What time is it? (OPEN)

[Ethan White]

“ Mmm. Summer,” said the boy as he took a deep breath, his chest noticeably rising as he savored the whole summery breeze. “I’ve waited for so long.” Summer is, without a doubt, Ethan’s favorite time of the year. As he’s lived in Vermont practically all his life, the few months of (relative) warmness is highly sought-after and treasured like there’s no tomorrow. Too much heat is usually not fun, but when you’ve been covering yourself up in heavy jackets and thick scarves all year, you’d practically bounce with much enthusiasm the moment you learn you can go out wearing only a single layer of clothes.

Since his agenda for the day is pretty much nil, Ethan promptly went back to his house, grabbed his keys and drove to the nearby lake. The boy’s been going there ever since his father introduced him to the place when he was eight. With his family, his friends, or sometimes just him if he wants to some alone time to reflect about, well, life. He was in the lake almost every day when he broke up with his first girlfriend. Really cliché and emo-esque when he looks back at it (he cringes at the thought really), but the solitude really helped him at that time. Then again, the lake wasn’t so ‘urbanized’ back then, so silence was really easy to have.

He went for a quick jog around the perimeter of the lake when he arrived, going around thrice just to warm his body up before taking his shirt off and going for a dip, swimming to and fro the buoy. After he’s done around four laps or so, he retired to the banks, grabbing a random stone and juggling it for a bit before idly throwing it to his right (complete with the ‘whoosh’ sound effects). And no, he did not see that someone was along the trajectory of the rock. Damn.

“OMIGOSH!” he said as he stood up, visibly surprised, and rushed towards his unwanted victim, “I’m sorry!”

ooc:
Woot woot! I apologize if I had exaggerated Vermont weather for a bit, or if the post was crappy in general. -nodnod- D;
- Jam

[Robbie Wilkes]

Robbie had been in Estelle withdrawal for awhile since the girl told him that she was going to be in hibernation to study. He had known his best friend was a studious one but to do so when he was bored did not sit well with the weather manipulator and so he tried hard not to stalk her or hang about her dorm.

He decided not to stay around the compound even so with an afternoon pass granted, he left the compound in a pair of dark cargo pants, a white sleeveless shirt under a red and blue checkered shirt with it's sleeves rolled up. He didn't actually have a specific direction to go in but as he walked, he started to see the lake getting nearer with every step.

Shrugging, he continued on and decided, why the hell not. He could find a little woodland creature and tell it stuff he would have been telling Estelle right about now. At least it wouldn't judge him. He saw a boy around his age, or maybe older, at the lake so he decided to join him. The lake looked reasonably inviting too.

Just as he was about to greet the boy, a stone hit his shin from the other boy's direction. "Whoa hey!" Robbie exclaimed. "If you didn't want company, you could have put up a sign or something eh? Throwing rocks...not a good idea!" Robbie said, a little amused by the other boy's sudden realisation that he had done something wrong.

[Jalen August]

It had been a couple weeks since Jalen last visited the lake. Last time she was here, a certain younger meta decided to make her ears bleed by using her own powers against her. She never did get to enjoy the serenity of the lake that day, and decided to change that right now.

Driving her little car to the lake’s parking lot, the blonde was looking forward to the serenity of the place. Hammel was busy on a good day, and overly crowded on its worst days. When it was as beautiful as it was outside like it was today, there was nothing better than listening to the music on her iPod, which she could listen to just perfectly through her headphones without wearing them. There was no point in plugging the device into her car when her powers allowed her to listen to anything at any volume. Visibly rocking out to the current song on the way to the lake was one of Jalen’s favourite pass times – this included singing as loud as she could as well.

Stepping a long leg out of the car, Jalen was eager to be wearing black short shorts and sporting her grey camo tank top in the nice weather, the white cords from her iPod standing out against her torso. It was rare that she was seen without the portable device. She was barefoot before reaching the banks of the lake, and that’s when she noticed a shirtless dude hucking a rock at some poor boy. Frowning, Jalen trekked over to where the two boys were, and began to run towards them after the other said “Whoa hey!”

“Are you alright?!” She asked the younger looking blonde guy, but he seemed to be okay, and she felt like a fool for interrupting now. Glancing at the older boy, Jalen ran her fingers through her hair, “You weren’t trying to hurt him, were you.” She stated more than questioned, her dark eyes apologetic. Jalen grinned, and then shrugged, “At least I cared enough to check things out... Do you guys know each other?”

