Aspen , but now she ' s moving on. And they ' ve moved on. It ' s like everyone is moving on—going toward something , and I keep slipping farther behind. " I don ' t want to lose you ," I blurt out.
" You ' ll never lose us , Jay. What is it you guys always say? We ' re a package deal or whatever? I just want to get back to what we were. I want to be cool , you know? I don ' t want to have to yell at you for eating my chips or to ignore you. "
For some reason , I fight to find my voice. It ' s like it ' s locked in that piece of me I wanted to hide earlier. Everything feels all wrong , but I can ' t say why. Instead , when I open my mouth , the words , " They ' re Cheetos. Not chips ," fall out.
Priscilla shakes her head. " Stupido . "
Does it make me a nutcase that I miss her calling me that? " Drama Queen. "
She doesn ' t reply so we sit there in silence , her feet dancing in the water. The sun is starting to go down now. Like a red , fireball being extinguished by the desert. Finally , I nudge her with my elbow. " So , a truce , huh? "
" Yeah . A truce. " And then , " I ' m going to miss you when you go to Texas. I really want the next few days to be perfect. "
I turn to look at her ; a piece of her dark hair is now flying in the slight breeze , moving around like her legs are in the water. And man do I want to kiss her and touch her. Memorize her with my hands. " I ' m going to miss you , too. "
I can ' t make myself tell her even if the next few days aren ' t perfect , this moment is.
" So , who are you staying with in Texas? "
" My uncle. He ' s— "
" He helped you get the beater , right? "
" Yeah . " I smile. Damn , I ' m getting soft. I don ' t even know why I ' m smiling right now. " He owns a junkyard. " I shake my head , because ... well , that sort of sounds ghetto. I ' m talking to this gorgeous , rich girl with a District Attorney for a dad and I ' m talking about going to live at a junkyard?
I don ' t know what makes me do it—maybe it ' s to change the subject or maybe it ' s because it ' s something I would have done before , without a thought , or maybe I just want an excuse to touch her , but something makes me grab her. My arms slip around her before I push off the concrete and throw us both in the water.
Surprised , Pris goes easily when I pull us under. It ' s only a second before she ' s twisting and turn ing and just like she should be , she ' s out of my grasp.
When I break the surface , I shake my head , water spraying all over the place. At first , her eyes are narrow and I know I ' m in trouble , but then a wave of water flies and hits me in the face.
" That ' s it. You ' re going down , Mendoza. " I push more water at her. We go back and forth , laughing the way we used to before everything got screwed up. It ' s cool because she ' s happy and she ' s smiling , and damn it feels good to be the one to make her feel that way. I just want to keep it going.
Later , we ' re still laughing as we stumble in the hotel room , soaking wet. Aspen and Bastian are laying on one of the beds.
" What the hell happened to you guys? " he asks.
Our clothes are obviously soaking wet and we ' re dripping on the carpet. They have the AC on so it ' s cold as hell , but neither of us cares.
I look at Pris and she ' s looking at me and I know we ' re thinking the same thing. Both of us fly at Bastian and Aspen. As they try and pull away , yelling , Pris and I soak them , and I start to feel like my family is back together again.
Chapter Seven
Early the next morning , I ' m sitting in the car waiting for the other three to come down. My eyes are a little scratchy because I didn ' t sleep too well. First of all , how was I supposed to actually sleep with Priscilla in the same bed? I mean , come on. I ' m a guy and she ' s a girl and she ' s right there and my body definitely knows it. She made these little sounds through the night and , each of them hit me like little pinpricks in my
" You ' ll never lose us , Jay. What is it you guys always say? We ' re a package deal or whatever? I just want to get back to what we were. I want to be cool , you know? I don ' t want to have to yell at you for eating my chips or to ignore you. "
For some reason , I fight to find my voice. It ' s like it ' s locked in that piece of me I wanted to hide earlier. Everything feels all wrong , but I can ' t say why. Instead , when I open my mouth , the words , " They ' re Cheetos. Not chips ," fall out.
Priscilla shakes her head. " Stupido . "
Does it make me a nutcase that I miss her calling me that? " Drama Queen. "
She doesn ' t reply so we sit there in silence , her feet dancing in the water. The sun is starting to go down now. Like a red , fireball being extinguished by the desert. Finally , I nudge her with my elbow. " So , a truce , huh? "
" Yeah . A truce. " And then , " I ' m going to miss you when you go to Texas. I really want the next few days to be perfect. "
I turn to look at her ; a piece of her dark hair is now flying in the slight breeze , moving around like her legs are in the water. And man do I want to kiss her and touch her. Memorize her with my hands. " I ' m going to miss you , too. "
I can ' t make myself tell her even if the next few days aren ' t perfect , this moment is.
" So , who are you staying with in Texas? "
" My uncle. He ' s— "
" He helped you get the beater , right? "
" Yeah . " I smile. Damn , I ' m getting soft. I don ' t even know why I ' m smiling right now. " He owns a junkyard. " I shake my head , because ... well , that sort of sounds ghetto. I ' m talking to this gorgeous , rich girl with a District Attorney for a dad and I ' m talking about going to live at a junkyard?
I don ' t know what makes me do it—maybe it ' s to change the subject or maybe it ' s because it ' s something I would have done before , without a thought , or maybe I just want an excuse to touch her , but something makes me grab her. My arms slip around her before I push off the concrete and throw us both in the water.
Surprised , Pris goes easily when I pull us under. It ' s only a second before she ' s twisting and turn ing and just like she should be , she ' s out of my grasp.
When I break the surface , I shake my head , water spraying all over the place. At first , her eyes are narrow and I know I ' m in trouble , but then a wave of water flies and hits me in the face.
" That ' s it. You ' re going down , Mendoza. " I push more water at her. We go back and forth , laughing the way we used to before everything got screwed up. It ' s cool because she ' s happy and she ' s smiling , and damn it feels good to be the one to make her feel that way. I just want to keep it going.
Later , we ' re still laughing as we stumble in the hotel room , soaking wet. Aspen and Bastian are laying on one of the beds.
" What the hell happened to you guys? " he asks.
Our clothes are obviously soaking wet and we ' re dripping on the carpet. They have the AC on so it ' s cold as hell , but neither of us cares.
I look at Pris and she ' s looking at me and I know we ' re thinking the same thing. Both of us fly at Bastian and Aspen. As they try and pull away , yelling , Pris and I soak them , and I start to feel like my family is back together again.
Chapter Seven
Early the next morning , I ' m sitting in the car waiting for the other three to come down. My eyes are a little scratchy because I didn ' t sleep too well. First of all , how was I supposed to actually sleep with Priscilla in the same bed? I mean , come on. I ' m a guy and she ' s a girl and she ' s right there and my body definitely knows it. She made these little sounds through the night and , each of them hit me like little pinpricks in my
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