[END]He's 15 and I'm a Pervert: Welcome to My Life

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Are Logan and I dating?

The thing is, Logan isn’t like Cam—in a good way. But at the same time, it’s bad.

Cam asked me out when I was a sophomore. He’d walked straight up to me after soccer practice and demanded I give him my number or he’d hunt me down the next day at school. I was taken aback by his forcefulness and sheer guts—but froze (like the loser sophomore I was) and stuttered out a ‘no’ before running away. But the next day Cameron Jones—the Cameron Jones, captain of the Varsity soccer team—asked me out. To say the least, I was flattered. And from that moment on I was hooked.

Despite the douchebag he turned out to be, he was nice and I really did believe he loved me. But with Logan…

Everything is so weird. He doesn’t demand my number, in fact, I believe he sneakily stole my number in an attempt to catch my attention. He also doesn’t hold himself like Cam does. He’s reserved and quiet. But when he really opens up it’s like a whole new day. The sun shines brighter in my memories of us at the beach. Every inch of him is so vivid in my mind that when I got home after the beach I spent the rest of the evening and well into midnight sitting at my canvas, attempting to catch that moment.

But no matter what I did, I don’t think I was able to catch the glow of his blue eyes, or the golden shimmer of his hair. Or the way his smile could disarm the Spanish Armada with just one friendly flash of white teeth.

I was angry; frustrated with myself that I could so easily draw Cameron and yet I struggled to draw Logan.

I threw away and burned most of the pictures of Cam I’d sketched and draw while I was still in a fit of rage but kept a few insisting that the only reason I did so was because they’d turned out well.

It was partially true.

I sat there at my canvas with my brush in my hand debating all these things in my mind. Why couldn’t I capture him? Why does Cam’s handsome beauty fit so perfectly into a picture? How come my arm is exhausted and wants to sleep, yet my mind is restless?

But the most important one stands out among the others. Especially the next day when I woke up and remembered that I was invited to Logan’s game.

What am I going as? Friend? Girlfriend?

It wasn’t hard to see that Logan liked me, as much more than a friend too. But he didn’t ask me out when we were at the beach and I certainly wasn’t going to as Logan out if he didn’t have the balls. I was already a social reject crushing on a little sophomore, how much better would it get when people heard that I’d been the one to ask Logan out?

I woke up to a noisy house. The twins were cooking breakfast since my mother apparently had to rush to the office on a Saturday for an impatient client.

“Want some pancakes!” Max smashes into me with a huge hug. Because he’s so much bigger, and growing by the second, he picks me up in his excitement. Vlad’s just as enthusiastic about me eating breakfast with them.

“Sure…” I said. I took my seat and ate the burned pancakes and washed them down with juice. I was stunned to see the boys watching me happily and getting along fairly well—until I realized that it had been a while since I’d eaten breakfast with them.

I’d been too down about Cam to really focus much on eating and I’d been busy with work most days—we somehow slipped the habit of eating together.

When breakfast finished I cleared the plates and watches as Vlad tripped Max and slammed the door in his face. Max hopped to his feet and was out the front door in seconds. It slammed shut just as the phone rang. I picked up on the second ring.

“Hey sweetie, is Chloe around?” I knew it was Ms. Linda. She didn’t really have to say it anymore, I knew her soft, yet enthusiastic tone when I heard it.

“No, I haven’t seen her around, but Max and Vlad just went outside so maybe she’s there…”

“I’ve been trying to reach those two all day but Logan’s already headed out for his game. I got caught up in the office and I won’t be home in time to drive to the game but Chloe doesn’t know.”

What?! Logan’s game. He’s already there! I glanced at the clock but it was only barely twelve.

“Has the game already started?” I asked. I started racing to my room before I realized that I wasn’t using my cell phone and the cord jerked me back.

“Oh no, it doesn’t start until noon. But all the boys take a bus up there an hour before warm-ups. If I hurry I might be able to catch the end…” But I didn’t really pay attention to whatever else she was muttering. Because I started to panic.

