by Jarica James
“Oh, thank God! I’m starving. Come on, Abbs, shopping is over,” he says firmly, placing his arms on her shoulders and leading her to the food court. I note that not even a hint of jealousy hits me at the sight of them, only contentment. They’re all right for me in their own ways and our group dynamic is perfect. I love how close they are and that they have history, it makes things work.
Abby gives a halfhearted pout but doesn’t fight him. But I definitely think she's secretly planning her escape. Her eyes dart to a candle shop and she lets out an actual pained whine.
“I’ll buy you pizza,” Adam deadpans and she finally concedes the fight.
“Deal!” And then she’s pulling us off to Antonio’s Pizza Pit, a little restaurant near the food court. It smells like garlic and parmesan and I’m already in love.
“One pizza to share?” Adam asks but I don’t answer right away, glancing over the menu then typing out a message on my phone. “You sure?” I nod and smile, his shoulders relaxing again. “Pepperoni all around then.”
I type out our order and show it to the cashier, who gives an odd glance but goes with it, repeating back our order as the others walk off. Once I’ve paid, the worker extends a stack of cups to me over the counter, and I follow my friends quickly.
As soon as we are settled at the table with our cups and table number in front of us, they start chatting. I listen, but I really want to ask about his mom and things at home. When the conversation begins to lull, I put a hand on his wrist and turn my phone, where I’d typed my question.
“Uh, it’s okay at home. Mom went to rehab,” he explains, voice low enough that only we can hear. “Dad’s pretty intent on it being just us for a while, but I doubt it sticks, he goes on business trips too often.” His voice sounds so sad and I get his hesitation, but I hope things are actually going to improve. “He actually cancelled his last trip to stay home, so maybe things will hang, who knows.”
“He will and if not, we’ve got you,” Abby promises as I take his hand and give it a squeeze. Before we can keep going, they deliver our pizza and breadsticks, and Adam and I don’t even hesitate to dig in, downing a piece each as Abby just rolls her eyes and looks disturbed. “Slow down, guys.”
“No,” Adam counters, giving her a smirk and shoving an entire piece in his mouth. My eyes track his tongue as it darts out to lick off the cheese that was stuck there and I kind of want to crawl across the table and let him lick me.
“Stop, you’re turning Charlie on,” she snorts, and I shrug, not even denying it as I go back to my own food. Adam, however, doesn't fare as well, choking on his bite and trying to play it off like he isn’t affected.
As we finish up, I text the others that I was successful, and we all plan on meeting at the pool in a few hours. There's just enough time to get back and wash the swimsuit. Even if I don’t have time to dry it, I'm way too much of a germaphobe to wear it until it's properly clean.
We make our way back to Adam’s truck, and he drops Abby off first. The moment she’s out, I scoot over to the middle and he takes my hand. We don't talk, but the silence is comfortable.
When he pulls up to my house, I give him a smile. “See you in a little bit. I’m sure Trent will be texting to figure out rides. Can't wait to see you in that bikini,” he says with a wink. Grinning, I give a little wave and walk to the door. Adam stays in front of my house until I close the door behind me and I wave one last time, all thoughts of my attack far from my mind.
Saturday
Late Afternoon
Charlie
“Soooooooo,” Abby draws out the word dramatically and I playfully roll my eyes. I know what she's getting at. Alice, Abby, and I are in the locker room of the local indoor pool. We're already finished changing, and I'm sliding on my sandals. “How was the ride home with Adam? And I noticed Cole calling you babe recently.”
“Adam hasn’t really dated anyone except Callie and it was short and awful. Cole hasn’t seriously dated anyone either. He’s a picky person,” Alice states, giving me a smile. I can’t help but be happy to hear that. I was too much of a nerd at my old school to date much, plus I was constantly taking care of Lizzy when we went out. It didn’t leave a ton of space for flirting with guys. But there's still the issue of liking them all. I shake my head sadly and turn, but Alice stops me, apparently noticing me shutting down.
"Listen. I know you like them, I've seen the way you react to their flirting... Abby's too," she says, and I turn around to see Abby's mouth drop open in shock at Alice's bold words. We’d all danced around it so much I didn’t expect her to be the one to call our asses out, then again she’s always blunt.
