The Bad Boy's Blend

The Before

Prologue - The Before

5 years ago

"Get down from there, Logan!"

Someone needed to explain to him that jumping off the dock at 3:30 in the morning was not a good idea. There was no telling if he'd jump off and crack his head on a rock, or if he'd get swept away into the rip current. Not to mention the possible monsters that could be lurking just beneath the surface of the water, waiting to pounce on one adventurous soul who jumped a little too far.

"Come on, Aria. Nothing bad is going to happen," He waved at me and I could imagine him rolling his eyes. "I'm the last likely person to die. I'd kill whatever was out to kill me."

"You can keep telling yourself that," I waved back and cracked a smile. "But don't come crying to me when you do get killed! Bye-bye!"

He whimpered and scurried back off the dock, throwing himself into my arms. "You don't mean that."

I laughed and tried to shrug him off, but he wouldn't let go. "You'd be good and dead and buried in the sand. I'd make sure there was enough chocolate milk to go around at your funeral, though. I owe you at least that much. Remember you brought me chocolate milk a week ago?"

He snorted. "Of course. I'm only the nicest person ever. You were sick and your dad was mad at you so I snuck up to your room. When will you ever do that for me?"

"When you're sicker than a dog and your dad decides to be meaner than ever to you, call me and I'll get you chocolate milk," I laughed and thought back to when I was holed up in bed for the past week, coughing and sputtering my organs out. This was actually the first time I'd been out and about in a while.

Well, except for the fact that it was 3:30 AM on a Sunday morning. Logan had been over watching TV with me for a few hours because Mom felt I needed more people time. I didn't need to have a reason to not see people. It wasn't as if Logan was people, anyhow. He was Logan, even with the premature dimples in his cheeks and the one streak of blonde in his otherwise brown hair, he was still Logan. And I loved him as much as an 11-year old me could love something. He was all I knew growing up. Hell, I thought we'd grow up and grow down together, maybe even sharing the same room in college or maybe the same room when we were 40 and grey.

I didn't want to live with a boy, though. He was lanky and smelly and most of the time, he wore the same shirt two days in a row. That was totally gross. Despite that, he was my best-friend and would always be. Or at least I thought. He was spending more time with his boy friends than he was with me. When Ms. Ryan told us to pair up, he found another boy in our class instead of going straight to me. I had to pair up with Jenny. I liked Jenny a lot, but I liked Logan more. He made projects fun, whereas Jenny made them a task to overcome, something that needed to be perfected. She was very nice otherwise.

He was staring out at the water, biting lightly on his lip when he decided to speak again and when he spoke, he shouted so that his voice ricocheted down to The Cove and back. "Sea of chocolate milk! Split before me and make a path directly to Chuck E. Cheese's!"

He began spreading his hands apart and concentrated deeply on the water. His shoulders began to shake and his feet dug in the sand. I approached him slowly, somewhat intrigued.

He waited for a good 5 seconds, the waves licking at his toes, when he made a loud guttural noise and collapsed into a heap on the sand. Tears dotted his cheeks like diamonds in the moonlight. "I don't understand. Where's Chuck E. Cheese's?"

I began to laugh so hard diamonds were on my cheeks. I laid down next to him and tried to calm my ribs, but they weren't having it. Only after a few minutes, did he talk again.