(OOC: Mind if I join guys? I was eager to meet the infamous Robbie XD)

[Taeyeon Kai]

Today was a good day to stay outside of her home and just roam the town. Kuma was more than willing to join her, so that’s how she ended up like this, wearing her hot pink running shorts and black sports bra (seriously, this thing made her boobs disappear), holding Kuma’s leash in one hand and her iPod in the other, listening to Skillet while her feet ran in step with Kuma’s little legs. Soon they reached the lake and she let the dog off his leash, knowing he would stay by her side. They had run for two miles before coming to the lake, and the water here would be better for both of them.

It didn’t take long for attention to come her way; a tall, golden-skinned half-naked girl running around the park with her Corgi puppy was sure to garner attention. She ignored it, smiling as Kuma ran in circles around her. Every so often he would go to chase a bird, but he would always come back. She looked up after one such jaunt and saw a familiar head of blonde hair belonging to a certain weather manipulator she knew. She smiled before she saw the situation; a blonde-haired woman and a dark-haired man were running to his side. She slowed as she approached, and Kuma came into the scene, his tailless butt wriggling at the thought of new people to meet.

“Seriously, Robbie, you can’t go walking outside without something hitting you?” Tae asked with a weary smile, shaking her head as she took her headphones out of her ears. “It hit you in the leg, right? You should be fine, if the guy didn’t break your leg.” She looked at the dark-haired boy and smiled. “I guess you didn’t hit his leg hard enough to break something, right?” Being polite, she turned and faced the woman and gave her a smile also. “And I’m sorry, my name’s Taeyeon. I wasn’t being rude, was I?”

[Ethan White]

As it was, Ethan was actually more than ready to fling another rock towards Robbie’s general direction. He already had the next one in his hands moments before the scream, his arm poised and ready to send the stone zipping through the air. The boy doesn’t really play baseball or any other similar throwing sport (shot put comes to mind), but should you just look at the way his hand and fingers curl around the said (potential) projectile, how his arm bends to supply that much needed impulse, you wouldn’t really know. (Unless you’re one yourself, that is).

But then the scream came, sending a jolt of panic down the brunette’s spine, making him all rattled for a good second or two.

Without thinking twice, the boy dropped would-be-rock-number-two and ran to the source of the (supposed) distress call, almost slipping on the rocks as he was still barefoot and relatively wet. It was only when he was near the boy already did he realize that the damage wasn’t all that serious, nor was the boy really irritated or angry with him. “You’re such a sissy Robbie, you know that?” grinned Ethan as he sighed inwardly in relief, rolling his eyes as he placed his hands on his hips and gave the blonde a disapproving look. “Well, if I was just trying to stay away from the general populace I would do that, but I heard if you have a specific target in mind – a specific blonde target in mind to be exact – the rock-to-the-shin method works well. Though as it seems, it’s not a hundred percent efficient.”

“N’aww. If I was, I would’ve aimed higher better,” answered Ethan as the two ladies appeared, his grin turning a tad bit mischievous. (Was it weird that they basically had the same set of questions, albeit phrased differently?) “And you can say that. Robbie goes to the school where my dad teaches,” the brunette added, casually slinging his (still wet) arm around the blonde boy’s shoulder after giving him a friendly pat at the back. (He’s not really close close to the boy, but close enough not to feel awkward whenever he sees him and start some sort of small talk. Besides, he’s grabbed the boy as an accomplice on a number of his pranks deeds, so that’s got to count, right?).

“Oh goodness me, where are my manners?” chuckled Ethan nervously, offering his right arm for a handshake (but not before remembering to at least attempt to wipe it dry by rubbing it against his still wet shorts), “Apparently they vanish amongst pretty girls. I’m Ethan.” Though since he was introducing himself to two different people, he doesn’t really know who to give his hand first to.

Had he known a simple rock throw would merit such a huge interest, I highly doubt he still would’ve proceeded with the task. (Case in point: had it been Zac, no doubt he would’ve hurled a boulder at least).

ooc:
I apologize if this was a bit on the crappy side of things and that I may or may not have rambled too much. Sorry.
- Jam

[Robbie Wilkes]

"Psh, it's you. Ass." Robbie grinned. He was about to continue with his little insult tirade but was completely distracted by the arrival of another blond that looked vaguely familiar. And clearly hot. Well, this was different.

