Arianna’s POV:

I hated changing schools, but my parents had insisted that we change towns and, thus, the dreadful changing schools. I hated leaving my friends, and I hated trying to make new ones. Worst of all, I had to leave my boyfriend, Marcus Madison. He was everything I had been looking for, so when my parents told me I was moving, I wasn’t exactly the happiest person in the world. So here I was, leaning against the car with Marcus in front of me. I sighed. There was no hint of any happiness in his face.

"I can’t believe you're moving," he said, moving closer to me.

"I know, but I’m only going to be 5 hours away."

"That's too far. I won’t be able to see you much."

"But we’re still gonna do this, right? Or do you want to break it off?"

"Break it off?! I don’t want to lose you." He pulled me into a fierce hug.

Finally, my mum made him move away from the car. I climbed in with a fierce look on my face. My mum was being spiteful; she didn’t like Marcus. She thought he was just using me. I watched him as we drove away.

The ride there was quiet except for my little brother, who was playing toy cars on me. I normally would have growled at him by now and told him to knock it off, but I wasn’t exactly in the mood. Right now, Marcus was two hours away from me. I looked back to see my dad following in a big truck carrying all the furniture and essential things we needed. The rest was going to be brought down tomorrow.

Dad was driving back to town, but he refused to let me go. He knew I wasn’t going to help him, and he was right. I continued telling him I wanted to help, but I knew deep down why I really wanted to go. I’d ditch to see Marcus.

So my mum was going with him instead, while I was stuck babysitting my little brother. I was actually looking forward to it. I was gonna take him to the park, which was within walking distance of our new home.

I’d seen pictures of our new house. There was a lake behind it, like the lake was our backyard. It was a big, fancy house and stylish. We had two pools, a big one and a small one, and we had six bedrooms, all equipped with their own bathrooms. I suppose that was a plus. It had three medium-sized offices, three leisure rooms, and apparently a mini-golf course to the left. Our house was the last on the block, and it was apparently the biggest one of them all. My mum had showed me pictures that she’d taken of the neighbourhood. There were four houses before the road opened into a dead end. Apparently that was where the park was.

I was excited because my parents were big spenders, and they had the money to burn. They never failed to deliver. I mean, me and my little brother, we had everything. If we wanted to try something new, my parents would spare no expense buying everything to go with it. We really were spoilt.

When I saw a lake come into view, I put down my book. I gawked out the window as I spotted kids playing in the lake. Apparently, the public only had access to one end, and that was it. The rest was for the community only. There were bound to be some really spoilt mean people here, all trying to be better than one another.

Honestly, I didn’t really give a damn.

Mum pulled into the long driveway, and on our way up, I saw just green grass on both sides of me. Mum parked the car, and for the first time, I realised it was a horseshoe driveway. I climbed out of the car, and mum grabbed Dekan, my little brother.

I looked up at the three-story house. It looked amazing. Beautiful. Standing by the door was Trey, our butler. He opened the door and greeted us. Standing in two perfect rows were the eight members of our house staff. Two maids, two cooks (they made our every meal—and I do mean every), two gardeners, and finally two extra nannies. My mum went overboard, but my parents were hardly around, so it was nice to come home to people who were actually taking care of you.

Over this last week, I had seen my parents a lot. Dad was usually off at his business, holding meetings and all that. He spent extra hours working almost every day. He only ever had Sunday off. Mum was the same way, except she only had every second Sunday off, so that Sunday was family day.

Each staff member nodded in greeting as I walked forward. I knew most of them and talked to them all the time. Marty, the head cook, was like my big brother. Kristen, our head maid, was like my second mum. She had two kids of her own, both of whom had grown up and left home already, and so she knew exactly what to do when I was having problems. She was also always there for me. The others were too, but not as much as Kristen was.

I toured around the house after mum handed me Dekan. The rooms were huge. Some things were already in place, like a TV in two of the bedrooms with a semi-circle couch facing the TVs. One of those rooms was mine, and I poked my head into the room with violet on the walls. I smiled and walked in. I wandered around the room, highly satisfied. I put Dekan down, and he ran around the room with his airplane. I opened up the closet and looked inside, flicking on the switch just beside the door. It was huge! There was enough room for all my clothes three times over. It was much bigger than my old closet, which must have been half this size. I was pretty sure I would need to go shopping to fill the space.

I turned the light off and looked behind me to see Dekan leaning against the wall of windows. I shook my head when I realised it was a door. Dekan ran out onto the balcony when I opened it, and I laughed when he almost tripped. He looked at me worried. I leaned on the railing and looked out over the big pool, trailing my eyes over the big deck to the big gate that led to the lake. We had our own little dock and everything. Across the lake, I noticed a small group climb into a speedboat. They had one of those blow-up things dangling off the back. They looked like they were having fun.

I sighed and picked up Dekan before venturing off, finishing my tour out on the plain open deck. I turned to face the pool and then looked back out at the lake. I opened the gate and walked out. I put Dekan down, but he stayed close by my side. He followed me as I walked down the path a little and looked up to see the mini-golf course. I smiled and bit my lip. I had to polish my skills before I challenged anyone, but then again, I needed friends first. I lost the smile as I looked back to see Dekan at the edge of the path, dipping his feet into the water.

"Dekan, no! Stay away from the water!" I said, moving back toward him. I picked him up and he giggled as he dropped his plane into the water. I tickled him, trying to get him to laugh. He laughed, trying to escape my grip. That’s when I heard a boat engine like right next to me. I looked up to see the speedboat parked there. The group climbed off: two tall blond females in bikinis and three tall hot-ass guys. One of them had black hair and green eyes. He intrigued me the most.

