Hayes jutted out his lip and started to fake cry on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Hayes,” Skylynn said, going over to him and hugging his legs.
Hayes picked her up and hugged her back. “It’s okay, Sky,” he said, kissing her forehead.
After that cute little moment, we went back to baking. I helped Sky measure out the pink food coloring, since we had only white cupcake batter, and we stirred. Finally, we poured the bright pink batter into purple baking cups and popped them in the oven for twenty minutes.
While the cupcakes were baking, Sky and I played horsies with Hayes. When we heard the ding of the oven, we got the tins out and set them on the counter to cool. Then we played horsies for a few more minutes, until the cupcakes had cooled enough that we could decorate them.
“What do you want to decorate them with, Sky?” I asked her.
“Flowers!” she yelled excitedly.
“Okay, blue or pink?”
“How about blue since the cupcakes are pink!” she said smartly.
“All right, whatever you want.”
I got out some blue frosting, and we started on the flowers.
In my opinion, they looked pretty good, and they tasted good, too! Sky and I had two cupcakes, while Hayes had four. I don’t get where that boy puts all his food. He’s like a stick.
That’s when everyone walked through the front door. “Honey, we’re home!” Bart yelled, running to the kitchen and seeing the cupcakes. He grabbed two and stuffed them in his face.
“You like ’em?” I asked with a smirk. He just smiled slyly and nodded. We laughed and looked at everyone hauling grocery bags into the house.
“Thanks for the help, Bart,” Nash said, rolling his eyes.
“It’s no problem,” Bart said, his mouth still full.
“Do y’all want any cupcakes?” I asked, as the other girls and I began putting the groceries away.
“Duh!” everyone screamed, and they all ran to the rack of cupcakes and began stuffing their faces. Hayes and I were left to put away the groceries by ourselves.
“Do you want any help, Autumn?” Skylynn asked sweetly.
“If you want to, Sky.”
She walked over and picked up a box.
“Can you help me put this away? I can’t reach!” she asked, jumping up and down with a box of cereal in her hand.
Hayes laughed and picked her up, letting her put the box on the shelf. He set her down and we continued emptying the grocery bags.
“Hey, guys, y’all wanna have a mini sleepover in the living room tonight?” Nash yelled down from his room.
He got “yeahs” and “sures” from the rest of us. “Okay, let’s set it up!” he called excitedly.
We all scattered to collect as many blankets and pillows as we could find.
Tonight was gonna be wild.
Autumn
The sleepover was crazy! We had a pillow fight, smack fight, pranks, and more—and it had been only an hour.
Yes, we acted like five-year-olds, but it was fun. Bring out your inner child! Anyway, we were playing a game of Truth or Dare, since Skylynn had fallen asleep.
It was Alec’s turn. “Jonah, truth or dare?”
“Dare.” Jonah smirked.
“I dare you to run up and down the street naked until someone comes out and yells at you.”
We all burst out into laughter.
“I’m not watching this!” I said. “But I will go outside and listen for what the neighbors are going to say.”
“Agreed!” all the other girls said eagerly.
“Fine, miss out on all the fun!” Jonah pouted.
He went outside and unbuttoned his shirt, and that’s when I covered my eyes. All the guys were laughing, while the girls and I waited for someone to yell at him. Finally, someone did, after five minutes of his running around naked and screaming.
“GET SOME CLOTHES ON, YOU HOOLIGAN, UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO CALL THE COPS!” the old lady from across the street called from her porch. “Drunken teenagers,” she muttered, walking back inside her house and slamming the door. I burst out laughing and uncovered my eyes.
“That was priceless!” Alec said, laughing.
“And we got it all on video for Abbie.” Nash chuckled. Jonah turned pale as a ghost. He had already put his clothes back on.
“You wouldn’t,” he warned.
“Oh, we would,” Cameron and Nash said. “Make sure not to do anything we don’t like.” They grinned and walked inside, the rest of us following after them.