His first reaction to her worry was to feign hurt and accuse his acquaintance of being responsible for his hurt shin but too late, the dark haired boy had confirmed that they did in fact know each other. Oh well. Given the circumstances, Robbie doubted the girl would actually believe him if he did feign his injury. Unless she was the stereotypical blonds that Robbie dangerously came close to being labeled as most of the time.

Something told him she wasn't.

And then suddenly they were joined by another person who was definitely familiar and equally hot who just so happened to be Robbie's childhood friend. Her jest had him rolling his eyes before bumping her bare shoulder and shushing her up jokingly.

"Speaking of which," Robbie interrupted Ethan to face the blond girl. "You're from Hammel aren't you?" He asked before jokingly choking when Ethan tried to butter up the girls. One of which was his childhood friend. It felt weird seeing another guy try to be remotely nice to the girl he had grown up with. The one he'd seen running around in diapers. And without.

"I'm Robbie. Wow, this is the weirdest first meet ever." Robbie chuckled. "And don't think I'm forgiving you for throwing that rock at me, White." He narrowed his eyes at his [sometimes] partner in crime. Not that he meant it. Ethan was fun to be around. It was even more fun when they factor in the fact that he was of legal age.

"What're you even doing here and why do you have so much skin showing?" Robbie asked Tae, pointing at the bits that were showing. Easy cowboy. Not every girl needs a boy friend looking out for them.

[Jalen August]

Jalen seriously felt out of place, and she hesitantly took her ear buds out. It wasn't the end of the world that everyone here seemed to know one another, right? It was just strange to her, considering the only one who really looked familiar was the blonde guy, she didn't think the other two went to Hammel at all. She didn't even know his name was Robbie, never mind anything else about him. They all seemed to be carrying on without her, and she looked around desperately.

Making eye contact with the other female in the group, Jalen managed a smile and a shrug, "I would start talking to the people I knew right away too," she said, shaking hands with Ethan, "Jalen, pleasure to meet you all." She was announcing her name for everyone and hoped that this introduction would suffice. Letting go of Ethan's hand, her smile remained, and even turned into laughter as Robbie gagged on the older boy's flirting. "Yeah, I live in dorms, I guess that's why I don't really know anyone outside of Hammel," she said, crossing her arms in front of her, "hell I don't even really know you, Robbie." A smirk erupted over her features. She thought of herself as funny enough.

Glancing over at Taeyeon, Jalen felt a little jealous. Not because she thought the brunette prettier than herself, it was really because she wished she could have her hair up when she went running. "It's fricken hot out, what'd you expect her to wear? Sweats and a hoodie?" She asked Robbie with a flash of a smile. Jalen was quick to jest, and just as quick to make new friends. She knew how it was when running in hot weather, and often wore even littler than Taeyeon was at this very moment.

Looking at Robbie up at down, the seventeen year old smirked. "In fact, I'd say you were a little overdressed," her eyes caught his for a moment before turning back to the other two. Jalen often had a hard time keeping group dynamics going and felt as though she were ignoring the other two. "So I assume you both don't go to Hammel?" She asked, just to be sure. She had no problem asking questions, and while these may have been light for the moment, she had no shame is asking others about their personal lives either.

[Taeyeon Kai]

Tae quirked an eyebrow at Robbie, but extended her hand to Ethan. “My name’s Taeyeon, nice to meet you, Ethan, Jalen,” she said politely, then turned to face her friend. “It’s hot outside, I’m running, I need to bare some skin. Besides, I need a tan after the winter months of being a popsicle. You need to take some clothes off like the other people here and enjoy the sun,” she scolded Robbie, bopping him on the back of the head. “I’m nearly naked, this Ethan guy is, and I’m sure Jalen’s hiding a swimsuit under her clothes. Which, now that I think about it, swimming does sound nice.”

Hearing Jalen’s question, Tae turned to face her, smiling. “No, I don’t go to the nice private school on the hill. I go to the public high school; I’m a senior starting this fall.” She grinned happily. “But I know what goes on in that mansion up there. Robbie and I have known each other since we were in diapers. His father was under my grandfather’s command in South Korea, the Army ya know, and that’s how we met. I know everything inside and out about this blonde here.” To reiterate her point, she ruffled Robbie’s hair, grinning.