“It’s okay Ms. Linda, don’t worry about Chloe. Just try and make it to the end of the game.” She thanked me before I hung up and quickly raced to my room.

I threw off my old sweats and rapidly started brushing through my hair. I braided it instead of trying to straighten it because the saltwater had left it too kinky and curly to brush through. I grabbed up jeans and a shirt and found my keys as I rushed down the stairs.

Before I was out the door I realize my mistake and hurriedly curse as I run back inside. I grab my cell phone and then proceed to go looking all over the block for my lousy brothers and Chloe. After yelling a few times they finally come and I force them all into my car without warning. The boys were put-off until I mentioned a baseball game and that had them quiet for most of the ride.

I’d called Linda back the moment I got into the car and she gave me directions to the field. It happened to be near the same one me and Cam drove to when the twins were playing—only Logan plays on a large field on the other end of the same town. The directions were simple enough and we made it to the field when the national anthem started to play.

“Logan is going to be so happy!” Chloe beamed as we found our way to the seats. I was excited to—although the twins were completely gung-ho about the whole thing. Apparently some of the boys from my school (soon to be their new high school) played on Logan’s team and they recognize their faces from around town.

Chloe points out Walt in a heartbeat and blushes when she realizes how loud she shouts his name. Apparently it’s loud enough that Walt waves to her from the dugout. But I was only looking for one person. And he wasn’t there.

“Don’t worry, he’s in the bullpen.” Chloe points to a place in leftfield and I get excited like she did for Walt—but I was a little more discrete. “Jeff is going to let him pitch in this game!”

“He’s going to smoke ‘em!” Vlad whispers to Max and they both nod their heads.

When the game starts I start to regret sleeping in. I wonder if Logan knows I’m here and then I wonder if it really matters. He’s probably not thinking about anything but the baseball game. But when a boy with red hair steps onto the mound and starts pitching I realize that Logan’s not in the game.

“Why isn’t Logan pitching?” I ask Chloe. She seems just as confused as I do.

“I don’t know… maybe he’s hurt.”

“But he was warming up.” Max comments.

“And he told me he was pitching today.” Vlad added. He would know too, since Logan has been training with him and Max privately. They probably see him more than I do.

“I bet Jeff did it on purpose,” I said bitterly. From the look Chloe shoots me I realized too late I must have let something slip that shouldn’t have. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.” I blurt. It’s like diarrhea of the mouth when I talk sometimes. I just can’t stop the constant running. “It’s just that Logan may have mentioned something about Jeff hating him and him not being a sock that fits—“ I broke off after Max elbowed me swiftly. It’s good to know my little brothers are looking out for their incapable older sister.

“It’s okay,” Chloe rolls her big blue eyes. “I already know what Logan thinks about Jeff. They don’t really get along—it’s not much of a secret.”

“I know but—“

She stopped me. “Seriously, I understand why Logan would say that. Jeff gives him a hard time in baseball… and Logan thinks it’s because he told him that he wasn’t good enough for my mom.”

Suddenly the air seemed thicker after Chloe’s last words. She didn’t say much more but she didn’t have to. Manly relationships are so strange.

Jeff likes Linda. Logan hates Jeff. Jeff sits Logan on the bench.

It’s simple but complex.

When the fifth inning rolled around and the crowd became restless with the redheaded pitcher who let four runs score, making the final score tied, Jeff finally emerged from his seat on the bench and called the pitcher off. There was a small meeting at the pitching mound when the catcher took off his helmet and I saw Van for the first time. I hadn’t noticed him behind all the gear.

“He has to put Logan in for sure,” Max said.

“He’s not warmed up though and that’s the number five hitter.” Vlad says as a small damper over all our excitement. As far as my brain can function with all the technicalities—in short—Logan would be in a pickle if Jeff did call him to the mound.

And he did. Just as Max predicted.

Logan took a few warm up pitches and they were all over the place.

“He should have started him when his arm was warm—or at least given him warning.” Chloe complained. Even though she liked Jeff, she was still mad at him.

