𝓜𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝔂 𝓓𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓼 𝓘𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼

Lester Averman

The car had been parked for the last ten minutes in the small lot in front of the lake. It was a cool evening and there were a few people swimming still and some were packing up to leave for the night. Averman was on a date with his girlfriend of almost a year, she was a year older than he was, but neither of them cared, and she was a head shorter than he was. Les loved her with all his heart, he'd seen the guys from the team going out on dates and he usually stuck around with Goldberg and Jesse to do whatever, but even then, he wished he had a girl to hang around with. 

When Poppy came to town a year and a half ago, Averman was her seat mate for the entire year in French class. He knew nothing in French, so she did help him quite a bit and from there, a friendship broke out, followed by a romance.

Averman leaned over towards his girlfriend, closing the gap between them and she smiled, placing her hand to his cheek. About to kiss, a smaller pair of hands had been placed to either face of the couple, pushing them back. Averman's glasses fell off his face and he turned in the driver's seat, looking over to the runt in the backseat. 

"Hey, I didn't come along to watch you two make out for free." She scoffed, leaning on the armrest between the two front seats. "Pay up." She brought her hand out, waiting for some cash.

Averman sighed and fixed his glasses. "You asked to come." He grew frustrated with her.

"That's what you think." She shot back. "Mom made me com because dad wanted me out of the house."

"Then sit down and be quiet...And, where's your seat belt?" He leaned over and shoved her back into the back seat. She came back hitting him in the back of the head, Poppy not sure what to do as she sat quietly in her seat. She knew Averman's sister was trouble and caused trouble all the time, but she'd never seen it like this before.

"I don't need one. Duh." She said sarcastically. "Now let's go, I'm famished."

"Do you even know what that words means?" He asked her.

"Yes, Stupid. Now, let's go." She sighed dramatically, falling back in her seat.

"In ten minutes, we'll go."

"You said that twenty eight minutes ago."

"We've been here for like ten." He told her and took his seat belt, eyeing his girlfriend and nodding for her to get out. He grabbed his keys and got out of his car, Poppy doing the same. Alexa remained in the back seat with furrowed brows and crossed arms as the two got out. Averman walked to the front of his car and stopped, Poppy smiling with a head shake.

"She's something." She laughed, covering her mouth.

"She's a brat." He anwered. 

Poppy stepped forward, placing her arms around his neck loosely. "Come on, you love her."

"Well, actually..." He began. "She's a pain in my ass. I hate when she comes out with us. She always ruins it on us, especially me." He told her.

"Les, you remember when we went to the fair?" She asked him and he nods, looking at her. 

"Yeah." He nods, remembering it clearly. Because his sister had to go and he didn't want her to. She ruined the entire fair for them because the one ride Averman wanted to go on, they didn't because his sister could be by herself while they went on the ride. He went on the little kid rides all day and ate junk.

"She didn't ruin it there."

"She did so."

"No," She answered and he furrowed his brows, not sure what she was getting at. "She got sick later that night and your mom picked her up, we got to go on a roller coaster and you then got sick." She began laugh. "But it was still fun every bit of the way." She mentioned.

"Hey, are you two gonna like make our or something?" Alexa popped out from the sunroof, arms on the top of the car as her hand held her chin up. Poppy's face became red and she turned to look the other way, setting her head on Les's shoulder for a moment. "Come on, I'm bored, Dummy."

"Then go for a swim." Averman looked over.

"I don't have my floaties." She said. 

"Then go knee deep." He shrugged, not sure what else to tell her. He was annoyed enough and his voice surely portrayed that.

"That's no fun. I have an idea, you can hold me."

"No," He shook his head. "I'm not doing that." He scoffed. 

"Why not?" She laughed. "Carry me in one arm and you can have Poppy in the other if you missed her that much."

"No. Go away."

She huffed. "Your skinny ass will float if you're afraid of the water." She shot back. "Besides, what's so important about Poppy..." She dragged. "...that you can't help me for like five minutes?"

"Because we're on a date!" He called and Poppy raised her head, looking at Averman, who just yelled at his annoying sister. "You ruin everything."

"I do not." She crossed her arms, whining now. "Mom says you like having me out with you."

"I do, but not when I'm on a date. You're annoying and demanding. You never leave us alone."

"Les," Poppy began. "She's eight. Give her a break."

"So? She's annoying and this is our date, not hers." He sighed, crossing his arms and Alexa was quiet. She had gone back inside the car. She was smart enough to know the buttons of the car and shut the sunroof, along with locking the doors.

Averman shook his head, rubbing his face and Poppy looked over to him, leaning back against the front of the car. She agreed that Alexa was annoying and could be a hassle, but Les didn't need to yell at her. Averman had walked off to the sandy shore as the small tides came in from the lake. Poppy went to go see Alexa before she went to comfort her boyfriend. She had younger siblings, but hers were rather nice and Alexa tended to add her two-bits all too much.

Poppy noticed the door was locked and couldn't get it, so, she sighed and walked off to go find Averman. Jogging over to him on the beach, she took her shoes and socks off, walking over to meet him by the water where his feet were in the water. 

"Les," She approached him, taking his hand and held it tightly. "Don't be in a grouchy mood." She brought her head to his shoulder. "It's Friday, we can go out. Bring Alexa back home and then we do whatever."

"She's gonna tell our mom what I did and I'll be grounded."

"No." She shook her head. "It'll be fine." She lifted her head and stepped in front of him. "I love you." She tried to cheer him up. 

A small smile appeared from the corner of his mouth. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her lower back, she smiled and placed lips to his. Averman kissed her back and this time he hadn't been interrupted. He hated when his sister disturbed him, but he knew then that at least his sister was around. It'd become so common of her to do that, that he either didn't care or got mad at her.

"Come on, let's go." She said, taking his hand and jogging off back to the car.