Back in the living room, we continued the game.
“Hayes, truth or dare?” Jonah asked him.
“Truth,” he said.
“Have you ever kissed a girl?”
“Before Autumn, no. Unless you count girls shoving themselves on me at FAM Tour,” he said, looking over at me. I blushed and kissed his cheek.
“You were my first kiss, too,” I told him truthfully.
“Aww! The cute couple is having a moment!” Bart said, looking at his phone screen. I guess he was making a Vine.
I blushed and shoved my head into Hayes’s chest. He wrapped his arm around me and Bart ended his Vine. “All right, Bailey. Truth or dare?” Hayes asked Bailey.
“Dare, duh!” she said, posing like the emoji of the girl in the pink shirt with her hand next to her face.
We laughed.
“Okay, I dare you and Daniel to kiss for ten seconds.”
“That’s easy,” she said, pulling Daniel into a kiss. It lasted for exactly ten seconds, and then they pulled apart.
“Okay, Auts, truth or dare?” Bailey smirked at me.
“Umm, dare?” I said. It came out more like a question than an answer. Who knew what she was going to dare me to do.
She smirked. “I dare you and Hayes to go into the closet for seven minutes.” My eyes widened.
“But we’re only thirteen!” I yelled.
“I’ve seen the way y’all kiss; it sure doesn’t look like you’re thirteen sometimes.” She laughed. I blushed and got up.
Hayes got up after me and held out his hand. I took it. We intertwined our fingers and walked to the dreaded closet.
Behind us we could hear them saying “Ooh la la” and “Get some, Hayes!” Oh God, why did I choose dare?
We walked in and closed the door. I sat down and he sat down beside me. “Do you just wanna talk?” I asked him.
“Yeah, I mean, we are only thirteen. That’s kinda weird.” He laughed. I giggled.
“I know. Was I really your first kiss?” I asked him seriously.
He looked down at his hands. “Yeah.”
“Don’t worry, you were mine, too. And I’m happy you were the one to be my first kiss, and not some douchebag who would cheat on me,” I told him, taking his hand.
“Just so you know, I would never cheat on you, Autumn,” Hayes said, looking into my eyes.
“I know. That’s why I trust you with my heart,” I whispered, looking back at him.
His eyes flicked down to my lips and back up. He leaned in slowly, as did I. I closed my eyes, and he closed his. Then, it was magic.
I couldn’t even explain how he made me feel. He was just perfect—his eyes, his personality, his laugh, his smile, his walk, his voice . . . everything! I loved him with all my heart and wouldn’t trade him for the world.
We let go of the kiss after about a minute.
“I love you, Autumn. I just want you to know that,” he whispered.
“I love you, too, Hayes, with all my heart. Not even to the moon and back explains how much I love you,” I whispered.
He kissed me one more time, and we stood up. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and I wrapped an arm around his waist. We walked out and saw that everyone was now sitting in the living room
watching a movie.
“What were y’all doing in there? Y’all have been in there for twenty minutes!” Aly yelled.
“Just talking,” I said, looking up at Hayes. He looked down at me and smiled. “I’m gonna go change really quick,” I said, and Hayes found an empty spot on the floor and sat. I went upstairs to Hayes’s room, checking on Skylynn on the way. I don’t get how she could sleep—we’d been pretty loud.
I changed into an old softball T-shirt, a pair of Hayes’s sweatpants, and my glasses. As I went downstairs, I put my hair up in a bun, ’cause that’s the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.
When I got downstairs, I saw that everyone was watching Grease. I so got them stuck on old movies. I settled down next to Hayes, and he wrapped an arm around me. I put my head on his shoulder and snuggled into his side, our legs intertwined.
After a while, I started to get sleepy, and I closed my eyes.
“So Hayes, you really love her, don’t you?” Ella asked.
“Yeah, I do. She’s my world; I’d do anything to make her happy,” he said.