Logan’s first pitch was a complete disaster. Van had to jump into the air to catch it. That’s when I realized that I’d been gripping Vlad’s shoulders and Max’s hand like a crazy lunatic.

Logan looked shaken up, pissed, annoyed and even angry. I could tell from where I was sitting that he was giving Jeff the stink eye. His next pitch though was much more controlled. The one after that was even better.

By the end of the sixth inning, with the score still tied, Logan was doing better than ever. He struck out almost every single batter—the others were easy to field and throw out.

All they have to do is score a run and they’ll win the game.

The first batter only got a dinky hit that went no more than five feet down the baseline. He was fast though and that’s when Max told me that he’d meant to do that and that I needed to stop yelling so loud. The batter after him was Walt and I can’t help but smile at the fact that Chloe was still trying to act as if she hadn’t been a crazy fan girl when she’d seen him.

With two outs the last batter hits a homerun and it’s not until he’s rounded third base that I realize the tall blonde trotting home was Logan.

Logan’s team won.

After the initial shock and excitement it’s all I can do not to run and greet him with a big hug after the game.

He looked surprised at first when I nearly tackled him. He smelled like sand and sweat but at the same time he smelled warm and soft. When he did finally realize it was me he shocked us both by planting a kiss on my lips—in front of the twins and Chloe. I didn’t react quickly enough; what with the loud cheering and being put on the spot so suddenly that Logan took my reaction all wrong.

Logan pulled back with a look of horror on his face. “Sorry.” He put me at arms distance, almost shoving me away, as if I’d burned him like fire. His team was quicker than me in reacting as they all whisked him away with load of congratulations.

Was I really that horrible, to make Logan think that he needed to apologize to me when he kissed me? The thought of making him so insecure with that made my heart plummet down to my gut.

“Well, it’s not like we all didn’t expect that.” Vlad remarked sarcastically.

“Yeah, seriously,” Max nudged Chloe and they all started laughing.

I watched as Logan and his team was huddled around their dugout all laughing and joking, probably conversing over the game and all the highlights. Either I’d gone crazy or the pervert within me was just going to town because I marched myself (in all my stifling five-foot, one hundred twelve pound body) straight over to Logan and threw my arms around his neck.

Then I kissed him straight on the lips.

It was an awkward thing to do and I’d never really gone out of my way to kiss Cam in front of all his soccer buddies but I felt like I owed it to Logan. He was a little shocked at first but then he realized what I was doing and wrapped me up in giant bear hug. The smile on his dusty face made it more than worth it.

Ms. Linda ended up not being able to make it to Logan’s game, though it didn’t really seem to matter to him. He wouldn’t wipe the ridiculous smile off his face all the way home. He opted not to go home on the bus but rather ride home with me and the kids. The twins weren’t as bad as I thought they would be—they teased me a lot but they seemed to back off when it came to Logan. I suspected it had something to do with the fact that they respected him and also that he trained them. Whatever it was I liked it. We stopped for some food on the way home and pigged out on junk while listening to the radio blasting.

As we got nearer to home the boys started asking Logan a load of technical crap about his home run and all his pitching and things I could’ve care less about.

My parent’s cars were both parked outside our house when we pulled up. Chloe and the twins all rushed inside the house, they’d mentioned something about anew game they were going to play on the Wii.

I slid out of the car and stretched. Logan looked exhausted but he still smiled at me with a winning attitude when we unloaded his baseball gear from the trunk of the car.

“Thanks for coming to my game,” He took my hand as we started to walk toward his house.

“No problem.” I felt content just lazily striding along the pavement with him. Even if he did smell pretty bad and his hair was flattened under his cap—he still looked cute.

“Ah great…” Logan sighed as we approached his house. “Jeff.”

I looked up to see that same blue truck parked in their driveway.

“I bet mom invited him over for a victory dinner.” Logan seemed upset.

“I have an idea,” I suggested.

“What’s that?” Logan’s voice was already dampened a little. I wondered why he hadn’t told his mom about the way he felt when Jeff was around—or if he knew it wasn’t worth it, that she probably wouldn’t listen to him in the end.

