To Capture A Ring

Ride

It's been 3 days since mine and Jordan's last encounter. I was lying in bed scrolling on my laptop, and Mariah was sitting on the floor next to Fred as they both watched a movie. I've been feeling more and more like a third wheel to the pair lately. Mariah and I don't even get our girl time anymore. It's always the 3 of us, and while I do think Fred is a nice guy, Mariah and I always swore to each other that we would never let boys come between us, no matter how much we liked or loved them. My phone started ringing, I grabbed it from my bedside table, and saw Jordan's name light up the screen. I quickly answered the call, bringing the phone to my ear. "Hello?" I tried to hide the excitedness from my voice. "Hey, Tatiana! I have some great news, can I come over?" I glanced over at Mariah and Fred before answering him. "Yeah, I'm home. Mariah and Fred are here too." Mariah turned to look at me and I quietly mouthed "Jordan to her." just as I heard Jordan's voice again. "Great, be there in like 15 minutes.See ya then" and then the phone clicked in my ear before I could respond.

I quickly discarded my laptop to the side, jumping up out of bed, running to rummage through my drawers for something other than my pajamas to wear. Once I settled upon an outfit that didn't look like I was trying too hard, I ran out of my bedroom and shut myself in to the bathroom to get ready. I heard a knock at my front door. I ran from the bathroom in a hurry, went into my room, hopped onto the bed to make it look like I was bored, and just waited patiently instead of getting ready in a panic. Fred shook his head, laughing at me as Mariah swatted his arm. I shot him daggers from my eyeballs, which only caused him to laugh at me more. There was a knock at my door before Mikayla came into the room, since the door was open "Jordan's here." before she ran out, Jordan came in and walked over to me, pulling me up from my sitting position with my hands, holding them in his. He looked me in the eyes and said "The baby isn't mine!" he excitedly pulled a letter from his pocket and stuffed it into my hands. I looked at the letter and then to him and then threw my arms around his neck "Jordan, that's great!" I yelled happily. Without a moment's hesitation, he pressed his lips to mine and kissed me until we were both blue in the face. We only pulled away when someone cleared their throat behind us. I turned, out of breath, suddenly remembering Mariah and Fred sitting on the floor. "Sorry guys." I laughed, as a blush colored my cheeks bright red, I plopped myself on my bed. Jordan sat next to me, he put his hand on my knee, "I was so happy, I told you right after I told my parents. Stella was devastated, but I told her we needed to cut off contact for good. I blocked her on everything." I leaned my body into his, allowing him to wrap his arms around me, smiling into his hug. Part of me felt terrible for Stella, but she did it to herself, so I can't feel too bad for the girl.

"We should all go swimming!" Brianna came barging into my room. "Oh hey Jordan, you're here, Markie was just about to call you." she added with a smile. "We'll go!" Mariah spoke for herself and Fred. "Yeah, I'll go too." I said, all of us looking to Jordan for his answer. "I have to go home, and get my swim trunks. Where are we going?" Brianna thought for a moment before she answered, "The basin." The basin is where everyone hangs out in the summer, it's a little swimming hole that's ice-cold, even on the hottest days, it's nestled deep in the woods, where no parents ever bother to go. It's been the hangout summer for teens of this town for decades. "Alright, I'll pull out my quad, since I have to pop home anyway. You guys get ready, and I'll meet back here in about a half hour." he turned to me, pecking me on the lips, then walked out of my room, disappearing down the hall.

Fred popped up off of the floor, kissing Mariah, then left, probably going to get his quad too. I stood up from my bed and went to my dresser, gathering all of my things and stuffing them in a duffle bag, and I tossed Mariah a swimsuit, and a pair of jean shorts, as well as a shirt that somewhat matched mine, a baggy shirt we cut the sleeves off. We always wear them with our swimsuits. They didn't cover much, but we loved those shirts. Muscle shirts we call them. Mariah left the room, heading towards the bathroom to get dressed. I shut my bedroom door behind her, tossing my hot pink bathing suit on and put the clothes on over it, before leaving my room. I went straight to the hall closet for the beach towels, grabbing a couple out of the closet, I stuffed them in my large duffle bag.

I met back up with Mariah in the kitchen. Brianna and Markie were both there getting a cooler ready, so I grabbed snacks and stuffing them into bags. Once we were done gathering everything we needed, we all went outside to the shed. Markie's quad was already sitting parked next to it. I unlocked it, pulling the door open, I grabbed my key from the lock box that hung on the wall, I swung my leg over the side of my quad, sitting down. I waited for a moment before sticking the key in and started it. I pulled it out into the sunlight before shutting it off again. Making sure it was out of the way before hopping off of it, I took a bungee cord out of my back compartment, strapped my duffle bag in place, I saw Markie was strapping the cooler down on his quad. I reached into my bag, and quickly sprayed myself with some sunscreen, just as Jordan and Fred were pulling into the backyard. "I'll get your back." Jordan said softly, walking over to me and taking the can of sunscreen from my hands. Once he was done, he handed it back to me, which I sprayed him down before returning it back into my bag, and zipping it back up to secure the contents for the ride.

"Tatiana, Brianna. Will you girls please take Mikayla swimming? She's been nagging me all day, I have to go to the grocery store to get the stuff for dinner tonight, so I won't be able to take her to your aunt's house." My mother nicely asked us. Brianna shrugged her shoulders, before agreeing. "Yeah, that's fine. I'm not sure when we will be home, but I'll have my phone." she said. "I'll have my phone too." I added. My mother smiled. "Thank you girls, I appreciate you two. I'll get her ready real quick, and then send her out. Make sure she wears a helmet, please." my mother reminded us, before heading back inside the house.

Soon enough, everyone was here and ready. Mariah chose to ride on the back of Fred's quad, Brianna pulled hers out of the shed, putting our little sister Mikayla on the back. Our mother begged us to let her go too. WE made sure the shed was locked back up before we all took off like banshees. Markie and Jordan were both in the lead, while the rest of us followed behind, the trails were going to get tight, which is my favorite part. Just as we were approaching the end of the clearing, heading towards the entrance of the snake trail as we called it, I kicked my quad up into 3rd gear, as everyone else was downshifting to slow down, I took the lead, hitting the first hump, like it was a jump. Everyone hooted and hollered behind me, but I was out of there like a bat out of hell. I knew these trails like the back of my hand. I was weaving in between trees, going as quickly as I could, feeling alive and free as I hit the next clearing. I listened to make sure there were no trains coming. As I shifted into fourth, then fifth gear, hitting the rocks around the railroad tracks, I launched my quad high up into the air before landing, then I skidded to a stop, the rear end sliding turning me halfway around. I didn't expect to see Jordan and Markie poking out of the woods with their jaws dropped open. I laughed as they crept closer. "Woah, where did you learn to ride like that?" Jordan asked obviously impressed with my riding skills. "My dad." I chirped as the others started to poke out of the woods, and approach where we'd gathered to wait. We followed the railroad tracks for 10 minutes before entering the last trail, getting there after 10 minutes or so.