The Face Off

Chapter 7

Blakely's POV:

I'd be lying if it didn't make my heart flutter when Braxton grabs my hand. He's just doing it to be nice, but it's a good feeling. Braxton opens the car door for me and jump in. Braxton runs to the other side and starts the car immediately. He must go to parties often here because he didn't need to put on a GPS to find the house. The drive was quiet, but a comfortable quiet. 

We pulled into a spot along the street and made our way into the house. The house was big. There had to be at least three floors, a pool in the backyard with a hot tub,  and the beach was right in the back. This house was actually not too far from my Grams, except mine wasn't this big. A lot of people had already arrived and had drinks. Gram would kill me if she found out I was drinking underage. Maybe that's what I need to do to finally get ahold of my parents. If I cause some trouble, they would have to talk to me, right? I would never do that to Gram though. Besides, I made a promise to myself that I would never drink. It's dumb to others, but not to me. My family has a history of drinking problems and I do not want to fall into that same cycle as others before me. 

"Do you want something to drink?" Braxton yells over the music. 

"I'm fine. Go help yourself." Braxton disappears into the kitchen. I look around and notice that I do not know many people at this party. I start exploring the house to keep myself from just standing and watching people. I walk upstairs and realize the third floor is like a big game room. Harlee is over by a table set up for beer pong and I see Aubrey over by the air hockey table. I head over to where Aubrey to cheer her on.

"And that's how you do it." Aubrey yells as she beats her opponent. The other girl groans and moves so someone else can play. 

"Blakely, hey, do you think you have what it takes to beat the master?" Aubrey laughs. 

"I'll give it a shot." I walk over to the other side of the table and we start the game. A lot of back and worth was happening, but I scored on Aubrey once. We keep going and Aubrey scores on me. After several more tries, we ended up tied 6-6. Aubrey hits it towards me and with one hard hit, I knocked it into the slot and one the game. People were cheering and Aubrey laughed. 

"There's a new air hockey queen!" I yell. 

"Maybe I can dethrone her." A voice says over the crowd. Braxton makes his way through as he steps close to me. 

"That is if you think you can take ME since I am a pro ice hockey player." I roll my eyes at his comment. 

"I haven't been impressed yet..." Braxton takes a step towards the table, as do I. We begin the game and take turns hitting it. We both scored several times, but I took the lead, setting the score at 5-3. After a few more hits, I score again.

"One more and I win!" I yell. We keep going, it taking a long time for someone to score. Finally, with another hard hit against the side of the table, I scored and won the game.

"OH YEAH! Winner winner. What's my prize?!" I yell across the table.

"You want a prize? I'll show you a prize!" Braxton runs over to my end of the table, throws me over his shoulder and starts running down the stairs outside. Everyone starts running outside too towards the ocean. He is NOT taking me into the ocean! I would be soaked the rest of the night. 

"STOP! Braxton, no!" I yell as he is still running full speed towards the water. 

"What's the magic word?" He teases. He has got to be kidding me. 

"I won't beg." he starts walking into the water.

"OKAY OKAY! You are a great air hockey player. There." I start punching his back to put me down.