“Come have dinner at my house.”

“Really?” He looked surprised.

“Yeah. Just go change and tell your mom I invited you over for dinner or something… it’ll be fine.”

“I want you to come with me,” He tugged at my hand as we jogged up the steps of his house.

“You want me to come with you while you change!” I squeaked, my voice cracking.

Logan choked too as he opened the door. “No! I meant, come into my house and wait for me. I don’t want to be left alone with Jeff and my mom, they might trap me in here and force me to watch romantic comedies with them.”

“Oh.”

Who feels stupid? Riley White feels stupid.

“Logan, that you?” It wasn’t Linda greeting Logan as he walked into his house. It was Jeff—thick, burley, Coach Jeff with old man aftershave. “Oh and your… friend from the baseball field.”

“Yeah, we were actually just leaving.” Logan hurried us toward the stairs. “I just have to grab something.”

I was practically pushed up the stairs by Logan in his attempts to escape Jeff.

“I thought I was just here for moral support.” I hissed as he shut the door behind us.

“I’d never leave you alone in a room with Jeff—it’s okay, I have a bathroom I’ll just change in there. I’ll be like two minutes.” He grabbed up some random clothes and hurried into the bathroom. When he was done changing he emerged looking a little more refreshed; he’d washed up his face and arms and put on some clean clothes.

“Hurry,” he pulled me back down the stairs.

We were so close until I heard Ms. Linda’s voice calling us back. Logan groaned and shut the front door.

“Where are you going? And where’s your sister?” She gave me a friendly wave and I just nodded happily back at her.

“We’re having dinner at Riley’s house.”

“Is that okay with her parents?”

“Oh of course,” I cut in. “You could come if you like, but I thought you and Mr…”

“Jeff, just call me Jeff.”

“Right,” I felt strange not knowing his full name. “I thought you and Mr. Jeff were wanting some quiet time.”

“Oh.” Ms. Linda looked pleased. “Well, that would be nice. Okay, go ahead Logan. I guess I’m going to have to hear about your game from Jeff.”

Logan and I were out the door quicker than a bolt of lightning. When we got to my house the kids had already eaten. My dad had brought home a huge pizza so me and Logan stole a few bites before heading up to my room. For some reason I had the feeling someone had already tipped off my parents to mine and Logan’s unsure relationship already. They seemed okay, other than my father—who since Cam, has been on the defense, guarding his daughter’s heart—giving Logan some warning looks.

I was nervous and excited all at once to have Logan in my room. I knew nothing was going to happen but still the thought of him being in my room was nerve-racking. I actually suppose he’s been in my room before (like when I got kicked in the face) but still…

“What happened to all the pictures of Cam?” Logan asked, quietly as he looked at my wall of paintings and sketches. I was hoping he’d forgotten about my stupid obsession.

“I got rid of them.” Except a few I was hiding away. Just because Cam was an asshole didn’t mean that I was going to throw away quality work.

“Oh…” Logan seemed happy with that. “Can we talk?” He turned to me suddenly catching me off guard. I still had some pizza hanging out of my mouth and I could feel the cheese on my lip.

“Sure…” I choked down the last of my food and patted the spot on the bed next to me. He sat gingerly at the end of the bed with his hand shoved down in his pockets.

“Thanks for coming to my game.”

I furrowed my brow. “Is that what you wanted to say?”

“Sort of… I mean, I really wanted to thank you for something else but it’s kind of, I don’t know—forget I said anything.” I nodded hesitantly. “No, wait! Don’t…” I started to stare at Logan with a raised brow. “I’m just going to say it no matter how stupid or dorky I sound: thank you.”

“I know, you’re welcome…” I was starting to think Logan had been hit in the head with a baseball one too many times. He was all stuttering and skittish.

“N-n-no. Not for that, thanks for kissing me. In front of my friends.”

“Oh.” I didn’t have time to hide my face before I felt the rush over color.

Logan rubbed his neck uneasily. “I know it’s weird for you but, yeah. That’s all.” He breathed out a deep breath.

We sat on my bed in silence for a moment before my big mouth decided to become active again.