Hearing a bark, she looked down at Kuma, who was sitting at her feet. “Oh, and this is Kuma, my puppy,” she introduced the dog to the people, who barked at the mention of his name. “He says hi, in his own language, since I can’t understand him.” She smiled and kneeled to pet the dog’s floppy soft ears.

[Ethan White]

Ethan says you can all stop mocking him now. Even he gagged a bit (okay, a a lot) with the stunt he just pulled a few moments ago. (He just tried his hardest not to show it; nothing more embarrassing than looking awkward while saying a supposedly flirty line, right?). While he admits that he’s definitely not the smoothest guy around, he would argue that he can (and does) produce lines that flow more nicely than what he just said. He insists that such is an isolated incident; he claims that he’s just a little uneasy considering he’s with Robbie, who according to the rumors he’s heard (and some through personal experience) gets around a whole lot faster than he – Ethan – changes socks. In the midst of such a pro, who wouldn’t get jitters anyway? “Yeah, it’s me. Missed me too much didn’t you?” grinned the older boy, sneakily elbowing Robbie as he heard the choke.

Like almost everyone in the group, Ethan too felt a little too weird with the setting he’s found himself with. While he’s been to numerous group events before, the dynamics of this particular group was just odd that he practically didn’t know what to do next either. After shaking the hands of both Jalen and Tae, he’s almost drawing a blank too. Almost being the operative word, that is.

“Nope. But I visit Hammel a lot. At least I used to. Just ask Robbie,” answered Ethan, unconsciously brushing his hair back with his fingers, “My father works there, not to mention my younger siblings are in there too. And my mom’s an alumni. Alumna, I mean.” That, and he knows almost every staff member in there too, barring those who came in just this year. Years and years of being taken into staff parties and all that can do such things to you.

He did perk up a bit when Taeyeon said she goes to PR High. If she’ll be a senior this coming school year, that means she’d be – after a short calculation – a sophomore when he was a senior. How come he didn’t see her back before then? “Have you been here long Taeyeon? I was from PR High too, but I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” While he didn’t get around as much as Robbie did (or does), he does know that he’s rather familiar with almost every face that walked down the halls of the said school during his time (Pilot Ridge was a rather small town after all). And he can say with much certainty that he hasn’t seen a hot Korean her around before.

“The lake’s warmed up pretty good. Want to join me then? Summer’s the only time you can swim in the lake after all,” Ethan asked. And no, he’s not suggesting anything other than some harmless dipping. What makes you think that?

“And oh hi Kuma.” He doesn’t want to leave anyone out after all.

[Robbie Wilkes]

"Missed you like an ingrown toenail, baby." Robbie replied to Ethan in a sickeningly sweet voice before rolling his eyes, jabbing him back in the ribs with his elbow.

"Nice to meet you, Jalen. Never heard a girl with that name before though. I like it." Robbie smirked and chuckled at Jalen's comment about not knowing him. "Oh don't beat yourself up for it. You just haven't asked the right people about me. Aka people who are not Ethan and Tae. These two are not the right people to ask about me. No offense." He winked playfully at Tae before rustling up her hair.

When the two girls practically attacked him by 'making sense', Robbie chuckled and shook his head. "Actually, that's kind of practical. I mean you want to work your body out and sweat is an integral part of working your body out, innit?" He shrugged, his eyes traveling down to Ethan's body, suddenly realising he wasn't wearing anything either. Well. He surprisingly was the only one overdressed. It was funny.

Looking around them all, he finally took off his shirt and tied it around his waist. "There. I still don't think you need to show too much of your stomach or legs." He raised an eyebrow, pointing at Tae's exposed skin before turning to Ethan and chuckled at his suggestion.

"Is true. I see his face way too much. It's sickening really." Robbie grinned wickedly, throwing his arm easily around the older boy's shoulder in the sign of good faith. He meant nothing by his jests obviously.

The dog's barks brought Robbie's attention down to the little corgi puppy. "Hey little dude!" He picked the little puppy up and let it lick his face. "Wait, since when do you have a puppy?" Robbie asked Tae.

"So Jalen, I -" Robbie paused when memory rushed back to him why she was vaguely familiar. "Oh my God, you're JD's girlfriend!" He exclaimed with a grin. "Yeah! You were with him the other day being all cozy at the cafeteria. I would have joined ya but someone was being pissy with me...long story! So you're the mystery girl!" Robbie chucled triumphantly. Zac would so love to find out about this!