Alice holds up her hands defensively. "That's not where this is going. I just wanted to say that she should tell everyone how she feels. You all should. This is 2020, it's not exactly unheard of to be in a different relationship. Just because I'm dating one guy, doesn't mean she has to choose. I support it and if any group can make it work, it’s ours."
This time Abby blushes and looks at me, gauging my reaction. I smile and shrug, not disagreeing with Alice. She has a point.
When Abby doesn’t say anything else, I turn, and she doesn't stop me. I can respect her need to process.
We all walk in silence out to the pool and my eyes scan the room for the others. My mouth goes dry as I take them in. All three of the guys are different builds, but a girl can’t help but appreciate them. Adam is tall and all lean muscle with a six pack to prove it. All that baseball did him good.
Trent has more of a runner's build, lean with a hint of muscles. He stands proudly, staring right back and I smirk at him. He’s fun to flirt with but I have a suspicion that's all he wants.
Cole is a mix of the two, and it works for him. He's not overly athletic, but still looks fit. He's taller than Trent, but more of a medium build. Gah… they're perfect.
“Damn. How are you gonna hide behind the towel?" Trent accuses, causing Abby and Alice to laugh. We all wrapped towels around ourselves before stepping out of the changing areas. Wanting to tease them, I make a show of unfolding the towel and flashing them a look of my bikini for a fraction of a second before covering it back up.
“Seriously?” Cole asks, groaning and clutching his chest before falling into the water like it was just too much. A small, raspy giggle escapes me at the display, which has them all looking at me in surprise. I brush it off and actually drop my towel this time, tossing it on a chair nearby before sliding off my sandals. Alice and Abby follow my lead and we turn, the guys all staring at my new bikini with heated looks. Now I don't feel so bad for checking them out.
When I turn around to see if Abby is coming, she looks at my face, checking to make sure I'm okay. Then her eyes make their way slowly down my body again. I can't help but do the same. She's wearing a cute red bikini. It shows off a hint of cleavage and the soft curve of her hips, displaying her perfect figure. Her white blonde hair is free from its usual ponytail and hanging down her shoulders in soft waves I want to run my fingers through. She looks sexy as fuck. We glance back up at the same time, giving each other a sheepish grin and blushing. We both take a step forward, as if gravity itself was giving us a kick in the ass, but just before our lips meet, a body flies by us.
Adam launches himself off the side and does a cannonball into the pool. He's a big enough guy that the splash sprays us all. Abby shrieks like she's going to melt before hiding behind me. I shiver at the feel of her breath against my neck as she peeks around me to glare at him. Not wanting to stand here anymore, I internally chuckle at the reaction I'm sure is coming before I launch myself after Adam. Trent laughs before he and Alice run and jump in at the same time.
“Come on, Abby, you can’t exactly sunbathe indoors,” Alice jokes. I’m not even a bit surprised that Abby's always the last in.
Trent slowly climbs out before stepping close enough to grab her and launch himself into the pool with Abby securely in his arms. When they come back to the surface, she squeals and spl
ashes him in the face before swimming over to the rest of us.
“Who’s up for a diving contest?” Trent asks, swimming toward the diving board. I was on the swim team my freshman year, so I smile to myself and swim after him. I only quit the team because I couldn’t stand the coach. She was a screamer, and I was too shy to handle the stress of it all. But before then I’d helped our team place at the state competition.
"I'll judge," Abby offers, swimming to the ladder and climbing out. Adam joins her a moment later, giving us two judges.
The rest of us line up by the diving board. It isn’t a high board like they use for competitions, but it's still high enough for a decent dive. Trent gives a few bounces and then does a painful looking belly flop. He comes up for air and starts laughing as our judges each hold their thumbs down.
"Oh, come on! That was at least a five!" he yells back before climbing out and shaking his hair over Abby. She squeals and bats at him to stop.
“Have you done this before, Charlie girl?” Cole whispers in my ear, making me break out in goosebumps. I give him a nod but don’t give any indication that it's a big deal. Alice takes her turn next and does a decent dive, only her legs smack hard when she hesitates. They give her a six and a seven.
