Faking Isn't Enough |✔️

~Just like old times~

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"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough" ~ Unknown

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"Autumn, I'm so happy for you!" Penny and I thought that we could use a bit of relaxation so we came to the beach to warm up. Yesterday Penny found Zach and I on the couch together and now she is overreacting.

"I told you, we are taking it slow" the umbrella that we set up just gives me enough shade that I can see Penny, but the sun still takes me at a surprise when I open my eyes. Penny has a huge grin on her face.

"Ok, let's just say that I'm really excited that Zach and I are back together, but as I said... we're taking it slow" I lie back down and listen to the waves crash, and breathing in the fresh ocean scent that floods me with relaxation.

"Autumn," I hear Penny's voice say worriedly. I side my sunglasses onto the top of my head and look up at Penny.

"Look," I sit up and look to where Penny is pointing.

"It's Nicole" she bluntly says, as she really doesn't want to deal with her - neither do I. Nicole is playing around with some boy that I can't quite make out who he is. It can't be Ryan since they broke up and he is still in Hawaii.

"let's just ignore them, I'm pretty sure they haven't noticed us" Nicole and I used to come to the beach a lot. She really loves the beach, but mainly because 'the scene makes her look good' - that's what she kept telling me anyways. Penny and I have lots more fun, she's not arrogant like Nicole. I strain my eyes to try to make out who she is here with. Looks like Jason, the captain of the football team. Huh, typical Nicole. I think I see them lean in to kiss and my assumptions were confirmed.

Just as I close my eyes I hear the crunchy sound of sand as someone walks towards us. I open a little slit and see the silhouettes of two people, one slim and the other quite muscley. As I figure out who they are, I nudge Penny which takes a while since she is probably close to sleep.

She sits up just as the shallow, self-centered person standing in front of us speaks.

"Still heartbroken over your poor little Zach? He doesn't care about you and you know that so just move on will ya? Oh wait, you can't. He was too special to you and every time you think you have gotten over something you come back in circles. Just give up, there's no use in trying" she flicks her loose hair over her shoulder.

just as I was about to argue, I hear the one voice that sends shivers down my spine and gives me goosebumps. The voice of my angel.

"Is there are a problem, babe" I'm staring at Zach who has no shirt on, just showing his abs. Next to him is Caleb, also wearing his swimming shorts. I can barely speak a word. Zach offers a hand and I gladly take it. Caleb does the same with Penny and I can tell she is happy to see him. I smile at Zach and stare into those killer eyes, the eyes that will be the death of me. He smiles back then turns around and bends down a little. I tilt my head in confusion until I see that Caleb did the same thing and Penny jumped on his back. Right.

I poke my tongue at Nicole then jump on Zach's back, and swing my arms around his neck. Nicole glares at me with her hand on her hip. Jason tries to hold her hand but she pushes him away, still staring at me. Zach then charges off towards the water. Caleb follows with Penny on his back. Underneath me, I can feel Zach's muscly, warm body that comforts me against the shock of the cold splashes as we enter the sea. I start laughing as the water reaches up to my waist. Zach wades deeper, and Penny is screaming with laughter behind us. I start to feel the silky water against me as Zach spins me around. By now I'm laughing even more. Zach grabs my foot as I try to swim and I splash him back.

Penny and I try to swim away still laughing and the boys chase after us. I feel the smooth surface of Zach's hand fit into my mine. He spins me around and looks deep into my eyes. I lean in as the butterflies in my stomach start to flutter. That's how I feel every time I kiss Zach. He makes me feel alive, and a boost of energy washes over me. Suddenly, I feel the cold water being splashed over my head. I let out a surprised laugh and turn to face the two culprits, Penny and Caleb.

After about half an hour of fooling around, we start to move closer to the shore. The current ended up pushing us out a little further than we were meant to be, which took me by surprise when I tried to touch the bottom. We are still laughing and splashing each other once in a while, but we all seemed to be getting tired.

"Maybe we should go back to shore and then just lay in the sun or something?" Caleb wisely suggests. We all unanimously agree and start swimming back to the golden sand. Penny and I resume our spots on our towels under our umbrella. While the boys magically have towels already laid out beside us, they decide to be good boyfriends and go get Penny and I ice-creams from the shop. Penny and I start talking about nonsense and everything else when I feel my body get cold. I turn around and see a shadow hovering over me. When I look up it is no other than the wonderful Nicole - note the sarcasm - glaring down at us.

"Had enough fun with your boy-toy Nicole? If you will excuse me, our boyfriends will be back soon with ice-cream in their hands and I really don't think you would like the sticky substance all over your designer swimsuit." I say in a fake caring voice.

"Still as childish as always I see? Ice-cream, really? What are you, ten?" Nicole does her famous gesture of putting her hand on her hip.

"On a scale of 1-5, yes I'm a ten." Was my snazzy comeback. I hear Penny try to hold on a laugh next to me and Nicole's scowl moves to her for a fraction of a second.

"Well, have a nice life, Autumn Anderson. Oh wait, don't." Nicole leaves with Jason in tow behind her and as soon as she is out of ear-shot, Penny and I burst out with laughter. 

Nicole is kind of like a rose I guess, may look pretty but she has thorns all over - but I know exactly how to pluck her strings. And I've gotten used to all of her little comebacks so I thought I might try to say some myself. There's nothing bad about having a laugh, right? 

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Author's Note:

Hello, everyone! We are so close to finishing this book! Isn't that exciting?! But also kind of sad... Do you have any ideas on how the story ends? Well, we hope you are enjoying this book! Don't worry, there is still a lot more things to happen to our main lovers 😉
xxx
~Cloud_Queens