Before Happily Ever After 2

"y-you a-and E-Eric look r-really happy" Devon tells me while looking at the picture of us. In case you’re wondering who took the picture, a waitress at the restaurant snapped the picture of us. Talk about nosy. And people (Eric and Lily for example) think I'm nosy. Puh-leeze!! I don't go around taking pictures of random people I don't know. Except this one time when I took a picture of a girl's bedazzled high heel. It was bedazzled into pink and silver zebra stripes. Isn't that adorable or what? I thought so too. But that’s the only time I've done that. Well maybe a few other times, but that's a totally NOT the same as that nosy waitress. The photo underneath was a picture of my beautiful ring. It's spectacular!!! Big but simple at the same time. I love it. That night, I couldn't stop staring at it. I was in a daze of diamond beauty. I still stop and admire my ring sometimes. I get weird looks from the people though; especially nerds. It's as if they haven't seen someone look at a brilliant piece of art. Seriously they need to go to a jewelry store because it's not that uncommon. Anyway, Devon turns the next page to a photo of me and Demi, Eric's mom. She's squeezing the shit out of me in a really, really super duper almost choking me to death hug.
"Mommy w-was really h-happy" Devon says with a smile. Tell me about it. My neck was sore for two days from all of her happiness. The next pictures were of Andrea hugging me, their grandparents hugging me and Eric, then Demi hugging us again, and Eric's dad, Greg hugging me. It was an endless cycle of hugs.
"Your family is an extremely huggy family" I tell Devon looking at the pictures.
"y-you m-mean our f-family now" Devon says correcting me. That's right! I'm not used to saying it yet.
"Our family" I say and she nods her head once before looking down at the album again. Something in one of the pictures catches my eye. I lean in for a closer look. In the background of a photo is.......... Ugh! Nelly O'Donnell. I'm sure most of you don't know who this is. I didn’t either until I met her at Eric's parent’s house the day these pictures were taken. I hate her blonde guts. Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against blondes. I know a lot of blondes. Demi, Andrea, and Devon for example. If I actually did hate blondes, I'd be in trouble. Talk about family tension or what. What I do have against blondes is when they try to steal my boyfriend.....or fiancé......or Eric. Let's just say Eric. I'm sure your thinking 'Cori, remember what happened the last time you thought someone was taking Eric away from you?’ Yes I remember what happened last time but this time was different. She seriously was trying to steal Eric. I’m for sure this time. You don’t believe me do you? Fine, be that way. And another reason why I hate her is because I got my butt spanked because of her too. Hmph! Unbelievable isn't it? Well the spanking part may be believable but that's beside the point. This chick was the only downfall to a day of happiness; well for me anyway..................
"Cori!! Its soooo good to see you" Demi says practically tackling me in a hug when she spots me. I’m not a huggy kind of person but I like the she cares.
"you too" I say hugging her back. She let's go for a moment to take a look at me.
"you always look so cute in your outfits. You really need to help me go through my closet sometime. I'm in desperate need of some help" she tells me. I already know I always look cute in my outfits. Well except one time when a nerd tripped and his food went flying everywhere and MOSTLY on my clothes. If Lily wasn't there to hold me back, I so would have strangled him and Jared with my pink manicured nails. Why Jared, do you ask? I always want to strangle him. Why not. I did manage to grab some food and throw it in the nerds face. Let's just say, a food fight may have started.
"anytime" I tell her. She smiles happily at me before giving me another tight hug. Okay, maybe she cares a little too much. I'm not sure if I can still breathe. She really has a strong grip.
"god mom! let Cori breathe" Eric tells her as he grabs my hips and gently pulls me away from his mother. Demi draws back.
"oh Eric, I'm just happy to see her. I haven’t seen her in such a long time; especially since you two didn't come on the family camping trip during the summer" she say. And thank God for that. Can you imagine ME going CAMPING??? I sure couldn't. No wait, actually I can but I won't since I know it would have turned into a living nightmare.
"we're sorry we missed it" Eric says not sounding that sorry at all. I don't think he wanted to go camping either, but since he had to work shifts at the hospital he just started working at he didn't have a choice in the matter.
"there is always next time" Demi tells us. Ugh!! Lucky us. NOT. Maybe I'll fake sick or something. What? It might work this time.

"well, you two go off and talk to everyone. Many people have been looking forward to seeing you again. Oh and Eric, someone special wants to see you again" His mom tells him with a secret grin. Me and Eric just arrived at his family's annual Labor Day barbecue. It's a big deal so all of his family comes (which is a billion people) and a lot of family friends come too.
"who?" Eric asks taking my hand in his. The hand with my engagement ring on it which I have to make sure I don't let anyone see it yet because it's a surprise. We're planning on telling everyone tonight. Heehee.
"you'll find out soon enough. Now go outside and see everyone" Demi tells us already heading back into the busy kitchen. Hmmmm, I wonder who it is?
"who do you think it is?" I ask Eric as we walk to the side doors. He shrugs.
"I have no idea. It could be anybody. My mom tends to make things a bigger deal than it really is. Kind of like someone else I know" he says with a grin looking down at me. I stop walking and fold my arms while looking up at Eric unamused. what does that supposed to mean?
"I don't know what you’re talking about, Eric. I don't make things bigger than they really are, they really are that big" I tell him. He just grins at me before grabbing my hips and pulling me close to him so our bodies are touching. Eric gives me a light kiss on the lips then says
"whatever you want to say, Angel. By the way, my mom was right. You do always look so cute in your outfits; especially today" I smile up at him. I couldn't agree more with him.
"although I'm surprised you’re not wearing any heels today. I didn't realize you were so short" he teases me. I glare at him briefly. It's not my fault I'm short okay. Hmph!! Short people have more fun anyway.
"I couldn't wear heels to a barbecue. They probably would get stuck in the grass and get ruined. And I’m not that short" I tell him. I’m wearing flip flops this time. Eric laughs slightly while pulling me into him more for a gentle hug. See, these kinds of hugs I like. He gives me one last squeeze before kissing my head and pulling away from me to take my hand again.
"I'm just messing with you baby. Come on, let's head outside" he says leading the rest of the way to the side door and slides it open. Everyone is out in the huge backyard that they have so we have to walk around the house to get there. But we didn't walk very far because this blonde girl comes running up and then jumps and launches herself onto Eric. She wraps her arms around her neck like the way Demi was doing to me. In the process, she practically pushes me out of the way making me almost fall over. In fact, I bet she did that on purpose.
"oh my gosh, Eric!!!! I haven't seen you in FOREVER! it's been years. OH MY GOSH!!!" the blonde chick squeals. I regain my composure as she hugs Eric as if he is her long lost love or something. Eric seems to be really shocked to see her but he knows who she is.
"wow! It has been a really long time" he says still surprised. I take note that she is still clinging to him. An alert goes off in my head which isn't good. Two things happen next. First, I see a lady walk towered us and I suddenly realize with horror that it's Ms. Snooze; AKA: Ms. O’Donnell, my old high school principal. Secondly, I realize that the blonde girl is no other than Nelly O'Donnell. Ugh. Eric's ex girlfriend.
"I haven't seen you in years!! Every time I came home during breaks, which weren’t often, me and my mom would visit your family but you'd NEVER be here. I'm glad I've finally caught you" Nelly gushes to Eric as if she just caught the world’s best fish. Oh yeah, I forgot; She went to college in London.
After Eric recovers from the shock of seeing his ex girlfriend again and probably thinking, man what did I ever see in this chick? Well okay, that's what I'm hoping he is thinking. Anyways, finally Eric manages to untangle Nelly's tight grip around him and takes a step back before she tackles him again. While this is all happening, Ms. Snooze comes to stand next to me.
"Cori" she says greeting me with a familiar glare. Well she is the same old Ms. Snooze, that's for sure.
"Ms. O’Donnell" I greet her back coldly with a smirk. (Sigh) this reminds me of good times. If Lily was here, it would be complete.
"I see that you and Eric are still together" Ms. Snooze says clearly not happy about it. In her mind, Nelly and Eric should be together. Sucks for her, doesn't it?
"I wouldn't be here if we weren't" I say, my smirk growing bigger. Ms. Snooze's eyes narrow.
"Hmph!" she grunts, sticking her nose in the air. Hmmmm, what’s stuck up her a-
"so you and Cori are still together?" Nelly's voice asks bringing me back to their conversation. Are these two really that dumb? Sheesh, the term like mother like daughter really works here. Of course, I'm still with Eric. I wouldn't be here with him if I wasn't. Is that so hard to understand?
"Yeah, still going strong" Eric tells the O'Donnell's while taking my hand. Ha! In your face, Nelly and Ms. Snooze.
"You know Eric, if you two hadn't broken up you'd probably be married by now" Ms. Snooze tells Eric. What!!!! Oh so she's a psychic now? Last time I checked, she couldn't predict the future. Although she could always know that me and Lily would be in her office again. Hmmmm. Nah, she's just a lucky guesser.
"Whatever, mom. You don't know that. Lighten up" Nelly tells her mom while rolling her eyes before giving Eric a radiant smile.
"Come on, a lot of our old friends from school are here and want to see you" she says and starts to pull his arm. Eric is hesitant to go with her (not surprising, who would want to go with her). I push him toward her.
"Well go on. I'll meet up with you later. I gotta go back inside and get something from my purse" I tell him and kiss his cheek. Eric looks down at me and into my eyes to make sure that I'm really okay with him hanging out with his ex. I look back into his eyes to say that I'm fine with it........sort of. As long as she keeps her slimy hands off of him and stay at a distance. So far she has failed both. Who am I kidding? I am totally NOT okay with this. But what Eric doesn't know won't hurt him, right? Since Eric can read me like a book, he looks at me suspiciously before I push him again to go with Nelly.
"Go! I'll be fine" I tell him and give him a smile. I don't think Eric is so sure but goes with Ms. Soon to be boyfriend stealer; but only if I let her. I smile again. The smile that Lily says always leads to trouble. I've got a phone call to make. Heehee.