"Hey chickee, you wouldn’t be Arianna Bode, would you?" one of the girls ask me. They both moved forward towards me while the guys lingered behind, pushing each other around.

"In the flesh," I said, shifting Dekan to my right side.

"Well, I’m Tracy, and this is my sister Stacy. We’re twins," she said. I looked over at Stacy. She was smiling warmly.

"Nice to meet you. Do you live across the lake?"

"No, Nate does though. That’s the guy in the middle with the black hair. The guy with the blond hair is my boyfriend, Derek, and the one with brown hair is Stacy’s boyfriend, Kyle."

"Hmm, do you guys live around here too?"

"Yeah, four houses down on this side. You should totally come over tomorrow."

"I can’t. I have to stay with Dekan."

"Oh, he’s so cute," Stacy said, smiling at Dekan.

"You can bring him too if you want."

"Actually, I can get someone to watch him, so sure, I’d love to come over."

"Coolio, say lunch time? Tracy and I will come get you," Stacy finally said, drawing her attention away from Dekan.

"Sure, I’ll be ready."

"Oh, and wear clothes to get wet in. We’ll probably go out on the lake again, okay?"

"Definitely," I said and put Dekan down. He was squirming in my arms. Stacy drew her attention back to Dekan and bent down talk to him. Nate pointed at her and said something to one of the guys. The other one, presumably her boyfriend, slapped his arm and growled at him.

"Are you guys moving in today?" Tracy asked me. She glanced over at the house.

"Yeah, but my parents still have to get stuff from my old house."

"Oh, so you're home alone?"

"Yeah."

"Well, aren’t you lucky we were nice enough to invite you over! Say, you wouldn’t be going to Dubstep High, would you?"

"Yeah, I start there in two weeks."

"Cool, you can totally hang with us. We’re cheerleaders there."

"Oh, nice. Seniors?"

"You know it! Are you?"

"Yep."

"Cool, I can totes see us becoming great friends, Arianna."

"Thanks, same here," I said, not knowing what else to say. Tracy glanced back at the guys, who were still pushing each other around. I watched Nate intently, and when he looked at me, I blushed slightly, looking back at Tracy. I noticed that Stacy had slipped into the water, grabbed something, and was now climbing out. She handed Dekan’s plane back, and he threw his arms around her. She stood up, still hugging him. Nate nudged Kyle, and Kyle shook his head, pushing Nate back.

"So anyway, we should go. We have to take Kyle home. So we’ll see you tomorrow?"

I nodded and Stacy handed Dekan over to me. I smiled as I watched them get back on their boat. They waved to me from the deck. Dekan waved eagerly back at Stacy, and I laughed, walking back into our yard.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t going to be so hard to make friends. I mean, they seemed like pretty nice girls. And, boy, did Nate look good. I mean, the other guys looked good, but not as appealing as Nate. I felt as though I could lick him all over. I pushed the thought out of my head as I saw my parents sitting on the edge of our deck, watching us.

"Nice work, Ri, making friends already," Dad said, giving me his winning smile. Mum nodded, snuggling closer to Dad.

"Thanks, Dad. I’m pretty sure Dekan just made a friend too."

"Did he now? That’s my little man." Dekan ran up to Dad, giving him a high five. Mum patted the spot next to her, and I sat down.

"Hmm, so do we get the nod of approval for the house?" Mum asked me. She knew I’d gone on my tour the house.

"You do. It’s great, but that closet's gonna need filling."

"That’s my baby girl," Mum said, kissing my forehead. It was times like these when my family felt normal, but we were far from it. It was late afternoon when Dad ordered pizza. Some of the furniture was already out, and our beds had been set up and made. We ate on the deck on blankets. I lay down next to Mum, watching the stars with her. I heard Dekan’s giggle, and Mum turned on her side to look at me. I turned my head to the side to see her smiling at me.

"I know this isn’t what you wanted, but a fresh start is what our family needs. I mean, your sister just moved out about a month ago, and the house was feeling a little empty, even with a four-year-old running around. And then there's you, my other little baby. You need to stop growing. Every time I look at you, you seem to be so much older," she said, patting my arm.

"Don’t worry, Mum. I’m only 17. I ain’t leaving any time soon."

"You know that's what I want to hear, but baby, what about college?"

"I’m not sure I want to go."

"Why not, baby?"

"Well, I still have no idea what I want to do. The answer's out there somewhere, but I still have no idea."

"I don’t want to pressure you, baby, but you need to make a decision."

"I know. Ask me again in a couple of weeks. Maybe I’ll have an answer then."

"Okay. Do your new friends go to Dubstep?"

"They do, and actually, I was meaning to ask you something." I sat up with her as Dad left to get something from inside.

"What is it, baby?" she asked, grabbing the empty pizza boxes.

"They invited me over to their house for lunch tomorrow. I was wondering if I could go."

"Sure, baby. I’ll just give Dekan to Macy. I’m sure she won’t mind."

"Thanks, Mum."

"No prob. Oh look, here comes desert," she said, sliding the boxes to the side. I shuffled over to Dekan. He sat playing with his airplane. I swear he loved that thing more than us. Dad sat down and opened the big container. He pulled out whipped cream and two boxes of strawberries. I smiled when he pulled out chocolate. This was the best desert ever; I don't care if you disagree. I grabbed a strawberry, dipped it in the chocolate, and put it in my mouth. I put the end of it into the container. Dad smiled adoringly at Mum. We finished off the strawberries, chocolate, and the whipped cream. Dekan had chocolate smudges on his face as he scooped the leftover chocolate with his hand into his mouth.

