Chapter 16: The Park

I don't got this.

I definitely don't fucking got this.

My fucking arm feels like it's about to be ripped out of its socket.

The burn in my legs and arms and stomach tells me that I'm going to have had an awesome workout by the time this is done.

It hasn't even been five minutes.

Pickles, being the puppy he is, stops every five seconds to sniff at something, and then he tries to run ahead, almost pulling my arm off in the process.

Zeus, I've since discovered, is reverting back to his immature puppy self, if he wasn't always like this, and is basically doing what Pickles is doing.

He joins the pulling contest whenever Pickles runs ahead, making my arm hurt even more, and he stops to bark at trees and squirrels every time he sees one, which is a lot.

Why are there so many fucking squirrels? I think to myself as Zeus stops and starts barking again.

The only one mildly behaving is Blue, and even then she's lost some of her self-control.

I guess the new sidewalk with new trees and stuff is exciting; new environment and all that.

"Come on, Cassie," Aaron laughs. "Just give me a leash."

"No," I say stubbornly, continuing to hold onto Blue's leash in my right hand and Zeus and Pickles' leashes in my left. Which is weird because I'm right-handed so I should be placing more of the strain on my right hand, but I'm stupid, so, you know. "I got this. We're almost at the park."

We are nowhere near the park.

My neighborhood doesn't have a doggy park, and dogs aren't allowed in the regular park, one that has a swing and stuff.

I used to take Snow to a public park, one that was less than half a mile away from my neighborhood.

With her, the trek was easy, and we played there for a bit and then came back home and cuddled.

With three dogs, however, it's not that easy.

"Cassie," Aaron says, softer this time. "Just give me Zeus. I can handle him."

I sigh and reluctantly hand Zeus' leash over to Aaron.

The strain becomes easier as I'm able to better control Pickles.

I hate it when he's right.

We continue to walk along, me feeling much more relaxed, until we reach the park.

All three dogs immediately perk up at the sight of the dozen other dogs milling around, and Pickles and Blue start dragging me towards the enclosed area.

I glance back at Aaron, who's leisurely strolling towards me at a ridiculously slow pace.

Even from how far I am from him and Zeus, I know that the male Husky is straining against the leash attached to his blue collar.

And Aaron isn't even batting an eye, the muscles in his right arm flexing periodically.

He smirks at me once he catches me ogling his arms, and I glare at him, my body twisted as I glance back at him while stumbling forward.

His eyes look to something behind me and they widen, the smirk dropping off his face. "Cassie––"

My body hits a hard surface and I fall to the ground, Pickles and Blue tangled in their leashes that are wrapped around the person that's standing in front of me.

I grimace and look up at the piece of beauty in front of me.

Brown hair that looks so soft, blue eyes that are staring at me, wide with surprise, and a body that rivals Aaron's.

Damn.

The boy helps me up and untangles us from the leashes.

"I am so sor––" He cuts off as he looks into my eyes, and I look back, the both of us confused. "Cass?"

My eyebrows furrow. "How do you know my name?"

The boy opens his mouth to speak, but I'm suddenly spun around, coming face to face with Aaron.

"You alright, Cassie?" He looks over my front, checking for bruises or scrapes. "No blood? It doesn't hurt anywhere?"

I shake my head, and my cheeks flush when he spins me around to face the boy again, probably to check the backs of my legs.

I give the boy a sheepish smile, and Aaron comes to stand next to me, his hand on the small of my back.

The boy stares at Aaron for a while before turning back to me with a smile. "I just moved here a couple of days ago and I ran into you at school. You showed me where my first class was, remember?"

Not. At. All.

"Oh, yeah," I gush. "Right, yeah, um, so nice to see you."

Cringe-worthy performance right there. Subtlety is not my forte.

The boy chuckles. "You don't remember my name, do you?"

I wince. "Sorry?"

"It's alright," he says. "I didn't expect you to remember, anyways."

That's kind of sad.

Don't judge, Cass, it's rude.

"How about we start over?" I say as I hold my hand out for a handshake. "I'm Cass."

"Jacob," he says as he shakes my hand. "Nice to meet you."

At his name, I vaguely remember bumping into him––literally––in a hallway and me directing him to his class after telling him my name.

A throat clearing snaps me out of my thoughts, and I turn to face Aaron who's looking at me with an expectant look on his face, his hand still resting on my lower back.

"Oh," I say suddenly. "Jacob, this is Aaron." The dogs, all of which had been waiting patiently, let out a series of barks and yips, causing me to laugh as I gaze down at them. "And these guys are Blue, Zeus, and Pickles."

