I was so taken back by his comment that I didn’t even realize he walked to the driver’s side of car until my door open. I snapped myself out of the shock and looked at him. He was smirking and he had his hand stretched towards me. I smiled and took it, my heart still being set off like fireworks when he touched me.
“Have you ever had tree sex?” I questioned, trying not to laugh. His head shot towards me and he had a disgusted look on his face. He shook his head furiously and I pursed my lips, holding myself from smiling. “I haven’t. But my friend back in Nebraska has.”
“That’s uh…” Matt stuttered, still looking at me with a sickened look.
“She was kind of a slut… Lindsey. I honestly can’t think of a place where she didn’t have sex.” I explained, shivering a little at the thought of Lindsey. She was a good friend when she wanted to be, but she played with guys so much that it was kind of hard to be around her. Especially when those guys were your friends.
“Wow. And I thought Brian had a sex problem.” Matt retorted, laughing uncomfortably. He scratched the back of his head before looking back at me and squeezing my hand. “Should we go in?”
“Sure. But first, I want to get a picture of you.” I stated, pushing myself off from the side of my car. He nodded and leaned against the hood, crossing his arms over his chest. I took out my phone and snapped a picture before just plain staring at him. It had been a month since I’ve known Matt and I hadn’t gotten the chance to truly look at him since the concert. I gazed at him, taking in his appearance. He was wearing his hat backwards with a black bandana under it, which I had barely seen him wear since I’ve been around. He had on his aviators, but even then you could see the outline of his eyes. He was smiling, so his lip ring was shining and his dimples were on full display. He had a black sleeveless shirt on and black jeans, which made him look stronger and showed off his many tattoos. I tilted my head and smiled, utterly entranced by Matt. He laughed and raised his eyebrows.
“Are you done staring at me?” He chuckled. Honestly, I wasn’t. I wasn’t even close to being done taking in his appearance. But I knew I probably looked creepy just staring intently at him when I had only asked for a picture and not if I could stare at him for ages. I blushed and nodded. Matt chuckled and walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. He kissed my forehead and I looked up at him, squinting my eyes from the sun. “What was that about?”
“I just haven’t had a chance to really study you since the concert.” I answered quietly. He nodded in understanding before letting me go and grabbing my head. I cleared my throat and looked at the building. It was so… pink. I looked at him in fear and he just stared at the building. “Uh, Matt. Are you sure you want to go in there? Even I’m feeling slightly overwhelmed by the thought, and I’m a girl.”
“I can take it.” He replied, squeezing my hand. He smiled at me and I returned it before I guided him to the front door. We walked in and were hit with the strong scent of perfume. I looked around the store, in search of the swimsuits, when some really happy-looking girl who worked there came up to us and smiled widely.
“Hi there. Is there anything I can help you with?” She asked, sounding way too excited to be working in a lingerie store. I glanced at Matt before looking back at her.
“Uh, yeah. I’m looking for a swimsuit.” I answered, trying not to stutter or look stupid in any possible way. Matt still grinned from beside me, probably feeling how uncomfortable I was with him around. I didn’t have a problem with Victoria’s Secret in general, but the fact that I had Matt with me made me want to crawl in a hole and die.
“Sure thing, follow me.” She chirped, ushering us to follow her. She looked back at us as she brought us to the rack with the swimsuits and eyed Matt. He smiled, looking pleased with himself, and she glanced at me. “Is this your-“
“He’s my gay cousin who I came to live with.” I interjected, trying to make my lie look real. I saw Matt’s smile dropped and he was straining himself from glaring at me. The girl let out a slight laugh and I smiled at her. “His friends invited us to go swimming and I have the fashion sense of a blind and cripple transsexual, so he had me bring him along to help me pick something out.”
“Well isn’t that nice of you,” She complimented, looking at Matt. He forced a big smile on his face and nodded. I held back a laugh as she turned around, and Matt shoved me a little. I let out a squeak but the girl didn’t seem to notice as she stopped in front of a wall full of swimsuits.
“Here you are.” She said. I thanked her and began looking at the swimsuits. I began combing through them and grabbed a couple quickly before motioning Matt to follow me. He had his lips pursed in a straight line as he followed, and when we got into the dressing room area he shoved me. I laughed loudly before quickly jumping into a cubicle and trying on the first one; a light-blue swimsuit with cheetah print ties.
“How dare you make me your gay cousin.” Matt growled from outside the cubicle. I laughed again, which made me have to stop tying the top.
“Oh my God your face!” I squealed as I finished putting the top on. I opened the door and stepped out for Matt to see. His face lit up and he eyed my body, causing a hint of want to flash in his eyes.
“That is really sexy.” He said, smiling at me. I smiled back and looked at myself in the mirror.