Mum disappeared and reappeared in a matter of seconds. She put down a CD player and pulled Dad to his feet. She pressed play, and they twirled around on the deck. We had turned off all the lights outside, using the tiki lambs around the deck instead. I smiled as I watched my parents twirl around. I laughed when I looked at Dekan. He frowned and put the bowl down.

"You need a bath, Dekky," I said, and he nodded. I laughed a little harder, and he stood up.

"Dance, Ri," he said and jumped around a little, laughing as he did so. I smiled as I stood up. I held his hands and lifted him off the ground, twirling him around. I pulled him up to me and walked around in circles. He giggled when I tickled him, and I didn’t have a care in the world at that moment. My parents were happy together, and I was having a blast with my baby brother.

About half an hour later, we walked inside, and I saw Kirsten and Miley walk outside to clean up. Mum still had the pizza boxes in her hand, and she pulled Dad into the kitchen with her. I decided I would bathe and put Dekan to bed so they could have some time together. I mean, they both started work in three days, and tomorrow they’d be going back to the old house to get more stuff with the movers. Many people were shocked to learn that my parents actually helped move and all that other stuff, unlike other people who just sat back and watched the hired help do it. My parents came from hard-working families, and they never had half the stuff we did, so they had some idea of what it was like. I loved my parents more than anything in the world. I loved my brother that much too. He giggled, splashing water at me. He flew his airplane around and then crash-landed it in the water. I was smiling as I sat on the mat watching him.

"Can you fly airplanes too?" he asked me, looking at me and not moving.

"Can I? Is that a trick question?" I said, taking his airplane. I flew it around the room. He laughed as I turned just before hitting several objects. I crash-landed it in the water, and he giggled when I tickled him. I shampooed his hair and then put in conditioner. I let him play while Kirsten brought in some towels. She leaned against the wall as she straightened them out before putting them on the bench for me.

"Did you have a nice drive?" she asked me, and I nodded.

"That’s good. It looked like you all had a fun time at dinner," she said, smiling as I stood and leaned against the sink.

"We did. It was one of those rare moments you know."

"Yeah, but not so rare anymore, I hear."

"Hmm?"

"Your mum will have every Sunday off now, and apparently, your dad won't work weekends?"

"Really?"

"Yep. I bet Dekan is gonna be over the moon."

"Totally."

"So, Dubstep called today before you arrived to confirm when you were starting. Apparently the school holiday was last week."

I nodded. "Oh, guess what, Kirsten."

"Yes, dear?"

"I met these girls today. I’m going to their house tomorrow."

"Well, it’s great to see you mingling already. I’m guessing you’ll be quite the hit at school."

"Oh, don’t be silly."

"Me? Silly? You don’t be silly, Miss Queen of Silly," she tapped my nose before she bid me goodbye. She disappeared into my room and I pulled Dekan out of the bath. I tried to towel him dry, but he kept moving.

"I can do it!" he said, grabbing the towel off me.

"Okay then, big boy. You think you can get dressed too?"

"Of course I can," he said, and I nodded.

"Alright then, I’ll wait outside."

Dekan held his head high with pride. I laughed as I stood just outside the door. A couple minutes later, the door opened.

"Ri?" he asked, and I bent down to his height.

"Yeah, baby?" I asked him, trying to hide my smile.

"Can you help me get dressed? I can’t do it," he said, looking at the ground. I laughed and nodded. Shortly after, he was dressed. I flew him through the room and put him on the bed.

"Crash landing!" I said as he landed on the bed. He laughed and pulled Robo close to him. Robo was his most favourite teddy in the whole world. I had no idea why he called him Robo, but it suited the teddy. I pulled the blanket over him and waited until he fell asleep before I left the room. He fell asleep quickly, and I moved out into the hallway, closing the door gently.

I began to head down to my room when I passed my parents room. I shuffled back and looked into the room. They were snuggled together on the couch, watching TV. They were whispering to each other. I smiled and moved on to my room. I closed the door and moved over to my laptop. I laid down on my bed as I logged on to Facebook. I had a message from Marcus. He was still online, so we talked for about an hour and then I was feeling sleepy. I logged off and turned the computer off. I put it on the couch and moved back to my bed. I climbed into it. It and the TV and couch were the only things in my room at the moment. I sighed and fell asleep thinking about Nate, of all people. I had no idea whether he had a girlfriend. I hushed my thoughts when a little voice said 'you already have a boyfriend.' Plus, Nate didn’t look like the boyfriend type. Heck, I hadn’t even actually talked to him yet, and I was already thinking about him. Curse you mind!

***

I woke up to someone jumping onto my bed. They climbed into my blanket and snuggled up against me. I opened my eyes and looked down to see Dekan lying next to me.

"Morning baby," I said and pulled him in for a hug. He beamed and hugged me tight. He usually crawled into my bed in the morning and slept there until I woke up. One time when I had stayed over at my friend's place, apparently he had bawled his eyes out when he had climbed into my bed and saw that I wasn’t there. I was supposed to be gone that whole weekend, but Mum had called me up that day and I had to come see him. I told him that I’d be back in no time. After that, whenever I slept over my friends' places, I had to tell Dekan, otherwise he would cry like there was no tomorrow.