[Jalen August]

A broad smile held fast on Jalen’s face at the rest of the introductions, and also at how she and Tae were ganging up on Robbie. He just seemed to be the type of person who automatically received such attention, what with the other two teens nudging, scuffing, and all around badgering the blonde boy. “Guilty as charged,” she said with a sly grin, her hand raised in a pledge like way. Of course she was wearing her black bikini under her clothes. Her shirt was so see through that she was surprised that said fact needed to be pointed out at all.

Slightly disappointed that she wouldn’t see much of either Tae or Ethan around Hammel, she was glad that they knew what all happened there. Slowly, she was starting to realize that almost everyone in Pilot Ridge knew – thanks to Braxton. “Right on, I’m glad you guys know what’s going on there – now I don’t have to keep it a secret,” she said with a small wink to no one in particular. “Thanks Robbie, I didn’t pick the name myself... What are your powers? Just curious.” She asked the boy, unable to pin point what he could do. Usually if someone could handle sound like she could, it was easy to spot.

Jalen had more or less ignored Ethan’s small talk with the other girl, seeing as she wasn’t a part of the regular high school, but as soon as swimming was mentioned, she was all ears. “Swimming, yes.” She said simply with a nod, glancing at everyone else there. She was about to head towards the water when the other blonde quipped about her being JD’s girlfriend and she could feel her face growing hotter. “If by cozy you mean simply eating lunch, then yeah, I guess we were cozy,” she said a little on the defensive side only because she thought maybe this was the annoying friend JD was talking about. Between Zac and Robbie, Jalen would have pinned the latter to be the most annoying of the two. “And for the record, I’m not his girlfriend. I only just met the guy,” she said, her eyes lowering to the ground.

So what if she had a crush on him and his number and e-mail had been carefully double checked to make sure she had put it into her phone right? He wasn’t here now and she hadn’t brought herself to contacting him yet – she didn’t want to mess up the image he had of her. “I’m swimming now.” She said bluntly, hoping to leave the gossip in the dust. Making her way to the water again, she slipped out of her clothes to reveal herself in her bikini, and waded into the water until she was just about knee deep. She hadn’t made eye contact with either Tae or Ethan, and she hoped that this would be enough of a hint for the subject of JD to be dropped.

[Taeyeon Kai]

This day just got more interesting. With Ethan’s question, she shook her head sadly. “I entered the high school after you graduated,” she told him. “See, my uncle is a photographer, and we traveled a lot. Before Vermont, we were in South Carolina, and before that, we were in Brazil.” She had traveled a lot with her aunt and uncle. Robbie ruffled her hair and she grinned, moving to ruffle his back, when he picked up her dog. She played with Kuma’s ears.

“I’ve had him for about four months,” she told him. “He’s about eight months now. My aunt and uncle gave him to me to try and get me out of the house after…” Oh. She didn’t want to go there, not to the time where they had slept together. It was too awkward. “Anyway, he’s been my best friend and my cuddle buddy. Sorry, Robbie, he kinda took your place in my heart.” Giggling a little, she then gave him a noogie and turned to face Jalen.

Seeing the other girl walking into the water, Tae started toeing off her shoes and socks and unwrapping the iPod band from her arm. Laying all of her stuff down on the ground in a place that splashed water wouldn’t reach them, she followed the blonde girl into the water. So what if she wasn’t wearing a swimsuit? She practically was wearing clothes that could get wet and she wouldn’t care. Sighing at the coolness of the water as she waded to Jalen’s side, she tilted her head back and let her face be bathed by the sun. “This feels soooooooo good,” she moaned softly, grinning at the other girl.

[Ethan White]

“Robbie’s powers include being a huge dick dork and just being plain annoying. He’s got a rather high level of control for someone with such a thick skull really,” Ethan promptly answered for Robbie, accompanying said answer with a rather boisterous laughter and a playful knock on the blonde boy’s head. “I’d warn you about staying away when his power short circuits though. It’s quite the headache.”

The conversations quickly went to a thousand different directions, something Ethan had somehow foreseen and, well, didn’t really mind at all. At least his random rock throwing was forgotten already. “See? Proof of dorkdom,” grinned the older boy as Robbie took his shirt off and tied it around his waist. When the weather manipulator put his arm around Ethan’s shoulders, the older boy replied by using a modification of a judo move on him, sneakily twisting his ankle to trip the boy while using his arm to push the boy forward just slightly. He didn’t let Robbie fall though, catching him just inches before his face touched the ground. “Gotcha,” said the older boy with such a mischievous grin. Real mature, isn’t it?

