Great, I never even talked to any of the boys since the accident at the dock. Ugh this is gonna suck. Just as I was about to tell Grandma I was going for a walk I hear a bunch of voices and footsteps then Grandma speaks, “Whoa, one at a time,” She laughs. I stand by the corner and watch each of the boys hug her carefully. “Boy, you have got so big,” she teases. They all laughs. “Well ya know, gotta stay fit so the girls want us,” Cayden jokes earning a slap to the head from Austin. They all laugh. Grandma turns toward me but I hide behind the wall. I hear her laugh a little, “Courtney went for a walk, she should be back later,” she says. I smile mentally thanking her and run up to my room. I lay on the bed and sigh, “Ugh this is not going to be a good weekend,” I say out loud. “Talking to yourself?” Farrah says jumping on the bed next to me. I sit up, “Yeah, I do that a lot lately,” I say. She looks down, “Yeah, your dad already told me what happened earlier this week,” She says looking back to me. I smile a little, “Thanks,” Then I frown, “ I just... I dont know how to handle all the bullying. Since the accident with Crystal, nothings been easy or the same,” I say laying my head on her shoulder. She shakes her head, “Nothing in life is ever easy baby girl, I mean I had a rough life,” She says making me sit up. “What do you mean?” I ask. She looks at me, “You're dad doesn't talk about his past much does he,” She joked a little. I just look at her waiting to hear the story. She gets comfortable and starts, “Well, when I was around two years old, Grandpa Stevens too me on a trip, well at least that is what he called it. See, Your dad loved me and so did Chris, Jesse, all them, I was like a sister to all of them. Well, after about three days I realized we weren't going home. My dad kidnapped me. I didn't see Your dad again till I was almost seven when him and your mom found me,” she says. I look at her in shock, “Your own dad kidnapped you?” I said. She nods, “Yeah, I thought Blake and the boys forgot about me, but they didn't they understood and let me be a kid again when I got back. Just like the boys are going to understand that you didn't mean to jump in the water,” she says hugging me. I sigh, “I hope you're right,” I say pushing her playfully. She laughs, “Im always right now get your skinny little butt down there,” She says leaving my room.
When I get down to the main floor it is empty. I look around until I hear yelling and laughing from the backyard. I look out the sliding door and see them playing football in the HUGE field my grandma has for just them. I smile and lean on the door. “Going down Parker,” Ryder says to Austin with a smile as all the boys line up. Austin smiles and I know right away he is taking Ryder out without a problem. Jason calls the play and the ball is off, as soon as its in the air Austin has Ryder on the ground, “Looks like you just met your match,” he says getting up only to have Ryder tackle him down again. “You so cheated,” They say rolling around. The others just laugh and roll their eyes. “Hey Court,” Aiden says. All the eyes snap to me and it gets silent. I frown a little, “Hey,” I almost whisper. Austin pushes Ryder off and walks over to me with a smile, “Want to play?” He asked. I shake my head, “No, that's alright,” I say. He smirks and picks me up. I scream and the boys laugh. “Austin Put me down,” I shout hitting his back as hard as I could, which probably wasn't doing anything to hurt him. He laughs and sets me down in the middle of everyone. Cayden looks at me, “You need to play,” he says in all seriousness. I look at him and then tackle him, “Game on,” I shout and we all play the game.
Two days later and we are in the car on the way to school. I am in the front with Austin. “Hey, every thing's going to be fine,” Austin says looking at the road still. I sigh, “Easy for you to say, it's just another thing for them to hate me for. OH the girl who tried killing herself to deal with her problems, yeah should go over real well,” I joke. “Just ignore them,” Cayden says from the back seat next to Avery. I look back their, “Shut up Cayden, you have no idea what it's like,” I say. “Whoa, snappy today,” Avery teases. Austin speaks, “Stop! Cayden Avery shut up, and Court, if you get any problems today just find one of us alright,” he says pulling into the school lot and parking. We get out and everyone looks at me. I shrug my bag up higher on my arm and the boys all walk next to me. “She's still alive,” Stacy says from where she is by her car. Is top in my tracks as tears build up in my eyes. Austin wraps his arms around me waist and keeps me walking. Once in the building it only gets worse as there are twice as many people. I get to my locker and open it. “What are you looking at? Beat it,” I hear Lena shout at a group. Then I hear them rush away. I close my locker and see a smiling Lena. “Hey,” she says like a normal day. I smile, “Hi,” I say noticing some more people looking over at me. Lena doesn't even turn, “What did I tell you?” she says and the girls run. Austin laughs. I elbow him, “Shut up,” I say. Lena loops her arm with mine, “Off to class,” She says. I roll my eyes and we go.