“It is. I think I’ll just save us the time and get this one.” I agreed, nodding. He smiled and I went back into the cubicle to get changed. I quickly threw my clothes on and grabbed Matt’s hand as I scurried to the check-out.
“Did you find what you wanted?” The girl asked as she checked us out. I nodded and she looked at Matt. “Did you help her pick this out?”
“Yeah. And she looks… fabulous in it.” He answered through his teeth, smiling at her. She giggled and gave me the bag before waving goodbye at us. I waited until we were outside the store to burst into laughter, placing my arms on the hood of my car to control my fit of laughter. I yelped and jumped back as my skin came in contact with the hood, which was really hot. Matt chuckled and opened the passenger door. “Karma for making me gay.”
“Shut up.” I whimpered as I slid into the driver’s side and starting the car. Matt called up the guys and told them we were on our way back and complained to them about my comment to the girl, in which they laughed so loudly I could hear them. He stayed on the phone with them, Brian mostly, until we turned off the highway into his neighborhood. We jumped out of my car and ran in when we got back to his house, excitement starting to fill us. Everyone was already in their swimsuits, and Emma was having Jimmy and Johnny cover her body in suntan lotion. Matt ran upstairs to get dressed and I went into the downstairs bathroom and put on my new swimsuit. As I walked out, Emma was the first to whistle out of all them, which they all whistled.
“You look sexy.” Emma commented, eyeing me. “Even if I think animal print is ugly.”
“You need suntan lotion on you too?” Jimmy asked. I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering whether he was trying to make a sexual joke or if he was just being nice. He smiled sincerely at me and held up the bottle. I decided he was being nice and I nodded. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and Johnny and Jimmy began putting lotion on me. They were almost done when Matt stomped down the stairs with a huge bag in his hands. He gave me a questioning look when he noticed and I just smiled. He rolled his eyes and look at Zach and Brian.
“You guys have all the food?” He asked. Zach and Brian nodded.
“You have all the towels and games?” Zach retorted. Matt nodded and they all smiled. Zach stood up and stretched before walking towards the door. “Okay guys, let’s go. Remember, we’re going to our beach. Since it’s Kid’s first time at a California beach, we want to show her the best of it.”
“Johnny, Jimmy, since you decided to grease up the girls, you’re taking them in your car,” Brian stated, checking out Emma’s and my now-shiny skin. He crinkled his face and gave us a mock disgusted look. “Because I am not letting them ruin my backseats.”
“Sure thing, Bri.” Johnny chuckled, rolling his eyes. Matt, Brian, and Zach all left, so it was just Emma, Johnny, Jimmy and myself. Jimmy finished up on my legs before wiping his hands off on Johnny’s back to get off the excess lotion. Johnny turned around and glared at Jimmy, causing Jimmy to laugh. Suddenly Johnny opened the lotion bottle and sprayed it all over Jimmy. Jimmy cussed and opened his bottle to spray at Johnny, causing them to get into a lotion fight, yelling obscenities at each other as they did so. Emma and I screamed and ran away to watch. They were getting the lotion all over Matt’s house, so I took a picture and sent it to the other three. After a few minutes Johnny and Jimmy burst into laughter from their play fight and hugged each other. I had them pose and took a picture of them before they quickly rubbed in the lotion and ran out of the house, leaving all the reminiscences of their fight in Matt’s living room. Emma and I followed and got in the back and we all headed to the beach.
“So what do you guys do at the beach?” I asked as Jimmy began driving. He smiled back at me and so did Johnny.
“Usually we swim, drink, have water battles, build sandcastles-“ Johnny began, smiling back at us.
“And we try to play football but it usually just ends up as keep-away.” Jimmy added, looking at me from the rearview mirror.
“We listen to music and just talk, and when the sun starts to set we have a barbeque.” Johnny finished.
“That sounds really fun. Emma and I never really had many friends in Florida, so we never had huge amounts of fun at the beach.” I said, looking at Emma. She nodded and put her hand on Johnny’s shoulder.
“That’s because California is better.” Jimmy chuckled, watching the road. After that we all just talked about random stuff until we ended up at the beach. We all got out and I stared in awe at the sight. The beach was empty, and although it looked pretty similar to the beaches in Florida, it was still breath-taking. I continued to scan the horizon as the other three boys ran up to the car from their spots on the beach.
“Hey guys, what took you so long?” Zach asked, directing his question towards Johnny and Jimmy. They both smiled childishly at each other and pursed their lips as they opened the trunk of their car to get things out.
“We got distracted by something,” Jimmy snickered as he pulled out things I assumed were for the barbeque later. Johnny pulled out chairs and ushered Brian to help get out some remaining things.