 "Unbelievable, I tell you. You should see this Lily. She is sitting right next to him. She could practically sit on his lap if she wanted to. Ugh! Make me want to barf. Talk about desperate" I tell Lily with disgust over the phone. I can hardly stand to look at her but yet I can’t look away. It’s like the times I am flipping channels on TV and come across a scary movie that’s terrifying but I can't make myself turn the channel.
"What’s Eric doing?" Lily asks me. I look at them again. Ugh! Seriously what did he see in her?
"Nothing. He isn't reacting to any of her arm touches, flirty giggles, or her knee touching his as they talk to their old high school friends. I wonder if he even notices" I tell her. Knowing boys, probably not. In case you’re wondering how I'm watching them, I'm upstairs looking out a window to the backyard. The window is covered by the roof so they can't see me but I can see them. Like a pink ninja. What? Black ninja is so BORING. I like to spice things up a little. Heehee.
"Come on, Cori. You know Eric isn't going to hook up with Nelly. He loves you. He gave you a ring, remember" Lily tells me. Of course, I know. I'm wearing the ring, dummy.
"I trust Eric. I just don't trust Nelly Smelly" I say glaring at her through the window.
"Just don't jump to any conclusions and don't do any of your plans either" Lily says. Oops; too late. Heehee.
"Please, your one to talk Ms. Dumpee" I say trying not to laugh. Everybody loves to tease Lily about how she broke up with Felipe.
"God, that happened two years ago. Will everybody just give it a rest? I'm practically reminded of it every day!!!" Lily tells me mega annoyed. I think it's hilarious.
"Calm down, Lils" I snort, trying to keep my laughter to myself. I'm not doing a very good job of it.
Lily's POV:
"just go ahead and laugh Cori. No point in trying to hide it" I tell her slightly ticked off. EVERYBODY just loves to remind me of what I did to Felipe; in a good natured way but still. It gets so annoying.
"No I'm sorry, I'll stop. Anyway, there are more important things happening at the moment. Ugh! Just look at her" Cori tells me. Hmmmm, it's kinda hard for me to see since I'm NOT EVEN THERE. I'm about to mention this little fact to Cori until I hear Felipe's voice calling me from the next room.
"Lily, who are you talking to?" he asks.
"Be right back" I tell her and put down my phone and make my way over to Felipe's room.
"I'm talking to Cori" I tell Felipe as I lean against the door frame. He's lying on his bed with his laptop. I really do like Felipe and Orlando's new apartment. It's close to the campus so I can still see Felipe on the weekends.
"Why? You see her everyday at school. What could you possibly be talking about now?" he asks me in disbelief.
"We’re girls, Felipe! We ALWAYS have something to talk about. We like to stay on top of things" I tell him. Good gossip happens fast.
"Are you talking about wedding things?" Felipe asks me. My eyes light up. I totally forgot about that.
"No, we weren't. So ha! But since you'd reminded me, I definitely am going to tell Cori about a wedding theme. So I'll need to borrow you laptop for a sec" I say as I grab his laptop that he was using and give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Your welcome!" Felipe calls out as I quickly leave his room and head back to my phone.
Cori's POV:
"I found this really cool wedding website that has all kinds of different themes. Since your going to have a summer wedding, you should go for the earth tone colors" Lily tells me. She is taking her maid of honor job very seriously.
"No greens or yellows. Too bright for me. What about purple theme color?" I ask turning away from my window spying and lean against the window sill. I like to have my full attention on wedding details. Eric told me not to get all caught up in the wedding just yet since we just got engaged less than two weeks ago. The way I see it is that it never hurts to start looking.
"Hmmm, purple with a warm chocolate brown?" Lily asks.
"A possibility but I would have to see the shades of the color. I don't want my wedding to be focused on two colors. Find more please" I say turning to look out the window again. Shit!!! Where did they go?
"How about gold?" I ask Lily.
"Gold? Tacky!!" She tells me. My mouth drops.
"No it isn't. Just add more colors and it would look fabulous for a wedding. Do you know how many things it could work with, accessory wise?" I say defending my color.
"Just let keep looking for something better" Lily says clearly not impresses with my theme choice. Hmph! Fine be that way.
"Okay what's this website called? I'm going to check it out on my phone" I tell her. Let's just see what kind of themes this website comes up with. As Lily tells me how to get on it, I peer closer to the window hoping to catch of Eric or Nelly. As I'm looking, I suddenly feel a tap on my shoulder.
"Ahhhhhh" I shriek loudly. I look behind me to find Devon looking up at me with her wide green eyes. Was this child trying to give me a heart attack? I put my hand over my beating heart.
"God, you scared the shi-iz out of me" I say stopping myself from cussing.
"Nice save" Lily tells me sarcastically. Well I had to impromptu myself. I'd like to see what she'd come up with. Nothing as good as mine, of course.
"W-wedding?" Devon asks me curiously. Uh oh....... Think fast Cori; pink ninja style.
"Devon, can you keep a secret?" I ask her in a whisper to make it seem like a big top secret mission. It's more fun that way. Heehee. She nods her head. I twirl my engagement ring around my finger so that the diamond shows.
"Me and Eric are getting married but you can't tell anybody that you know because we're gonna tell everybody tonight. Okay?" I ask her. She looks at my ring first and then up at me with a big grin on her face.
"o-okay" Devon tells me happily. Phew, good thing I got that taken care of. Not that I'm surprised she'd keep it a secret. Devon's my little secret keeper. Man, I'm a bad influence on her. I wonder what would happen if she decided to tell Eric some of my "secrets". My butt would be toast. Well actually, Eric usually ends up finding them out anyway. Go figure.
"You pinky swear?" I ask her, holding out my pinky toward her. Just to make it official.
"P-pinky s-swear" she says clasping her pinky in mine and we twist them together. From the huge grin on her face still, I can tell that she approves of our engagement.
"THERE you are, Cori! I have been looking all over for you. I need help" Andrea says walking up to us.
"With what?" I ask her looking out the window again. I still don't see them, but I do see Ms. Snooze talking to Eric's group of old friends. Ha-ha! Lucky them.
"Cori, how about blue and purple?" Lily asks me. Um, no. My gold idea was a lot better than that.
"Those are winter colors, Lily" I say to her. I forgot I was holding my phone to my ear.
"Okay, which heels go better with this outfit? And why aren't you wearing heels tonight? I wanted to be high buddies" Andrea says to me holding up a pair of green heels and aqua heels. I take one glance at them and decide that the aqua heels would go better with her short denim skirt and flowery tank top.
"The aqua ones and it's a barbecue. I'd get my heels stuck in the grass and then they'd be ruined. And we can be high buddies all year at school!!" I tell her excitedly. Andrea is going to be a freshman this year since she finished high school early and I'm going to be the best junior sister ever. I'll take her under my wing for sure since we're going to be high heel buddies (the heel part is silent).
"Okay how about orange, brown, and a Crème color?" Lily asks me next. Eeeeew! Gag me.
"Hell no!! Orange is so not my color. Do you have any blue flip flops? We can beeeee the um the something I'll come up with later buddies" I tell Andrea. Devon laughs. Andrea sighs dramatically.
"Okay but you have to help me pick them out. And who are you talking to about Colors?" she asks me.
"Colors about what?" a new voice joins the conversation. Janey and ugh! Jarod walk to the group.

"Hey, I didn't know that there was another party going on upstairs How come I didn't get an invite?" Jarod asks. I glare at him. Jeeze, I wonder why?
"Because you weren't invited" I tell him.
"Is that Jarod I hear?" Lily asks me.
"Yes, unfortunately. Did you find anymore colors?" I ask her.
"Colors for what?!?" Andrea asks again.
"Oh I know. Have you told anyone yet?" Mariah asks. What the? When and why is she here?
"No I haven't. So do ruin the surprise, smart one" I tell her. It’s getting a little too crowded up her in this hallway.
"Janey invited me here, in case you’re wondering" Mariah says to me.
"I didn't ask, but thanks for the information" I sat giving her a fake smile. Our relationship has come down to friendly banter which I'm okay with.
"What is going on here??" Andrea asks clearly seeing a bigger picture. Devon is finding this while big conversation amusing.
"Will everyone keep their pants on? I just came up here to make a phone call. I didn't know that I would be put on a missing persons list" I tell them.
"You’re the one who is freaking out" Jarod tells me. I glare at him.
"Well everybody downstairs is asking Eric where you are. So of course, you’re on the wanted list" Mariah tells me with smirk. I
"I got to go Lily. I'm on the wanted list" I tell her.
"Well we all knew that it would happen eventually Cori" Lily tells me, not Surprised. That actually was a good one.
"Shut up! I'm hanging up know" I tell her and start to walk toward the stairs.
"Wait, come into my rooms and help me find some shoes" Andrea says pulling me back and toward her room.
"Wait, I have a list full of themes I was about to tell you" Lily tells me in my ear.
"Just put on a pair of flip flops on, Andrea. Come on, I know where Eric is" Janey says pulling my other arm.
"Wow, I just noticed that you’re not wearing heels. That's a first. I should mark this in my Cori Calendar" Jarod says. All this is happening at once. Everyone is talking at once and I'm being pulled in two directions while I'm still on the phone. The first thought that goes through my head is 'I wonder if my arms will be pulled off or my head will explode and which one will happen first" and the second thought that ran through my mind is 'why does Jarod have a Cori calendar and what the HELL is that????" I don't think I would have had a third thought since my head would have exploded from all this confusion if it wasn't for someone shouting
"what the hell is going on??"
Everyone stops what they are doing and freeze to see that Chris was the person who shouted.
"You didn't have to shout Chris" Andrea tells him while giving him a dirty look also. Chris rolls his eyes.
