She's Too Naive

Chapter 10

"Please Ellie," Ara pleaded, staring me down. "My parents are making me get a job this summer and I don't want to do it alone. It doesn't hurt to apply," I thought it over, assessing all the pros and cons of getting a job for the summer at Mr.Milkshake. I would be making money and it would help get me out there a little more, maybe make some new friends. It also would probably look pretty good on a college application. Since Ara would be doing it too, I would probably be able to hitch a ride with her.

"Alright," I finally said, picking up one of the applications on the counter.

"Thank you, thank you," Ara replied in excitement, her face lit up like a little kid about to get a piece of candy. "I promise i'll make it up to you for doing this for me," I waved her off with a smile and shook my head.

"I needed something to do over this summer anyways, so no big deal," I dismissed, taking extra care not to fold or wrinkle the paper in any way.

"What are you ladies up to?" A voice interrupted, as he slung his arms over our shoulders. I waved my application paper in Josh's face.

"We're being productive, something you don't know the definition of," I replied, ducking under his hold. Poor Ara was stuck in a headlock as Josh rubbed his knuckle on her head affectionately. Her face turned a deep shade of red as she tried to swat his hands away with a glare planted firmly across her face. Josh laughed, finally releasing her from his hold as he leaned up against the counter.

"Hey Josh, what can I get you?" A girl I recognize from school asked from behind the counter, a light blush stained her cheeks. Josh was pretty athletic at school, therefore leading him to be well liked among the girls. His looks didn't really help diffuse that either. With his wavy brown hair, bright green eyes, and dimpled smile, even the tourist girls were drawn to him. I admitted that he was attractive, but there is no way I could ever date him. His arrogance was off putting and often times he said offhand comments about strangers that weren't very nice. But he definitely still attracted a good slew of girls, and either he was oblivious to it, or just liked the attention since he didn't do anything to put them off.

"Get me a strawberry lemonade, got to stay hydrated for the game tonight," He said with a wink to us. The poor girl nodded and scurried off to the cooler to start making his order. When she returned a few moments later he handed her some wadded up bills from his back pocket. "Thanks Jen," He said with a large smile, before turning back to us and taking a large gulp from his drink.

"You're terrible," Ara whispered harshly, hitting his arm.

"Whatever, lets go kids," Josh replied with a grin, nudging me with his knee so i'd start walking. "Bye Jenny!" He called over his shoulder with a wave as we walked outside. I didn't even turn around to look at Jenny as I thwacked him on the back of his head, hard. He scowled in return, rubbing the injured area.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're a bully El," He whined, looking to Ara for backup. She just shook her head, crossing her arms.

"Yes, everyday. Now move your butt and drive us to the gym so we can cheer for everyone on your team except you," I said, poking him in the back so he'd walk faster. Josh's traveling team had a game in town tonight, meaning it was the place almost every high schooler was going to be. We asked him to pick us up since Ara and I had both chosen to walk to Mr. Milkshake since we lived close enough.

Josh owned one of those crumby, run down regular cab trucks. Therefore, meaning I was squeezed in between Ara and Josh in the cramped interior. Josh had both windows rolled all the way down, since he didn't have any airconditioning either. My hair whipped and snapped against my face as Josh sped down the country highway to our local High School located about ten minutes from town. I had to admit that summertime held my favorite smells. I loved driving with the windows rolled down and the breeze battering against your face. Although, usually I would tie back my long hair so it couldn't be used as a weapon against me.

As soon as the truck squealed into a parking spot, Ara jumped out with me close behind. We waited a few moments for Josh to grab a duffel bag located in the bed of the truck, not even bothering to lock the car.

It was unusual for crime to actually happen in this town, and most people felt pretty safe. The winter months made people a little more cautious, since the tourists tended to be a bit untrustworthy at times. But it was rare for the summer vacationers to ever cause any problems.  That was one reason why I found it incredibly strange that someone had broken into my house and with the run in I had in the alley with Rosen.My house was plastered all across the newspaper for the past week, highlighting one of the few major crimes that have occurred so far this year. It wasn't like we had absolutely no major crime, it was just very low.

"Bye Joshy!" Ara called out in a teasing voice as we split ways. Josh heading into the outside door nearest to the locker rooms, and Ara and I heading towards the nearest gym entrance. Josh didn't even look over his shoulder as he flipped us the bird.

Thankfully since it was only a traveling team, the cost to get in was only a couple dollars. It would be different once Josh's team made it to the championship tournament, but for now it was cheap.

We spotted Abby, Lynn, Lee, and Tristan right away, and scurried over to sit next to them. There was a whole section of students from my class, and I chatted with a girl sitting behind me that was on the Volleyball team.

Josh was one of the tallest players on the team so he tipped it off, starting the game. For the first half of the game the students all cheered when appropriate, but by the time it got to second half everyone was sick of it. It was a pretty boring game with Josh's team blowing it out by 60-30. Most people ended up leaving after halftime, so only about 50 remained sitting on the bleachers. I was practically dying of heatstroke and was relieved once the game finally ended.

After the game, Lynn, Lee, Tristan, Ara, Abby, and I waited patiently for Josh. We had a summer tradition of going out to get ice cream at the Dairy Queen, and sitting outside on our favorite table for hours long. We had so many great memories spent there on long summer nights.

We had a rule that either all of us went, or none of us did. There have been multiple times when someone would get a girlfriend/boyfriend and try and bring them along, but it usually ended up being awkward. So we made a pact that said only our group was allowed to attend this ritual.

I always looked forward to these nights, since a lot of us tended to be busy during the summer and couldn't hang out all at once. This was a tradition that everyone made sure to attend, even if it required sneaking out of the house after being grounded.

We split up rides, and Ara ended up going with Josh again while i chose to ride with Abby. I hadn't seen her much since the day in the park with the slushies, and wanted to catch up a bit. As we all walked to our cars, Tristan stepped ahead of everyone and turned around to face us, walking backwards.

"Alright, this is the very first Dairy Queen night this year. So lets make some great memories, since this could be our last year of doing this. A lot changes when you get to college," Tristan lectures, going off on one of his nostalgic speeches. I had to admit that I was feeling a bit sad at the realization of this possibly being our last year of doing this. Next year, some of us would probably already be enrolled in summer programs in college, and Dairy Queen was just not the same without everyone. This tradition had been happening ever since eighth grade and I wasn't looking forward to the end.

"Don't get all sappy on us already Tristan, we still have a full summer and Senior year to start hating each other," Lynn remarked with a joking grin. We all laughed along as we approached our vehicles. Josh saluted us as he stepped inside his truck, Ara climbing in on the other side.

"See you losers there!" Josh yelled out the open windows as he peeled out of the parking lot, his speakers blasting. The rest of us laughed, each climbing inside our own vehicles and preparing to start what could possibly be the last summer of Dairy Queen Nights.

A bit of a longer chapter :) Thanks for reading!