“Good, ’cause if my little sister gets hurt, you’re dead,” she warned.
“Trust me, nobody will be hurting her. Definitely not me—I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said as he kissed my forehead.
That’s when I fell asleep.
Hayes
“So Hayes, you really love her, don’t you?” Ella asked me suddenly.
“Yeah, I do. She’s my world; I’d do anything to make her happy,” I said truthfully.
“Good, ’cause if my little sister gets hurt, you’re dead,” she warned.
“Trust me, nobody will be hurting her. Definitely not me—I wouldn’t dream of it,” I said, and kissed her forehead.
I loved Autumn to death and beyond. She was perfect—her hair, her eyes, her personality, her laugh, her smile, her braces, her glasses, all of her! She was my world, and I would do anything to keep that pretty little smile on her face. Just like John Green said, and I quote, “That smile could end wars and cure cancer.”
I gently slid off her glasses and put them on the table. Then I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close. I shut my eyes and fell asleep dreaming about the love of my life.
Hayes
I woke up on the floor really early and saw that everyone—except Autumn—was sprawled out around me sleeping. I got up and went to look for my girl. I went to the kitchen first, but she wasn’t there. Then I checked the rest of downstairs, the basement, and the yard, and she wasn’t in any of those places, either. Finally, I checked upstairs.
I looked in the rooms one by one, then heard the shower running—and singing?—coming from the bathroom off my room. I leaned my head against the door, curious, and listened. She was singing some song I didn’t know. And her voice was beautiful!
Everybody’s gone surfin’
Surfin’ U.S.A.
I’m guessing it’s one of those old songs that she likes to listen to. She has weird taste in music, but I love it. It’s cute. It’s like she listens to all music, literally! Except for that goth stuff.
She finished the song and turned off the water. I moved away from the door, acting as if I hadn’t heard anything.
Man, I hadn’t known she could sing like that.
Autumn
I woke up early this morning and saw everyone else was still asleep. It was seven o’clock. Even though I never get up this early, I was already awake, so I figured I’d get up.
I stood, careful not to wake Hayes, and headed upstairs. First, I went into our room, as Hayes wanted me to call it, and picked out an outfit for the day.
I decided on a pair of black Nike Pros, a black Nike sports bra, and a royal-blue sports tank top from Etsy that said running sucks. Then I grabbed some undergarments and a pair of Hayes’s blue Nike Elite socks—my feet were cold—and went into the bathroom. I got out a towel, undressed, and turned on the water. Then I hopped into the shower and began to think.
Mostly I wondered why my dad seemed not to like me anymore. He hadn’t called to talk to me the whole time I was in the hospital. Did I not meet his expectations as a daughter? I remembered how, when I was little, we would go out on “father-daughter dates” and have so much fun together.
He taught me all about classic rock music, and we always listened to it together. Music from the seventies and eighties, even some from the fifties and sixties! I always say I was born in the wrong decade, because I love the eighties.
Those were our special moments, then poof, they were gone, practically with a snap of my fingers. Suddenly, he started ignoring me and working a lot. We just don’t have the same bond anymore, and I really miss my old dad.
I started singing “Surfin’ USA” by the Beach Boys. That was our favorite Beach Boys song. I sorta started to cry, thinking of all those old memories of the time we spent together, but I managed to finish the song.
I turned off the water, got out of the shower, and dried off. I brushed my teeth, put my hair up in a bun, and got dressed. Then I checked out my face in the mirror—I didn’t want anybody to suspect I’d been crying—but it was okay.
Walking out of the bathroom, I saw Hayes lying on the bed and I jumped, startled. Putting my hand over my heart, I took a deep breath.
“Lord have mercy, you scared the living crap out of me!” I said to him.
He laughed. “Sorry, sweetheart.” He got up and pecked my cheek. “Your voice is beautiful,” he said.
I froze. “You heard that?” I asked uneasily.
He nodded his head.
