By Your Side

Chapter 3: Water park

The school week had finished, and Saturday was finally upon the world as James woke up to a text message from Clare. It contained the address of the party followed by a Hope to see you there message attached. Immediately he searched for the location on an internet map and waited as it zoomed in on a waterpark only a few kilometres away.

Why did it have to be a water park? James thought to himself as he got up and started digging through his dresser drawers to find his swimsuit. Digging through copious amounts of black clothes he finally pulled out his swim trunks. He hadn't worn them for a few years but yet he went to the bathroom and tried to slide them on. Thankfully they still fit and weren't to tight which provided him with a little comfort going into the day. Pulling them the rest of the way on before he went upstairs, he passed his father who was reclined in his favourite chair.

"Hey son, good for you for going out and doing this. It's a big step after everything that's been going on this year, and I bet Hannah will be glad to see ya."

"Yeah okay, dad. Whatever you say."

"Son, before you go, why don't you take my car."

"Seriously?"

James was shocked by his father's proposition, the car that he was being offered was his father's prized possession and was treated almost like another child. His father drove a Challenger, and he treated the thing better then he treated James, it was his midlife crisis car.

"Yea, why not? It'll get you some cool points."

"Oh...okay thanks, Dad."

"Say hi to Hannah for me."

"Yea I will."

Continuing upstairs to the next floor, James grabbed the keys off the top of the microwave and unlocked the car. To which he then grabbed a towel and everything else that he thought he might need and headed outside and walked down to the muscle car. Opening the passenger door, he threw everything onto the seat before closing it and walking around to the driver's side. Taking his place as the new pilot of the car, the vehicle roared to life as a confident smile crossed James' face. Today will be the day that's going to change everything.

He put the car into drive, and the engine roared once more as the wheels began to spin. The water park was only minutes away, and he still wasn't sure what he was going to tell Clare when he got there.

The drive flew by like nothing as James pulled the vehicle into the water park parking lot. Parking the car a little further away to not attract too much attention to it or himself, the roar it was creating slowed down to a silent hum then turned to nothing. With the car now parked, he grabbed all of his stuff and headed to the entrance or in James' mind, the gate of his watery hell.

As James entered the park, he didn't see anyone he knew and continued looking around as he entered. However all he saw was the crowded park filled with families and their kids mixed in with a bunch of random teenagers, but there was still no sign of Hannah or Clare.

Seeing that he didn't have much choice now, he headed to the changing room, only to feel a light tap on his shoulder before he entered. Turning around he saw Clare, with a towel draped over her shoulder, a graphic tee for a shirt and a pair of swim shorts. She was conservatively dressed, yet she gave James that mischievous smile that he had noticed the other day at the cafe.

"I'm glad you came, now go strip down, and I'll meet you out here."

"Okay first off don't say strip down, Second hi how are you is a nice way to start a conversation."

"Oh shut up and get changed."

James took Clare's orders and walked into the changing room, and picked a locker. He threw everything he didn't need into it and locked it up, before returning to the outside world now shirtless, one of his biggest fears. It wasn't the fact that James had some chunk to him, it was more that his weight problem growing up earned him the nickname teddy bear from some of his classmates. All in all it created some self-esteem issues to this day, and as he stepped outside Clare met him in the centre of the park now accompanied by Hannah.

His heart began to beat rapidly almost pushing out of his chest, to the point that he was sure that it must have been audible to them as he stared at his crush. Hannah was barely covered by any clothes and was riding the edge of family-friendly that even little kids walking by looked at her, while James was struggling to fight his primal wiring as he unknowingly checked her out. Only wearing a strapless pink bikini top with matching coloured bottoms, she was completely opposite of her cousin. James gulped now as she walked over, her chest bouncing with each step she took and her swaying hips put him into a trance.

"James, its been forever. How are you?"

Hannah leaned forward and hugged him, while all he could think about was how good puberty was to the girl as her soft flesh pressed up against him. A thin piece of fabric separating them from one of James's greatest fantasies. He didn't need to look down already knowing that he wouldn't be able to handle what he would see.

However, while they hugged, aside from the sexual urges, the memories from when they were kids also raced back to James, as his crush embraced him and again not leaving much to the imagination. The more he thought about it the darker his cheeks became with a rosy tint. The hug didn't only awaken something in James, but Clare was also feeling its effects, as she walked over and tried to break up the two's embrace, sticking her hands in the crack between their stomach and forcing them apart.

"What's up with you Clare, I haven't seen James in years?"

"Well I don't want to be a third wheel, so let's go have some fun."

"Fine, c'mon James."

Leading the group of James and Clare, Hannah brought them to the rest of the party, where all the jacked up jocks were hanging out with a couple of other scantily dressed cheerleaders. Why did it have to be a water park? James found himself thinking again as he stood amongst Hannah, who he could only describe as a fading fantasy.