Chapter 10
*Stacie's POV*I’ve made my decision. Now, I just need to put it into action. While I’ve been thinking about what I should do, Ayden has been waiting impatiently in front of me for a response. I don’t know why he hasn’t said anything yet. I’ve been silent for several minutes. I’ve watched him twiddle his fingers, bite his bottom lip, and pat several rhythms on his tail.
The whole time I have been thinking, I have had the chance to look more closely at Ayden. Unbelievably, he’s grown more handsome through the years. I would never have guessed he could ever be more cute. His popping chestnut brown eyes shine more than before. Since the last time I saw him, his golden brown hair flips than usual. Ayden’s face looks more grown up now. He’s nearly a head and a half taller than me compared to the inch he was four years ago. Ayden’s appearance four years ago looked childlike, and now he looks like a man. Ayden is a man, and I am only a girl. Four years ago, Ayden was my age; I was only thirteen. How could he like me now? How could he ever have liked me then?
“Stacie, I’ve been waiting silently for minutes for you to speak. The longer I wait, the more nervous I get. I can’t take it any longer,” Ayden says frowning, making me feel terrible.
“I’m sorry, Ayden. I just needed to think and get my thoughts together. I’m done now. I don’t need another minute.”
“Okay, I’m glad. But I have something to ask you now.” Ayden gulps nervously. He takes a deep breath in. I nod for encouragement. “Stacie Astor, will you be my girlfriend?” I grin, but quickly replace it with a frown.
“I’ve spent every night for the past four years thinking of you. I’ve dreamed about you asking me this question many times. I was never shocked considering I knew it was coming. Now that it’s happened for real, I’m taken aback. I don’t know what to say. You caught me off guard. Whenever you would ask me, I would swim into your arms screaming yes where we would kiss each other passionately at last. That was always a dream though. This is reality, and I don’t know how to respond.”
“Do what you did in your dreams. Swim into my open arms, exclaiming yes, so that I may finally kiss you,” Ayden replies holding out his waiting arms. I back up.
“I don’t know. When I always did it, my actions were spontaneous; not predictable.” Ayden nods his head. He swims forward until he is only inches away from me.
“First, you must answer my question: do you want to be my girlfriend?” he asks lacing our fingers together.
“Of course.” Ayden smiles.
“Then, the next step is easy.” I lean my head to the side in confusion. Ayden leans in, his lips only a centimeter away. His lips brush mine before he pulls away quickly making me want more. “Do you want to kiss me?” he whispers into my ear, sending chills down my spine. I bite my lip. I nod my head hastily. He smirks. Ayden kisses my forehead, my nose, my cheeks…
“Stop teasing me. Just kiss me and end my suffering already, or you’ll see the back of my tail-”
Ayden smashes his lips against mine, stopping me from talking. Our lips mold together perfectly, no cracks in sight. All I feel is complete ecstasy. I lose all self-control. I allow my emotions to take over. Ayden’s hands crawl to the middle of my back where they stay for the rest of our kiss. My hands crawl to his hair where they entangle themselves.
I am the first to pull away, realizing I have to get home to take care of my siblings. Ayden nods understandingly as I tell him. He has a brother and sister too, so he knows what it feels like to have obligations. He offers to help me, but I figure it’d be best if Brittany doesn’t see him. She had the hugest crush on him back then. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I remained out of things. Besides, I had nothing to fear; he would never go out with her or anything considering she was only ten at the time. It’d be insane to do that, and also creepy. If he was to do anything with her, I’d be disgusted for the rest of my life.
I kiss Ayden goodbye and start to swim home instantly missing the touch of his skin against mine. Wait! What am I doing? I shouldn’t have to give up perfect opportunities because of Brittany!
“Ayden!” I scream hastily turning around to see him already swimming away. “Wait!” I swim towards him wanting to share my thoughts. “I shouldn’t have to do this! I should be able to hang out with you! Don’t you see? I shouldn’t have to give up parts of my life for them!”
“Okay? What are you saying?” he asks confused. I continue, not caring what he thinks at the moment.
“My family! I shouldn’t have to watch them constantly! I never have any time for myself! I should be able to do the things I want to do! No one cares at my house or ever thinks about me, but I’m going to make sure I’m heard!”
“Okay?” Ayden replies still wondering what’s going on.
“Ayden, will you still help me babysit my siblings?”
“I guess. Yeah, sure.”
“Great! Okay, let’s go. I live this way.” I grin happily. We begin swimming towards my house. As we swim, I wrap my hand around Ayden’s. He smiles.
