Accepted Fate (33 page)

She looks at me and bursts out laughing. I don't really know what I said that was funny. "I love this. I can't wait to teach you the ways of the country kids. You take the same thing you take to the beach silly. Go put some shorts and a tank top on and let's go."

When we walk outside there is a Chevrolet Avalanche sitting in my driveway. Looking at Adalynn, I raise my brow. "I wouldn't have taken you for a truck kind of girl.

"Hey never judge a book by its cover, but this," she points at the truck. "Is not mine. This is my dad's. Where we're going my car might not be able to handle it. Come on California. Time's a waistin' and you have people to meet." I'm guessing I just figured out my nickname.
Original
, I think sarcastically.

We pass over a bridge; on what road, I have no clue, before turning down the grass worn path just after it ends. The trail was clearly made by cars driving on it repetitively over time. The trail goes down a slight hill and curves around to the left, continuing underneath the bridge. It kind of reminds me of something from a scary movie. There is graffiti painted on the cement of the bridge and if you look down another slope you can see running brown water. If it wasn't the middle of the day, I would be looking for someone to pop out of the bushes with a knife, or worse, find a dead body in the brush.

As I stumble out of the truck and shut the door, a black lifted truck pulls in behind us. It instantly makes me think of the night in Ryland's truck. The bed of the truck is filled with shirtless guys wearing ball caps that I assume is part of the football team by the solid muscle on each one of them. After they park, three other girls exit the cab of the truck. Great, I already get awkward around people I don't know. Last time I was around one unfamiliar body, it didn't go so well and now I am graced with a whole slew of them.

The guys start descending from the high truck bed, whistling as they take us in. "Who's your new friend Adalynn?" I turn to the guy that was driving, stopping in front of us. "I don't think I've seen you around here," he says scanning my body. "I usually know most people within a fifty mile radius."

He's cute enough with his ash blonde hair that has a natural cow lick in the front. He has honey brown eyes and a pair of dimples that does his smile wonders. He appears to be about five foot ten with defined muscles that obviously states he works out.
Hello six pack.
He's no Breyson, but he's definitely sexy. I never imagined southern guys would be so hot. One of the girls moves closer to him, clearly staking her claim.

Adalynn comes up beside me, putting her arm over my shoulder. "Simon, this is Kinzleigh. She just moved here from California and is my new neighbor. I'm showing her some fun." She looks at me but points as she introduces everyone. "Kinzleigh, this is Simon, along with half of the football team and some of your new squad members." Pointing to the girl with the scowl on her face, next to Simon first, she begins naming them off. "This is Dallas, Layne, and Kristen."

Looking at each of them, I attempt to smile and be polite. The Simon guy keeps looking me over with a big grin on his face, making me slightly uncomfortable. "Oh we can show her some fun," he says and when he does, that Dallas girl narrows her eyes at him and begins to pout. I am going to assume she has made her claim on a boy that is not claimable. That's exactly the type of girl I will never be. Look at her puppy dog face and love-struck eyes. It's really sad more than anything else and clearly it doesn't work on him anyway because he is still staring at me.

I continue to look between everyone, wondering if we're going to just stand here or actually do something. This is really awkward and I'm not trying to make enemies with the girls I'm about to be surrounded by daily, over a guy that doesn't mean anything to me. Simon grabs my hand and begins pulling me toward the creek bank before I can even respond.

As I'm being pulled away, I look back at Adalynn, pleading for her not to leave me with him. She is saying something to Dallas. The only thing I can make out is her saying, "Pull the claws back in Dallas, she's not after Simon; although, it doesn't really matter if she is because he's not yours. I don't know why you do this to yourself. You know he only uses you for one thing and it's your fault alone. I have the suspicion this one is claimed by someone else anyway." I'm not sure what she means by that, because no one will ever claim me. I'm a free spirit; a mustang breed. I'm not meant to be tamed.

We reach the edge of the water and I stop, trying to pull my hand free from Simon's. Standing ankle deep in water he turns to me with a smirk on his face. "What's wrong? You can swim right?"

