to the boat club. Dressed as we were, I was fairly certain we wouldn't be admitted; this place was swanky with a capital "s". Everyone was dressed to the nines; pastels and boat shoes and strings of pearls...and it wasn't even midday. You could even see the gleaming, crisp white outfits of the tennis players from a mile away.

It was, in a word, preposterous.

I couldn't help but marvel at it, which Nick, for some reason, found amusing.

But we didn't go in. Instead, Nick was leading us around back, to another spectacularly white and pristine part of the club.

As he opened the door though, I realized it was really only the outside appearance that had been maintained; this was some sort of storage building. There were buoys and life vests and all sorts of other crap cluttering up the place.

I was so busy looking around I hadn't noticed Nick had starting to ascend the staircase hidden away in the corner. I quickly climbed up after him.

The stairs led to a small loft, where there was a door leading out onto a tiny deck, if you could call it that; really it was just an overhang.

Nick stepped out and I followed, careful not to snag my pants on the nails jutting out.

"Hey Nick what are—" the words died in my throat as I looked up.

The view was incredible; you could see the entire harbor. It was marred only by the chatter of the snobs out on the outdoor patio.

"Whoa."

"Not bad, huh?" Nick murmured.

"No, not bad," I agreed. "But what does this have to do with the line and hooks?"

"You were sent here because you got in trouble," he stated.

"Yes...?" I trailed off, not knowing where this was going.

"Are you up for a little more mischief?" He challenged.

"You bet."

************************************

Updated one day early because I love you guys so much ❤️