I took him downstairs, after a long hug, and sat him at the table that had been set up. I noticed that it was 9 am, so my parents were probably gone. Miley came from the kitchen with two boxes of cereal and two bowls. She left and then came back with spoons and milk.

"How are we this morning?" she asked cheerfully.

"Good," I said, and Dekan nodded, agreeing. She got his breakfast ready first. I poured my own cereal and milk.

"Your parents left already. They said they wouldn’t be back until around lunchtime tomorrow."

"Really?"

I felt my heart sink. If I had gone with them, I could've stayed with Marcus overnight. I sighed and Dekan dug into his breakfast.

"Don’t feel so down, Arianna. I heard you have plans for today. Your mother also told me to make sure you're home by 6 pm."

"Sure, I won’t stay out late tonight."

"We aren’t going to the park?" Dekan asked and I frowned. I’d forgotten I’d told him I’d take him.

"Don’t worry, Dekan. Macy is taking you today. You might get some ice-cream too." He brightened up at the idea, and I sighed in relief. He would be disappointed that I wasn’t going, but I would definitely take him as soon as I had a chance.

I decided to go for a swim after I changed. I swam for about an hour and then I sat on the deck. I looked out at the lake and saw a couple of families hoping into their boats. Kirsten brought a towel to me, and I walked down to the gate. I opened the gate and moved out onto the beach. I heard a few giggles and looked up to see Tracy and Stacy walking this way.

"Morning Arianna," they said together, and I smiled, saying the same to them.

"We know it’s only 10, but we wanted to come early. Mum went out, and our boyfriends aren't due until 1, so we thought we’d see what you were doing. You went for a swim in the lake?" Tracy asked as Stacy texted someone.

"No, I was swimming in our pool"

"Nice. I hope we aren’t intruding or anything?"

"No, not at all."

"Ri!!!!" I heard a little boy call out, and I looked up to see Dekan standing against the fence looking at us. His face was smashed up against the bars. I laughed, and Stacy went over and opened the gate. She bent down and hugged him. Dekan was happy to see her. I supposed that after she saved his airplane, she would eternally be on his good side.

"Hey, you guys wanna come in?" I asked them, and they nodded. They followed me inside the gate, and I closed it, making sure I locked it behind me.

"Hey, this is the house with the mini-golf course, right?" Stacy asked me.

"Yeah, it is."

"Cool. We should totally play sometime. I go to the putt-putt course in town. It’s awesome, but I always lose."

"Don’t worry, you’d probably beat me."

We spent the next couple of hours at my house. We swam in the pool for a bit, and I showed them my room. I searched the pile of clothes sitting inside my closet and pulled my denim shorts and a white t-shirt over my bikini. I came out, and Stacy and Tracy were on the balcony.

"You have a wicked view of the lake," Stacy said, and Tracy snapped a few pics.

"You set to go?" Tracy asked, smiling as she looked at me.

"Yep."

I followed them to their house after I say goodbye to Dekan. They had a nice house. It was smaller than mine but still fancy and stylish. Instead of a deck, they had fake grass, but they still had a pool. We walked through the gate, and I looked up to see Nate, Kyle, and Derek sitting on their wooden balcony.

"'Bout time!" Kyle yelled out, and they both ran up to their boyfriends and hugged them. I slowly followed, feeling uncomfortable. I stood on the top step and shifted my weight.

"I’m Nate." Nate looked at me, smiling deviously. I raised an eyebrow.

"Arianna."

"Nice name."

"Thanks."

We stayed at their house for a little bit before going out on Nate’s boat. I sat on the edge of the boat, looking down at my feet. I was wearing my red thong, which matched my bikini nicely. Instead of a speedboat, this boat was a little bit bigger. It had a diving platform at the back of the boat, and we were heading over to the public end of the lake to swim. We were there in under a minute. Nate stopped the boat at the last house, and we just sat there in the boat. Tracy pulled off her shirt as Stacy pushed off her pants. They finished taking off their clothes and dived in in matching bikinis.

"Time to tap this shit," Kyle said, and Derek gave him a fist bump before they dived in after their girlfriends. I was suddenly feeling insecure about taking my clothes off. I didn’t exactly like to flaunt my semi-naked body to the world. Nate pulled off his top, and I bit my lip. Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend. They voice in my head continued to say over and over again. I looked away from Nate.

"What’s wrong, Arianna? Afraid to swim?" he said teasingly as he stepped onto the back of the boat.

"No, I just..."

"Leave your shorts on then," he said, reading my mind. He shrugged his shoulders. Somehow Nate’s words gave me the courage to take both my shirt and shorts off. So I approached the back of the boat and started pulling them off. I kicked them back into the boat when I was done. I put up my hair and looked down at the water.

Nate’s eyes raked over my body, his mouth hanging open. He recovered quickly when he saw I was watching him. I smiled as I jumped off the boat and into the water. When I resurfaced, Stacy and Tracy were suddenly next to me.

We splashed around for a couple of hours. When Nate and the other guys jumped into the boat, Kyle and Derek helped Stacy and Tracy up. I stayed there, floating, waiting. Before I could swim to the small steps, a hand appeared in front of me. I looked up to see Nate waiting.

"Come on, princess. I can’t wait all day," he said, and I took his hand. He pulled me up onto the boat. Just as he made to let go, I slipped and fell forward. Nate lost his footing and fell to the ground. I came crashing down on top of him. I groaned when I opened my eyes. I had a softish landing, but it still hurt.