“So are we dating?”

Only this time I was slightly relieved that I’d finally gotten the question off my chest. It’d been bothering me for a while now and I wasn’t really as worried now that it was just out there. Logan considered the question as he shrugged.

Men.

You could ask them their opinion on starving children in Africa and they’d shrug; but you ask them about who was better, Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth and they could write a doctrinal essay.

“What do you want?” He asked.

“I want to know if we’re dating.” Maybe I sounded harsh but I wasn’t looking forward to being called a pedophile if Logan wasn’t even interested in dating.

After another long silence he finally spoke. “I’m not like Cam.”

Duh.

“And?”

“Well, I thought after you dated someone like him it’d be a step-down going out with me.”

Oh.

“Logan, look at me.” Gawd, he has beautiful eyes. Focus RILEY! “I. like. you. I would like to date you. Forget about Cameron.”

“Yeah?” Logan’s grimace lifted to a lopsided grin. “Then Riley White, would you be my girlfriend?”

“I said date, no girlfriend!”

Logan’s face seemed to drop dramatically.

“I’m kidding!” I tackled him on my bed and couldn’t help the laughter that proceeded after. It was probably half because I was so excited about Logan finally asking me to be his girlfriend and half because of the look on his face. Price-less. I continued to laugh while laying on top of him until I swear I felt my eyes water.

“Ha. Ha. Funny.” He replied dryly. Clearly he didn’t like my joke.

“That was almost as funny as that one time when I gave you a wetwilly.”

I stopped laughing and looked at Logan with confusion written all over my face. “You never gave me a—“

“OH.MY.GOD!” That little bastard.

Logan burst into laughter as I screamed my guts out. I tried to wipe the saliva from my ear but I was too frustrated with him. “I can’t believe you just did that!” I punched him on the arm but couldn’t help the smile that played on my lips. It was stupid, and gross and yet every time I thought about it I just laughed.

“Aww,” he cooed in a baby voice, “let me kiss it and make it better.”

It’s really hard to be mad when someone when they’re sucking on your ear.

*****

To say that being with Logan was easy would be the understatement of the century. To start of the trials and tribulations of dating Logan my father lectured him in his office down town for an hour. What he said is completely unknown and still, Logan had promised my father he’ll never tell me what they talked about. I was sure Logan was going to piss himself when my mother caught us making out in my room.

I almost did.

But there were always embarrassing things happening with family and friends. Like Logan getting mistaken for Zoe’s brother when we went out to a fancy restaurant in town.

“Are you two related? That’s so cute you brought your brother.”

I’m not sure if Logan was more upset than I was or if he was truly just laughing it off. Either way the situations were always same, just different settings. And as usual the text messages seemed came flowing into my cell phone without any pauses. I had no choice but to believe Zoe when she told me I was popular. Denying it now would be like saying I still liked Cam—which was out of the question whether I did or not.

But despite the way we were teased and the awkward situations, I was happy. Sort of. I mean, I was definitely happy about dating Logan. From the night he asked me out it felt as if I hadn’t gone a minute from being near him, and I liked it. But there were still things that I was unhappy about. Like my weight and how I seemed to be gaining massive pounds the longer I stayed away from the soccer field—or how it pained me each time Logan snuck over to my house when Jeff was over.

“You shouldn’t come over here.” I warned Logan one night as he crawled up my window and onto my balcony. One of these days our neighbors were going to see him climbing up the front of my house and call the police. I was sure that would not sit well with my father.

“Are you kicking me out?” He whispered.

“Of course not,” I shut my window and wrapped my arms around my stomach. I kept my voice low as I crawled back to my bed and Logan sat at the chair on my desk. “I just think you should talk to her.”

“I don’t want to say anything now. She’s all excited about planning my party, it’d just upset her if I told her how I feel.” His voice was distracted. Unlike the romantic movies where the guy falls into bed with the girl and they snuggle without any sexual contact—which, even if Logan got in my bed and “snuggled” I don’t think that I would be able to keep myself from jumping him—Logan stayed far away from my bed. We never really talked about that stuff, he just always seemed to find his way to my desk and I always found it funny how he could look through my paintings over and over again.