"How else was I supposed to get your attention? I'm amazed that Cori is still in one piece with the way you all were pulling at her. A shame that would be" He says shaking his head. That would be a shame. What would happen to all my shoes, clothes, and purses? They would get lonely!!
"What do you want, Chris?" I snap at him. Why is everybody coming up here? I just came to make a simple phone call and suddenly it turned into a mini party.
"I came up here to see what all the noise was about. Oh and to tell you that Eric was looking for you" Chris adds. That's not surprising; a lot of people have been looking for me. Remind me to never go missing again.
"So I've been told" I say. By this time, Andrea and Janey have released their hold of me so I'm able to start walking down the hallway toward the stairs.
"But what shoes do I wear?" Andrea asks me at the same time as Janey says
"don't you want me to show you wear Eric is?" I stop and turn toward them. Geeze, being wanted sucks sometimes. Talk about exhausting!! I haven't even been down to the real party yet.
"Andrea, wear your red flip flops. I'm sure I'll be able to find them, Janey. But thanks anyway. Bye Lily, remember to text me the colors" I tell everyone and continue down the hall.
When I get downstairs, I head for the backyard where I'm sure Eric is. Before I head out, I remember to twirl the diamond on my engagement ring around to hide it. Don't want to ruin the surprise. I see Eric talking to his grandma on the patio. Thankfully, Ms. smelly Nelly isn't around.
"There you are, Cori!! I was beginning to think you disappeared. I was going to send Eric to find you" His grandma tells me standing up from her chair to give me a big hug. I return her hug before sitting down next to Eric who gives me a kiss on my cheek.
"Trust me, I could never disappear even if I tried" I tell her. And don't ask me how, but I have tried; desperately. Especially when Eric is about to kill me. But try as I might, I can never disappear. He always ends up finding me. I take it that you’re not very surprised by that little bit of information. I wonder why.
"Well good. When I didn't see you, I was beginning to think that Eric and Nelly had gotten back together" his Grandma tells me. I know exactly what she mean thanks to my spying- I mean ninja skills. Heehee.
"Grandma, you know for a fact that I don't like Nelly in that way. She and I are just friends. I love Cori. You know that" Eric tells her putting his arm around me and pulling me close to him. I smile. Ha! If Nelly could see me now.
"I do know that and I trust you. It’s her that I'm not so sure about. And just what are Nelly and her mom doing here anyway?" she asks. Okay, this is scary. She just read my mind. Maybe Eric's grandma is a retired psychic or something like that. I'll have to ask Eric about that later. Eric shrugs.
"Their old family friends. Ms. O'Donnell is like best friends with mom so they've always been invited to parties and stuff" he says. I never would have guessed that Demi and Ms. Snooze were BFF's. Demi is fun. Ms. Snooze is boring. Demi has a good fashion sense. Ms. Snooze is totally fashion less. Demi is pretty. Ms. Snooze is......well not exactly the prettiest pearl necklace if you get what I mean. I don't know how they could be friends or even BFF's. Suddenly Eric's brother and his wife, Sarah, are pulling Demi out of the house to sit by Greg at a picnic table.
"Listen for a second for what we have to tell you. Then you can go back into the kitchen" Zach says to Demi who probably didn't want to leave the food. She looks at him expectantly.
"Well we wanted to wait and tell the good news with everybody here. We're expecting a baby!!!!" Zach and Sarah say at the same time. Awwww, how nice for them. Well sort of anyway. Everybody claps for them. His parents hug them. Demi's crying. You know the usual stuff baby announcement reactions. As this is all going on, a strange thought runs through my mind. I don't know how this came to my mind but I know the perfect plan to get back at Nelly's flirty ways. I smile THAT smile. Oh this is definitely going to be too good. I walk inside toward where the drinks were a little later after everyone had settled down from the baby news. Unfortunately, Nelly decided it was time to come back and sit with Eric. Ugh!! I can’t stand her stupid nasally laugh. Heeheeheeheehee. Just shut all ready. If I heard her laugh one more time, I would have thrown my flip flop at her. Damn! Too bad I didn't wear heels tonight. Hmph! First I make a pit stop in the kitchen.
"Congratulations!!!" I say to Demi while hugging her. By this time, all her tears have dried up but I can tell she is still really happy.
"Oh thank you, Cori. I'm so excited" she tells me. I let go of her and grab a plastic cup.
"Of course. You’re going to be a grandma for the first time" I tell her as I pour water into the cup. I see a fresh batch of lemonade about to be made. Perfect! I won't even have to leave the kitchen for the plan.
"Well as long as they don't overdo on the Eco friendly stuff on the baby, I'll stay happy; especially Sarah" Demi says in a loud whisper. You see, Zach's wife is a very big green save the planet person. Don't get me wrong; I like to recycle and stuff like that but she takes it waaaaaayyy over the top with EVERYTHING which drives Demi NUTS. I've been told that's one the main reasons why I'm Demi's favorite (a.k.a Demi likes me better than Sarah).
"I'm sure the baby will be just fine" I say as I watch Demi continue to prepare the lemonade. I just got to wait for the perfect moment.
"What really needs to happen is getting you and Eric married so then YOU can start having babies" Eric's Aunt Tia says to me. The plan is already in effect, sweetie. Except for the babies part. That is not in any of my future plans that is for sure. Can you imagine me having kids???? Mini Eric and Cori's running all over the place while I'LL have to catch them. What a total nightmare.
"Yeah hurry up and get married already. You guys have been dating FOREVER!!" a cousin whose name I don't know says to me. I'll just call her Dory. She looks like a Dory.
"Well it will happen when it happens" I tell them slyly trying not to smile. Do you know how hard it is to keep secret? Torturous, I tell you.
"Hopefully soon. I want mini Cori and Eric's running all over the place" Demi says with a smile. Well apparently me and Demi have totally opposite views of what my future is gonna be like. I wonder how I'm going to break the news to her that she is so WRONG!
"That would be so cute. You two will have the cutest kids ever!! What should their names be?" Cousin Dory asks. Uh oh......... This conversation is turning for the worse. Get out of here, Cori. Abort! Abort!! ABORT!!!!
"Think of some names for me and let me know later. I gotta go to........well, bye" I tell them and head out fast. Not that they noticed. They were too busy talking about how Rachel and Andrew were the perfect kid’s names. Whatever. I head back outside pouting. I didn't even get to do my plan. Stupid future. You see, I was gonna give Nelly a cup of Demi's homemade lemonade: but without the sugar. She puts so many lemons in there that you'll mouth will ache if you drink it without sugar. Get it? Then smelly Nelly would shut her annoying mouth and my ears would have peace and quiet. But not now. Just great. I sit down next to Eric. His grandma, Chris, Andrea, Janey, Mariah, and Nelly were all in a heated conversation about who knows what. They didn't notice me come back.
"What’s wrong, baby?" Eric whispers to me as he puts his arm around me and pulls me close to him. I sigh heavily.
"Nothing, Eric" I say with my arms folded. I can hear a high pitched heeheeheeheehee. My poor ears.
"Nothing, huh? Then why are you pouting?" Eric asks me while giving my temple a kiss.
"I'm not pouting Eric" I tell him while looking away. Who am I kidding? I'm in total pout mode and he knows it.
"Oh really? Then why are you slumped with your arms folded and giving me one of your over dramatic sighs? Hmmmm, looks to me like you’re in total pout mode" Eric says with a small smile. See! Nothing gets past him.
"Eric, I'm fine. Really" I say pulling his arm around my waist tighter around me. Just to show Nelly who he belongs to in case she is looking which I know she probably is out the corner of her eye. Let's hope she gets the message.
"Cori, tell me what's wrong? What's bothering you, baby?" he asks me quietly as he rubs his thumb over my hand in his. I can't tell him what's wrong. I don't want to be that jealous annoying girlfriend. Even though I kinda am, but that's totally besides the point.
"I'm fine Eric. Really, really, really. I'm fine" I tell him again. I doubt he believes me. Just don't look him in the eye, Cori. I look over across his parent’s huge backyard to see his dad taking drink orders from people. Drink orders as in alcohol. A pink light bulb goes off in my head. I wonder what Nelly is like drunk. Hmmmm.........

"What a wonderful surprise to see you here. I didn't think I'd get to see your pretty face tonight" Greg, Eric's dad, says to me from behind the bar. I smile. Eric may get his eyes from his mom, but gets his black hair and pretty much everything else from his dad.
"Well there are a lot of people here. I have to make my way around fair and square. But you know I wouldn't have forgotten to come see you" I tell him sitting down on a bar stool. Okay so I haven't really been making my way around. More like hiding out, but he doesn't have to know that.
"So you here to get your drink on?" Greg asks me. I laugh slightly.
"I wish!! I can't drink yet. I'm turning twenty-one later this month. I just brought the drink orders here for some people" I say getting the piece of paper from my pocket. Just the first part of my plan. It was hard to convince Eric to let me go get the drinks. He thought I would secretly booze it up somewhere. As if! Eric doesn't he even like to think about my twenty first birthday coming up. He doesn't want me to drink. EVER! Not that I blame him because of what happened last time I drank alcohol. I still have nightmares sometimes. I’m sure Eric does too. I wonder if he'll ever let me drink again. I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer was a no. A big fat NO.
"Your still a baby. I'll have these drinks coming right up" Greg says teasing me before starting on the drinks.
"I'll be right back to get them" I tell him as I head for the kitchen, but not before looking to see him pour orange juice in a cup. Ha! I know that is Nelly's screwdriver. I had to look up what a screwdriver was on my phone on the way to the bar. Orange juice and vodka. Nelly ordered a small glass. She didn't want to 'drink too much.' Hmmm, we'll see about that. Heehee. I don't really head to the kitchen. I just stand outside the hall for a minute or two before going back to Greg.
"Hey, I think I see some boys messing with your new grill" I say hurrying back into the room. At least they were a half hour ago so technically I'm not lying. Greg drops what he's doing.