Then I realised I was only inches away from his face. I reacted quickly, standing up. He jumped up too. The others were laughing, and I blushed a little. I was clumsy, but not that clumsy. The whole way back to Kyle's house (we had to drop him off because he had work), they all couldn't stop laughing, and I continued blushing. I couldn’t see Nate’s reaction because his back was to me as he drove.

It was 4 pm by the time we returned to Stacy and Tracy’s house. I couldn’t believe that my day had gone by so fast. Nate stayed with Derek most of the time as Stacy and Tracy gave me a tour of their house. It was a nice and open house. It was only them and their mum living there. They had no other siblings, and their dad had skipped out when they were born. It must've been hard on their mum. I hated it when people told me that their parents had abandoned them. It made my blood boil to think they didn’t have the balls to take care of such a big responsibility. Stacy and Tracy didn’t seem to care, though, and they showed no love for him.

We watched as Nate and Derek left at 5, and then they walked me back to my house so I was home before 6. They stayed for a little while, but then they got a text from their mum.

"Hey, Arianna, Mum wants us home," Tracy said after putting her phone away. I nodded.

"Maybe we can have dinner with you tomorrow night?" Stacy asked with a puppy-dog face. I could tell they both wanted to stay for dinner tonight, but when your mum called, you had to run back to her.

"Yeah, definitely. I’ll just double check with my parents."

"Coolio. So we’ll definitely see you tomorrow?" Tracy asked before her sister got a chance.

"Definitely," I said. They both hugged me, and I walked them to the balcony. They waved to me as they disappeared down the path. Across the lake, I could see Nate pulling up to his house in his boat.

I logged on to Facebook and chatted with Marcus for a while before Miley came to get me for dinner. After I ate, I played with Dekan in his room and then we watched a movie. We watched Cars 2, and not once did he glance away from the screen. Mater was definitely my favourite character. I thought he was so cool, which was sad considering I was 17, not 4. I laughed silently to myself, and Dekan silenced me even though I barely made any noise.

After the movie, I gave Dekan another bath, and after I put him to bed, I showered in my bathroom. I put on my pj’s and watched some TV. Just before I fall asleep on the couch, I stumbled back to my bed, flicking off the TV and climbing in before I woke up a little. I hated it when that happened. When you're on the brink of falling asleep and you pack everything up to go to bed but by the time you get there, you’re already awake again and you have trouble sleeping. The feeling of my skin, super smooth from the shower, against the sheets was delightful, and I fell asleep quickly, this time thinking about Marcus. He was who I should have been thinking about last night.

Nate’s POV:

I sipped the vodka and it burned my throat. I handed the bottle to the next person in the circle. We were sitting on the back deck and it was 10 pm. I’d spent the whole day with Derek and Kyle and their girlfriends. And also the new chick across the lake; she was a hot one. When she’d taken off her shirt then her shorts I knew I was fucked. She was so fucking hot I couldn’t help myself. My mind had raced ahead thinking about ripping her bikini off and doing her. I looked around at my brother's friends. They all went to north high not Dubstep High. I had no idea why my brother would want to go to north not Dubstep but at least I didn’t have to put up with his sorry ass but he brought over more girls that I knew I hadn’t done. New meat was what I looked for. I looked over a Natalie and noticed she’d been checking me out for the hundredth time tonight. I thought screw, I nodded to the house and she bit her lip nodding. I stood up and moved inside. A few people said good night but I didn’t care. I went up to my bedroom and looked back to see her following me. Once she was in the room she thrust herself onto me. She wasted no time and I wasn’t in the mood for all the flirting. She ripped off my clothes fast and I took hers off just as a fast. I hated it when girls were in control during sex, for some reason. She continually tried to take over but I kept refusing. After about half an hour I kicked her out of the room and pulled on my boxers. I got up and went to my window wall flicking on one of the lamps. The room lit up slightly. I glanced out to see her join her friends again. She glanced up and me and waved. I didn’t bother but looked across the lake again. I could see Stacy and Tracy swimming in their pool because they were splashing all over the place. I glanced at Arianna's house and saw her walk past and climb into bed. Humph. I felt like sleeping right now after watching her climb into bed. Instead, I pushed the thought from my head. I went downstairs and grabbed a bottle out of the cupboard and took it upstairs with me. I drank most of it then passed out in my bed.

When I woke finally the sun was bang in my eyes. I’d forgotten to pull the curtains closed last night. I was regretting it. I stood up and my world wobbled a little. I move over to my curtains and see Kyle, Derek, Stacy, Tracy and Arianna getting out of Kyles boat. I frowned and decided to shower. The shower wakes me up a little. I shake my head at last night’s decision to drink as I pulled on board shorts. Before I left the room I grabbed a shirt and looked at my room. It was a mess. I had clothes lying around, some of them probably not even mine, and I had books scattered across my desk from school. I spot Natalie’s underwear hanging from my lamp and I grab them running down the stairs. My brother was talking to Kyle and Derek, while the girls sat on the couch talking.

"He’s awake" Kyle said jokingly. I glare at him. They knew not to come here too early.

"Shut up Kyle. Oh, and these." I threw the underwear at him, and he dangled them in front of him. I pull on the shirt opening the fridge and look for an apple.

"Dude another?" Derek gasped closing the fridge for me.

"Hmm yeah that’s what happens when your free and single" I emphasised on the word single and he punch my arm. I groaned still feeling the hangover. I bit into the apple and sucked some of the juice up.

