8SONG OF THE CHAPTER:
The Adventure
by Angels & Airwaves
Soon wasn't so soon. Cade and I had waved down a waitress and asked for a kids menu and two crayons, and she'd returned and gave them to us, before leaving and giving us odd looks. We set off to coloring the funny looking crabs and sharks on the page, and ended up dueling in tic-tac-toe.
At the same moment the food came, I threw the green crayon at Cade lightly, nailing him in the forehead.
"I win!"
"You cheat! I swear, you cheat!"
"I do NOT cheat."
"Your food's here."
"I don't cheat!"
"You do too!"
"Y-"
A prod in the back made me turn around and see Ivan Waiter Dude standing there, looking amused at our banter.
"You food." he repeated, and handed Cade and I our plates and drinks. He gave Zee, Jude, and Annie their plates and drinks too, and nodded.
"Well…enjoy, and I'll come by in a bit to see if you need anything." he said, and I turned my head to throw the other crayon at Cade.
Ivan Waiter Dude looked slightly amused, and then left.
"I think you're providing a stead entertainment for our waiter." Annie said, and Jude nodded.
"Yeah. He keeps looking as though he'd like to laugh." he added.
"Then why doesn't he? He looks about our age. His life can't be that serious." I stated, and popped a shrimp in my mouth.
"Probably doesn't want to offend us and make us leave." Zee said, and took a piece of popcorn shrimp off Jude's plate.
Just then, I heard the most familiar voice, and I turned around.
There, stood all six feet of my brother.
"Ewweh. Why's Aiden here?" I complained, frowning.
Zee looked up,
"Aiden?"
"Tall guy, tan, black hair, same eyes as me, about eighteen. See him?"
"Yee…eee…ah! Now I do!"
Cade looked up.
"Who is he?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Shouldn't you know? He's my brother."
"We only stalked you."
"Okay! Here- gimme a crayon."
I received the pink crayon, and threw it at Aiden's head, hoping it'd make it and not hit Ivan the Waiter Dude or one of the other worker people. It hit Aiden, thankfully, and I grinned as he turned around. He caught my grin, and narrowed his eyes at me. One of his friends, Collin, turned around, saw me, and shot me thumbs up as he heard Aiden's story of an attempted assault. I stuck my tongue out, and that apparently was an invite to Aiden, Collin, and Gareth to come over.
"So these are the friends that are kidnapping you for the next two weeks." Aiden stated, and looked over at Zee.
"Mind keeping her for longer than that?"
"That's not nice. I was going to offer you food, skinny boy."
Gareth bumped Aiden out of the way.
"I'll accept the offer." he said, nodding, as though he was being nice by taking my offer.
Out of all my brother's friends, Gareth is probably the one with the most awesome hair. His chin is pierced, and he normally has a black Mohawk. For clothing, it's just random boy stuff. He's part Chinese, and knows a bit, which he's actually had the patience to teach me. I'm amazed to this day. Also, he's about 5'10, so I like that he's shorter than my brother. And, another cool thing, his eyes are green. I wish I had green eyes…
Collin, like my brother, is about six feet. He's got dark brown hair that when treated right with gel and brushed back, curls around instead of spiking up. It's cool. His eyes are blue-grey, and he wears mostly those two colors for shirts.
A waitress passed by, and Aiden asked for three more chairs. She nodded, and quickly, three chairs were dragged over.
Aiden took the chair at the leftmost side, leaving a chair next to me, and next to that. Gareth took the chair next to me, and Collin slipped into the middle one.
Annie waved.
"Hi. You can't have my food."
Jude coughed; looking amused, and turned back to eating.
Zee nodded,
"Yeah, I'm not sharing either, and you shouldn't even consider asking Jude or Cade."
"This unavoidably, leaves me. You leave me out why?"
"You threw the crayon." she stated.
"So?" I asked.
"I'll share." Cade muttered.
"No! They'll eat your food. Make them pay."
Ivan the Waiter Dude passed by and I stood, waving at him. He came over to our table.
"Need something?"
"Yeah. These three need food…can we order him-" I pointed to my brother, "shrimp & those noodle things, him-" I pointed at Collin, "the popcorn shrimp thing, and him-" I pointed at Gareth, "the Coconut Shrimp."
"Please." I added in an afterthought.
Ivan the Waiter Dude nodded,
"Sure. It'll be here in a minute."
He walked away, and I turned to my food, to find a piece of shrimp and my drink missing. Gareth laughed at my annoyed expression, and I whacked him.