~
“Mom! I’m home! Where are you?” I scream seeing Avery and Blythe sitting in the living room playing a game. “Where’s mommy?”
“She’s in her room. I think she said she’s getting ready for work,” Blythe responds back before Avery can say a single word.
“Okay. What game are you playing?”
“Sharks or Fishes,” Avery replies quickly, so Blythe can’t say anything. She frowns, making me chuckle.
“Fun. Did you say hi to my friend?” I ask, smiling motioning for them to look at Ayden. He waves to them smiling.
“Hi,” they both say shyly.
“Hi. My name’s Ayden. What’s your names?” Ayden replies back. Blythe stands up hastily wanting to be the big sister. She points to herself.
“I’m Blythe. This is Avery,” she says, pointing to Avery.
“I love your names! They’re awesome names. Did you pick them out?” Ayden asks.
“No, silly. Mommy chose them,” Blythe says laughing. Ayden glances at me making sure I see he has them in the palms of his hands. I chuckle.
“It seems like everything is fine here. Is it okay if Ayden stays here with you while I go talk to Mommy?”
“Sure!” they both exclaim simultaneously. Ayden and I both laugh.
“So, how do you play this game?” Ayden asks swimming towards them.
“You put your piece on the board and pick a card when it’s your turn. It tells you how many spaces to move. If you land on this space, then you’re a shark. If you land on this one, then you’re a fishy,” Blythe explains. That’s not really how you play the game. I made those rules up for them, so it would be easier to play. Let’s just say those are the kid rules to “Shark or Fish”.
I swim towards my mom’s bedroom. Her door is closed, so she must be changing her bra. I lean up against the door hoping to hear a noise. Nothing. I decide to knock twice in case she is in there.
“Come in!” her voice screams. I open her door slowly.
“It’s just me. I wanted to tell you I was home.”
“Okay, dear. I’m about to leave. I have to be there soon. I’m actually running late.”
“Is it okay if my friend stays here and helps me?”
“Sure. Marissa can stay.” I love how she assumes it’s Marissa. If it was Marissa, I would have said Marissa. Even though I want to yell at her, I must act nice in order for Ayden to stay.
“No, it’s not Marissa. It’s an old friend I haven’t gotten to see in a couple years.”
“Oh, okay. She can stay.” It’s a boy, not a girl. I so badly want to say it’s my new boyfriend, but I know her answer will be no if I was to do so. I shrug it off and swim back out to the living room, making sure to say thank you before I shut her door.
Ayden is still in the living room with Blythe and Avery. He’s sitting on the floor; it looks like they are all playing “Shark or Fish” now. I smile watching him play with them. Ayden always has been great with children. He glances up at me smiling. I wave to him. He waves back. Avery notices and waves too. I chuckle. I wave back to Avery. Blythe notices everyone else isn’t playing the game anymore and looks up to see what is going on.
“Hi, Stacie. Did you talk to Mommy?” Blythe asks.
“Yeah. She said Ayden can stay and help me watch you. Let me check on Brittany real quick; then, we can all do something. Okay?” They all nod excitedly. “Why don’t you pick out what we do while I’m gone?”
“Okay!” Avery and Blythe exclaim simultaneously.
“Ayden, I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Take your time. I’m fine playing with Blythe and Avery. We’re having a lot of fun,” he replies back watching them argue over what to play.
“I knew you would,” I say smirking. He glances up at me quickly. I swim towards my room, probably with Ayden watching my every room.
Brittany is laying on her bed talking on her shell. When she notices me, she glares in my direction. I decide not to tell her Ayden is here. She’ll find out eventually. Besides, I don’t live to please her. She wants to give me a hard time in my life, then I’m not going to reward her for it. You’re supposed to do good deeds to get a reward, not bad deeds.
I put my drawing from Alex in my nightstand where it will remain out of my sight. Surprisingly, I still had it in my hand. I thought I would have dropped it by now. Since I left Alex’s house, I haven’t thought about it. It has been out of my mind.
“What’s that?” Brittany asks, obviously curious.
“Something I got today.”
“Can I see?”
“No, it doesn’t need to be taken out of my drawer now. It’s going to stay in there, you hear me? I better not catch you looking at it. I don’t want to swim in here only to find it in your hands. It’s none of your business, so you don’t need to worry about it,” I say warning her. “I swear on the Ocean I better not.”
“You won’t. Besides, I don’t care about it anyways.”
“Sure you don’t,” I reply, not believing her.
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