Can't be Bought

Chapter 12 - I Can't Look Away

Meghan peeks her head through the door.

"You called?" She jokes, sticking her tongue out. She climbs into my bed and lies next to me.

"So I did this thing." I say wearily, playing with the drawstrings on my shorts. 

"I knew it!" She shouts, sitting up quickly and staring at my face intensely. 

"No, it's not what you think," I reply, trying to interfere before her thoughts run wild. 

"Maddox invited me to a pool party tomorrow and I kind of  said all of us girls would go..." I say, emphasizing the kind of.  I watch her face light up with excitement.

Meghan sits up on her knees and grabs my hand, shaking me all around. 

"You're kidding!" She squeals, smiling from ear to ear. My arm flails around like a noodle with her grip. I try to hide my smile but it bursts through and I let out a laugh. She lets go and grabs my phone, unlocking it and clicking around on the screen. 

"What are you doing?!" I say, trying to grab my phone from her. 

"Meghan!" I shriek, reaching for it but missing slightly. I sit up and try to reach further but she moves back, holding her hand up in the air with my phone. She smiles and laughs. I give up and slouch back. Suddenly, I hear the FaceTime ring, who is she calling? I freak out and try to grab the phone, hoping it's not Maddox. 

Meghan laughs and steps off the bed. 

"Helloooo?" I hear, sighing in relief. It's Brooklyn. Her voice is followed by greetings from the rest of my friends, thank god. Meghan tells them excitedly about the party. I hear screams, giggles and lots of questions I try to ignore. Meghan invites them over to get ready tomorrow morning and eventually hangs up. 

I'm now sitting criss-cross on my bed, my shoulders leaning forward in defeat. I run my fingers through my hair, pulling it away from my head. I roll my eyes and let out a bit of breath that I've been holding in. That was crazy, they are too much. Meghan hands me my phone back, giving me a cheeky smile. 

"Time for my beauty rest!" She jokes as she skips out of my room closing the door. I lay back in my bed and close my eyes, letting out another sigh. Before I know it, I've fallen asleep. 

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The next morning I finally get to sleep in. I look at the clock to see it's almost 11 am. I only have like an hour to get ready! I jump out of bed and run to my vanity to look at my hair. It's not too bad. My face has some sleeping marks on it and my shirt is wrinkled. I head downstairs to get some coffee to wake my sleepy face up. As I'm halfway down the stairs, I hear music. It gets louder as I reach the bottom of the stairs. I turn the corner and look into the kitchen. I see the girls doing each other's hair and stuffing their faces with donuts. They are singing along to the music and laughing every so often. 

Mary spots me.

"Cammie!" She says with some pep. I smile with my mouth closed, I'm too tired for this. 

"It's our sleepy head!" Brooklyn jokes in a baby voice, pushing her lips out and holding her hands over her chest. 

"Good morning!" Justice adds sarcastically while throwing her hands up in the air.

I don't reply to them.

"Coffee." I blurt out, spotting the pot of coffee already made. My eyes half-closed, I reach my hands out to the coffee machine and walk towards it like a zombie. I grab a mug to fill up, relaxing to the soothing sound. I take a sip and my body instantly feels relieved. So. Good. I hold the cup with two hands, watching the girls while taking another sip. I notice they are dressed and ready to go. 

"When did you guys all get ready?" I ask jokingly, holding my right hand up as to ask, what the heck? They joke with me about how they woke up like this and say comments such as oh this old thing?  I shake my head laughing and make my way up to my room to change while they stay downstairs rocking out to the music. 

I start with my swimsuit, making sure to find my black and white gingham striped bikini. This hits my hips perfectly and accentuates my curves in all the right places. It covers well and makes me feel less self-conscious than other swimsuits I have. The bikini top has cute ruffles underneath and the sides of the bottoms do too. Satisfied, I move on. I find one of my favorite pairs of denim shorts from my dresser drawer, perfect! Now I just need a top. I try on a plain white tank and a light pink kimono but I don't like it. I try just the kimono, still no go. Then I reach for my white cropped, wrap tie shirt. I put it on tying the knot just below my upper chest. I look at the outfit in the mirror, tilting my head sideways to analyze. I play with the long pieces of fabric hanging down from the knot and pull the sides of my shorts higher up. Good enough. 

I throw my hair up into a messy bun and apply light makeup as this is a pool party. I add some layered gold necklaces and put on some light pink platform sandals. I spot Maddox's jean jacket I forgot to give back to him. I grab it, throwing it over my arm. Ready to show the girls, I head back to the kitchen. Twirling as I walk into the room, the girls approve of my look, making weird noises of excitement. 

After gathering all of our pool items and stuffing them into a few bags and backpacks, we head to the address Maddox texted me. The girls and I are calmer than usual, maybe it's the Tame Impala blasting through the stereo or maybe it's the fact that we are all a little nervous about what's to come. We quietly sing along and enjoy the breeze coming in through the windows. When we arrive, we are surprised to see only a few cars parked outside. I double-check the address and it's right. I spot Maddox's Tesla in the driveway so I know we aren't lost. 

When we step out of the car, we can hear the hum of music coming from the backyard. This house is different than the last party we went to, but not smaller by any means. The house is Spanish style, rust-colored with a terracotta roof and Spanish accent tiles. The girls and I head to the front door, quiet and curious. I watch as Brooklyn and Breanna run to the door, skipping and joking along the way. Mary and Meghan stare at the house, looking at the sheer size of the place. Justice follows quickly behind the twins, I'm sure she's hoping to see Dash on the other side of the door.

Breanna knocks but no one answers. Clearly, someone is home as we hear the music blasting. Justice knocks this time, louder and more aggressive, still no one comes. Brooklyn excitedly rings the doorbell, poking it while sticking out her tongue. Within a few seconds, the door swings open, revealing a cute boy. He looks at us for a second. 

"Mary?" He asks, furrowing his brows while staring at her. He's wearing light blue swim trunks and nothing else. His dark brown hair is wet as well as his tan and toned abs and arms. His golden-brown eyes glow in this lighting. 

Mary smiles and her mouth begins to move with excitement. 

"Mason!" she cheers, waving her hand. She doesn't walk up to him, she keeps her distance but seems happy to see him.

Mason laughs and opens the door a bit more. 

"I'm assuming one of you is Cammie?" He asks, looking directly at me. I think he already knows the answer to that. 

I throw my hands up in a shrug.

 "How'd you know?" I ask motioning to myself. My face flushes just a little bit as I think I'm slightly embarrassed. Mason laughs and invites us in. He starts to point the way towards the pool, but we can clearly spot it through the glass windows behind him. It's massive. I spy someone who seems familiar and I quickly figure out why. It's Maddox, but his back is facing us. I watch as he places his hands on his hips, his back muscles flexing. He leans his head back with laughter and then bends forward to pick up a towel off the ground.

As he picks it up, he begins to turn around towards me. Rubbing his hair dry with the towel, he sees me. Standing at least 20 feet apart, our eyes meet once again. And I can't seem to look away.