Her Strength, His Weakness

• Chapter Twenty Three •

Archer and I got back to the house at around four o'clock. We still had an hour before the group would be leaving for the carnival, so we both decided that we should go our separate ways and join our friends.

I went toward the patio to find Caitlyn, Alice and Erin. I saw them through the glass doors sitting in their bikinis, on the deck chairs, with Eli and Cody. They were playing a card game, which looked like bullshit. I heard them laughing as I walked onto the patio to join them, each one of my friends looked up at me.

"Well hello there." Caitlyn greeted with a grin.

"Hey." I replied.

"How was you date?" Erin asked innocently, not looking up from the cards in her hands.

"Amazing." Was all I could say.

"You guys are so cute." Alice squealed.

"Awe." Cody mocked. Him and Eli exchanged humorous looks.

I ignored their teasing and turned to the girls, "Where are the others?"

"They're all in the game room." Erin answered.

"According to Martin, Devin, Ethan, Barry and Jake, 'we are too boring'." Caitlyn explained. I laughed at her comment.

The house has a bar with a few game tables inside and a couch, but we refer to it as the 'game room'. It had ping-pong, pool, foosball and a 'gambling games' table. It is one of my favorit rooms in the house.

"Where is Archer?" Alice asked.

"He's looking for the others." I answered. "Can I join?"

"Yes, please. Maybe then this would be more interesting." Caitlyn said.

"Hey! Rude." Eli exclaimed. "And you were the one who was offended when they left."

We all laughed.

******

It was five o'clock and time to leave.

We all gathered our things and grabbed jackets for protection against the cool night air. I decided to use Archer's jacket, that I had brought with, rather than one of my own, but who could blame me.

We all piled into our designated cars and drove down the road toward the docks. The drive was filled with car karaoke and laughter, mostly from the girls. It was a short drive, which meant that our fun was brought to an end too soon.

I looked out of the car window as we pulled up. I saw the towering rides with large banners and signs that held the ride's names. I could smell caramel and popcorn as it wafted through the air. It looked like a dream land.

"This is going to be so much fun." Erin cheered.

"I so agree." I replied giggling beside her as we jumped out of the car.

Archer walked up behind me, as the others were getting out of the car, and he paced his arm over my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.

"You know, you're not completely horrible at singing." He teased in my ear.

"Shut up." I joked. That only caused Archer to laugh.

"Share the joke?" Martin said as he stood next to us. He looked at me with a smile, waiting for an answer.

"Archer is delusional." I teased and lightly slapped Archer on his chest.

Archer didn't laugh, he kept quiet with a firm look toward Martin. I could see that he was uncomfortable under Archer's gaze, but he let out an awkward laugh, in response to my comment, attempting to mask his uncomfortableness.