“You’re really good.” He whispered.

“Thank you.” I mumbled, half asleep already. It was getting late and by the time I heard Jeff’s truck rumble out of the driveway Logan was already looming over me.

“Thanks,” He whispered near my lips before placing a delicate kiss on my cheek.

And like that he was gone.

*****

I’d been freaking out the past week trying to find a birthday present that Logan would like. I knew he was a music fan but he was eclectic and just plain strange that I had no idea what kind of CD to buy him. When I tried to ask Ms. Linda about it she just said that anything I got him, he would like. Which was probably true, but I wanted to get him something that would blow him away. I wanted to show him how much I really liked him. I couldn’t just get him some stupid CD and expect him to truly enjoy it.

So when I went walking up to his house with his gift in hand and the twins with me I was feeling a little nervous.

“She’s going to hyperventilate.” Max laughed.

“Lo-gan,” Vlad feigned a choked up voice and fluttered his eyelashes. “I-I-LOVE you—“

He was cut off by my hand on the back of his head. That’ll shut him up.

“Riley’s here!” Chloe screamed into the house when she opened the door. The twins were racing after her toward the pool as Logan came walking up.

No matter how many times I saw him it always blew my mind how breath taking his smile was. He always looked so clean and fresh. Especially after stepping out of the pool…

“Hey,” He smiled and took the present from my hands. “I want to show you something.” He took my hand and led me up the stairs.

When we got inside his room I brushed my dress down. I’d worn something a little different than my normal sweatshirts and shorts. A simple white dress with a low cut neck and loose fit. It felt nice, especially in the middle of the summer’s heat.

“Happy birthday,” I called over to Logan who was digging around in his closet. He came back smiling and hugged me before putting something in my hands.

“What’s this?” I looked at a box.

“A present.” He deadpanned.

“I know that.” I rolled my eyes. “I think you’ve got this wrong, today if your birthday. The day when I give you a present and celebrate the fact that I’m not a complete pervert for dating someone who’s now only a year younger than me.”

“Funny,” Logan smirked. “Just open it.”

Reluctantly I opened the box. I frowned when I looked into the box. There was another box. Logan laughed as I continued to open them. When I finally got to the last box I frowned even deeper.

“It’s a watch.”

“It’s not a gold locket if that’s what you were expecting,” Logan sarcastically replied before taking the watch from me. “And it’s not a watch. It’s one of those things that counts how far you run.”

Great. This is Logan’s way of telling me I’m fat. Yay for boyfriends…

“And before you go all moody on me it’s not because I think your fat. It’s because I know how you feel about being kicked off your team and I thought that maybe if we actual started running together you’d maybe… join your team again.”

“No.” I shook my head definitely.

“Oh come on,” Logan wrapped his arms around me and pouted. “You love soccer.”

“I liked being captain…” I admitted.

“You can do it, Riley. I know you can rejoin that team. You’re the best there is.”

“You’re my boyfriend, you’re supposed to say that.” I hugged him close.

“I want to see you happy.” Logan whispered.

“I am happy. With you.” I looked up at him and he smiled widely. For a moment I actually fooled myself with my own words as Logan leaned down to kiss me. He had a way of brushing aside my thoughts with his soft lips planted against mine.

“You’ll come around.” He said confidently as he gave me one last peck on the lips.

“Now,” I pushed away from his grasp and handed him his present. “Open your gift.”

I waited nervously as he opened my present. It’d taken a lot of time just thinking up what to get him and with the little amount of time to actually get it done I was hoping he wouldn’t be disappointed. It would be one of those gifts that you either really hate of really love. I was hoping on the latter.

He peeled away the wrapping and found the card first. Call me old fashioned but I like cards with my gifts—no matter how corny.

“Logan, happy birthday.” He read the card and just chuckled at my lameness. When he pulled away the bubble wrap I saw his face go blank.