“But I sounded like a dying cow!” I whined, shoving my head into his chest.
He wrapped his arms around me. “No, you don’t! You could totally sing with Daniel!”
“Whatever, Daniel has the voice of an angel! His voice is from God, I tell ya,” I said, looking him dead in the eye.
He laughed.
“Can this be our little secret? Please?” I asked, looking at him with my puppy-dog eyes.
“Fine! Only because those puppy-dog eyes get me every time,” he said, kissing me. I kissed him back, and we stayed like that for a couple of seconds.
Then I pulled away, grabbed his hand, and pulled him downstairs, without one word. He followed, and we walked outside.
I sat down on the bench in the garden and patted the seat next to me. He sat down and put his arm around me. I snuggled into his side, both of us not saying a word. We were just enjoying each other’s company and the beautiful summer air.
We stayed out there, lost in the moment, until Aly came running outside, looking panicked.
“I found them! They’re out here!” she yelled to everyone inside.
I looked at Hayes, confused. He was looking pretty confused, too. Within seconds, everyone came running out, surrounding us in a huge group hug.
“Guys, what’s going on?” I asked.
“We woke up and couldn’t find you anywhere. We didn’t know what had happened to you!” Nash yelled.
“We were out here the entire time. Y’all really need some better searching skills.” Hayes laughed.
Giggling, I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. Then I yawned and snuggled closer against his chest, throwing my legs across his lap.
“Who was the one who said they wouldn’t be outside?” Bailey asked.
“Sorry! I haven’t seen them come out here before, so I didn’t think they’d be out here!” Bart said sheepishly.
“We come out here,” I mumbled into Hayes’s chest, “y’all just don’t notice.”
“See, I said they could have been anywhere, but y’all didn’t listen!” Cameron singsonged in a ghetto-girl voice as he snapped his fingers.
I laughed and opened my eyes. “Hey, who wants to go to the beach? I’m craving some waves!” I asked suddenly, getting
excited.
“But the beach is hours away, and it’s already, like, after nine o’clock,” Alyssa said.
“So, the beach is always fun!” Hayes chimed in. I smiled at him, then looked pleadingly at the rest of the group.
“Ugh, fine!” they all groaned.
“Yay! Everyone go change! Chop-chop!” I yelled, clapping my hands together. Then I pulled Hayes up off the bench.
“Yes, Mother,” Carter said in a baby voice. I gave him a warning look, and he put his hands up in surrender.
“Carter, you better not mess with her. You know she can pin you in less than ten seconds,” Hayes said while he and I walked through the sliding glass doors and into the house.
We walked up the stairs and into our room, and I started deciding which bikini I wanted to wear.
“Babe, wear blue swim trunks if you have some, and I’ll wear one of my blue bikinis,” I told him, still looking through my bathing suits. He nodded and went into the bathroom to change.
I decided on wearing my white-fringe bikini top, royal-blue bottoms, and peachy-colored tribal-print round sunglasses. I threw on some cover-up shorts and grabbed a bag for my stuff, leaving my shirt off, since I didn’t really need one.
I packed sunscreen, two towels, money, a random T-shirt, my LifeProof, wax (for my board), an extra leash, and my lucky rash guard.
I got my rash guard in a Rip Curl surf competition that I won. You see, I also do some pro boarding here and there. Before we moved, I used to work with Billabong up in Cali.
Hayes walked in wearing his swim trunks and looking very attractive, if I do say so myself. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“You look very nice, Mr. Grier,” I complimented. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pecked me on the lips.
“You look dashing, Ms. Brown,” he whispered, and pressed his forehead against mine. I kissed him once more, but of course we got interrupted.
“That’s going in the album! Now come on, let’s go!” Daniel yelled, running down the stairs.
I giggled and grabbed Hayes’s hand and my beach bag. I put my sunglasses on top of my head, and we walked downstairs hand in hand.
Love Heals All Page 9
