Love and Fame Games (Book 1)

14 (Part Two)

Chilling by the pool was a lot of fun and we would've stayed longer except Alex's lips started to look purple. I urged her to get out of the pool so she could dry off and and change. She obliged, excited for the chance to wear one of her backup outfits for tonight.

Before we could go inside however, I heard someone call my name. It was Seth, doing a funny sort of combination jog-walk toward us. In a shivery voice, Alex told me she would go ahead; she really needed to get warmed up. I nodded, told her I'd catch up shortly, and waited for Seth outside the Javiers' glass patio door.

As he got closer, I heard squishy noises with each step he took and noticed that his usual gelled up hairstyle was ruined. Both these things, as well as the funny walk, were easy enough to explain: Seth Frasier was completely waterlogged.

"Of course you jumped in the pool, too," I said, snorting. "You couldn't at least take your shoes off first?"

"Not exactly." He looked disoriented. "I fell in."

"How does that even happen?" I wondered aloud despite already having some ideas. Even when we were little, Seth was notoriously reckless and accident-prone, for one.

And his being blinded by a certain ballerina's beauty, for another.

"You know what? Don't tell me," I said quickly, in case it was the latter. "Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?"

He shook his head no, a bit unsteadily, so that I watched him for signs of head injury regardless. He seemed chilled to the bone as well.

"Do you want to change? You could borrow something of Alex's."

"No thanks, I'd rather die."

I huffed, vaguely disappointed by this. (I already had a sparkly top for him in mind.) "But you're dripping."

As a response, he gathered the hem of his shirt at the front and, without warning proceeded to wring himself out.

With a small wail, I stepped back so as not to get splashed by the small but steady stream this action produced as it hit the concrete. "Seriously, Seth, this is what a towel is for," I scolded. "It's not just a souvenir of that time you made out in the sprinklers--"

My ranting and his wringing stopped cold at the exact moment. I felt like kicking myself for being the first to bring that up after trying so hard to avoid the subject only seconds ago.

Seth, looking confused, looked around his personal bubble, and gave himself a quick pat on each shoulder. I could tell he was feeling for something that had been but was no longer there. "Guess it fell in, too," he mumbled, shrugging.

To avoid further embarrassment, I pushed the door open and beckoned him to follow. Anyone still at the party was gathered around the pool and the house was fairly deserted as the two of us made our way across the house to the kitchen.

"Heard about that already, huh?"

"Word travels fast around here." I shrugged, not turning back to look at him. "You know that."

"If that's true, how come I didn't know about you and Matt?"

"Me and Matt," I exclaimed, and flung the kitchen door open. ''There's no me and Matt."

Alex had invited me over often enough for me to know where stuff was in her kitchen. After grabbing the milk from the fridge I had Seth get the box of instant cocoa from one of the cupboards and took two packets. I wasn't really cold but I loved the stuff. I then got two ceramic mugs from a rack by the coffee machine, proceeded to make our drinks, and popped them in the microwave.