16. Into You #2
After we’ve stocked up our plates with our first servings, Jase hands his over to me so he can fetch the beach towel he packed.
Everything’s loud and chaotic and filled with laughter, and I couldn’t love it more.
Parents are actually playing with their kids, and people are making memories.
Everyone’s enjoying each other’s company and enjoying the fresh air.
I don’t feel like a bug under the microscope, being judged and made to feel out of place.
I’m just another normal body in the crowd.
It feels nice. It feels like being able to finally breathe after having your head underwater.
The heat would typically make people flee indoors, like those back at the country club, but between the options of cooling off in the water or having a serving of frozen lemonade from the concessions, nobody’s going anywhere.
Since I’m not wearing a swimsuit, Jase and I eventually make our way down to the shoreline once we’re done eating.
We go just far enough in that the water doesn’t reach higher than my knees, which is good because I’m finishing off a cherry-filled hand pie ice cream sandwich and I have no desire to spoil it with saltwater.
“Okay, you’ve gotta let me have a taste,” Jase insists, trying to pluck the baked goodness from my death grip.
“ What? No! You had your chance to grab one when they first set them out,” I laugh. “You snooze, you lose.”
“Just one bite.” He gives me his best Puss in Boots face, batting eyelashes and all. I’m not swayed. “Oh, come on. You’re practically orgasming over there with how much moaning you’re doing.”
I almost choke on my laughter, not to mention my pie sandwich, leaving him with the perfect opening to step in front of me and grab my hands.
I go to yank out of his hold, but it’s too late.
He’s stolen a bite from the pie crust with his teeth.
I shove him aside with my elbow, but he barely notices, too busy moaning himself.
Unsurprisingly, Jase makes another play for the dessert. “Jesus, that’s like edible crack.”
I duck under his arms and shovel the rest of it between my lips. “Awww, too late,” I say around a mouthful, showcasing my empty hands with a grin.
“I believe I see crumbs and filling there.” He points to my fingers, and I have to swallow back a scream and the rest of the pie as I take off running.
Given his athleticism and the fact his legs are substantially longer than mine, he catches up to me in a matter of seconds as I run out of the water.
Jase hooks his hands around my waist and hauls me up against his chest. Laughing like a couple of hyenas, the two of us flail and tussle with one another until we find ourselves splayed out on the sand.
Even with me lying on top of him, he still grabs my hands, only to find the remnants gone.
This just makes me laugh harder as I point to the side of his face where the filling is now smeared.
It doesn’t deter him, because he swipes at it and licks it off his fingers.
“You are such a dork, you know that?”
He just grins back at me. “You say that like it’s supposed to be a bad thing.”
A warning siren goes off in my head at the sound of Jase’s name being called, and we both sit up to see a group of people our age making their way over to us.
I don’t recognize any of them, but by the way they’re dressed in regular, department store clothes, I can assume they’re not associated with the Untouchables.
Jase and I stand, brushing the sand off ourselves as he fills me in.
The two girls, Rebecca and Amy, and three guys, Billy, Travis, and Tyler, met Jase during a party down in Allendale at the beginning of the summer.
He introduces me to them, and I’m a little nervous at first, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Will someone point out the obvious? Am I going to be the butt of the joke?
Or are they all secretly thinking it and just too polite to say anything?
A.k.a. “Did he lose a bet or something? Why the hell would someone like Jase Rivers be hanging out with this geek?”
I expect everyone to treat me the way Vanessa’s friends do, like I’m not even here.
Blythe made sure to tell them about my social anxiety, so they either act like I’m contagious or think that by ignoring me, I’ll feel better not being put on the spot.
But really, it just sucks. You can’t work at overcoming something if no one lets you try, and being treated like a leper twists the knife in deeper.
It feels like playing mental double-dutch, trying to find the right moment to jump into their conversation and say something. When I dare to, I’m still anticipating everybody to eyeball Jase with a shared look that screams, “Why did you bring her?”
But no one does. Amy even asks Jase if she can “steal [his] girlfriend for a minute” before pulling me away over to Rebecca. The sheer insanity that she’d actually mistaken me for that has me so bowled over that I can’t operate my mouth well enough to correct her.
I may as well be having an out-of-body experience, because the two girls start gossiping with me like I’m one of their friends from school.
Assuming I’m with Jase and therefore have been attending parties with him, they want to know if I’ve heard of someone named Asher.
Apparently, Amy made out with this mystery guy last week, but he dipped out of the party early and she never got his last name or number.
Perhaps things really are that different down at Camden High, because they seem nice.
And not a fake nice, like Sienna, where the act only lasts as long until you prove to be no use to her.
Even after I tell them I’m not familiar with someone named Asher, they don’t blow me off or walk away. They invite Jase and me to join their group as they venture through the festival.
Since everyone has just eaten and doesn’t want to barf, we make the wise decision not to go on any rides apart from the Ferris wheel, opting for the funhouse and then a variety of booths.
We play Milk Cans, Balloon Darts, Pick-A-Duck, the ring toss, and countless shooting contests.
Even with my arcade prowess, the chance of winning most of the carnival games is virtually impossible given they’re rigged, but that doesn’t make it any less fun.
Though Jase has never participated in the school’s baseball program, he’s eager to play a round when we eventually pass the pitching booth.
It’s set up so that the player has to throw the ball into a small target area where the cartoon depiction shows the catcher’s mitt.
The circular hole cut out of the display barely looks big enough to fit the ball, but it doesn’t deter him.
He gets three chances to make it, and on the second try, the baseball sails clean through. The crowds around us cheer and applaud as the booth worker motions to his choice of prizes.
“What do you think?” he ponders, stroking his chin in mock deliberation. “Giant stuffed gorilla or giant stuffed unicorn?”
I laugh. “I’d say, ‘giant red flag,’ because that’s exactly what it’ll be when you stroll back into the country club later with a three-foot-tall stuffed animal.”
He just shoots me a grin before leaning over the counter to say something to the worker that I can’t hear over the music and crowd.
The employee looks confused but nevertheless nods, heading to the collection of smaller stuffed animals to grab a ten-inch tall penguin sporting an Uncle Sam red, white, and blue hat.
Sure enough, the moment he hands it over to Jase, Jase hands it to me, cuing a chorus of “Awww”s from Amy and Rebecca.
Since I’ll have the same problem at the country club later, just on a smaller scale, I’m about to object, but Jase presses his finger over my lips.
“Relax, Birdie,” he assures, slinging his backpack over to his shoulder to show me how much room is available inside it. “I can smuggle in little Sammy here just fine, and I’ll give him back to you tomorrow.”
He slings his arm around my shoulder, turning me in the direction of the beach.
I hug the penguin in front of me, smiling like an idiot as we make our way back to the shore.
With the sun having finally set, everyone’s been evacuated from the sand.
I’ve never been to any beach after dark, so I didn’t realize it’s illegal here.
Given the amount of liquor served inside the festival, along with the many beer stands, a number of the adults are clearly tipsy.
Also, there are still a lot of little kids here, so not wanting anyone wandering around near the water in the dark is understandable.
That doesn’t mean we’re not allowed on the pier. It’s elevated above the beach and juts out across the water. A lot of people already occupy it, so we can only get as far as the space above the sands.
Between the breeze blowing off the shore and the lack of sunlight, a chill nips my skin.
Within seconds of goosebumps forming, I feel warm cotton draping over my shoulders and look down to find Jase’s zip-up sweatshirt he had apparently packed.
It’s no secret I get cold easily, and I expect to hear a variation of what everyone apart from my sister always says.
“You need to put some meat on those bones to help insulate yourself.”