"So are we ready for another day on the lake?" Stacy was suddenly cuddling up to Kyle. Tracy made her way into Derek’s arms and I looked over at Arianna. She looked uncomfortable. I smiled and then realised it was uncomfortable as they began to kiss. Both couples. I groaned and walked out the back door towards the boat. Without a second thought Arianna followed me.

"Are they always like that?" she asks as I climb into the boat. I hold my hand out for her and this time she doesn’t hesitate. I make sure she keeps her footing before letting her go.

"Not all the time. Actually, they're really cool people to hang with. Let’s just say you chose wisely" I wink at her and she blushes a little. Maybe she was one of those easy girls who fell to her knees just looking at you. The odd feeling was that I felt like I would fall to my knees by looking at her. Today her hair was messy and up in a simple ponytail. She only wore a black bikini with board shorts. It was mesmerising watching as her chest rose and fell.

"My dad always did say I picked the best" she says raising her brow at me. That’s when I realised I’d been attentively watching her breasts. I look away and try and hide a grin.

"Sorry" I said and I looked back to see her shrug. I looked at her waiting for more but the others decide to come out. I shake my head after they all climb in. We go out to the same spot we always went to. I could see some people who didn’t live here look excited to see us coming but then when we’d stopped their faces dropped. Why would we ever venture there when we have the whole lake to swim in? Like every other day for the last four days, we swam, sat in the boat, and then swam some more before going back to Tracy’s and Stacy’s for lunch. Then we’d hit the water again after about an hour of hanging or talking. By sundown we were still swimming. Tracy and Stacy had decided they wanted to swim tonight. I wasn’t in the mood for it so I climbed back onto the boat. When I grabbed my towel, I heard a sneeze beside me. I turned to see Arianna sitting on the edge of the boat wrapped up in her towel. I didn’t even realise she’d left the water. Considering I was focusing on thinking about her you’d think I’d been watching her too. I guess I hadn’t been.

"You cold?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"Not really. Just from the swimming. Don’t worry I get it all the time"

"Oh well then"

"Do you know what the time is?"

I move to the front of the boat and look at the tiny clock located next to the steering wheel.

"It is 6:04 on the dot" I say smugly and look back at her to see her eyes go wide.

"Serious? My wants me home by 6"

"Well then naughty girl you’re in the shit" I twirl around pointing to myself.

"Bring it." She glared at me, and I was a taken aback. So she got the hidden message. I smile wickedly as I called the other guys onto the boat. As we pulled into her dock she raced off and inside. Tracy and Stacy got off the boat too. Kyle and Derek frowned moving towards them. I shook my head. Arianna was already inside the gate.

"We’re eating at Arianna's tonight" Tracy explained "Sorry big boys" Stacy said and they walked off inside Arianna’s yard. I frowned but backed up the boat. I’d decided I wanted to drive but Kyle really didn’t care. We drove back to mine and hanged for a while.

"So, Nate, you been checking out the new girl?" Kyle said as we waited for the pizza to show up. Derek turned his attention away from his phone and looked up too.

"Of course I am," I said proudly, sipping my coke. Just plain coke this time round.

"You reckon you could do it?" Derek seemed to lack in my duties. I looked at him with mock hurt.

"How dare you say that?" I growled still faking the hurt.

"Well I was just saying because it looks like Stacy and Tracy really want to be this girl’s friend. I mean look at them. People are gonna be shocked first day back"

"Yeah I suppose which is why it makes this task special and challenging. I like a challenge" I smirked finishing off the cup. Kyle poured me another. I was on the urge of having to pee soon. Soft drink always did this to me. Once you went you kept going back and back frequently. Stupid soft drink.

"Your Nate, you like anything" Derek continued

"Yeah and anyone" Kyle finished and poured them another drink. I shake my head and refuse to fight back. I wasn’t going to give into them. So when our pizza came, we sat on the back deck eating away. I couldn’t help but keep glancing at her house. Her back deck was lit up well and there they were. Stacy, Tracy and Arianna all sitting at the table. Probably eating a proper meal.

"So, Nate, how do you plan to get this one?" Kyle asked after a few minutes of bland silence.

"I have no idea. You know she caught me staring today"

"Oh, and the ship sinks," Derek says, scoring him a high-five from Kyle. I shake my head smiling.

"But she brushed it off"

"No way!" they both said at the same time.

"What were you staring at?" Kyle asks still shocked.

"Her chest" I said smirking.

"Ooh score for Nate" Derek says patting me on the back. Hmm that’s what had me confused. I didn’t really count it as I score for me because who knows what she actually meant by it. But all I know was that she caught me looking at her chest and she brushed it off like it happened all the time.

"Hey, you think maybe she has a boyfriend?" I ask them silently hoping she didn’t. That would make it so much harder. And if she did have a boyfriend then I’d probably give up. Who knows? Depends on the competition.

"No way dude. She might have left a few hanging, but I doubt it," Kyle says and Derek frowns at me. Who knew what I was thinking?

"I ain’t letting you give up that easy. Here I’ll make you a bet" Derek says and we both look at him waiting.

"I give Nate this school term to do it. You can do it however you want but we want witnesses"

"Yuck!" Kyle says and I groan. Was he serious? That was just nasty.

"No, you idiots. Witnesses to say they saw you go into a room and not come out for a while or they heard. Not actually watch. That’s just nasty"

"Oh, I get," Kyle said, and I nodded, going along with the idea.

"So what do you say? You got this?" Derek asks me and I feel both their eyes on me. I look over to the girls again and I nod several times.