For a moment he just sat there, on his bed, staring at the frame in his hand. His eyes were slowly searching the gift in front of him. I felt an explosion of nerves course through my veins when he didn’t say anything after what seemed like an hour. It was probably only a minute but I was nervous. Finally I just sat down on the bed next to him and waited patiently.

“This is…” He choked on his words.

This is… this WHAT?!

Logan used his right arm to clasp around my neck and pull me into a passionate kiss. It only lasted a few short seconds but I could almost feel the strange urgency in the way his lips and tongue brushed across mine.

“You like?” I ventured. He nodded his head rapidly, a bright smile coming across his face.

Just like the one I had painted in the portrait of him. Only the colors didn’t match. Instead of painting a traditional life portrait of him in real color I decided to step out of my normality and use colors as brilliant as the rainbow: purple, yellow, orange, red… bright colors that stood out. It was like the reflection of a rainbow was hitting on his face and lighting him up.

“I like it, trust me it’s… unbelievable. But,” Logan shook his head. “Why am I multicolored.”

I blushed. “Just ‘cause.” I hid my face.

“Aww, Riley I hate when you do that.” He frowned.

“It’s embarrassing.”

“You thought that about when you admitted you like my balls, it can’t be worse than that.” I flushed a deep shade of red.

I hated my mouth.

“Fine,” I conceded. “Because all the pictures of Cameron that I painted where in real color and I felt cheap just giving you something like that that was so plain and boring… so I drew you in bright colors because you’re…”

“I’m what?” Logan was loving every moment. He always hated when I brought up Cameron but now that I was praising him he was definitely getting an ego boost. Something he deserved on his birthday.

“’Cause when you smile you light me up with all those colors.”

I’m an idiot. I sound like an idiot too. I’m dating a younger boy so I could feel that way though, it’s inevitable.

Logan chuckle. “I told you it was stupid!” I whined. God, I should have never said anything. Why can’t I keep my fat mouth shut and seal it that way?

“It’s not stupid,” Logan gave me a one-armed hug as he looked over the painting. “I just wish Cam knew I lit you up like that.”

“Shut up.” I growled.

“C’mon, let’s get back to the party.” He suggested, setting the portrait on his dresser.

“What’s the hurry?” I questioned. I’d thought that maybe we’d stay up in his room…

He saw the look on my face and smirked. He kissed me on the cheek before dragging me out of his room. “There’s plenty of time for that later. Right now I want to check on Chloe.”

“She’s fine,” I insisted. “She’s with the twins.”

“I have a feeling Walt probably found her…”

Oh the joys of having an over protective brother as a boyfriend.

Walt was indeed with Chloe. She looked cute all dressed in her bright yellow bikini and matching sandals. Her skin was glowing red as Walt talked to her. I saw Logan roll his eyes and march over to the couple. He pretended to be fetching some food and drinks for us as he neared the table where they were standing by. In seconds Walt was in the pool and Logan was laughing. He hurried back to me smiling.

“That’s real mature.” I crossed my arms.

“I just think he needs to understand where his place is.” Logan shrugged. “Are you hungry? I’m starved.”

And just like that the party went on all night long. We swam, played games, opened presents and ate a butt load of cake. So much that the next day I swore it was coming out of my nose. Jeff was at the party and Logan had seemed more comfortable with him in these past few days. Either he was getting used to him or Jeff was just lightening up. He seemed like an average guy when I talked to him—maybe just a little harsh. But I was glad to see Ms. Linda happy, even if Logan disagreed.

*****

A week later I felt like I’d fallen into a beautiful routine. I liked to think of the routine in an abnormal order—instead of starting in the morning, it started at night, with Logan sneaking into my room. He no longer used Jeff as an excuse, though some days I could tell it was specifically for that reason—but most other times he admitted to just liking to see me. I had no problem with that. I liked his company. It wasn’t pressuring or made me feel uncomfortable. I felt oddly at peace when he would sing me to sleep. It wasn’t the typical lullaby, just songs he liked to sing: Sinatra, Ben Folds, Cage the Elephant… it was an odd mixture but I learned to listen to Logan’s voice rather than the lyrics.