I nod but scrunch my nose as I take in my surroundings. There are empty beer bottles and random pieces of trash lying in various spots on the edge of the creek. "Yes I can swim. I lived across from a beach all my life but do you guys really swim in this kind of water? It makes me feel dirty just looking at it. It's brown."

He smiles and looks from me to the water. When he returns the glance, his dimples are deep set in his cheeks from the grin on his face. Wow. He really is attractive. His bottom lip is pouty with a thin upper lip. He could be a good distraction from...him. My chest tightens at the small remembrance I allowed passage into my thoughts. I will not think about him. "This is cleaner than ocean water, believe it or not, because it's running water. You coming girl or do I need to help you out," he asks as he winks.

Refocusing on Simon, I have clearly amused him. Well I'm glad someone finds this funny because I am really freaking out about this cloudy brown water. What if I see a snake? Oh my, or something even worse. What if I don't see if because of the color of the water? "I don't know if I want to. Maybe I can just sit out and watch you guys. I don't have to get in."

I begin to back away from the water. His eyes never leave mine but a smirk pulls up on the corner of his mouth. I'm not sure what he is making that face for until I run into a hard bare chest, causing me to squeal in surprise. "Where you going sweetheart? We haven't even started having fun yet." I turn around to a guy that is a little more of a stocky build and shorter, but still has a nice body and obviously a football player; probably a lineman. He is more scruffy looking with his facial hair, stating he hasn't shaved in a several days. He has reddish brown hair and brown eyes. "I don't think we've had a proper introduction. My name's Jared."

"Hi." I hold up my hand and slightly wave. I could hit myself. I always get awkward around guys. Maybe I shouldn't have acted so dumb when it came to hanging around guys back home, because it really shows now. I really need to make friends being in a new place.

Adalynn finally appears with the other girls following behind, loaded down with floats and towels. Some of the other guys set down a cooler; cooling who knows what, but I can only guess. I hope they have some water in there. It's scorching hot out here. The gross brown water is starting to sound pretty good with this beaming heat boring into my skin; leaving a rosy color in its wake. I can't even remember the last time the sun left me slightly burnt. Normally I just tan a brown color. The sun here is brutal. 

"Jared stop harassing my new friend. You're going to run her off and I need her for my squad," she says teasingly giving him a light shove. She links her arm with mine towing me towards the water, but I stop at the edge that I can't seem to get past. "Come on hun. I swear it's not as bad as you think. If you don't like it, you can have one of the floats.

Before I even have time to respond, Simon picks me up from behind, cradling me. He takes off running into the water until we are submerged almost completely. It happened so fast I didn't even get a chance to fight it. I splash water in his face, "You butthole!" I try to act mad, but when he flashes that set of dimples I end up laughing instead.

He raises his brow questioningly. "Hey, someone had to get you in the water. Did you just call me a butthole? I don't think I've been called that in years. You must not swear." He laughs. It's not that I have never said a curse word or have anything against those that use them, I just choose to do so very rarely. My mother was never fond of curse words. She thought they devalued an individual when used in excess. I guess we pick up a lot of the things that we're taught throughout the years.

"Not usually. You can put me down now," I say as everyone else joins us in the water. Instead of releasing me he swings me up on his shoulders. Grabbing his hair in my hands to avoid falling off, I lock my feet around his waist. Geez, he is strong. "What are you doing?"

I look around and Dallas is staring daggers at me. Great, I'm in a new place and I've already got someone that looks like she wants to rip me to shreds. "Chicken fight!" Jared yells into the air with his hands formed around his mouth to portray a megaphone. "Do we have any challengers?"

"I'll do it," Dallas calls out as she wades through the waist deep water. This should be interesting. She is about my size and I'm good at sports so I should be able to take her but I learned a long time ago, not to judge someone by their size. I've pissed her off without even trying so she is most likely going to try and make me look stupid. Jared looks like he is about twice Simon's size so I'm going to have to try and knock her off. I don't see him going down easily. "Squat down Jared and let me on."

