Moon Phased: The Triple Claim

Chapter8

Raven’s POV

“Oh, wow.” Mazie said, as I walked into my bedroom with my bikini on, with her eyes wide, before she said, “Is this what the California girls wear?” Making me feel a bit uncomfortable in it, as I wondered what the girls here wore.

“Is there something wrong with it?” I asked her, as I pulled a cover-up over it, hoping that it would be fine, because all my swimsuits looked like this one.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that I have only seen bikinis like it in magazines on supermodels. Our local stores don’t carry swimsuits like that.”

“I have a brand new one with the tags still on it, if you would like to have it.” I told her, as I moved to my dresser drawer to pull it out.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have the body like you to pull it off.”

“Seriously? Girl, you need to stop hiding that figure of yours under all those clothes.” I said to her, as she looked down at what she was wearing, pulling on the baggy sweatshirt she had on.

“You know what, you’re right.” She said as she stood from my bed, taking the bikini from my hands, as she moved to the bathroom across the hallway, and I began to look for a cover-up that would match it.

After finding a cover-up, I touched up my makeup, as I began to wonder what was taking Mazie so long to change. Looking out into the hallway, the door to the bathroom was still shut, and I moved to it, lightly knocking on it, as I asked, “Mazie, is everything okay?”

There was complete silence on the other side of the door for a few seconds, before I heard the door unlock, making me take a step back, waiting for her to open it. When the door finally opened, Mazie stood in front of me in her oversized sweatshirt that hung to her knees, as she says to me, “I don’t know if I can wear this.”

Clearly, she had the bikini on under the sweatshirt, making me grab hold of her hand, pulling her into my room, shutting the door behind us, as I turned to her and said, “It seriously can’t be that bad. Show me.”

Slowly, Mazie grabbed ahold of the hem of her sweatshirt, and began to pull it over her head, revealing her body to me in the bikini. “Holy s**t, Mazie. You could easily be one of the supermodels in the magazines. You look amazing.” I told her, as a part of me wished that my body looked as good as her in it.

“You aren’t just saying that?”

“Hell no. Girl seriously, you are going to be turning some heads.” I told her, as I moved to my bed, picking up the cover-up, handing it to her, as I snatched the sweatshirt from her hands, not going to allow her to put it back on, and hide that perfect body of hers.

“Well, I guess we don’t have to go to my house for me to change.” She says as she slides on her shoes, and the two of us make our way out of my bedroom, to see my grandmother taking a nap on her recliner chair.

Moving my finger to my lips, we tipped toed out of the house, not wanting to wake up my grandmother and having to explain to her where I was heading, as I didn’t know what her response would be to me heading to a party on a school night. In all honesty, it was reckless of me to do, but I knew I could get done with my homework in no time, since most of it was a repeat of what I had already learned.

Mazie pulled her car over on to the side of a back road, where a line of cars was already parked, telling me that this was more than just a few friends getting together. As we got out of the car and began to walk down a small narrow beaten-down path, I could hear people talking and laughing, and this was just what I needed to get my mind off what happened today. But as the trail ended, and the waterhole came into view, I realized why they called this Big Rock.

“Cannonball!” A boy yelled, as he leaped off the top of a huge rock, twenty feet to the pool of water beneath him, making a huge splash as his body hit the water.

As I stood there staring at the rock, Mazie asked me, “You want to give it a try?”

“Oh hell no. I hate heights.” I told her, as I looked away, knowing that hell would freeze over first before I jumped off that.

Mazie let out a chuckle, before she grabbed a hold of my hand, and began to lead me around the waterhole towards an area where everyone was gathered sitting on blankets, bathing in the evening sun. Pulling a blanket out of her bag, she began to fluff it before placing it on the ground, as she says to me, “I personally rather watch myself.”

Taking my shoes off, I was just about to sit down, when I heard someone come up behind me and ask, “So, how was your first day?”

Turning, I came face to face with the boy from first period class that had given up his seat to me, so that I didn’t have to sit next to Chase. Knowing that he had saved my ass, I put a smile on my face, and said to him, “I survived.”

“That’s good to hear. I didn’t want to lose someone as pretty as you on the first day.” He said back to me, making my cheeks instantly begin to blush, as he was obviously flirting with me.

“Oh Conner, is that the best pickup line that you have?” Another male’s voice said, making me turn to see Cash standing directly behind me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that she was with you.” Conner said with what sounded like fear in his voice, as he took off, not saying another word to me.

“What the hell Cash? He was just trying to be nice to her.” Mazie says, scolding Cash, before she went to take a seat on the blanket.

“You and I both know how Conner is.”

“Whatever. Raven is a big girl, and she can make her own decisions.” Mazie then says, as she pulls out her sunglasses, placing them on her face, before she leans back taking in the sun.

I looked at Cash, wondering if I should thank him or be upset with him for driving Conner away, but as I peered over his shoulder, I could see that Conner had moved onto another girl, telling me that it was a blessing that he had stepped in and said something.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Cash now asks, making me turn to see him looking at Mazie, as he lets out a chuckle.

Mazie lowers her sunglasses, as she looks up at Cash, giving him an evil look, before she says to him, “What’s wrong with what I am wearing? Raven picked it out for me.”

Cash turned to look at me, as I too gave him a glare, just waiting for him to make a remark about what I was wearing too, but instead he turned back to Mazie, giving her an apologetic look.

“It’s just that I have never seen you wear anything that girly before, you know, since…” He began to say, but Mazie was quick to stop him from finishing what he was saying, by cutting him off as she said, “Maybe I changed my mind.”

“Okay. You don’t need to get your panties in a bunch.” Cash said to her before he turned his attention towards me, asking, “Can I talk to you for a second alone?”

“Sure.” I said, as my eyes moved to Mazie, who was pushing her sunglasses back up, before she laid back down on the blanket.

Placing the palm of his hand against my back, Cash began to guide me away from everyone towards a trail that led around the waterhole, and I knew whatever he was about to say, he didn’t want others to hear.

Removing his hand from my back once we were on the trail, he says to me, “I just wanted to apologize for what happened at school and my brother’s behavior towards you.”

“It’s not your fault that your brother is a douche-bag.” I quickly told him, wanting him to know that I didn’t hold him accountable for his brother’s actions.

Cash pauses in his step, letting out a chuckle, before he says, “I heard my brother called a lot of things, but a douche-bag has never been one of them. But seriously, he normally isn’t like this, he’s just dealing with a lot right now.”

I wanted to tell him that I had heard about their mother, and that I was sorry for his loss, but I had been told that a hundred times myself, and it never made me feel better, but instead brought back memories of that tragic night.

So instead, I said to him, “It’s alright, but I think it is best for all of us if Chase just keeps his distance from me. Between Jessica and him being a loose cannon, it’s just too much for me to deal with after everything I have been through recently. I hope you understand.”

“Trust me, I completely understand.”

"Good, because I just want to make it through this school year so that I can move back to California.” I explained to him, and the expression on Cash’s face changed before he said to me, “Wait, you don’t plan on staying here?”

Shaking my head, I told him, “No, I have an early acceptance to Berkeley, where I plan on going to college. Plus, like Jessica pointed out to me today, I don’t belong here.”

“But you do.” Cash says to me, as he takes a step towards me, taking my hands into his, as I stared up into his eyes, wondering why suddenly I was feeling butterflies in my stomach towards him.