"Yeah man I got this. Graduation sex here I come," I said, and the guys whooped. The feeling in my stomach sank a little making me feel even guiltier. I wasn’t actually that excited about it. I was thrilled at the idea of sleeping with her but I didn’t exactly want to make it a bet or anything. We finished off our pizzas and made our way into the lounge room. We got hooked on COD again and played for a couple of hours. Finally Kyle and Derek decided they wanted to go home around 10 pm, and so I was sitting there playing by myself. I doubt my brother would be coming home. Mum was still in Japan for like another month. The beauty of having a parent who wanted to constantly travel. Dad was still a no show in our lives and doubt he would be. I mean he lived on the other end of the lake but he never made the move so we never really gave a shit either. Just a worthless piece of junk. Eventually I gave up and switched the stuff off. I grab a shirt on my thongs and decide to go for a walk down to the park. It was almost 11 pm. I didn’t think many people would be down there. I take my time walking down there, casually glancing at her house often. For some reason she had me so intrigued in going after her. I wanted to take my time with this one, play at it a bit. Maybe she would be a challenge but I crossed my fingers that she didn’t have a boyfriend. If she did then I was in the shit. I’d ruined several relationships because I slept with girl who already had boyfriends. Sometimes it hurt to know that no one actually really wanted to keep me, just one time use. I longed for the feeling of seeing the same girl over and over, even waking up with her in my arms and falling asleep with her there too. I shook my head; no one ever really cared about a player. Always said I had no feelings and shit but I guess that’s why I mainly hung out with Kyle and Derek. They understood me. I look across the lake to see someone turn off the deck lights and I sighed. They were going back inside. I was kind of missing school already. We’d already had nearly a week off and I was missing it. Missing seeing my friends every day, although we hung out most days but my other friends. Like my football friends. Boy I couldn’t wait to get back out on that field. Could wait for coach to yell at me for checking out the cheerleaders. Then I realise it’s my last year. Last year of high school. The last year of everything being handed to you on a plate. I’d already been accepted into police academy for the start of next year. I was set and ready to go. I knew I’d have the money but I honestly didn’t give a shit about it. Mum had put money into my savings account and I knew she’d keep putting money in there. I would have enough for a lifetime. Mum was still making money. I had no idea how she did it when she travelled so much but she did it. Apparently we got 200 bucks a fortnight from our lame as father. Pathetic I think that he can’t even bother to come and see us. I finally reach a bench at the park and sit down. I watch the water and see a few people hanging around. Eventually I get bored and head back home. When I come in through the back I hear the doorbell. I open the door to see Janet standing there.

"What’s up Janet?" I lean against the door frame knowing she’s only here for one thing.

"Sup how you been?" she says making her way inside. I close the door and follow her into the lounge room. She pulls off her coat putting it on the bench along with her purse.

"Alright I suppose"

"Right so anyway I was just wondering what you’re doing tonight?"

"Clearly nothing."

"So you can take me away?" she moved closer to me and put her hands on my chest. I didn’t feel like it today. I grabbed her hands and pushed them off me. I moved away from her to the fridge. I pulled out the coke bottle and poured a glass, watching her face as she realised I'd let her down.

"Oh, come on, Nate. You never say no to me. Never."

"Maybe I felt like being different"

"Why? Got yourself a girlfriend? Hasn’t stopped you before" she moves around the bench and puts her hands on my shorts tugging at the waistband. She was being persistent tonight.

"Hey that doesn’t mean anything"

"Oh, come on, Nate. Stop talking and just take me away."

"I’d rather not."

"What?"

"I said I’d rather not." I down the coke in one go and watch as she steps back shocked.

"Are you saying no?"

"Have you been asleep the whole conversation?" I looked at her raising an eyebrow. Why couldn’t she just leave already?

"Look there are plenty of other guys are there who are willing to tap me" she grabs her coat and purse I thank god. She was leaving.

"Yeah unwillingly"

"Fuck you Nate"

"Didn’t I already say no?" I smile and she yells out. She stomps out slamming the front door. I laugh putting the coke away. I make my way upstairs and close my curtains. I didn’t want another bright wake-up. I jump into my bed and turn on my TV. I slowly drift asleep thinking of a way to get Arianna talking. No ideas popped up, but just as I fell asleep, the idea came. Surely I’d forget it. And I did.

I lay on my bed waiting for her. She pops her head in and then comes around the corner half naked. She still wore her lacy underwear and bra. I bit my lip and she climbs on top of me. I look up at Arianna and she moves forward and kisses me. Just as she does a bright light appear and I jump up realising it was only a dream. A seriously good one. I look over to see Kyle opening my curtains.

"What the fuck Kyle?" I groan blocking the sun from my eyes.

"Dude, it's 2 pm and you have a bet, remember? You can’t just be lying around in bed all day. Oh, and Stacy and Tracy are having a party tonight. You coming?" he turned and kicked a few clothes away from him. I smile deviously when he realises their girl’s clothes.

"Definitely if Arianna’s going?"

"Yeah I think she’s going"

"Then I’m there"

"Dude don’t you dare going all whipped on us. We still need you around"

"Dude I ain’t gonna get whipped. So it’s 2 pm, really?"

"Yep when did you go to sleep?"

"1 I think" I honestly couldn’t remember and I hadn’t drunk anything last night either.

"Dude you need to go to bed earlier if you want this to work out. Hey, I heard Janet came here last night."

"Hmm yeah she did. She wanted to get in my pants again"

"Let me guess you blew her off?" I look up at him frowning. Okay maybe Janet had told everyone I blew her off. That’s how he knew.