"What! I told them not to mess with that. Will you watch the drinks for me?" he says heading outside. You know, I have to say that my plan is working perfectly so far. I bet your surprised. I hurry behind the bar and find Nelly's drink. I sniff it. Yup, it has vodka in it already. I find the shot glass and the vodka which was close by. I pour some in and add it to her drink. I pour in one more shot before closing the vodka bottle and mixing her drink up. I head back around the bar and sit down in a chair. Phew, all done!! Now it's time to sit back and enjoy the show. Greg comes back in a few seconds later.
"Kids, these days. They have no respect. Need to be taught some manners" I hear him muttering to himself. I guess it worked. I could be a movie star with all the skills that I got. Greg finishes the drinks and hands them to me.
"Now don't drink any of that. If you show up drunk, I'd never hear the end of it from my son" he says and winks at me. We both know Eric too well.
"You have nothing to worry about" I tell him and head outside. I sit next to Eric and hand out everyone their drinks; the last being Nelly. Janey, Jarod, Andrea, and his grandma were the only ones left. Mariah and Chris went off somewhere. Do I see a romance starting? Only time will tell. I try to hide my smirk as Nelly begins to drink her screwdriver.             I’m already laughing on the inside. I can't WAIT to see the results of my plans.

"L-let’s get this party STARTED!!!! Yeah!!" an intoxicated Nelly shouts loudly. She can barely put her drink down on the table since her hand is shaking so badly. It's like a train wreck waiting to happen. Nelly gets up and swerves and stumbles over to the loud speaker where she proceeds to change the music on the iPod to a techno dance song. She turns the loud speakers up all the way so the music is blasting. I'm biting my tongue to keep from laughing. I can't make myself obvious. Not that anyone would notice since everyone is pretty much focused on Miss Techno over there.
Lily, guess what I did?!?!? Heehee - Cori
Uh oh.....sounds like trouble - Lily
I got Nelly totally DRUNK - Cori
CORI!!!! ARE YOU CRAZY!!!! - Lily
Calm down, Lily. No need to yell - Cori
Cori, you do realize that Eric is gonna beat your ass when he finds out what you did and what if something happens to Nelly. Wasted people do crazy things - Lily
I glance up at Nelly to see that she is doing a slow dance with this elderly guy. She's slow dancing to techno music. I feel bad for the old guy since he looks totally freaked out. Haha! His face is priceless.
Crazy things such as slow dancing to techno? Watch out for Nelly. Something bad is 'totally' going to happen to her - Cori
I'm not really loving your sarcasm at the moment - Lily
When does Lily ever love my sarcasm?
"I have a fun idea. Let's all get naked and run across the yard together!!!!" Nelly says excitedly. A ton of people are horrified at what she just announced. Some of the moms quickly cover their little kid’s eyes. I'm choking back my laughter. Not that I have to. Many of the older cousins are laughing hysterically. The horrified ones convince Nelly that isn't such a good idea so she moves on to the dessert table. She starts grabbing pudding, yogurt, candy, and ice creaming with her hands and stuffing it in her mouth at a surprisingly fast speed. It's like she's in a food eating contest. By this time, Ms. Snooze and Demi have made their way over to her.
"Come inside Nelly. You’re not doing so great out here" her mother tells her while trying to pull her arm. Nelly shakes her way loose from the grip.
"I'm fine mom. I don't know what's wrong with meeeee" Nelly half cries then laughs her slurred words.
"You had a little too much to drink, Sweetie" Demi tells her sympathetically, then glares at Greg. Nelly backs away from them still laughing and crying. Everyone at the barbecue has their eyes glued on Nelly waiting for what she will do next.
"No, I'm fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine" she says backing away from them. She continues to back away from them until Ms. Snooze says
"Nelly stop!!" But it was too late. Nelly has backed herself all the way into the pool. The deep area of the pool, might I add. She starts splashing around and gasping for breath in the water. Almost everyone jumped out of their seat and rushed to the sides of the pool; Well everyone except me anyway. I wouldn't be able to see anything since I'm so short and plus, I didn't wear heels. The next thing I hear makes my body run cold in dread.
"Someone help her please!!! She doesn't know how to swim"
 Oh shit! Oh shit!! OH SHIT!!! I sit up in my chair hoping to get a look of what's happening.
"Oh my gosh Nelly!! Don't panic. Oh help please someone before she drowns. Please!!!" Ms. Snooze frantically shouts while throwing her arms around. If it wasn't in the current situation, id totally be laughing. Instead, my eyes are wide in fear. What if she dies?? I’m a killer! I didn't meant to. Please, don't send me to jail. I wouldn’t do good in jail. Well okay, so I have been to jail before but not killer jail. Killer jail is worse, I tell you. They have no shopping malls. Terrible!!
I see a glimpse of a guy taking off his shirt and diving into the water for Nelly. A guy that looks like Eric. I glare slightly. Well I don't want her to drown BUT I don't want Eric saving her. I mean it kinda defeats the purpose of me getting her drunk. To get her flirty hands off of him. And if Eric is saving her then my plan was totally USELESS. I sit back in my chair with my arms folded in a pout. Why does this screwy stuff always happen to me? Stupid plan. Stupid Nelly. Stupid Ms. Snooze. Stupid Jarod. Stupid nerds. Stup- My pouting fit in my head is interrupted when a strong hand grips my arm lifting me out of my seat and turning me around to face a pair of green eyes. Oh thank god, it's Eric. He wasn't saving Nelly. Yes!!! Yes!! Yes!!! I mean I don't want Nelly to drown or anything but I just don't want her saved by Eric. And she wasn't. Yay! Happy dance time. My victory party quickly comes to an end when I notice just how angry Eric looks. (Gulp) uh oh.
"Tell me straight up, did you spike Nelly's drink?" he asks me in a low dangerous voice. Um, do you think I could get away with it if I said no?
"Cori, don't you DARE lie to me right now" Eric tell me. Okay the answer to my previous question would be a big fat HELL NO.
"Well I um I-I-I did spike her drink just a little" I tell him shrinking at his gaze. Does Eric have to glare at me like that? I feel like his eyes are shooting lasers through my head.
"Just a little?" he asks me with raised eyebrows. Does ANYTHING get passed Eric? I mean really, you'd think just once I’d be able to do it. I’d think it would take a miracle for that to happen.
"Okay more like a lot" I confess looking down at my feet. Hmmm, I really need to get a pedicure. My toes are looking out of shape. I wonder what color I should get. Eric must be satisfied with my confession because he pulls my arm that he still has a hold toward the house. I practically have to run to keep up with his long strides. I wished he would just carry me so I wouldn't keep tripping over my feet but I don't want to risk anybody seeing and wondering where were going. Heck, I don't even know where were going so there guess would be as good as mine. Not that anyone is noticing us since their main concern is about Nelly at the moment; who, by the way, is out of the pool and is gasping and puking her guts out on the grass. I bet this will be one barbecue that everyone will remember, that's for sure. Once inside the house, Eric leads me up the stairs and to his bedroom. He finally let's go of my arm and opens the door for me to go in. Ugh, do I have to?
"You’re in SO much trouble, Cori" Eric tells me as I gloomily walk into the room. If I had a hundred bucks for every time he says that, I'd be a multimillionaire who would be able to buy all the designer purses and shoes I'd want. Heehee.
"Really? I couldn't tell" I say sarcastically. My eyes widen and both of my hands fly over my mouth. Why did I just say that??? Brain, are you trying to get my butt killed? Lily was right. Eric is totally going to beat my ass. Starting now. Eric just rolls his eyes and shakes his head as pulls me over to the bed then onto his lap in one quick motion.
"If I didn't know any better Cori, id think you were purposely trying to make it harder for yourself" he says lifting his hand and bringing it down hard over my left thigh.
Smack smack smack smack smack smack smack
Eric is giving all his attention to my thighs. It's stinging so bad right now.
"Eric please owwww I'm sorry!! Ah owww Eric!" I cry out wiggling my butt trying to escape the hard smacks coming down. Ugh! Damn short shorts. No protection whatsoever for my poor defenseless thighs or sit spots.
Smack smack smack smack smack smack smack
Eric stops spanking me and lets me up. Finally!! I'd thought he'd never stop. Okay, so maybe he probably spanked me fifteen or twenty times. It still hurt like hell. Hmph! Eric sits me down on the bed next to him.
"I'm sorry Eric. I didn't mean to say that. Really" I tell him. Brain, my butt wants to say that you suck!! Eric kisses my nose and forehead to show that its alright and it's done and over with.
"Ready to move on now?" he asks me. I nod my head resisting the urge to rub my warm butt.
"So do you want to tell me exactly why you did what you did to Nelly?" Eric asks next. Think of a strategy, Cori. Everybody likes a good story, don’t you think?
"Well I'll tell you but there is a story to it, okay?" I tell Eric. He probably can't wait to hear this.
"I'm listening" he says expectantly. Alright Cori, work your magic.
"So there was this innocent girl with an outstanding taste in fashion at a party with her fiancé. She didn't know that his ex girlfriend was going to be there or else she would have come better dressed. Anyway, this ex of his was evil and was trying to steal her ex boyfriend back for herself. The innocent girl tried everything she could but she was no match for the ex. She was powerless and left to suffer with no hope. That is until a certain green eyed monster girl who looked exactly like the innocent girl came to her and said that she could help her defeat the evil ex. The innocent girl agreed but thought it was only fun and games. Little did she know that the green eyed monster had others plans. The innocent girl was locked away in a dungeon and had to wear last season's clothes. Totally tragic, I know. Poor innocent girl. Well, the green eyed monster girl took over and got carried away with defeating the evil ex with the ear splitting annoying laugh. The green eyed monster girl thought that spiking evil ex's drink would be funny. And it was; at first. But then she got scared because she thought that she killed evil ex and that the innocent girl's fiancé was going to save her and rekindle his feelings for her. But is turned out that the green eyed monster girl and the innocent girl were wrong and that her fiancé loved her and not the evil ex. So the innocent girl and the green eyed monster girl are really, really, really, really sorry about what they did and hope that the fiancé will take that into consideration for when he is about to give them the spanking of their life. The end?" I finish hoping that the ending message really inspired Eric into going lighter on the said 'spanking of their life' in the story. Well I can hope, can't I? I can tell Eric is trying not to smile.