Pickles immediately starts jumping for Jacob's attention, and seems to revel in it when Jacob gives it to him. Zeus is a bit more reluctant to interact with Jacob, but he doesn't protest when Jacob starts rubbing his belly. Blue, however, remains where she is, and when Jacob reaches out towards her, she lets out a threatening growl.

Jacob immediately flinches back and Aaron chuckles.

"Seems she likes me better than him, huh, Cassie?" he whispers in my ear, amusement filling his tone.

I elbow him in his stomach, causing him to let out a grunt.

"Stop, Blue." She stops growling, but her muscles remain tensed.

I let it go, and bend down to unclip their leashes from their collars, which causes Pickles and Zeus to run off and mingle with the other dogs. Blue takes a couple of steps before looking back at me.

"Go," I tell her, and she huffs at me but obeys nonetheless.

When I stand back up, Aaron is glaring at Jacob while Jacob is staring back with what looks like amusement in his eyes. I look between the two of them for a while before I clear my throat, which makes the both of them look at my while I raise an eyebrow.

Jacob smiles at me and opens his mouth to speak, but his phone rings, cutting him off.

Aaron and I watch as he answers it.

"Yeah." he waits. "Still at the park." Another pause. "Now?" Aaron's hand, the one that's on my back, pinches me, and i elbow him in the ribs again, glaring up at him. "Yeah, sure." Aaron smiles down at me and winks, causing me to roll my eyes. "Ok."

Jacob hangs up the phone and looks at me. "I gotta go. See you in school tomorrow?"

"Sure," I say, nodding my head at him.

He turns to leave and as soon as he's out of earshot Aaron starts to speak.

"I don't like him."

I eye him, confused. "Why not? You literally just met him.'

He gives me a look that says I'm dumb. "He gives off a bad vibe, Cassie. Trust me, he's a bad guy."

I roll my eyes again, emboldened by the lack of a flick earlier. "Whatever you say, Brewer."

"That's two, for the record." Aaron smirks at me before abruptly turning away and walking to sit on a nearby bench.

I follow, confused like always, and sit down beside him. "What?"

"You rolled your eyes two times," he explains. "So that's two flicks for you."

Understanding hits me and I let out a string of curses. "Really? We're keeping track now?"

"Yep," Aaron says happily, looking out at the open field.

"You're stupid."

His gaze transfers back to me and he smiles, his dimples on display, causing me to stare at his dumb, handsome face.

And he consecutively flicks my nose twice before he turns back towards the doggy park.

Jackass.

---------

I shake out the bag of dog food into three separate dog bowls, and three distinct sets of pawsteps come running into the kitchen.

I barely make it out of the way in time before they throw themselves at their bowls.

I watch for a little bit before I head up to my room, leaving my door open so they can come up when they're done.

After an hour or so, Aaron decided it was time to go, so we rounded up the three dogs and headed home.

He promptly went inside his own house, and I entered mine, which was, unsurprisingly, empty.

My parents left me a note on the refrigerator saying that they both got a emergency call into the office and that they would be gone for, most likely, the rest of the night.

Lucky me.

I sigh as I throw myself on my bed, reaching under my pillow for my phone.

Once I unlock it, I see a bunch of new apps that I didn't have before.

Snapchat, Instagram, Tumblr, TikTok.

What the actual fuck is going on?

I open each of the social media platforms to see that I have five friends on each--Gabs, Gracie, Cole, Adrian, and Aaron--along with multiple friend requests from people that, I think, I go to school with.

I throw my phone to the side, and stare up at the ceiling.

I'm not against social media, per se, it's more that I just don't see the point of it.

A sound coming from my balcony doors catches my attention, and I begrudgingly sit up, muttering under my breath, already knowing who it is before I see them.

Aaron smiles at me as I open the doors.

"Why haven't you added me back yet?" The question comes out as a whine, joined with a pout.

He pouts a lot.

"What?"

"On Snapchat," he explains with a grin, the pout gone. "You haven't added me back."

I roll my eyes. "So that was you, huh?"

He shrugs. "I was bored and I saw that you didn't have any social media accounts, so I made you some. You're welcome."

My mouth drops open. "That's what the whole cryptic message thing was?"

His smile grows. "You remember that?" he asks.

This time, it's my turn to shrug. "Don't get used to it. I pretty much ignore everything else you say."

He presses a hand to his chest, feigning offense. "You're mean, Cassie."

I smirk at him. "And you're stupid, Brewer."

His smile, the blinding, little kid one, graces his face, and it causes a grin of my own to replace the smirk.

I've always wanted a contagious smile or laugh.

Everyone I know is capable of making me smile by smiling themselves, but that never seems to happen for me.

And for Aaron to have that ability, the ability to make me happy by just fucking smiling, makes my feelings for him just a bit more unclear.