Simon grips my thighs above my knee, but it's close enough to my hips it makes my stomach flutter. How am I supposed to concentrate with his hands right there? "You ready?" He looks up at me and winks with that dang smile glued to his face again. "Don't let her intimidate you," he says low so only I can hear. "She is only doing this because of me. It's not your fault she thinks I'm hers. I have never given her reason to think she has a claim on me. Show her what you got."

I'm not sure why he felt the need to give me that tidbit of information but it does make me feel more comfortable. I really don't want to be classified as a boyfriend thief when I have only been here a day. So far, I really like most of the people here. Simon really makes me feel at ease around him. I feel like I've known him for years instead of thirty minutes. I think Adalynn was right. Maybe I am going to like it here. At least, I hope so.

Once I beat Dallas at shoulder wars, not once but twice, she stopped acting like a brat and actually was pretty likable. We stayed at the creek most of the day relaxing and floating along the current. The guys and some of the girls drank beer that came from the cooler the guys brought. I don't even know how they bought it since most of us are only seventeen. I graciously declined and thankfully Adalynn had brought a small cooler with water.

The only times I've had any alcohol was wine at communion, on special occasions at dinner and it was a minimal amount, not causing any effects. I am not really into drinking. It usually leads to stupid behavior you wouldn't do on the normal occurrence, at least for people my age. High school kids only drink for one reason: to get drunk. I would rather hold down a decent reputation.

Adalynn pulls into my driveway just as the sun is going down. I can feel the heat radiating from my sun-kissed skin. "Thanks for today? It was nice," I say as I step from the truck and shut the door. She smiles and pulls off toward her house a few feet away.

I stand in my driveway, escaping in my thoughts. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. New friends in a new place aren’t as bad as I thought it would be.  One chapter of my life has been closed and another opened. I am almost excited to see what this year holds for me. There is only one thing that would secretly make it better, or one person I guess would be more appropriate. Just the thought of those soul quenching deep blue eyes makes my heart go pitter patter in my chest. "As usual beautiful boy, I'll meet you in my dreams," I mumble and make my way towards my house.

CHAPTER 15

Breyson

I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock going off on the table by my bed. Rolling over onto my stomach, I cover my head with the pillow trying to drown out the sound. I'm about to doze back off when my door creaks open. "Breyson, get up it's the first day of school and my first day of high school. I want to get there early enough to find my classes. I don't know the building like you do."

The first day of school always sucks, more so now that I am all out of whack over a girl I'll never see again. It's pointless to even go the first day because all the teachers do is go over rules in the handbook that haven't changed from the year prior. What does it say when I can't even hook up with another girl because of her? The last two weeks have been filled with end of summer parties and I've tried, on a few different occasions, but my mojo was left in Kinzleigh's bed.

The farthest I've made it with a girl was with Adalynn. I can't even make it to a bedroom with a girl now, before her face flashes through my mind, blurring my vision. After the third time, I stopped going to parties altogether. I haven't even been playing football as good as I usually do. Last practice, I got sacked four times because when I was supposed to be running the ball I was lost in thought and that doesn't include the failed passes. Coach is pissed and said if I don't get my head out of my ass by this week, then he is benching me. No field time equals no scouts and this is the year that counts.  I've become a hermit, not hanging out with any of my friends. The last week I have been in the gym more than I have my entire life trying to work out this frustration, since obviously I can't release it the way I prefer. I don't know what Kinzleigh has done to me, but I want my life back. I really need my life back. This is more than I bargained for.

The desperation even got so bad that I called Ryland a few days ago and got Presley's number. It was a dead end though because she said Kinzleigh's family changed cell phone companies when they moved and hasn't given them the new numbers yet. It's like she's a ghost; only alive in the essence of my memory.  The sooner I get to school, the sooner I can be preoccupied with whatever girls follow me around between classes. I may not be able to have the intimacy I need, but talking will at least keep my mind from wandering into the never ending maze known as Kinzleigh Baker.