“Yeah, I saw. You cleaned up my living room, didn’t you?” Matt commented, raising his eyebrows. Jimmy and Johnny looked at each other before bolting towards where the others had put their belongings. Matt sighed and shook his head. “My house is going to look like I pleasure myself too much.”
“Well you do, so why would that matter?” Zach asked, smiling wickedly. Matt gave him a look and threw Zach over his shoulders. Zach pounded Matt’s back, but Matt just laughed.
“Zach, you may think that hurts but it literally feels like you’re tapping my back,” Matt laughed as he began walking towards the beach. Zach groaned and looked at me with fear in his eyes. I laughed at him and he flipped me off. I turned towards Brian and smiled at him.
“Do you need help?” I asked, walking over to Brian. He smiled at me and shook his head.
“Nah, I got it. Just shut the trunk for me.” He answered as he began carrying two heavy-looking ice boxes towards the beach. I did as told and shut the trunk before walking towards the beach with Emma by my side. I looked at her and smiled.
“California is awesome. Thanks for letting me stay with you.” I said, putting my arm around her shoulders. She shrugged and smiled at me.
“I’m glad you came. Because if you didn’t, I wouldn’t have my best friend with me and I would never have met Avenged Sevenfold.” She sighed, resting her head on my shoulder for a second. I let go of her shoulder and we began walking quickly to the guys. They all smiled at us and Brian pulled out a foam football from a bag.
“So who wants to play keep away?” Brian asked wickedly.
~
The sun was setting and you could smell the aroma of meat cooking. All day Emma, Avenged Sevenfold and I all goofed off at the beach. We all played keep away and went swimming and drank. Now Brian and Johnny were one beer short of shit-faced and everyone was huddled around a fire as Jimmy cooked up steaks on a freaking grill he had brought with him. Well, everyone except me. I was still in the ocean, far away from the shore but still close enough that my feet could touch the sandy bottom. I waded through the water, feeling absolutely refreshed. The water was cool, and it felt amazing on my hot skin. Everyone at the fire yelled to me, trying to get me out of the ocean, but I’d just shake my head and continue to swim. I have always been a lover of swimming. They once again yelled to me, but I rejected their pleas and went under the water. As I came back up I noticed Matt got up and was heading towards me. On normal circumstances I would have swam away, but it was late afternoon and I was tired out from all the running I had done earlier that day. I waved to Matt as he came closer and he smiled.
“Why won’t you go up there? Jimmy’s almost done cooking and he is a God on the grill.” Matt questioned as he reached me. I just shrugged.
“I love swimming. I need to soak up as much salt-water as I can before we leave.” I explained, standing myself up. The water came up to just below my shoulders, so it only went up to the middle of Matt’s chest. He pulled me into a hug and held me tightly.
“I had a lot of fun with you today.” He whispered. I nodded and looked up at him. He leaned down and kissed me gently, sending shockwaves throughout my body. I shivered and he chuckled. He pulled away from the hug and touched my nose playfully. “You’re never going to get used to me kissing you, are you?”
“From the fact that it feels like I get shocked every time, no.” I answered, grabbing his hand. We went back to the shore, waves crashing over us and getting him wet again. We sat down on an empty towel around the fire and he wrapped his arms around me. I was so entranced with the way his hazel eyes seems brighter from the fire light that I almost didn’t realize everyone else wasn’t talking. I pulled my gaze away from Matt and looked at everyone. They were all smirking, their eyes slightly narrowed.
“Excuse me, did we see you two kiss in the ocean just minutes ago?” Brian asked suspiciously. I raised my eyebrow and glanced at Matt, wondering whether we were going to tell them. He must have known what I was thinking, because I saw him shake his head so slightly I was most likely the only one to notice. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
“Yeah. My forehead. Jesus guys, stalkers much?” I lied, smirking at them. They all stared at me for a second before shrugging it off and going off into their previous conversation. Matt squeezed my side and I smiled. I glanced at Zach, who was staring intently at me, his eyes narrowed in skepticism. I smiled innocently at me and his eyes narrowed even more. I batted my eyelashes childishly towards him and he stared for a second before pulling his gaze from me. I perked up, pride showing on my face.
“Food’s done!” Jimmy yelled as he walked over with paper plates. He came back with a huge plate of steak and we all chose what we wanted. I took a bite of my steak and moaned loudly. Jimmy really was a God on the grill. We stayed there until after nightfall, eating, telling stories, and making future plans to come to the beach. Around midnight we all packed up and jumped into the cars we came in and headed back to Matt’s. When we got home, Brian and Johnny dropped dead on the floor, and the rest of us took turns in the showers before finding a comfortable place around Matt’s living room and going to sleep.