"Don't steal my stuff!"
"I didn't."
He pointed at Cade.
I turned to find Cade totally my-shrimp-and-drink-free.
"Sure." I said.
"Really!" he said, pointing at Cade.
I turned around again, but saw nothing. Annie laughed, and I turned in time to see her eat a piece of coconut shrimp.
"You're mean. You could've asked, you know." I stated. "But where's my drink?"
Aiden reached over and flicked my head.
"Gareth has it." he stated, and I turned to see him finish off the Pepsi.
I glared at Gareth, and plucked the cup out of his hands.
"Get your own damn drinks. I'm already paying for your food." I muttered.
Not that it was expensive or anything.
"It's more fun taking your stuff." he explained.
I rolled my eyes and turned to Cade, who was sitting somewhat quietly.
"I'm ignoring the monkeys, now, War Buddy." I stated, offering him a smile.
He smiled back, becoming Normal Cade again.
Zee and Annie were sitting, talking quietly, and giving either Cade or me a look every few words.
I raised an eyebrow when Annie caught my eye.
What?! I mouthed at her.
Nothing. She mouthed back, but she was smirking at me.
I rolled my eyes and popped another Coconut Shrimp into my mouth.
Ivan the Waiter Dude came by, and dropped off the food to Aiden, Gareth, and Collin.
"Yes! Food!" they chorused, and almost immediately the food was being devoured.
I glanced back at Zee and Annie suspiciously. They were looking over at me again, and had some very scary smiles on their faces. I begun to fear for my life, as they kept their eyes on me and continued to whisper.
"Didn't your kindergarten teacher tell you it's mean to whisper?" I muttered, annoyed.
Zee giggled and Annie shot me an apologetic smile. She then turned to Jude, who was absolutely happy for her attention, while Zee nibbled on another piece of shrimp, looking thoughtful.
Cade sighed from next to me, and I smiled slightly.
"I'm done eating." I announced.
"Guys, I'm going outside to the beach. I'll see you later."
I pushed the chair back slightly so I could get out, and then pushed it back in. Once I was sure it wasn't in the way, I left my part of the money on the table, waved, and headed to the stairs.
Once I was outside of the restaurant, I felt a bit better. My sudden mood swing, from happy and optimistic, to quiet and thoughtful, had made me itch to be outside with my thoughts and the beach.
The sun was now, for the most part, hiding behind the ocean. I checked my phone, and it read about 7 PM. It was warm outside, seeing as it was summer, so I was comfortable without a jacket.
I crossed the street, and once I was on sand, I quickly pulled my flip flops off. I wiggled my toes around and buried them deep into the warm, powdery sand. It felt so good. I sighed contentedly, and began to walk towards the ocean. A light breeze ruffled my dress around my knees, and drew one of my braids off my shoulder and onto my back. I pulled it back over my shoulder and continued to walk. As I continued, the breeze died down again, and I glanced up.
The sky was pink, orange, purple, and navy. I gasped quietly, and wondered how in the world God managed to make it so beautiful in so many ways. I took in my surroundings, and found that I was almost at the water. From the dry sand to the wet sand, there was a little four inch ledge, which was strange, but welcome. I settled down onto the sand, and set my flip flops down a few feet away.
Sitting cross-legged, I tucked my dress into the center so it wouldn't flap around. I sat for a few minutes, and then fell backwards, spreading out so I was laying flat on my back on the sand. I was alone with my thoughts, finally, after a hectic day. Random things rushed through my mind, and made me think.
'So when he saw you and stared for a bit too long, we all made it our priority to find you and figure out if you were interesting'
What on earth? As I thought, I realized that it made even less sense. Why on earth did Cade stare in the first place? What was I doing? What was I wearing? What caught his eye? I sighed. Never mind, I suppose. I'd ask him later.
I shut my mind up and closed my eyes. I think I laid there for about fifteen minutes, just listening to the waves crashing quietly against the sand, and feeling the powdery sand against my legs, arms, and face.
After a while, I felt the quiet thumping of footsteps on the sand. I opened my eyes, and saw Cade, about a foot away.
"Hey." he said softly, and smiled at me.
I smiled slightly and patted the sand beside me.
"Wanna sit?" I asked, and then covered my mouth to yawn.
He laughed, and sat beside me.
"You were drifting off to sleep."
"No I wasn't."
"Yes you were. I've been watching you for a few minutes."
I looked at him, and sighed.
