“Come on, Holly.”

            Shaking my head, I tried to pull my hand out of my boyfriend’s. “Absolutely not, Chris. I said I’m not going on it and I mean it.”

            He held my hand tighter. “You don’t have a choice. You’re going on it.”

            “No!”

            “Yep.”

            “No! It’s late. It’s cold. I’m tired. I’m ready to go back to the hotel.”

            “We’re not leaving until we ride Bizarro.”

            I glowered at him. “You’re such a jerk! You can’t make me go on a rollercoaster I don’t want to go on! I’m scared!”

            “I’ll hold your hand,” he promised me.

            “No!”

            “Stop being a baby.”

            “Stop being a jerk!”

            “You’re causing a scene.”

            “I don’t want to go on it!”

            He frowned. “Really?”

            I nodded. “Really.”

            “There’s nothing I can do to change your mind?”

            “Absolutely nothing.”

            Bringing his face closer to mine, his smoky eyes peered seriously into mine. “There isn’t one thing I can get for you? Or do for you?”

            Holding my ground, I straightened my back to show him I wasn’t going to give in. “Nope, nothing.”

            “Not even telling you the fact that I brought you all the way out here for a date for us and paid for the hotel?”

            “That was your choice. I can chip in… You know what, I probably should chip in. I bet that hotel costs a lot of money—”

            “No, Holly, I’m paying for that,” he interjected, rolling his eyes. “Do I have to beg you to get on Bizarro with me?”

            I crossed my arms. “I never realized you were one of those guys who don’t realize no means no.”

            He smirked. “And I didn’t realize how much of a wimp you are.”

            “I’m not a wimp!”

            “Apparently you are.”

            Just as I was about to yell at him, I realized something. He was provoking me on purpose. “I know what you’re doing,” I said accusingly.

            He gave me an innocent look. “What’s that?”

            “Trying to get me riled up so that I’ll snap and agree to going on the ride!”

            “I would never!” he gasped, mock horrified.

            “I’m not going on it.”

            He narrowed his eyes. “You’re going on it.”

            “The line’s like two hours long.”

            “I’ll keep you amused.”

            “I’m scared.”

            “I told you I’ll hold your hand. The only way to get over your fears is to face them, you know?”

            I shook my head. “I don’t want to die.”

            “You won’t die,” he assured me, sounding impatient. “Come on, just go on it with me. Please?”

            “I can’t.”

            “You can!” he urged, squeezing my hand. “If you ride it with me I’ll let you drive home.”

            Drive? Andy’s convertible? That made me waver. When in the world was I going to get another chance to drive one of those? But then again, what if I crashed it? It would take me at least twenty years to pay for it. After a few moments of hesitation, I slowly shook my head again. “No…”

            “I’ll give you a back massage tonight.”

            “You know how to do that?”

            He grinned proudly. “It’s my hidden talent, but I’ll only do it if you go on Bizarro.”

            “I don’t know…”

            “What do I have to do to get you to go on it?” he groaned, slumping his head down on my shoulder. Immediately a trace of his cologne met my nose.

            I inhaled deeply, almost entranced by the scent. “Why do you want me to go on it so bad?”

            “I always like taking your firsts,” he murmured in my ear, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Chris…”

“Besides, it’s my favorite ride,” he continued, pulling his torso away from me so he I could see his frowning face. “I want to enjoy it with you, my favorite person. My favorite, most beautiful person.”

I suppressed the smile threatening to spill onto my face. “Are you resorting to flattery?”

“Is that what it’s going to take?”

Laughing quietly, I ran a hand through my hair quickly. Already I could feel tension in my back and uneasiness in my stomach. Just by thinking about going on the rollercoaster! How was I supposed to handle it? “If I go on…”

“Yes?”

“Tonight…”

“Yes?” he pressed excitedly.

I stared determinedly into his eyes. “You’re going to take another one of my firsts.”

He blinked back at me. As I expected, his eyes narrowed and his expression became stern. “No, Holly.”

“Why not?”

“You know why,” he told me warily.

“No, I don’t.”

“You do.”

“I don’t!”

He dropped his arms from around me. “Fine, if you’re going to be like this, I’ll go on by myself.”

I grabbed his hand, grinning in amusement. “Come on, Chris. It might be your first too, right?”

“I…” His knowing expression suddenly dropped, replaced with a suspicious one. “What? What are you talking about?”