"Into consideration, huh? Why should he? You didn't say much about him" Eric tells me. If that will get the 'fiancé' to considerate, then I'll give a long list. In fact I'll even write a book about him if he wants me to.
"Well the fiancé is charming, a gentle men, and protective over his girl, in love with his adorable, totally sorry fiancé, and a total hottie. Do you want me to keep going?" I ask him. Eric laughs slightly and grins. At least he is in a good mood right now. No more Mr. angry pants.
"I got the picture, baby. So the moral of your story would be........" he says prompting me to finish.
"To not make deals with the green eyed monster" I say. At least in my story anyway. They'll end up getting you spanked way worse.
"So in other words, don't let jealousy get the best of you" Eric tells me. I nod my head.
"why were you jealous of Nelly, angel?" he asks me. I cross my arms and turn away. Geeze, boys are totally clueless.
"because" I say quietly. Eric pulls me back to him and turns me back around.
"because why?" he ask again. I sigh.
"because she was all over you. That's why" I huff turning away AGAIN.
"I know. That's why I told her to stop" Eric tells me. Wait, what??
"you did?" I ask turning to face him again.
"Mhmm. I told her that she can't act like that. We're friends so she has to act like friends and not like we're dating" he says. Ha! In your face, Nelly. So I didn't even have to spike her stupid drink. Thanks a lot Eric.
"Did you know that I was jealous?" I ask him. Now that he mentions is, Nelly did back off later in the evening. She wasn't touching him and everything. I just didn't notice it because of the green eyed monster in me. It's all her fault.
"Pretty much. I just didn't know for sure until you got Nelly drunk" he says. I wince. Don't remind me, even if it was awesome at first.
"How’d you know I did it?" I ask him.
"Cori, I know when your planning something a mile away. Plus, you didn't look very surprised when Nelly was wasted and you had that smirk on your face so I figured it out" he tells me. Grrrr. That smirk always gives me away every time. I need to work on a new planning look.
"Why are friends with Nelly anyway?" I ask him. That's kinda weird to me.
"Cori, if you and I broke up I'm pretty
positive we'd still be friends" Eric says.
"What! Is there something you want to talk about?" I demand. Eric groans.
"Angel, I was just making a point. It didn't mean anything. Besides, we've come this far together. Why would we give it all up now?" He asks holding up my hand with the engagement ring on it and then kissing my hand. Gosh, why does Eric always have to sound so smart?
"Your right. I'm sorry. It’s just, I trust you but I don't trust Nelly" I tell him. Eric wraps his arm around me and pulls me in close.
"I know baby and I don't expect you too. But just because you don't trust her doesn’t mean you can go out and do mean things to her. Like spike her drink" he says. I feel totally bad now. It was such a good plan though. Why did she have to fall into the pool?
"I know. It was wrong and I'm really sorry" I say sadly hoping to catch some sympathetic points from Eric. I'll take anything I can get.
"Well your gonna be even sorrier in a minute" he tells me. In a minute? But that would mean.......
"Wait, your gonna spank me here? At your parent’s house?" I ask him getting worried. Please say it isn't so. Eric stands me up and moves me between his legs.
"Why put it off?" he asks me pulling me closer so he can unbutton my shorts. I grab the top of my shorts to stop him from doing so.
"But what if somebody hears?" I shriek. I'm not exactly quiet during my spankings. Okay, so I'm not quiet at all.
And he's gonna spank me upstairs with all the people DOWNSTAIRS?
"Everybody’s outside and we're upstairs on the other side of the house, so don’t worry. Besides if you don’t want anyone to hear you, you should have thought of that before went off and did something completely stupid" Eric says and moves my hands to continue to unbutton my shorts. WHY ME!!!
 "Eric please!! Not here. Anywhere but here. Spank me back at my dorm or your place or behind a dumpster for all I care but PLEASE not here" I beg Eric giving him big puppy dog eyes backing away from who was busy working my shorts down. Please work, please work, please work. He sighs.
"Cori, the more time you waste the bigger the chances are of someone hearing. So keep stalling if you want to but we're not leaving this room until you've been spanked" Eric tells me firmly. Geeze, will my puppy dog eyes EVER work? I wonder what would happen if I made a run for it. Hmmmm. Cori, don't even go there. You know Eric would catch you in a heartbeat which would make matters worse for your sorry behind. Thanks brain; your actually helping me for once. I pout and stomp my foot.
"It’s not fair" I say crossing my arms together. Wow, I guess I have my emotion machine turned on to pouting in my head today.
"Life isn’t fair, baby. It's just the way it is. Now come here and let’s get this spanking over and done with please" he says. Ugh. No thanks.
"Please Eric. Not here. Please!!!" I beg one more time as I head back to Eric. It never hurts to keep trying. Except when it falls on deaf ears which Eric apparently has right now. I'm pulled over his lap with my shorts and panties down.
"Tell me what you did wrong, Cori" Eric says adjusting me over his lap. Oh, so now he decides to talk. Let's hope my story had put a change of heart on Eric to go easy on me. Well I can hope can't I?
"I let jealousy take over my feelings. And I spiked Nelly's drink" I tell him.
"(Smack) and (smack) what (smack) did (smack) and (smack) could (smack) have (smack) happened (smack) to (smack) her (smack)?" Eric asks me while starting to spank my sit spots damn HARD.
"Owwww she got really drunk owwie and fell into ah the pool ow and she ahh could have died ow ow owwww" I tell him trying not to cry out to loudly. I for sure don't want anyone to hear me. Talk about embarrassing. I think that'd be a punishment all by itself. Obviously satisfied with my answer, Eric just concentrates on spanking me now. I wished he'd lose some concentration. Not that it would help my butt any. It's already burning like it’s on fire. Hmph! I guess my little story didn't move him any. Meanie.
Smack smack smack smack smack
Smack smack smack smack smack
Eric continues to spank me only on my sit spots which make the spanking feel ten times worse than normal.
"owww Eric ah please owwwwie I'm sorry!!!! Oww" I cry out to him with tears streaming down my face. I want to smack the person whoever came up with spankings in the first place. They deserve a good spanking.
Smack smack smack smack smack
I start to sob now. God, my butt is killing me. How can Eric's hand be made of steel? How is that even possible?
Smack smack smack smack smack
"Eric please oww ahh Stop I've learned ow my lesson owwie" I sob to him. I'm trying to keep my sobbing down. Can't chance anyone hearing.
I can't stand it anymore. I reach back and cover my burning cheeks. Cori, why do you always make things harder for yourself? WHY!! Eric just grabs my hand and pins it in his on the small of my back. Well on the plus side, at least it stopped my spanking.
"Looks like you want to get spanked harder" he ask me rubbing my flaming butt. Okay, I don't know about you guys but I don't think I look like I want to get spanked harder. Eric needs to get his vision checked, that's for sure. Oh and how exactly is he going to be spanking me harder? There is nothing here for him to use. No Mr. Meanie belt. No Ms. Unfriendly brush. No evil wooden spoon of doom. I'd like to see what Eric comes up with now. Oh wait, he has nothing. Ha! Eric takes off one of my flip flops from my feet. DAMN IT!!! I thought I won this time. I'm never wearing flips flops while doing a plan again. Hmph!!
"I guess today was the wrong day for you to wear flip flops, huh baby?" he says laughing slightly. DUH, captain obvious. As if I didn't realize that myself. Stupid flip flops.
Smack smack smack smack smack
Thanks for giving me some warning, Eric. He doesn't wasted anytime with the my shoes. My spanking is continued as if it was never interrupted.
SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK
My butt is killing me right now. I put bottom of the bedspread in my mouth to muffle out my loud sobs. I'm taking no risks. Eric is focused on my thighs as well as sits spots now. Yay. Lucky me.
SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK
I'm sobbing extremely hard. Flip flops are supposed to be floppy, not hard.
SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK
I'm pretty much limp over Eric's lap. I don't know when he stopped spanking me until I felt him take my shoe of my other foot and help me stand up to sit in his lap. I wince when I've made contact with Eric's shorts. He moves me more onto my hip and then smuggles me into his strong and loving arms.
"Shhhh baby love I've got you shhhhh it's okay now Shhhh just cry it out angel shhhhh I love you and will always love you Shhhh" Eric whispers to me as he gently rocks me back and forth. (Sigh) I love cuddling time after a spanking. My sobs and cries slowly come to an end.
"You alright, baby?" he asks me while sitting me up on his lap then kissing away a few last strands of tears down my face. I nod my head.
"(Sniff) I'm sorry Eric. I never meant to actually hurt Nelly (sniff)" I tell him.
"I know Lovie. Just don't spike anyone’s drink again, okay?" I asks. Don't worry. It isn't on my to do list.
"I won't" I tell him. Eric gives me one last kiss on my nose before helping me stand up and pull my shorts and panties back up.
"Eric, can you hold more when we get to your place?" I ask looking up at him. By his place, I mean his apartment. It's nearby the hospital that he works at. It's also close to the campus so I can still see him regularly.
"Of course baby. For as long as you want" Eric says wrapping me in a hug. Yay! Cuddle time with Eric.
"Can we get ice cream too?" I ask him next. I'm craving ice cream. Plus ice cream and cuddle time would be awesome!! A double win.
"Sure angel. Let's go tell my family about the engagement and then we can go" he tells me kissing me one last time on the forehead before letting me go.
