Always a Friend

Chapter 13

Those words echoed in my head all the way to the beach. "Let's go find you a date." The more I thought about them, the more I wanted to reach over and punch Ashton in the nose. He made me feel like I was incapable of getting any kind of date. True, my date with Jude was an utter disaster from the start, and I should've had him take me home before we reached Breezeway. But, then again, maybe a tiny part of me hoped he would've seen how great I truly was, and we'd be heading to the beach today. 

"I hope you're going to unbutton your shirt when we get out of the car." Ashton raised an eyebrow. 

"What?" 

"We're about to get out of the car at the beach, and your shirt is buttoned up over your bathing suit top. Do you see anyone else out here looking like that? Besides,  how do you expect to get a date?" He raised an eyebrow and opened the car door. He got out and opened the back door to get his duffle bag. "Are you coming?" He closed the car door. 

I looked down at the button-down shirt and started to unbutton my shirt as I opened the car door. I didn't know why I felt so self-conscious about my bathing suit top, seeing I would be on the beach with my friends and everyone else. I reached behind Ashton's seat, grabbed my bag, and adjusted my bathing suit top. I exited the vehicle with my head held high; it was time to stop being shy, Gemma.

Ashton walked around the front of the car. "Better." He smiled when he saw I had unbuttoned my shirt. "C'Mon, let's go." He lowered his sunglasses off his head. 

"Hey, Hughes! You playing football or not?" One of his jock buddies yelled, walking up behind us. 

"I'm heading that way." 

"Great! See you in five." He walked past us, glancing down at my boobs. 

I glanced down at my bathing suit top, then at the back of his friend's blonde head, walking away from us. "Ew. He just looked at my boobs." 

"See, what did I tell you? If there's one thing I do know. It's that most guys like to look at boobs. So, you're welcome." He smiled. 

"I didn't say Thank you." I rolled my eyes. 

 We kept walking toward the beach, and once we got to the edge of the parking lot, I headed toward Chloe and Sarah. They were mixed in with the other girls from school lounging on the beach, working on their tans, while the boys were getting ready to play a football game. I was scared to remove my shirt once I reached the blanket because I was unusually pale for living in Santa Monica. I wasn't so pale that the sun would reflect off my skin, but I wasn't tan like my friends either, who liked to come to the beach quite often once the weather turned nice. 

"You two conspired against me with Ashton...Really?" I glared down at them, hiding behind their dark sunglasses. I put my bag beside the blanket and removed the button-down shirt. "You left me at the house with him too." I sat on the blanket beside Chloe in her white and pale blue striped bikini. I couldn't help but notice how pale I looked beside her perfectly tanned body. I wanted to run out onto the beach and dig a hole to hide in. I loved my friends, but it was hard to keep my self-esteem up around them. I felt like Ashton was setting me up for failure being out here with my hot best friends. What guy in his right mind would look at me with Chloe and Sarah next to me? Again, this made me want to punch Ashton in his face; so much for feeling self-confident.

"Everything okay, Gem?" Chloe asked, lifting her sunglasses. 

"Uh...Yeah." I scooted down on the blanket and laid back. Was everything okay, though? I've enlisted the school's man-whore to help me get a date for the school dance coming up in a few months. So, technically...No, everything wasn't okay. It was about to blow up in my face; I just hadn't realized it yet.