“A midnight swim,” I responded innocently, dropping my eyes to my feet, “but if you’re so against it then I guess—”

Suddenly my head was pressed against his chest roughly. “Holly, where did you learn to trick people like that?”

Struggling to push myself away from him, I finally managed to put enough room between us so I could speak coherently. “Only from the best.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal then,” he informed me, shaking his head in disbelief. “The pool might be closed by then though.”

“And?”

“We might not be able to get in,” he said in a stating-the-obvious tone.

I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you are an former gang member?”

“Former being the key word.”

“We’re going to sneak in if it’s closed,” I declared confidently. “That’ll make it more exciting.”

Chris looked apprehensive, but sighed in a yielding manner. “I’m starting to think I’m a bad influence on you…”

I frowned at him. “You’ve always been a bad influence on me.”

“I know,” he deadpanned.

Rolling my eyes, I started walking, dragging him behind me by his hand. “Let’s go get in line then.”

“It won’t be that bad, I promise. The ride will be over before you know that. It goes so fast you don’t realize it began until it’s over.”

I froze. That sounded…

“Horrifying!” I forced out through gritted teeth, my hands clenching the meager safety harness around me. It felt like it was going to fly right off me! And the ride hadn’t even begun yet!

“It can’t be that scary. We’re just sitting,” Chris said, giving me a skeptical look. “Calm down.”

“I wish I’d never got on this, I wish I’d never got on this,” I chanted, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. “You’re stupid, Chris. I hate you.”

He chuckled. “I love you too, Holly.”

Without warning, a click that sounded like a lock closing resounded through the coaster. My safety harness was set in place. I instantly grabbed Chris’s hand, pulling it closer to me so I could hold both it and the safety harness.

“Here we go,” he said excitedly.

And then the ride shot forward. Not to my surprise, a sharp scream left my throat right away, causing Chris to laugh. After a moment I realized what was so funny. We were hardly moving it all. Just slowly creeping the sky-high ramp that led to what looked like an eighty-degree drop on the other side.

“I’m going to die!” I shouted, completely terrified.

“You’re not going to die,” he replied calmly. “Well… maybe. A few people have flown off this before because of faulty harnesses…”

I looked down at my harness, shaking it a little bit. It did seem kind of loose… Anxiety welled up in my, but I didn’t have time to comment back— we were suddenly shooting down the other side of the build up. My hair whipped in front of my face as I screamed, feeling my skin being pulled back from the force of the wind. Laughter filled my ears as, apparently, Chris found my reaction priceless. At least I wasn’t the only one screaming.

When the ride finally came to an end— which felt like ten minutes later instead of the minute like Chris said— I felt like I was going to heave. I nearly tripped flat on my face while climbing out of the coaster seat, my legs as shaky as jello. Pitying me, Chris wrapped an arm around my waist to keep me sturdy.

“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” he questioned, grinning widely. “I’m ready to go on it again—”

“No!”

Rubbing my back, he laughed again. “I’m kidding, Holly. With one look anyone can tell you’re about to be sick.”

I covered my mouth with my hand. “I really am, too.”

“Let’s go get something cold to drink,” he suggested, leading me to the concession stands. “What do you want?”

“I want to leave,” I grumbled.

He rolled his eyes. “Okay. We’ll leave as soon as I get something to drink. And you too. You’ve hardly had anything to drink all day. I don’t want you getting dehydrated.”

“It’s not even hot out,” I pointed out.

Giving me a flat look, he tapped his head. “Do you remember what I am?”

“A monster?”

“Holly.”

“A biology teacher,” I corrected myself, letting my shoulders sag. “And I shouldn’t doubt your word, right?”

Impressed by my response, he nodded and patted my head. “You’re a smart girl, Holly.”

“I thought you weren’t a teacher today though?”

“I’m still one at heart,” he responded dramatically, putting a hand on the left side of his chest.

Finally cracking a smile, I nudged him in the side. “And you can’t give up the chance to act all smart, right?”

“Right,” he agreed with a chuckle. “Now how does a can of coke sound?”

“Fine to me,” I responded, wrapping my arms around my torso. “Let’s just get them fast because it really is cold.”

             He nodded. “We’ll drink in the car. If we leave now, we’ll make it back just in time to change for our midnight swim.”

            “Do you think the pool’s heated?”

            “We’ll find out, won’t we?” he replied with a mischievous smile.

