Staying Afloat

Chapter 9

I woke up the next morning. Payton had invited me over to work on the project, and I was going to head over around 11.

I got dressed in a simple but cute outfit and grabbed my laptop and my backpack. I was all set to head out. I snuck down the stairs, towards the front door.

"Mom, I'm leaving now!" I called out.

"Bye, Sweetie, have fun!" She replied. I walked out the door and hopped on my bike. After about 10 minutes, I was knocking on his door.

"Hey, Cece." Payton opened the door and greeted me.

"Hey." I smiled back, slinging my bag over my shoulder and stepping inside

"My room is right upstairs, we can do the project there. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Water, please." I followed him into the kitchen where he poured two glasses of water, handing me one. "Thank you."

"No problem." He led me up to his room, and I plopped down on the beanbag chair in the corner of the room. He sat down on his bed, facing me.

"So, I think we should start our presentation with talking about the Boston Tea Party to give some background. Then we can talk about the acts themselves." I suggested.

"Makes sense. I'll find some pictures." We continued to research and type, and by the end of the hour we had completed our powerpoint.

"Okay, I think it looks good. We're all set for Monday." He smiled.

"Okay, I'll see you then." I said, grabbing my backpack.

"Wait, do you want to hang out for a little bit? We could watch a movie." He suggested.

"Sure." I was really excited to hang out with him, he's so sweet and super dreamy. I followed him downstairs to the kitchen where he popped some popcorn. I sat down on the couch and he put the disc in. "What movie did you pick?" I asked.

"Ferris Beuller's Day Off. My favorite." He sat next to me as the movie started. Shortly into it he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I had never had a guy so close to me, but it felt nice.

"I should probably get going, but thanks for having me." I said as the credits rolled.

"No problem, this was fun." He smiled as I grabbed my backpack and threw it over my shoulder. "Say, Cece, are you going to homecoming with anybody?"

"No." I blushed. I couldn't believe what was happening!

"Would you want to go with me?" He asked. I was freaking out inside but I tried to keep my cool.

"Yeah, they would be great!" I said, trying to sound excited but not too excited.

"Okay, I'll text you." He walked me to the front door.

"Okay, see you Monday." I smiled and hopped on my bike, heading home.

———

"Oh thank god you answered! Guess what?" I was face-timing Allie to fill her in on today.

"What?"

"I have a homecoming date!" Allie's jaw dropped.

"Oh my god! Who?" She squealed

"Payton Bishop!" I exclaimed

"So I take it the study date went well?" She teased and I rolled my eyes.

"It was so great, he's so sweet and super cute! I'm so excited! We have to go dress shopping this week!"

"Oh my gosh for sure! Are you free tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am! I can see if my mom can take us to the mall."

"Okay, awesome!" We talked for a little while longer about the details of the day, and the more I talked, the more excited I became for the dance. After we hung up, I went to my mom's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in, honey!" I opened up the door and sat down on the chair in the corner. She twisted her roller chair to face me.

"Hey mom, Payton asked me to homecoming!"

"Oh, sweetie, that's great! Are you excited?"

"Extremely! But I need a dress, would you be able to take Allie and I to the mall tomorrow to shop?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, hon, I can't tomorrow. I'm getting lunch with Aunt Suzie." Suzie wasn't my real aunt, but she was my mom's closest childhood friend. She lives a town over and her kids are like cousins to me.

"Oh that's okay, we might be able to go during the week."

"You could see if one of your brothers would drive you. If they don't want to, you can send them my way." She smiled

"Thanks, mom. Love you!" I gave her a quick hug and walked over to August's room. I feel like Benny would be an asshole about it or make me do him some sort of favor, but August probably wouldn't.

"August?" I called his name out and he looked up at me from his desk.

"Yes?"

"Would you maybe possibly be able to drive me and Allie to the mall tomorrow? We need to go dress shopping for homecoming." He groaned a little bit and I thought he was for sure going to say no.

"Fine, but can you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what it is." I didn't want to get myself in to anything too crazy.

"Can you get me a light pink tie? I don't have one and Riley's dress is light pink and I really don't feel like going shopping."

"Sure!" That was way easier than I expected it to be, plus it's no big deal because I love shopping!

I texted Allie to let her know that we were all set for tomorrow, and I started preparing a mental list of stores that I wanted to go to.

•••A/N•••
Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, I have been dealing with an illness/death in my family this past month, but everything has settled down now.

Thank you so much for 1k reads! I appreciate all of the love and support so much!!

What do you guys think of Payton? Do you like him and Cece? What do you want to see from this story?