"Okay. Oh, do I have to apologize to Nelly?" I ask Eric. I'd rather give away one of my high heels than do that. Eric gives me a grin before saying
"nah. What she doesn't know won’t hurt her. Come on baby, let's head downstairs" he says taking my hand in his and walking toward the door. Well I couldn't agree with Eric more. He just said my life motto. Heehee.
"You ready?" Eric asks me quietly right outside the doorway leading to the kitchen. Makeup fixed? Check. Hair looks fabulous as usual? Check, obviously. Got my game face on? Check!!! I’d say I'm more than ready.
"Mhmmm. Let's do it" I tell Eric. He smiles and pulls me into a tight hug. (Happy sigh) I feel so safe and secure in his arms. I always do. Knowing that I have someone who will always love me and never leave me and will never hurt me; well I guess you could say except with spankings but that's for my own good and Eric will never kill me while spanking me anyway. So it's all good. Eric kisses my nose and gives me one last squeeze before letting me go.
"Come on, let's hurry and go through with so we can leave" I say, urging Eric to go through the doorway. Let's get the show on the road. I don't have all night. Oreo ice cream and a couch is calling my name and when it's calling, it can’t be ignored.
"Geeze, no need to be pushy" Eric says grinning at me. I kinda have to be pushy when it comes down to cuddle time with Eric. I don't get it that often anymore since he works and I'm at school. Hmph. It's not fair.
"I can't help it. It's in my nature. Now go and good luck" I tell Eric and give him a kiss on the cheek before he walks into the kitchen. Your probably wondering what we're doing? Hmmm, I think I'll just let you wait and see. What? You don't like that idea. Ha-ha! Oh what the hey. I'll tell you. You see, me and Eric are going to trick his family into thinking that we just broke up before actually telling them that we're engaged. It's going to be awesome since I have such good movie star skills. I'm a natural at these kind of things. Heehee.
"I was wondering where you and Cori went off to. You missed all the action with Nelly. She was throwing like there was no tomorrow" I hear Andrea say to Eric in the kitchen.
"Sorry I missed it" I hear Eric say not that interested opening the fridge.
"What’s wrong, Eric? And where's Cori?" his grandma asks. I wanna shout I'm right here but I don't think that would be a smart thing to do at the moment.
"She'll be in soon. She just wanted to be alone for awhile" Eric answers as if he is down and something is troubling his. Something like our breakup.
"Why?" Andrea asks probably wondering why Eric is acting weird.
"We were just having a pretty deep conversation and one thing lead to another and things aren't looking so good" Eric says. Damn, if I didn't know he was acting I would totally believe him now myself. Eric has awesome movie star skills too. Who would have thought? "Aren’t looking so good? What do you mean?" his grandma asks worriedly.
"Aren’t looking good......well, for us" Eric tells them mournfully since our relationship is pretty much dead.
"What!!! You two are breaking up?? No way" Andrea shouts shocked. I know that Eric just shrugs for answer as if he doesn't know at the moment. Alright, it's my cue to go. Wish me luck!! I walk into the doorway of the kitchen and sigh sadly. His grandma and Andrea both look at me, hoping that Eric isn't telling the truth. He is, well not really but he is supposed to be telling the truth but......not actually? Just shut up before you confuse yourself Cori.
"Cori!! What's going on? Are you and Eric breaking up for real?" Andrea asks me. I walk over to her and hug her then look at her sadly.
"Let’s not talk about it. It's supposed to be a fun gathering. Let's not bring depressing talk in now" I tell her and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand as if I'm about to cry again. Since I really did cry about fifteen minutes ago, my eyes are still a little bit red and puffy. It just makes the joke even better.
"It’s because of Nelly, isn't it?" Eric’s grandma asks him accusingly.
"Grandma, can we please not talk about it here?" Eric asks. Nice Eric, don't confirm or deny. Hey, I should use that strategy. It might work sometimes. After all, he used it didn't he? Suddenly, Demi comes in from the side door with a tray full of empty cups, plates and silverware. But she instantly stops when she notices how we are acting.
"What’s going on?" she asks worriedly now too. I look away from her gaze as if I don't want her to realize what happened. No one answers her.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Demi demands this time. Sheesh and I thought I was pushy.
"Eric and Cori are breaking up" Andrea says in a extremely sad looking at the ground. One part of me feels a tiny bit bad but another part of me wants to burst out laughing. Stay calm Cori and don't lose control. Demi gasps and drops the tray. It comes crashing down. Her hands cover her mouth.
"No. No, you two can't be breaking up. Your joking" she says. For a second I thought she caught on but realize that she hadn't. Demi looks between me and Eric and notice that we are avoiding each other’s gazes and then sits on a nearby chair with tears in her eyes.
Actually the real reason is that if me and Eric did look at each other, we'd burst out laughing. So no making eye contact. Ms. Snooze comes in hurriedly to see what the noise was about.
"You can't break up. You two were perfect for each other. PERFECT!!! I wanted you to get married and have babies and grow old together. How can you........" Demi starts to say before she covers her head in her face and I can't understand the rest. Ms. Snooze appears to be very happy by the sudden news. Grrrrr, I don't like her. Unfortunately for her this is all a joke.
Alright, I guess it's time to break the news I guess. I walk over to Demi trying not to crack a smile or laugh and say
"I agree. We are pretty perfect. That's why we're getting MARRIED!!!" I show her my engagement ring. Let's just say that things went none stop from there. Demi jumped up from her seat and gave a me a tight choking hug then she went off and gave Eric a hug, Andrea told us we were mean people with no hearts even though she was happy too, and EVERYONE wanted congratulate us so me and Eric were there for another hour and a half. Can you believe that? Ugh! My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. I really need to frown. Where's Jarod when I need him?
"Hey, you wanna get out of here?" Eric asks me later when his mom, sister, and cousins were all making wedding plans. Wedding plans that I thought were totally not on my fashion radar. I quickly nod while grabbing his hand and start to pull him toward the door. Well we do have ice cream and a couch in desperate need of attention. I don't want to keep them waiting any longer. Heehee.

Before Happily Ever After

"Thank you so much for watching Devon at the last minute, Cori. The end of the summer is always hectic; especially with all the back to school stuff occurring" Demi, Eric's mom, tells me as she ushers Devon in through the door. I LOVE Eric's little sister. She is adorable.
"Hi Devon" I say with a wave. She smiles up at me shyly. Demi hands me a basket with food in it.
"Here are some snacks for you guys. Have you gotten any closer to finishing?" she asks me, indicating all the boxes and things that are still wrapped in the dining room. There is tons of stuff everywhere; literally. The whole room is packed. Actually I have barely even started which is surprising since I love to open gifts. Especially if they are for me. But I'm waiting for Lily to be here with me. She'll keep everything organized since I'll have to hand write thank you letters to everyone. Last time I had a ton of gifts, I didn't keep track of who I got it from and had to guess who gave me the gift for the letter. Let's just say my uncle Dill got a thank you letter for a lacy bra and panties set and my friend Veronica got a thank you letter for an extremely ugly orange oversized sweater. Oops!! So after that little fiasco, Lily always helps me. So until then, I can't open anything and its soooooo hard. It's like resisting the urge to trip a nerd that is carrying a huge handful of books. Unbelievably hard I tell you.
"Not by an inch, but when I am finished you can come over and see everything" I tell her. Demi's eyes light up.
"I can't wait! I should be back in a few hours. Thanks again Cori. Bye girls" she hurriedly says and quickly makes her out the door. I look down at Devon next to me and smile again. Her big green eyes are staring up at me.
"come on, let's go into the living room to chill" I say and take her hand as we head into the kitchen to drop off the food basket and then make our way into the living room.
"So what do you want to do?" I ask Devon. She looks around the room curiously. I do the same. Ugh! I really need to decorate this room. As of right now, it's BORING!! But once I let my completely amazing fashionista skills take over, it's gonna be awesome. Devon spots a photo album sitting on the coffee table and picks it up. She smiles happily.
"I n-never got t-the c-chance to l-look a-at it. C-can we l-look a-at it n-now?" she asks me. Hmmm, her stuttering has been getting better.
"Sure. I actually added new pictures to it today so you'll be the first to see the completed version" I say and head toward the couch. I sit down slowly and tenderly. In case you’re wondering why, let's just say Eric doesn't like the term no to be used in my vocabulary at times; like this morning. When are you ever going to learn that back talking leads you nowhere but a sore ass Cori, good conscience tells me. Shut up, her mind wasn't working that well yet since she was just waking up, bad conscience says defending me. I definitely agree with the evil side; as usual. Devon looks at me curiously as to what I was doing. Think fast Cori.
"I've been doing this new exercise program that really works your butt and thighs. So I'm a little sore" I tell her quickly. I’m not even lying.
"w-whats it c-called? Mommy m-might u-use the s-same p-program" Devon asks me. Cori, think even faster.
"oh um it's called the uh work-till-you-cry program. It's pretty intense and effective. In fact, I even have a personal trainer" I tell her. I'm sure you know who the personal trainer is. It doesn't take a nerd to figure that out. Devon seems to accept my answer and sits down next to me with the album in her lap. She moves it more into the middle so I can see too. Devon opens it and on the first page it shows a picture of me and Eric hugging after he popped the question. Yes, you read correctly. Eric asked me to marry him. (sigh) I still remember that night perfectly as if it were yesterday...............................................
 "you've been with my ass for five years today Eric. You should feel honored" I say to him while sipping my coke. I'm a very special person; who wouldn't be honored?
"or a little crazy" Eric says with a grin. I look at him unamused. He laughs.
"I'm kidding. Yes, I'm very honored that I've been with you for the last seven years of my life. I'm a very lucky guy" he tells me. I smile at Eric; warmed by his words.
"yeah because you have me" I tell him happily. Eric takes my hands in his and kisses them.
"baby, do you remember when we first met?" Eric asks me. Duh! How can I forget that day?
"of course I remember. It was the first time I saw my soon to be boyfriend. It was hard not to stare" I tell him. Eric was soooooo hot. I mean he most definitely still is but I could just tell that he was different from the other guys; the good looks probably had something to do with it. Eric rolls his eyes.