*~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The hallways of the Marriott hotel we were staying at were surprisingly cold as we hurried down them. Even on the top floor where the pool was located. I wrapped my towel around me tighter, staying on the tips of my toes so I could move as stealthily as possible. Chris was right behind me, but it was hard to tell because he moved like a ninja. Maybe being in a gang was more useful than I thought it to be.

My thoughts were proven to be truth as we came to the poolroom. It was locked. The sign on the door stated that it’d closed two hours ago, at ten. Scowling, I turned to Chris, ready to glare accusingly at him. When he caught sight of my expression he smirked, pressing a finger to his lips. I watched warily as he moved toward the door, pulling some type of pocketknife out of his right swim trunk pocket. After a moment of confusion, I realized what he was going to do.

“No, Chris!” I hissed, yanking his arm away from the door handle.

“What?”

“What if it sounds an alarm?”

He rolled his eyes. “Unless the water in that pool is made out of liquid gold, I don’t think there’ll be an alarm on the door, Holly.”

I cupped my elbow. “I don’t know…”

“Look, it’s open.”

My jaw dropped as he pulled open the pool door. No alarm went off. A redolence of chlorine rolled over me, causing me to wrinkle my nose, not used to the overpowering scent. Appearing incredibly proud of his skill, Chris strode into the room first, easily finding the light switch and illuminating the area. I swiftly entered after him, shutting and locking the door behind us so no one could get in easily if they walked by and noticed the light on.

“Guess what?”

“What?” I responded, my voice echoing around the room loudly. Immediately I clapped a hand to my mouth, startled by the sound.

He dipped his foot into the pool. “It’s heated.”

“Good!” I breathed, throwing my towel on the nearest chair and hurrying toward the water. “It’s so cold up here!”

Tossing his towel away as well, he bent down near the edge, staring into the water thoughtfully. My gaze landed on his back, where his burn marks stood out, shining paler than the rest of his skin. Quietly, I moved over to him, squatting down by his side. Being as gentle as possible, I traced one of them with my pointer finger.

He started, lost his balance, and fell face first into the pool.

“Chris!” I cried, dropping to my knees by the edge.

A few seconds later he emerged from the surface, shooting me a dirty look. Before I could process what was happening, he had my forearms, dragging me into the pool headlong. I struggled for a minute under the water, trying to place my feet on the pool bottom so I could push my head above the water. When I finally managed to do that, I inhaled deeply, brushing my now wet hair out of my face.

“What was that for?” I demanded.

“You knocked me in first.”

“I just touched you!”

He shrugged. “It still caused me to fall in.”

I splashed him in the face. “Jerk.”

“You want to play dirty so early?” he inquired, advancing on me.

“Uh… no?”

“Too bad,” he declared, putting his hands on my bare hips and easily lifting me over his shoulder.

I beat on his back, feeling my cheeks warm up. “W-what are you doing? Let me go!”

He ignored my words and assault, easily bringing me toward the deeper end of the pool. “I’ll let you down when I feel like it.”

“No! Now!”

“Well… alright.”

Without warning, he threw me with all his might, sending me a good few feet forward before gravity caught up with me and I hit the water. I was too shocked by his strength to have much of a response as I bobbed back up to the top. “You’re really strong,” I stated dumbly, wiping the water away from my eyes.

He flexed his arm, showing off his imposing muscles. “They may not look huge, but I’ve got the power of a body builder in here.”

“Bigger than mine,” I mumbled, squeezing my fist in an attempt to effectively show off my barely there muscle.

“Well, you can still pack a pretty good punch, remember,” he noted, wading over to me.

“Still…”

“Girls with muscles are scary,” he told me, nodding his head solemnly. “Body builder girls gross me out.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“They don’t gross you out? Big muscles and girls just don’t mix.”

“They do… I just thought maybe you’d like it,” I responded, shrugging. “You know, like a gang thing.”

He snorted. “No way. Some muscle is okay. Abs are okay.”

I grinned sheepishly, putting a hand over my flat but soft stomach. “Abs are too much work.”

“Lazy,” he said, flicking water at me. “Look at this.” He patted his own abdomen, where a defined six-pack could be made out through the water.

Crossing my arms, I turned my head away from him. “You were in a gang. You should have an eight-pack.”

“Impossible,” he responded at once. “Who do you think I am? A main character in a stupid romance novel with an eight-pack of steel? I think not.”

“Well... You can be pretty cheesy sometimes.”

