The Summer That Changed Everything

Chapter Seven - Part One

Jared stared at Felicity in shock as several peanuts hit his face and bounced off onto the blanket below. The two stared at each other for a moment. It was a Mexican stand-off of wills; their hands twitched, their eyes narrowed, poised to make the first move. Felicity had implicated the challenge, but would Jared retaliate?

Of course, he would.

“That’s it!” Jared laughed - almost without mirth - with determination in his voice, and a steely resilience in his eyes. It was clear he accepted the challenge that Felicity’s actions had posed. He scooped up the peanuts that had fallen onto the picnic blanket. He then launched them at Felicity’s face all in one go. Felicity tried to dodge, but failed the impossible task as at least one of them bounced off her forehead. But now, she was determined to get him back, especially after hearing his triumphant, arrogant laugh.

And that was how the peanut fight began.

It continued for what felt like forever. Even when the pair had emptied the bag, they both searched on the picnic blanket for any stray peanuts. As their firing became swifter, their aiming talent decreased, with barely anything hitting its intended target. In the end, every single peanut surrounded them on the grass. But their fight consumed too much of their focus to worry about finding the peanuts scattered through the grass, because who knew how far away they’d flown, and how deeply they'd embedded themselves into the soil. Nor did they spare a thought for the poor people who would come across it and have to clean it up. Or the unfortunate animals.

In the end, only one, lonely peanut sat comfortably on the picnic blanket. Jared and Felicity eyed each other; both of their intentions were clear, and they lunged. At the same time, they dived for the solitary peanut nestled into the chequered fabric of the blanket.

They scrambled on the blanket, unsure whether to go on the defence, or aim to grab the peanut themselves. But it was all for nought, the childish pair ended up pushing the peanut farther away. Although, that didn't stop the two from fighting each other to get to it. Eventually, the two became a tangled mess, as if they were in the middle of an intense game of Twister. Before either of them was aware of it, Jared’s face hovered over Felicity’s as she lay beneath him on the blanket. He held her wrists and placed them over her head to prevent Felicity from reaching for the leftover ammo. Jared was almost completely lying on top of her. Their faces were so close together that their noses touched, and their breath mingled into one.

To anyone passing, it looked like a rather compromising position. One that mothers, in probably a panicked state, would usher their children away from. Lucky for them, the park wasn’t overly populated, despite the lovely weather.

Time paused as they stared into each other’s eyes. The world could fall apart around them, and they wouldn’t even notice. All thoughts of the food fight were all but discarded from their minds. Their only thoughts were of each other and their current position. Felicity’s stomach tingled as it dawned on her that this was the closest she had ever been to a boy. In a physical sense, at least.

And she couldn’t deny how attractive this particular boy was.

Their chests worked in perfect synchronicity; their heavy breathing consumed the surrounding air. All thoughts of passers-by and birds in the trees all but disappeared. They could feel each other’s heartbeats as they pumped almost in sync. The belt buckle of Jared’s jeans dug into Felicity’s bare stomach, which should’ve been uncomfortable, but she didn’t even realise, nor did she care. Jared seemed as transfixed as Felicity, as he stared into her eyes, taking everything in, and neither of them knew what to do next. Felicity’s tongue darted out to dampen her suddenly dry lips. She caught Jared’s eyes flickering down to inspect them. He continued to stare at her lips, and Felicity wondered what was so fascinating about them. Felicity wasn’t sure, but were their heads moving closer together?

A buzzing from a mobile phone brought their eyes into focus. They both visibly shook themselves out of their current state. Their eyes no longer had the glazed look about them as they landed in the real world with a thud. Jared rolled himself off Felicity and pulled his knees up to his chest in a stunned silence. She let herself breathe properly for the first time in what felt like forever, taking in the cool summer air and noticing the difference in the heat. She sat up and smoothed her hair down as a way to distract herself. Slightly embarrassed, she then pulled her tight skirt down to make it appear like they had done nothing untoward.

They hadn’t, had they?

She sighed and searched for her phone in the discarded jacket she’d worn earlier. She didn’t dare glance in Jared’s direction. The idea of what he thought about the situation scared her. Felicity unlocked her phone and checked her text.

“It’s my mum,” Felicity explained, still avoiding his eyes. Her voice was hoarse, and she licked her lips to return the moisture. Realising the attention it drew to that particular body part, she withdrew her tongue. “She’s wondering where I am and wants me home for dinner. I think it’s to make up for this morning, so I’d better go.”

“Okay, no worries,” Jared muttered. Had what happened earlier phased him at all? Felicity refused to think about it as she stood up and brushed the stray grass from her bum, suddenly aware of every move she made and how much attention she drew to herself. She slid her arms through the jacket and pulled it tight, now wondering if every body part was provocative. “Shall I walk you home?”