"aw baby please" says not agreeing with me. (sigh) Guys are so clueless sometimes. And they think girls are blind. Yeah right!!
"what??? It's true. Your freakin' hot!! Your just too modest" I tell him with a wave of my hand.
"yeah, something you need to work on" Eric says. I glare at him. He grins back at me.
"I take great offense to that. And it's called confidence. Anyway, did you mean what you said about me being cute?" I ask him, referring to the day we first met.
"mhmm. Cute and adorable" Eric tells me. I was pretty cute back then; except when I was being evil. Heehee.
"is that the first thing that ran through your mind when you saw me?" I asked next. Eric shakes his head me.
"no" he says. What!! I crossed my arms and huff. After six years together, I'm just now hearing the truth. Thanks for sharing, Eric. He smiles his playful smile.
"I haven't finished. no, that wasn't the first thing that ran through my mind. The first thing that ran through my mind was that you were a troublemaker. Then the second thing that ran through my mind was that you were cute" Eric tells me. Well why didn't he just say that to begin with? Trying to be all dramatic.
"oh. Well I guess you were right, huh?" I ask a smile back on my face.
"of course I was right" he tells me. I raise my eyebrows.
"I need to take back what I said about you being modest because you need to work on it too" I tell him with a smirk.
"okay you caught me" Eric says with a laugh. I turn my head to look out the window of the amazing restaurant that Eric surprised me tonight for our anniversary. This morning he sent me a dozen red roses. They were spectacular. In fact I'm going to save them. He always treats me so special all the time. Even after every spanking. Sometimes I think he is too good to be true and I have to pinch myself to make sure it's real. I look back over to find Eric staring at; a smile tugging at his lips.
"what?" I ask him curiously. He shrugs, his smile getting bigger.
"why are you staring at me?" I ask him wondering if I have something on my face. Talk about embarrassing if I have food on my face or something.
"I'm just admiring my beautiful girlfriend" he tells me. It’s my turn to smile big. I feel myself blushing. Should I pinch myself right now?
"Eric" I say still blushing like crazy.
"well it's true! Over the six years we've been together you've grown into a gorgeous woman whom I'm extremely proud to call mine. I always have. You complete me life Cori and I couldn't imagine my life without you. Your my everything baby. I love you And I'm looking forward to spending many more years with you" Eric tells meaning every word he just said. I stare into his green eyes as he stares into my brown ones. I'm left speechless and as you may all know, that is a definite first for me. His words gave me goose bumps.
"Cori, will you marry me and be with me for as long as I live?" Eric asks me kneeling in front of me and holding a box open with the most beautiful diamond ring I have ever seen. Suddenly I jump out of my seat and head straight for Eric. I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him tight as I can.
"YES! YES! YES! YES!!!!!" I exclaim loudly. I can't believe I'm getting married to him. It’s a dream come true. I couldn't imagine what my life would be without Eric. I'd probably be in jail for starting a fight over who grabbed the shoe first. Not that that happened recently. It was just an example. what? It was..........maybe. I kiss Eric hard on the lips before telling him that I loved him too and I definitely would marry him.

Soccer Foes 3

"I finally found you,” someone says. I look behind me to see Shane. (Sigh) He looks like a Greek god. Okay, really brain? That's a bit much even if it is true; which it DEFINITELY is.
"You were looking for me? Why?" I ask him as he sits down next to me on the dock. Bailey, resist the urge to smell him. Don't be a creeper.
"Because I didn't see you at the Rec hall and wondered where you were" Shane tells me with a warm smile. I'm surprised he even noticed that I wasn't there. The campgrounds are like a circus since its parent’s day. Pretty much everyone's parents (except the leaders and a few loners, like me) are here right now. So instead of feeling like a loser, I decided to go sit on the dock by the lake. It's really pretty to look at in late afternoon and relaxing too.
"Well you don't have to worry about me, but thanks anyway,” I say looking back at the water. I hear Shane stifle a laugh.
"What’s so funny?" I ask him, folding my arms together. I didn’t find anything amusing about what I said.
"Bailey, I've come to realize that I should always worry about you. If you’re not pissed about something then you’re causing mischief somewhere else" Shane says. Well I can't argue with his there. He just said two of my favorite qualities about me.
"Touché!" I say trying not to grin knowing he's right.
"But I know there's a ton more to you than that. And I'm curious to know what that is. Willing to clue me in?" Shane asks me. Should I tell him more about myself? Hmmmm, why not. But Bailey style.
"Okay but the same goes for you too. For every question you ask me, you have to answer also. I'll do the same. Deal?" I tell Shane holding my hand out to him. He grasps my hand in his and we shake on it. Whoa, wait just a second. I just felt like this shot run up my arm when we shook hands. I'm not even joking. Bailey, I think you’re going crazy. Don't read anymore of the bookworm's romance books. It’s messing your head up.
"Deal. I'll go first" Shane says looking down at our hands. I wonder if he felt it too. Nah, probably because I haven't let go of his hand yet. I quickly let go.
"Alright go ahead" I say slightly blushing. Ugh! Don't give him false impressions.
"What grade are you in?" Shane asks me first.
"Sophomore. You?" I ask him back.
"Junior. Why'd you decide to go to a boarding school?" he asks me next. Should I tell him the truth? I don't think Shane will judge me though.
"To get away from my family. My turn. So how long have you been playing soccer?" I ask him this time.
"My whole life. It’s my life and passion. Soccer makes me truly happy" Shane says to me. My eyes widen and I smile wide.
"Same here. I know exactly what you mean. It's like soccer is the one thing you completely understand in life and it completes you,” I tell him. Wow, I didn’t think anybody would get how I feel; especially not Shane. He looks at me for a moment.
"You should smile more often. It makes you even more pretty than you already are" Shane tells me looking into my eye. I look back at him with my face blushing even more. OMG! I can't believe he said that! Ahhhh, I'm so happy. Shane thinks I'm pretty. Shane thinks I'm pretty. Heehee.
"Thanks. I might consider the smiling. Now back to questioning, are you a boxer or brief kind of guy?" I ask him with a smirk. Okay I'm not gonna lie. I'm dying to know. I bet he wears boxers. Shane rolls his eyes.
"If it makes your little heart happy, I'll tell you. I wear boxers" he says.
"I knew it!! I mean not that I think about it often. I don't!! I just had a hunch is all" I say trying to save myself. Unfortunately, I'm not doing to good. I don't think Shane believes me.
"Whatever Bailey. By the way, you don't have to answer the question yourself since I kinda already know" Shane says grinning. I playfully glare at him and push his shoulder. Hmph!! Stupid spankings. I look up at Shane and my eyes lock with his. We continue to stare at one another before our lips start to move closer toward each other. Were inches away from connecting when a voice interrupts us?
"Um sorry to interrupt but Bailey's parents are here and looking for her"
"Mom, what are you doing here?" I ask once I see her in the Rec hall. Okay, did she not say that she wasn't coming? She cans just show up unannounced; especially when Shane and me were about to kiss. Ugh! I mean, couldn't she have come a little bit later. Would that have been too much to ask?
"Bailey!!! I'm so happy to see you. Are you surprised that we came?!?!" my mom exclaims once she sees me. She rushes over and squeezes me in a hug. Wait. We? While my mom is squeezing the daylights out of me, I look over her shoulder to see the rest of the 'family'. AKA: Ethan, Amy, and Jessica. They don't look thrilled at all to see me. Will someone please kill me now? When I asked mom to come visit me today, I really only wanted her to come and not THEM.
"Come sit down and tell about everything you have been doing" mom says once she lets me go and leads me to the table where the evil trio is sitting.
"Hi" I say with a bored expression on my face. Ethan just grunts and looks away pissed. Amy and Jessica roll their eyes then glare at me. This is turning out to be such a happy family reunion. NOT!
"So Bailey, how do you like camp?" mom asks me happily. At least my mom seems interested. So I focus my attention only on her and answer all of her questions to the best of my ability. What? I can't tell her about how I was spanked here. She'd send me to pack my bags. Plus, I'd rather be here than on at Hawaii.
"I'm so glad you like it here. I was a little hesitant to let you come. I wanted you to have you for the whole summer since you'll be away for the school year and I'd hardly see you. But I think it was the right choice. Especially if it will help you get on the soccer team" mom tells me with a smile. Oh I will most definitely be getting on to the soccer team. How can I not? I'm awesome.
"Yeah, my team leader said that I was the best player on the team" I say proudly. Okay so Shane may not have said that but you know he's thinking that. He just doesn't want to hurt the other player’s feelings.
"Really? You’re not that great of a player, Bailey" Jessica tells me. She's a year older than me and thinks she knows everything. Amy is a year younger than me. So I'm the middle child. Yay!!!(Don’t you just love my sarcasm)
"yeah, average at best. Your leader probably didn't want to hurt your feelings" Amy, Jessica's mini me, says next. I roll my eyes. How would they know? They've never come to one of my games before.
"Girls, don't say that. Bailey is a very good soccer player" mom tells them. Correction: I'm an awesome soccer player.
"Yes, your mother is right. Bailey is not the best soccer player out there. She needs a lot more practice before achieving that but she isn't the worst and definitely can play" Ethan says. Gee thanks, that makes me feel so much better. FYI, Jessica and Amy lost their mom when they were both little and they grew really close to my mom so that's why they call her mom.
"Thank you, darling. I'll be right back. I'm going to the restroom" my mom says standing up and giving Ethan a kiss on the cheek. Great, I'm going to be alone with the evil trio; Lovely. As soon as mom's gone, they all turn and look at me. Actually it's more of a glare.
"So have you been staying out of trouble, Bailey?" Ethan asks me. I glare back at him. Told you he thinks I'm a trouble maker. Well I am but he thinks I'm more of a criminal.