Suddenly his arms were wrapped around my waist and his chin was on his shoulder. “Like if I said you were as beautiful as the moon’s reflection on the pool’s water?”

I glanced around the room, furrowing my eyebrows. “But you can’t see the moon’s reflection…”

“Exactly.”

“Hey,” I protested, turning my head back to him. Our faces were only inches away, taking me by surprise. His arms tightened around my waist so that I couldn’t move back.

He grinned playfully. “You know what I’ve always wanted to do?”

“What?” I nearly whispered, too dazed by his handsome face. The water dribbling down the side of it and matting his hair to his forehead added to it tremendously.

“Kiss under water.”

“Kiss under water?” I repeated, frowning slightly. “Is that even possible? What if we drown?”

He lightly knocked his forehead against mine. “Just don’t breathe, Holly.”

“Well with you, I never get to breathe anyway, so I guess it’s no different than a regular kiss.”

“There you go,” he responded cheerfully, ignoring my attempt at an insult. “Now… Race you around the pool!”

I blinked as he rocketed away from me, swimming like a shark was chasing him. As his words caught up to my brain, my jaw dropped. I thought he wanted to kiss! Now he wanted to race? And he got a head start? How unfair could he get! Annoyed, I kicked off from the bottom of the pool and swam after him as hard as I could. Fortunately, swimming was something I was actually good at. Unfortunately, my skill wasn’t up to par to his. Actually, it seemed like nothing physical I could do met his standards. He had to be some type of God…

I brought my head up to take a breath of air, pausing in my frantic catch-up. Chris was already halfway around the pool. Thinking ahead, I decided to turn around and try to scare him. The idea brought a smile to my lips. He wasn’t wearing goggles, so that meant he couldn’t see. I could at least keep my eyes open for a few moments under the water.

Putting my ultimate plan into effect, I started paddling in the opposite direction he was going in, ready to submerge myself and give him a fright. As he approached, I held my breath, ducking under the water. Slowly, I opened my eyes, the chlorine stinging my eyes. He was only a few feet away now…

Suddenly he opened his eyes. Caught off guard, I gasped, forgetting I was underwater. In a second the water was down my throat, burning it and causing me to choke. Seconds later I was forced above the water, Chris holding me up.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, his eyes holding concern in them.

I coughed a few times, feeling my eyes water. “You scared me!” I gasped.

“Obviously,” he stated, pressing his lips together. “I didn’t think you would try to drink the entire pool though.”

“I was going to scare you,” I told him, still coughing.

“Haven’t you learned that never works?”

I shook my head, trying to get the water out of my lungs. “One day,” I choked out.

He sighed, rubbing my back soothingly. “Shut up for a minute and try to breathe, Holly.”

After a few moments my breathing returned to normal, the burning in my throat dying down. “That sucked,” I finally stated.

Smirking, he shook his head at me. “I can’t take my eyes off you, can I?”

“You don’t want to,” I shot back boldly.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Hold your breath.”

“What? Why?”

“Do it.”

His hands touched my shoulders. I sucked in a deep breath, knowing he was about to dunk me.

And dunk me he did.

But he didn’t let me up.

Opening my eyes, I could make out his eyes open as well. He gestured for me to move forward, and I brought my head closer to his. Our lips met. It was an odd sensation, hard to describe. The water seemed to make his lips smoother and softer. Almost like kissing air.

After a second more I had to pull my head up to breathe again. He popped up after me, frowning. “Can’t you hold your breath longer than that?”

“Right after I nearly drowned?” I responded dryly.

He grinned. “Oh, right.”

“When you were younger you never kissed any of your old girlfriends under water?” I asked. It was solely out of curiosity. His old girlfriends held no importance to me.

“Not really. I did other things to them.”

“Like what?”

“You really want to know?” he asked, his eyes lighting up in amusement.

A small part of me grew wary, but my interest in knowing far outweighed that. “I do.”

He gestured for me to turn around. “You can’t see.”

“Okay…?”

“Ready?”

“Yep.”

His hands touched my shoulders. I stood rigidly, waiting. Slowly, he brought his hands lower down my back, coming to a stop at the small of my back. My heart pounded loudly in my chest.

“This is what I did,” he whispered in my ear.

Without further ado, I felt my bikini top being undone. In a flash, he had it off. “Hey!” I cried, my arms shooting up to cover myself as my face burned red. “Chris!”

He grinned evilly when I turned around to glare at him. Twirling my bikini top around his finger, he tilted his head to the side. “You’re the one who asked me to show you.”