My turn is next, so I take a deep breath and keep a blank expression on my face. I'm light enough that I should be able to get enough height to my jump for a decent flip. Lining my feet up at the perfect spot, I bounce as high as I can before doing a flip in the air and executing a pretty good dive. I’m a bit rusty so it’s not perfect, but I’ll take it. I come up for air and snort as I take in their shocked expressions. Adam and Abby recover and each give me a ten, though they may be a bit biased. A huge smile is on my face as I look back at Cole. He shakes his head and throws up his hands.
“Come on, how do I go after that?” he complains dramatically. I swim out of the way as he makes his way to the diving board and decides to just do a cannonball. I quietly laugh again as water splashes over me.
When he pops back above the surface again, he swims to my side. “You are just full of surprises, aren’t you? I’m going to have so much fun getting to know them all,” he says, kissing me on the cheek and swimming away.
We finally drag ourselves out of the pool an hour later. Trent and Adam are already complaining about how hungry they are and if we don’t feed them soon we’ll have to deal with hangry teen guys, which isn’t pretty.
We change quickly and pile in the cars to head back to Sophia’s house, since everyone already has their bags. Sophia had informed me before we left that everyone’s parents were on board.
“So, pizza, Italian, or Chinese?” Sophia asks as we all walk into the house. “I know you guys are starving.” Half of my friends say Chinese, and the other half says pizza. “Well since this is the first sleepover here, how about both?” she says with a laugh before taking the menus with her.
Sophia is taking this sleepover very seriously. Since she wanted us in the living room, she went out and bought six air mattresses. I guess no kids of hers are roughing it on the rug. Before we decide anything, I make sure to write down a thank you for the food and sleepover supplies. Instead of a quick brush off like she usually does, she gives me a serious look, which startles me.
“Stop thanking me so much, love. I do this because I want to. I want to help you heal, I want to spoil you, I want to experience what it’s like to have a daughter. Plus, you guys will put those air mattresses to good use if these sleepovers are a normal occurrence, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it. And I wouldn't have bought them if I didn't want to,” she says, keeping her voice light at the end to try and recover from the tears that started to form. My heart aches for Sophia. When she lost her husband, she thought she'd never get to do these things. She is just as broken and lonely as I am… well, was. We are a perfect match. I give her a hug and hold her for longer than I generally do. I want her to know how much I appreciate her.
When I let go, she pats my cheek and takes the menus to her office to finish working while she orders and waits for the food. I join the others who've all already found the stack of games that Sophia's been buying up. Abby immediately picks a truth or dare game, and I hold back a groan. This won't end well.
"Let's do this!" Trent says, clapping his hands and taking a seat on the rug.
"Why do we need a game board?" Alice asks. She has a point.
"All right," Abby says, shrugging and setting the box back down. She sits next to Alice and looks over to her with a grin. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth," Alice chooses, eyes narrowing at Abby.
"Have you kissed what's his name yet?" Abby asks with a grin.
"His name is Andy. Yes, we kissed last time he was down," Alice admits reluctantly, before turning to Trent. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare," he challenges, his smirk a little too evil.
"I dare you to post a selfie with a goofy face," she challenges, and we all laugh. Trent always posts his best angles and big smiles on his social media. Our school even has its own site, called the Riverfront Update. It works like a picture posting site and blocks certain words to help prevent bullying. Not to mention the PTA monitors comments. Shockingly, despite all of the policing on the site, everyone uses it.
Trent squishes his shoulders up, giving himself an exaggerated double chin and gives the camera a weird face. He posts it with #dare before turning it around to prove he completed it.
"All right, all right. Charlie, you're up next," he says with a grin that tells me I'm in trouble. "Truth or dare?" My notebook is already on my lap, so I think about my answer for a second.
'Dare,' I finally write, hoping to avoid any and all relationship questions. Plus, despite his mischievous side, I trust Trent not to do anything ridiculous.