After school I am at my locker with the boys when Lena comes running up. “COURT! Sooooo, soccer try outs are today, please come to them with me,” she begs. I tense and all the boys look at me like I will blow up any second. “Probably not a good idea,” Ryder finally speaks. I am still shocked she said it. Lena looks at me, “Please, Crystal would want us to re join the team and get our school back on top,” She begs. I shake my head, “I don't know if that's a good idea,” I say. She frowns, “Can you at least some cheer me on?” she says. I nod, “Yeah but im not joining the team,” I say. She smiles and drags me to the field. Once we get their she drags me to the seating area, “Alright, you're my good luck charm,” she says running over to the group. As they are playing a game I notice a group walking over. Great, just what I need right now. “Hey Courtney,” I hear Alex's voice call out. I look up to him smiling and him and his friends sit down. He is next to me with his friends on the other side of him. “Hey,” I say watching Lena. “So, you and Lena are all good again I notice?” he says. I smile, “Yeah,” My voice cracks. Alex has an effect on me no one else has. He is so hot, second to the boys that is. He is my crush so you can imagine how high my emotions are right now. He smiles, “That's good. You haven't really talked to anyone besides the boys in awhile,” He says looking over to the game going on. I shrug, “I guess, I mean everyone kinda dissed me after what happened,” I says almost in a whisper. He looks down at me, “So, you going to the party Friday with the boys?” he asked. I shake my head, “I didn't know about no party. The boys never let me go, if I want to go they make up an excuse and stay home too,” I say. He laughs, “They would, well why don't you come by, leave them and have some fun for once. If they wanna stay behind let them. It's going to be fun, at my place around 10pm,” he says handing me an invite. I smile, “I'll for sure think about it,” I say. He smiles and winks as him and his friends start to leave, “See you then,” he says. I watched them walk away until a voice scared me and I jumped. “Whoa!” Lena shouts at me. “God, don't do that,” I say getting up. She laughs, “Well im captain, and you just got asked to a party by Alex “Hotty” Cross,” She says as we walk. I smile a little, “It was nothing,” I say. She pushes me, “Nothing, girl so many people want to be you right now because of that. I have never heard of him personally inviting a girl to his parties,” she says getting in her car. I hope in too, “Well, the boys probably won't even let me go,” I say as we drive to my grandmas. She laughs, “Please I got this,” she says.
Once we get in the house the boys all tackle us. “Alright listen up bone heads,” Lena shouts getting everyone's attentions. “Girl in control, I like it,” Grandma says walking past up the stairs. We all chuckle a bit then look back to Lena. She puts an arm around my shoulder, “We are having a girls night Friday, no if, an, or but about it,” she says, “which means, you all ask no questions and let us go,” she adds on. The boys all look at each other then back at her, “Girls night?” Ryder asked. I nod going along with it, “Yeah, since we have a lot to catch up on, so no boys aloud in my room cuz Lena will be over,” I say. They all nod and agree. “Good, now.... POOL TIME!” Lena shouts running past us toward the pool. We all follow her and the boys jump in. I sit on the edge and watch. Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I can't swim to save my life. Only Austin and Ryder know about it only because last time we went swimming I almost died. “Come on Court,” Lena shouts from where she shoves cayden under the water. I smile, “No im good,” I say. Avery swims over and goes to pull me in as a joke but Ryder shoves him under. I mouth a thank you to him and go back inside.
The week pasted quick and I was now sitting in my room with Lena with my door locked. I was dressed in a cute white lace dress with a cute leather belt and ankle boots. My hair was in light waves down my back. Lena looked amazing, in a short black dress that went mid thigh, she had on black heels and her hair was in a messy bun that looked great on her. I looked at myself, “My first party since the accident,” I say freaking out. Lena laughs, “It'll be fun I swear,” she says opening the window. “Door locked?” she asked climbing out. I nod and follow her. Once we hit ground we sneak to the car and leave. “Whoa, we just sneaked out,” I said in shock. My mom and dad will kill me if they find out. She laughs and speeds up, “Yeah bitches,” she shouts as we pull up to a huge house. The music was blasting and lights going off, people passed out in the yard. Lena pulled me inside where the music only got louder and people were drinking, dancing, making out, and basically having sex right in front of everyone. Lena smiled and we walked over to the drinks. She took a shot and looked at me, “No drinking for you,” she warned. I nodded, I wasn't planing on it anyways.