"I'm tired."
"I can see that." he replied.
I yawned and then looked at his face. He didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, either. His face looked somewhat troubled, but I could be mistaken. I thought about how weird it was, how after one day I could feel so used to being around a group of people, and like them, and just a bunch of stuff like that that I could not comprehend.
I sighed, looking back at the sky that was now a dark blue, almost black. The waves were a dark teal, and were getting closer to where we were. I figured that in about thirty minutes, we'd have to leave.
That thought made me sigh. I didn't want to get up and go back. I liked it here, just laying in the sand thinking, next to Cade.
"Cade?" I asked softly, not putting much effort into making my voice audible.
"Hmm?" was his reply.
I snuck a look at him and smiled. He was sprawled out next to me, looking just as tired as me. I laughed.
"You're drifting off to sleep." I mocked.
He sat up, and laughed quietly. It sounded nice, I suppose. It was kind of rough, but soft at the same time. Nice, as I said before.
"No I wasn't."
I giggled lightly,
"We're not starting this again."
"Definitely not." he agreed, and stood up.
I reached my arms out in front of me for him to grab.
"Help meeee!" I called up.
He grinned and grabbed my hands, pulling me up and off the sand. As I was pulled up, a bunch of sand fell off me from random places; hair, dress, arms, legs. I shook myself off to get the rest of the sand off, and then bent to grab my flip flops. Cade grabbed them before me, though, grabbed his own, and took off running through the sand.
"Hey! Get back here!" I cried, laughing and running after him.
"Catch me if you can!" was his only response.
He ran into the restaurant, and I shortly followed after him. I noticed that he went into the elevator, so I took the stairs, and stood nearby the elevator. The moment he stepped out, and the doors closed, I literally tackled him.
Of course, due to my smallness and his rather tallness, it didn't affect him at all, really. He staggered slightly, but he straightened back up as I clung to his back. He walked and I hung on, as he made his way to our table. I was still barefoot, I remembered.
As we appeared in front of the group, they looked up. Annie and Zee grinned and giggled, while Jude laughed and made some comment about me being the size of a Smerf. Aiden raised an eyebrow, and pulled me off Cade.
"You have sand all over you." he stated, letting go of me.
"I know. I fell asleep outside, and then Cade came outside to get me." I replied softly.
Aiden was still frowning.
"Right."
Gareth took this as the time to pull me over to where he was sitting.
"Hey little sister." he said, flicking my head.
I flicked him back.
"Not your sister."
"Would you rather be just some random human that's free for the taking?"
Good point.
"Little sister it is." I agreed, and slid off the arm of the chair he was sitting in.
I've got to figure out how to be heavy without being heavy. People are picking me up like I weigh nothing, but I weigh like…probably 113 pounds. I don't see how that's considered light, but it's not exactly heavy either. I'm, at the moment, convinced that all these guys are on steroids. I giggled at the thought, which didn't go unnoticed.
Zee looked over at me, and smiled.
"What's up?"
I shook my head, and replied
"Nothing, really. Just a funny thought."
"Can I hear?"
"Maybe later, kay-o?"
"Sure thing. I'll hold you to it! And I'll use torture to get it out of you! There's no escape!" she warned, smiling.
I laughed at her crazy statement, and then remembered I was standing in a restaurant, barefoot.
"Oh, Cade!" I sang, and walked around the table to where he was sitting.
"I believe you owe me something."
He looked at me, acting as though he had no clue what I was speaking of.
"And what's that?"
I had to laugh.
"Right. Of course you play stupid. GIVE. ME. MY. FLIP. FLOPS. PLEASE."
Cade laughed, and looked at me funny.
"Oh…those." He lifted them up slightly so I could see.
"Yes. I'd like those back, if you may."
"Not for sale."
"They're still mine."
"No, they're not."
I was getting annoyed, but not in a bad way, if that makes sense. So I figured that I'd sit on him and try to get them back later, seeing as everyone was getting up, and the bill was paid.
"Aiden! Carry me, please! My feet are shoeless!" I commanded.
My brother laughed.
"No."
"But why? I just need to get outside, then I'll take Cade down and get my shoes!"
He considered this.
"Hmm. Okay."
And with that, he scooped me up and carried me in his arms.
I giggled; this was SO fun!
Next to us were Gareth and Collin, and behind us were Jude, Cade, Zee, and Annie.
I looked over Aiden's shoulder thoughtfully at Cade. What would be my revenge?