"I dare you to show us a hidden talent." I grin at the dare, knowing exactly what I’m going to do. Throwing my notebook in his lap, I stand up and bend over, letting out a breath as I bend so far my head tucks between my legs. I grin at them from my position, each breath pushing my chest into my thighs.
"Eww, you're literally folded in half and then some," Alice says, peeking from between her fingers as my back pops.
I straighten up with a grin and take my seat. The others are all half cringing and half smiling at the display. Cole and Abby even clap for me, so I give a quick bow.
"Hey, nothing wrong with flexibility," Cole says with a wink that has Abby smacking him.
'Truth or dare?' I write down to show to Adam.
"Truth," he says without hesitation. I have to think for a moment, not sure what to ask Adam.
'Who's your favorite?' I write, laughing silently as I turn it around.
"You are," he answers with a wink. "Truth or dare, Abbs."
"Truth," she picks with a sigh.
"How good are you with sharing?" he asks, keeping his voice casual. The innuendo isn't hard to read in his voice though and everyone freezes, glancing from them to me and back again.
"I'm good with it, I'm a nice person like that," she says, throwing a wink my way and laughing. "Truth or dare, Cole?"
"Truth," he answers quickly, locking his blue eyes on mine. His eyes are an odd mix of hope. I wonder if he’s hoping someone will ask him about me.
"Who's the most awkward person you've had a sexy dream about?" she asks before dissolving into giggles. He groans and leans back in his chair, breaking our intense staring contest.
"Give me a dare, I refuse to answer that," he finally replies, covering his eyes with his arm.
"Fine, I dare you t—" She's cut off when the doorbell rings.
Cole jumps up to help Sophia carry the food and gives Abby the middle finger with a sly grin.
Knowing how much food Sophia ordered, the other two guys join too. Once both places have delivered and the boxes are in the kitchen, she spreads the food out on the kitchen island. I'm not even shocked at the sheer amount of it all. If you’ve never watched a group of teenage boys eat, count yourself lucky. It
resembles something I saw on a documentary about animal feeding habits. I’ve seen them without shirts on too, so I'm shocked at the amount they manage to put away.
“Come on, I have one more surprise,” Sophia sings out, leading us to the living room after Adam took out the trash since it was way too much to go in our usual bin.
We all follow her in and she reaches behind the TV stand and pulls out a bag from the local electronic store.
“Okay, I’m going to get sappy super quick. But you guys have all kind of tumbled into my life. When I took in Charlie, I was lonely and miserable, then together we were a little happier, finding our place. Then you came along and literally filled this house with noise I hadn’t realized I’d needed. And I want you to feel comfortable coming back, in any capacity,” she says, giving me a sly smirk that clearly says she’s on to us. “So I bought you a thank you for being awesome, gift.”
With a flourish she pulls out a box for the newest Xbox.
“No way,” Trent whispers and she grins triumphantly.
“Way, and in that drawer are several controllers—the pink one is Charlie’s—and a gift card to the game store.” Startled laughter flows from her as Abby and Trent run up and squeeze her in a hug. I love that they’re so comfortable with her, and her spoiling my friends just says how much she loves and trusts them.
Cole walks me through setting up a gamertag and the guys argue about what games to play. I haven’t played in so long I’m not even sure how well I’ll do. But Trent finds some game that we easily take turns at and we lose time as we play.
As it gets closer to bedtime I start fidgeting, rubbing my sweaty palms on my pants and my breaths coming in quick bursts. Cole and Abby keep glancing at me, likely noticing my growing discomfort and eventual panic. Cole sets his controller down firmly, his face set with determination. Gently grasping my elbow, he tugs me up and guides me into the kitchen, his stare intense as he studies me.
“What’s wrong, Charlie?”
‘I don’t know what I was thinking, this is such a bad idea. I have nightmares. I wake up screaming. You guys are all going to freak out. This will be too much. This will be the other shoe dropping I’ve been waiting for. This’ll be it for us and I'll be alone again.’ I'm too panicky at this point to care if I'm being too honest or over sharing. My breath starts to come out in short pants, but soon I'm surrounded by the others. I can't tell who at first as my vision darkens and my body screams for air. When my knees start to buckle, a voice cuts through the bubble of panic.