His hands were cold, but his brown eyes were warm. A chest tattoo peeked through his tank top and it intrigued me. MMXII? Wonder what it stood for. Ashton and Noah continued talking about the attractions around the lake. The cove, the old mini amusement park on the other side of the water, and the few restaurants around the area. I felt Calum's eyes lingering on me, so I shyly turned away. When I peeked back up, he was talking with Noah.
"Do you guys wanna join us for breakfast tomorrow? There's a diner about 15 minutes away that makes bomb pancakes, we go almost every morning, unless Maggie makes us something." Noah smiles at me. I nod my head and reply,
"It's true, they make good pancakes. But I make amazing eggs."
I nudge him in the shoulder and he laughs. We say goodnight to our new friends and head back inside. Orion is in the shower, and the others are already asleep in the living room. I barge into the bathroom.
"It's Maggie, relax." I say when her I hear her humming go silent. "The new neighbors? They're guys. Hot guys. I think they're from Australia! Noah invited them to tag along with us to breakfast tomorrow morning."
I take a makeup wipe to my face and brush my hair out. Orion steps out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her body. Once were cleaned up, we climb into the beds in the back room and make small talk about the drama between Noah and his ex girlfriend. Phone in hand, I doze off.
When I wake up, Orion's bed is made and isn't in the room. I take ten minutes to stretch and change out of my pajamas, before joining Noah and Orion in the kitchen. Melanie is in the shower, and I notice Wes outside kicking a soccer ball against the house. The morning sun was shining through all the open windows, and Mr. Jenson must have mowed, because the aroma of freshly cut grass was strong.
"Nice shirt, where'd you get it?" Noah chuckles taking a sip of his drink. I join him by taking a seat around the counter.
"It was in our closet!" I protest, glancing at Orion. I threw on a pair of jean shorts and the first grey T-shirt I saw in my room this morning. Turns out, it's Noah's old junior-varsity soccer shirt. His sarcasm doesn't phase me, and I roll the sleeves in front of him. Once Melanie is ready, I slip into the bathroom to brush my teeth and do my normal makeup routine. After my makeup was applied, I heard the screen door open and shut with a bang, followed by an apology from an Australian boy. Lifting my head from the sink, I look up with wide eyes. Tooth brush still stuck in my mouth, I peek down the hallway and into the kitchen. Calum and Ashton have joined Noah at the table.
Ashton's hair is pulled back in a black bandana, and his biceps are now exploited by a colorful cut off. Calum, sat on top of the table instead of at it, is dressed in the same tank top from last night, but a snap back turned backwards was added to the look. Didn't know wearing your hat backwards was cool again, I must have missed the memo.
"Maggie are you almost ready?" I hear Noah call. Calum and Ashton look up and I almost choke. I grab my tooth brush and hop back into the bathroom to hide the embarrassment of being caught peeking on them. I reply with a shy, "yeah" and join them soon after. I force myself into the front seat of Noah's car and buckle up. The other five pile into the back. I roll my window down, sticking my arm out as we glide down the main entrance road to Cayuga. Ashton is telling us about their trip here, and how it isn't their first time in"the states". I find myself becoming bored in listening to their stories so I turn on the radio. Noah gives me a look as if I'd killed a man and immediately turns it off.
"Eyes on the road." I remark turning it back on. We go back and forth like this until finally he gives in. The car becomes silent. I clear my throat awkwardly and Ashton speaks up.
"Are you guys together or something?" he asks.
I choked. Noah shot his gaze in my direction with one quick turn of the head. Noah begins to explain how were just best friends, and all the memories started flooding back.
Noah and I became friends back in 9th grade. He sat behind me in earth science and would always find a way to annoy me. He would put his feet on the back of my cair, throw his eraser at me, steal things from my backpack, anything you could think of. During lab we would talk about soccer and music. That's also how I became friends with Wes. Those two were and still are inseperable. They've been best friends since pre-k.
Whenever I needed advice on guys I always turned to him. Not that it was often or anything. He's always been the mature one. The experience he had when it came to relationships was impressive for his age, I mean we were only 14 at the time. Ever since then he's basically been a brother to me. Giving me rides here and there, helping with homework, and all of the above.
By the time I'm extremley deep in thought, we've arrived at the diner. The parking lot is empty except for the car we've parked next to. When I step out of the car I slide my sunglasses up onto my head and take a deep breath. The sun is hotter than ever today. Just as I'm about to move, someone bumps into me.
"Oh, sorry." Calum apologizes. He smiles at me and steps around me.
"It's okay." I smile back. Wow. Now that I've stopped to take a good look at this kid I'm realizing how attractive he really is. His jawline could cut a piece of metal.
"After you." he motions for me to enter before him. I oblige and follow our friends inside.
We get a bigger booth fit to the corner and I sit next to Wes and Orion.
My coffee is extremley hot, but I'm enjoying it. I haven't really involved myself in the converstaion being held, but whatever it was seemed to be funny. When I look up from my menu, Noah is gently placing his cup down, laughing a little too loud at something Calum said. Noah catches me staring and sticks his tongue out at me. I smile and look away. I feel his leg kick me under the table and I look back up. He nods his head towards Calum. He wiggles his eye brows at me and I kick him back. I mouth "stop" to him and he shrugs.
While were eating Ashton compliments the food. I had a feeling they'd like it. Everything tastes so fresh and kind of like something your mom would make you.
"I never really liked pancakes, but I do now." Ashton says wiping his mouth.
"If you think these are good, you should try Maggie's chocolate chip ones. They're incredible." Melanie smiles at me. I do have to admit, I'm a pretty good cook.
"We'll have to swing by and try them sometime." Calum adds.
I think to myself, honey you can swing by whenever you want.
