I stole the bad boy's cigarettes [ON HOLD]

20: Check The Weather

- I R I S -

Emily and I were currently at the dog park with her new dog. She was telling me about how Max helped her pick the perfect dog for her since he claimed he was the 'dog whisperer'. She ended up with an older dog who's blind in one eye. His name is Sky, and although he is ten years old, he has the spirit of a young puppy.

She spared me the details on her interaction with Max but made sure to show me all 20 thousand videos and pictures she took of Sky. I knew better than to push the subject of her and Max. I'm not sure why, but she kept the whole thing super secretive as if we didn't already know they are an item.

I plastered on a smile, but the truth is I've had a lot on my mind lately. I felt bad for not being fully immersed in the moment, but today just wasn't my day. I should've stayed home. A lot of my time these days is used to keep my grades up or filled with thoughts of the past.

My mind started to drift to Alex again. I felt my face heat up and began to doubt myself. There's no way a boy like that would ever be into me... just for me. Things with Alex seemed different. He seemed different. But that's also how I felt about Ryan when we first met.

I picked up ripe peaches and held them to my nose while I closed my eyes. I felt a slight breeze blow my dress a little under the burning summer sun. I adjusted my sunhat and continued to scan the various fruits laid out on the stand. Strawberries, watermelon, peaches, and cherries. The list could go on. The warm embrace of the sun and the smell of sweet fruit made me never want to leave.

Until I had to. Some kids ran into me and stole my bag of fresh fruit I just bought. Usually, I would let them go, but I just spent a hefty 30 dollars on those fruits. So I did what anyone 30 dollars short and fruitless would do. I chased after them. It wasn't the best idea considering I was wearing a hat and a flowy dress. 

The three boys ran across the street to the local swimming pool. I ran after them and heard a faint voice yelling at us to not run around the pool area. Nonetheless, we kept running, that was until I slipped. Before I landed on my butt, I felt someone wrap their hands around my waist. I readjusted my hat to see a saw a blonde boy with blue eyes on lifeguard duty. He looked around my age, but I haven't seen him around town before.

I quickly stood up embarrassed and he slowly let go of me.

"That's what happens when you run around the pool," he said as I smoothed my dress.

"I only do it about once a month, so no worries. But thanks for catching me..." I said waiting for him to fill in the blank with his name. He smiled.

"Ryan,"

"Well, Ryan, thanks again. I'll see you around sometime," I smiled.

Before I walked off, he gently grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to the lifeguard station area. He pulled out a marker from his backpack and wrote his number on my arm with a smiley face at the end.

"Call me," he said searching my eyes. 

I gave him a wink before walked out of the pool area fruitless.

I watched Emily and Sky play from the bench when I felt tears well up in my eyes from thinking about Ryan. Before he was a jerk, that is. I gave Emily and Sky a ride home but continued on my car ride for a bit. I needed to clear my head. I didn't know where to go during this time. I've always lived in a pretty suburban town. There wasn't any place that wasn't always filled with people at five o'clock. Then I remembered.