"How’d you know?" I ask trying to make sure.

"I know you dude. It’s written on your face"

"Oh, come on, I know Janet told you."

"Actually, no, she didn’t. She didn’t tell anyone, actually she’s telling everyone you slept with her again"

"Oh right, because I’m totally letting that happen."

"So your gonna dent your pride?"

"Dude dinting my pride is letting everyone think I slept with her again" I stand up pulling on a shirt. I follow him downstairs and see Derek sitting on the couch snuggled into Tracy. I groan and make my way to the cupboard.

"Dude your wake, so anything? Derek asked, still holding onto Tracy. They stand and make their way to the bench.

"Dude it started last night, give me a minute to breath" I growl and eat one of the chocolate bars hiding in the cupboard. After bar is finished I follow the out onto the deck. Kyle’s boat sits there waiting but we sit down on the deck keeping conversation up. I sit there thinking not talking. I couldn’t remember the idea I had been so close too. I was straining myself trying to remember it. Across the lake I could see Arianna getting out of a speedboat. A guy gets out first and pulls her with him. My mouth drops as he kisses her and she totally gets into it. I nudge Kyle and nod towards her.

"Fuck me, you’re in for the shit" he says to me and Derek looks up. There was no way she could have a boyfriend, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was just a simple fling. Yep, just a simple little fling. I hoped. I see Stacy come out of her house and run down to Arianna. She talks with the mystery guy and then they go into Arianna’s house. I could feel my hopes declining by the second. I was losing this bet. I shake my head as we stand up and get in the boat. We travel to Derek’s house and hang for the rest of the day. I spent most of the time sitting next to Kyle thinking about Arianna. How the fuck was I going to do it now? Maybe I should just forfeit and give in. It’s not like I was going to lose anything, right? I shake my head and then Kyle hands me the controller. Tracy and Derek disappear, probably upstairs at it. Just half an hour later Kyle and I decide to ditch. They’d been up there for almost an hour and it was Kyle’s boat outside. So we went back to the usual swimming spot and swam for a bit. We had a man-to-man conversation about how I couldn’t back out of the bet. I lost and now was stuck doing it. Plus, it wasn’t like I had a choice. I knew I had to give it up but I didn’t want to. I still wanted to chase after her. At all cost’s I at least wanted to have fun with her. Shortly after we watch the mystery guy leave and then the boat comes back. Arianna climbs off with an older man who looked like her. Her father in the flesh. Kyle drives the boat next to the other side and we get off. Stacy climbs off the boat then and then runs into Kyle’s arm. They begin whispering things to each other and then Arianna comes back.

"Hey Nate" she says looking over the board happy.

"Hi" I say feeling a little out of place for some reason. I was usually used to them all making out but it felt weird not to be the only one. I follow Arianna into her yard and we sit on the deck watching the lake. Kyle and Stacy were still on the deck and talking close together.

"So how you been?" I ask her and she leans back breathing in deeply. Yep she was clearly satisfied with something. I had no idea what but I guessed it had to do with her boyfriend.

"Great. My boyfriend surprised me today. You should totally meet him" she says nudging me. She was acting a bit out of character. Overly optimistic but I liked it. I started laughing at how much she just sounded like the twins. They always said totally and made popping sounds with it. She had just done the same thing.

"What?" she says hiding a smile.

"Nothing it’s just you sound exactly like the twins with the totally" I tried to copy them with the popping sound but knew I failed miserably when she laughed.

"Oh god Nate, never try that again" she says touching my shoulder. My blood spiked and I shivered a little. She pulled her arm away suddenly and then stood up.

"Hey, want some strawberries and chocolate?" she asked, biting her lip. She held out her hand. I took it, and she attempted to help me up. I laughed when she almost fell into the pool. She seemed tipsy on happiness. Her boyfriend must have really done something. I frown kind of jealous. I follow her into the kitchen. We pass a guy dressed in a tux and a lady wearing a white shirt tucked into a pencil skirt. I frown at this but smile following. How you could smile and frown at the same time was beyond me, but I was doing both. She tells me to sit at the table and disappears. I sit down at the wooden table and look around the room. It was quite nice and stylish. Very modern but was definitely vintage. She returned with a white bowl fall of strawberries and a green bowl. She places them on the corner and sits down.

"We do it kind of differently but it’s still the same" she says dipping a strawberry into chocolate. She bites into it and I feel myself excite. Suddenly I heard a little giggle and look to see a little boy run in with an airplane in his hand. It was the boy from the first time we’d crossed paths. He climbs into the chair next to her and his face lightens up when he sees the chocolate. I pull the strawberry out of it and stick it in my mouth. I chop down and felt he flavour radiate through my body.

"Sup little man" Arianna says smiling brightly. Another lady walked in and smiled at us both. She left again and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Hey big sis" he greets her and she hands him a strawberry with chocolate dripping from it. A little bit drops onto the table.

"Hey big dude" he says waving at me. I wave back nodding. He was cute. Eww, did I just say he was cute? I wipe the thought from my head and go for another strawberry. They were actually really good. To think that, before this, I had never tried chocolate on strawberries. A little bit later Stacy and Kyle walk in. I lean back in the chair and Kyle gives me thumbs up. I shake my head hiding a devious grin. We spend a little longer eating the other strawberries and then we leave Arianna with her little bro. They drop me off and then leave me. I walk inside to find my mum standing in the doorway. She walks over and throws her arms around me and then I see another guy walk in. I groan and pretend to be happy. Yeah great!