Ethan did find himself frowning slightly in confusion when Taeyeon spoke. “How’d you know I just graduated?” He hasn’t told her about that, right? Or was he really popular among his juniors back in PR High, he just didn’t know? (He’d be lying if he said that such an idea didn’t make his ego inflate a bit). “I don’t look that old, do I?” Ha. How he wishes Chris would’ve been beside him to hear this.

“You joining the fray, Mr. I’m-so-slick-so-I-cough-when-people-around-me-slip-up?” And yes, he’ll be harboring a grudge against Robbie for that for a while. He was embarrassed enough himself; Robbie should’ve acted like his wingman, not some wiseass jerk. (He does mean everything in good faith; he’d never get angry with the blonde for something so trivial). “Or do I have to carry your heavy ass to the water and dump you in there?”

ooc:
And I rambled. >.<. I'm sorry. For the crappiness and being late. I'm not sure what's happening to my muse lately.
- Jam

[Robbie Wilkes]

Robbie didn't notice the hesitance in his childhood friend's voice and just nodded at how long she'd had Kuma, nuzzling the dog's face against his cheek. "You're so soft, yes you are." He cooed, not caring that he was in the company of two gorgeous girls and one not so bad looking guy.

When asked about his power, he laughed at Ethan's answer, not caring in the slightest that the guy was calling him a douche. "Yeah, you would know wouldn't you, Ethan." Robbie rolled his bright blue eyes, setting Kuma down and watching as Jalen denied any other connection to JD. "Sure. If that's what you say," he shrugged, a teeny mischievous grin appearing at the corner of his lips.

When the girl stripped down, Robbie's arms almost faltered before remembering that he was holding a live thing. Tae joined the half naked girl and stepped into the water all moaning. Ethan's question was almost left unanswered before he snapped back to the present. "Pshaw boyfriend," he rolled his eyes once more and set Kuma down. "Hah! That'll be the day, you carrying me..." he was already taking off his shoes and socks, wondering if he should keep his shirt on.

...Nah. Too restricting. Besides, cargo pants were enough for a lake. So he took his sleeveless shirt off, followed by his shirt, dumping them on the ground. Slapping the back of his hand against Ethan's...well defined chest, Robbie turned to him and grinned. "Last one in is a rotten egg." He exclaimed maturely before sprinting off to a side far away from the girls and jumped in with his legs tucked at his chest. "Cowabunga!" He yelled out before splashing into the water. He swam to where he thought Tae was and grabbed her by waist before pulling her up and over him and he resurfaced.

"Looking good, Kai." He grinned up to Tae.

[Jalen August]

Jalen didn't feel bad for leaving the group temporarily. If Robbie was going to be as annoying as Zachary LaRousse, then she would need her space to cool off. Feeling the cool water surround her body made a smile rise to her face. She was also glad to get away from the small creature Tae had brought along with her. Jalen loved dogs, just not little rats pretending to be dogs. The brunette was soon beside her and the blonde smirked. It was nice to find out that maybe she wasn't going to be as uptight as other girls Jalen had come across. "Agreed," she said simply, looking back at the boys still horsing around on shore.

Suddenly they were racing and she was glad they weren't running directly at her and Tae. Taking a plunge, Jalen went into the water up to her neck as the boys got closer, suddenly aware of how her body had responded to the cold water. "I don't know who won!" She announced, not wanting to pick sides just yet as the blonde dude lifted Tae up and above him. If Robbie pushed her any more, she would have no problem harassing him like the other two had been doing. Actually, she was a little bit shocked that no one had asked her what her powers were. Oh well, sometimes the element of surprise was the best power of all.

If Robbie wasn't such a flirt, as Jalen was starting to pick up on, she would have guessed that he and Tae were an item, but that didn't really matter. Grinning up at the two of them, she shook her head, much like a good-natured disapproving parent would. "Please, no one try to pick me up," she stated to anyone listening, still not ready to stand up in the water again. The day should prove fun in the end. Not as quiet as she hoped it would be, but fun was good too. Good looking boys were always a sign of a good day.

Jalen glanced around the lake curiously. Where was Ethan anyways?