“Yeah! But I didn’t ask you to take off my bikini top! Give it back!”

“Reach for it,” he said teasingly, holding it high above my head.

I glowered at him. “Chris.”

“You can do it!” he cheered quietly.

Glancing down at my chest, I realized I would have to bare it all sooner or later. Right now though, there was a chance someone could walk in, and I didn’t want him or her to see my shirtless. “Give it to me!” I ordered, lifting one of my arms up.

He held it higher. “You have to reach!”

I jumped a little bit. “Seriously!”

“Jump higher!”

Huffing, I sunk down a little bit in the water, ready to rocket myself up so I could reach it. What I didn’t count on though, was him yanking his arm back as I reached for him. I lost my balance, falling straight into his chest, my arms falling on either side of him. My face slid down his toned chest all the way down to where his swim trunks started. There I finally managed to pull myself away, growing more embarrassed by the second. He, on the other hand, continued to become more and more amused.

“Can I have it back now, please?” I requested.

He thought about it for a moment. “Nope.”

“Please?”

“Nah.”

“What if someone walks in? They’ll see my bare chest!”

He pursed his lips to the side. “Ah! I know how to fix that!”

I gave him a flat look. “How?”

With his free arm, he brought it around my waist, scooping me closer to his body so that our chests were touching. I blushed again, but didn’t pull away.

“Is that better?” he asked.

“You’re a pervert,” I muttered.

“You’re my girlfriend, so it’s okay,” he countered, dropping his other arm down so that he could capture me completely.

I half-smiled at him. “You’re girlfriend who can’t have a physical relationship with you because she’s still in high school.”

He frowned at me. “I don’t care about that, Holly.”

“But—”

“I’ve told you over and over. Just being with you is enough for me,” he stated firmly. “Stop doubting my words.”

“I’m not, I’m just—”

He cut me off by pressing his lips to mine. “I’ve gone about two years without sex. Two months more is nothing.”

My heart stuttered in my chest. Two months… That was it. I suddenly felt nervous. “Can I put my bikini back on?” I questioned.

“Nope,” he responded. “It’s fun to watch you squirm.”

Just as I was about to snap back at him, we both heard the door handle jiggle. Our eyes widened and before I knew it, he had me in his arms, carrying me to the edge of the pool. After placing me down on the cement ground, he quickly lifted himself out of the pool, gesturing for me to grab our towels. Conscious of my bare chest, I hastened over to them, grabbing mine and wrapping it around my torso and putting the other under my arm. Chris was on the other side of the room, holding the emergency exit open. I nearly slipped on the cement in my rush to exit the room.

Somehow we managed to make it out the exit before whoever was at the door got in. We hurried down the steps, nearly sprinting back to our room. When we finally made it, Chris slid the car key and nearly broke down the door trying to get it open. He pushed me in and then slid in after me, closing the door forcefully. After a few moments of heavy breathing, we both fell into laughter.

“We’ve had way too many close calls in our life time,” I laughed, falling onto the king sized bed next to him.

“I know,” he agreed, turning his head so I could see into his grey eyes. “It keeps us on our toes though.”

“Which is good?”

“Which is grea— shit!” he swore loudly suddenly, shooting up.

Surprised, I sat up as well, my eyes snapping to the door. “What?”

“I left your bikini top in the pool!”

I grimaced. Great. That was my favorite bikini top.

__________________________________________________

Okay, so I promised an update last night, but sadly, I fell asleep. Then this morning I went to see 30 Minutes or Less at 10:00 so I didn't have time to update it because I woke up at 9:30 :P But I finished writing it at 3AM last night, but yeah. Closed my eyes for a second and... poof. But because I wrote it, you'll have to excuse my mistakes.

Anyway, if you haven't, go check out my new story Waist-Deep In Walmart :D It'd mean a lot to me if you did! The first chapter is in the external link.

Is it sad I can't remember which side of your chest the heart is on? I never say the pledge so I don't know haha. Please don't hate me if I guessed wrong... This is just horrible coming from a future biology major...

OH. Something I want to address. I'm not sure if any of you guys realize this, but 6 pages on here is 13 pages on Word... So please don't complain about it being short. I know some of you might write long chapters, but for the majority, a lot of Wattpad writes 2-3 page things. Try writing 13+ on Word. It's a lot harder than you think :S

Friday Is Forever - We the Kings!