It wasn’t sad to think that Zoe and me drifted away, just a little. It was both of us needing space with our boyfriends, but we hung out and talked on the phone as often as possible. She was still Zoe, explain to me her newest tattoo. A replica of Leo’s unicorn on her back. I swear, she’s the weirdest girl I’ve ever known. But it made me smile.

I woke up later, a week after Logan’s party to find him standing in my room with his running shorts on and that stupid watch he bought me—excuse me, ‘Mile Counter’.

“No.” I threw myself back in bed. He couldn’t make me go back to that hell. Even if he pulled me out of bed and dressed me himself.

…which he did, despite a lot of kicking and whining.

“See, this is fun…” Logan panted heavily as we started reaching our second mile.

Surprisingly he was keeping up with me. Which meant I really must’ve been in bad shape. “I hate you.”

“You…” Logan panted as we continued on the trail. “Love me.” He tried to smile but he focused more on catching his breath.

“Yeah, yeah…” I moaned.

Finally we stopped in the middle of the train near a rest stop. There was a bench and a small pond. The city had a lot of places like that along the trail. At least there was shade under the bench. A giant oak tree have us some shelter from the sweltering sun.

“I hate you and you smell bad.” I pulled away and coughed when Logan tried to hug me.

“Don’t be mad, Riley.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m helping you.”

“Pulling me out of bed at six in the morning to take me on a jog…” I glared at him.

“I did this because I know you want back on that team, no matter what you keep telling me or how you pretend like it’s not a big deal, I know it is. And you know what?” He asked. I tilted my head because I was too tired to fully respond. “You have to stop being so insecure. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met and the best soccer player in this town and you deserve to be on that team and I won’t stop waking you up every morning for the rest of my life until you tryout for that team.”

I sat there staring at his sweaty face.

“So what’s it going to be? Should we keep running?”

I willed myself up with a loud groan and started running. After a few minutes he caught up with me, a stupid smile on his stupid face.

“I hate you.”

“You love me.” He smiled.

For a brief moment my breath caught in the back of my throat. Maybe it was the heat exhaustion, or the aching muscles in my body, or the delusional part of me, but I swear I saw a flash of radiant morning light strike his glistening face in an array of beautiful colors. In that flash of a millisecond I physically saw the beauty in Logan. It wasn’t a matter or age, or maturity, I saw the beauty in his personality. How he valued me over my body, how he truly cared about my happiness; and even though it meant him true, physical pain to help me, he was willing to wake up at six in the morning during his summer just because he loved me.

“Yeah,” I breathed out lightly. “I do.”

I guess being a pervert has its upsides.

QUOTE:

Margaret: You guys are the boring ones. There's lots to do.
Dennis: Oh, really? Like what?
Margaret: We could practice singing songs. Or put on a play, or a puppet show.
Joey: We could bury you alive.

Margaret: I could pound your face.

-Dennis the Menace

----------------------------------------------------------------------

THE END!

Okay, now i need to address a couple things.

1. banners: if you still wanted to make a banner for this, i'll do a banner tribute in about a week. get them to me by then.

2. yes, it's over. this is the last chapter. i hope you all enjoyed my silly little story and weren't too disappointed that my cliche was... well, kind of cliche. But i hope you guys learned a little something from it, or at least laughed a bit at Riley's stupidity [shout out to Rylee (that's how you spell it, right?!)]. also, i can't explain how cool it was to come back from my vacation and have a full inbox! unfortunately i'd planned on catching up with messages over the weekend but i have quite a few more than i'd expect.

so. i will be responding to every single one of your messages, no matter what. it may take a little time, at feel free to send as many as you want, especially because the story is over and I'd love to hear your thoughts. i'd just like to give you all a response. i hope none of you think i'm some jerk for not replying yet.

Finally. Fish&Chips. To ALL of you who messaged me, most likely i read your message but didn't have time to respond. bare with me, I WILL MESSAGE you back! Thank you for the amazing response about it. I guess it's the same. :D

--JAKE [seriously, i'm not a guy]