"Yeah I have been. That may come as a surprise to you" I tell him. He doesn't have to know about what I've been up to.
"Whatever. I can see that you have been losing weight. About time. You were starting to gain weight again" Jessica says with a grin. She loved the fact I was fat once. You see, my mom dated Ethan for seven years before he decided to let him marry her recently. So they saw me overweight.
"Yeah, you were being such a couch potato. You were being such a pig" Amy adds. I don't say anything. I only look down at the table. I'm used to this kind of treatment but it still hurts. I feel my eyes start to blur. Don't cry Bailey. They're not worth your tears.
"Even if you do get fat again Bailey, we wouldn't care. We won't have to see you since you'll be gone" Ethan says smirking. I can’t take this anymore. I slam my hands down on the table startling all of them.
"I'm leaving. Tell my mom that it was good to see her, but seeing you guys? Not so much" I tell them through clenched teeth and walk away from the table. By the time I get outside, I have tears streaming down my face. I hate them all!! I quickly start to walk away not caring where I'm going. I cover my face in my hands as I start to sob. God, why are they so mean? I can't really see where I'm going (hence my face in hands) and I walk even faster. That is until I crash into two bodies.
"Sorry" I mumble as I try to walk between them as I continue on my path to nowhere. Except its kinda hard to continue when they're both not moving and a lot bigger than me. Try walking between to unmovable tall giants. Impossible!!!
"Bailey, what's wrong?" I hear a voice ask me. I know that voice too well. I sneak a glance up to see a worried Shane and a shocked Alex. Great, the two people who I don't want to run into. For one thing, I don't want Shane to see me like this and I don't want Alex to blab his mouth about this.
"Nothing, I just have something in my eyes" I say trying not to sob. Geeze, I'm being such a crybaby right now.
"You must have a lot in your eyes then" Alex comments. I just cover my hands back over my face and start to sob again.
"Alex, shut the hell up before I get pissed at you" Shane tells him annoyed. I try to walk between them again but Shane has a hold of my arms and pulls me back again.
"Seriously Bailey, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Shane asks me again even more worried. I just shake my head no. I'm not going to tell them out here where people can here.
"I don't want to talk about it" I cry out and try to pass them again but Shane was having none of that. He pulled me back in front of him again and then He grasped my hands and pulled them away from my face.
"Bailey, you don't have to tell me exactly what happened but I need to know the basics. Okay?" Shane asks me slowly while looking me in the eyes with care and worry. I don't know why, but I feel really protected by Shane right now. Oh I'm definitely going to be having myself a protective boyfriend. I mean once me and Shane start dating of course. And alright I'll admit it. I like Shane. There are you happy now. I know I am. Heehee. All I do is nod my head.
"Are you hurt?" he asks me. I shake my head no.
"Did someone hurt you?" Alex asks next. I shake my head no again. Only my heart is hurt but I know that’s not what he meant. Shane sighs annoyed. He doesn't seem to like Alex asking the questions right now.
"What? It's a totally different question than what you asked. You see, you asked her if..........." Alex says until he notices Shane's impatient stare at him before stopping. Good choice, Alex.
"Bailey, did something happen with your family?" Shane asks me next. I nod my head yes this time and a fresh round of tears flows down my face again. I can tell Alex's mind is reeling with this bit of information and before he can open his mouth to ask what happened Shane says
"dude, go to the Rec hall and see if her family is still here" Alex looks disappointed but leaves anyway. Shane let's go of my hands, so I'm able to cover my face again. I start to cough since I'm crying so hard. God Bailey, toughen up a little.
"Baby, your making yourself sick. Calm down a little" Shane says rubbing my back as he leads me somewhere. How am I supposed to calm down when I'm hurting? Shane sits down on something and pulls me into his lap; not that I'm complaining. I wrap my arms around his neck and burry my head into his shoulder as I continue to cry my heart out. I really, really need someone right now and he is the only person that I trust.
"Shhh sweetie it's okay shhhhh I've got you. It's alright now baby Shhhh" he whispers to me as he rocks me in his arms. Shane sat down on a cabins front step. (sigh) I wish this moment could last forever. Well not the hurting part but being in Shane's arms part.
"whoa what happened?" I hear a guy say. It kinda sounds like the other leader with Shane who was in my cabin the night of the smoking fiasco. You know the other hot leader.
"I have no idea. Something went down with her and her family I think, but that's all I know" Shane responds.
"is she alright?" He asks next but this time he seems concerned. I can feel Shane shake his head.
"not at all" Shane says. He's right I'm very far from it, my friend.
"Spencer, what's- wait what wrong with Bailey?" I hear P.K. next. So that's the dude's name.
"something happened with between her and her family, I think" Spencer replies.
"is she okay?" P.K. asks next. Does it look like I'm okay?
"does she look okay P.K.?" Shane asks him. Exactly. Thank you Shane.
"well I was just asking. Sheesh" P.K. says defending himself. Spencer laughs slightly. I then hear someone else come up.
"oh my gosh, what did she do this time?" Becca asks. Ugh! What a bitch. I did nothing this time.
"she didn't do anything, Becca. Why would you say that?" Shane asks her.
"because she's gotten in trouble twice already" Becca responds. Don't rub it in please.
"How did you know that? I've never told anybody anything about Bailey" Shane says next. Wait, what did he say?
"well a lot of leaders know somehow" she responds. WHAT!!
"I didn’t" Spencer says and P.K. Agrees with him.
"well I heard it from someone" Becca tells them. Does she sound nervous?
"who?" Shane asks. Yes, please let us in on the secret.
"I don't remember. But it doesn't matter anyway. She's trouble either way" Becca says. I am not! Well, maybe just a little.
"no she isn't Becca. You shouldn't believe everything you hear. I'm going to take Bailey to an empty cabin to calm her down. Spencer, can you go find Alex and see if he has found out about anything and then text me later?" Shane asks him while standing up with me still in his arms. I love being carried by him. He's so strong.
"sure. P.K. Come with me" Spencer says.
"but how long will you be there? You’re supposed to help me out tonight" Becca says behind Shane. He doesn't stop walking.
"until Bailey's okay. Plus I think she's more important that helping you out anyway" Shane tells her. Ha! In your face bitchy Becca. I don't know what Becca did after that since my face was still on Shane but all I do know is that I'm sure she was PISSED. And I'm sooooo freaking happy that she is.
 "Nobody better wake her up. Stay extra quiet. If she wakes up, not only will you guys be in trouble but I'll also be in trouble. So be quiet!!!" Leah whispers. Or at least tries to anyway. It's more like a really, really, really loud whisper. I'm all cozy and warm in my bed where Shane left me a little earlier. You’re probably wondering where Shane took me earlier. (Happy sigh) It was pretty awesome. Let me elaborate:
"Shane, you won't make me leave here right?" I ask, sniffing into his shirt. I hope he plans on washing this shirt ASAP.
"I'll try my hardest not to make you leave but I don't think that will be the case or else you'd already be gone" Shane tells me as he gently rocks me on his lap. Ever since he has brought me to this empty cabin, he has slowly but surely calmed me down. Oh and I also told him about what my mom's husband and step daughters said to me. He was pissed!! Shane said they were all idiots and not to listen to a word that they told me because it wasn't true. It made me feel a little better but not much; it still hurts.
"(Sniff) Shane, what they said (sniff) isn't true, right?" I ask him again just to make sure while sniffling into his shirt. Yeah, Shane really is going to need to wash this shirt since I got it all dirty with my snot and tears. Shane doesn't seem bothered by it though. He just keeps rocking and cuddling with me tight in his arms. And let me just say, Shane definitely has some strong arms that's for sure. But that's totally beside the point right now. You can think about Shane's strong buff arms another time Bailey.
"Of course it isn't Lovie. It's not true at all. And I don't want you to ever think that it is, okay?" Shane asks me gently but sternly. I glance up at him. He is looking at me with caring affection and a seriousness which meant that his question was more like a statement and if it was ever broken there would be consequences; especially for my ass which is still feeling the effects from my last spanking thank you very much. Which just SUCKS by the way. I quickly look down and snuggle back into Shane's embrace.
"Okay" I mumble against his chest. Point taken.
"Shane, (sniff) you promise you won't make me leave (sniff)?" I ask next. The last thing I want to do is leave the camp and be away from Shane. I feel like he is the only person I really trust right now. So of course I don't want leave. Duh!!
"I promise I'll try my hardest to keep you here but I have a feeling you won't be leaving" Shane tells me. Well his feeling better be right. Hmph!!
"Okay" I say again and then close my eyes while Shane tightens his hold around me and kisses my head as I am slowly rocked to sleep.
Shane must have carried me to my cabin and put me to bed. Awww, that's so sweet. Anyway, enough lovey dovey stuff, Bailey; Back to the present. I open my eyes and can tell that its bed time. Everybody is trying to be a quiet as possible. Well almost everybody. Ms. Pixie over there is being quite loud. Unzipping her bag, ruffling around her suitcase, zipping up her bag, dropping bottles and stuff. Sheesh, can she be any louder? I bet she's doing it on purpose. What a Bitch!! Since I'm awake now, I might as well get into my pj's as well, but first I have to go to the bathroom. Like NOW!!! I sit up and untangle myself from my covers and stand up. The girls look at me as if I just woke up from the dead. News probably got around fast about what happened this afternoon. I'm sure I'm the talk of the camp right now. What else is new?
"Great job, Zoey. You woke her up, now we'll get into trouble thanks to you" Morgan says glaring at Pixie girl.
"Bailey, are you okay?" Jazzy asks me at the same time. I just shrug not really feeling like talking
"I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was doing nothing wrong and you accuse me. I get into trouble once and now I'm always gonna be blamed?" pixie girl asks acting as if she had no idea what she did. Morgan rolls her eyes. She needs to work on her acting skills. Morgan and Pixie girl continue to argue. I slip on some flip flops and head to the door. I meet Leah on the way out since she was checking in on her other cabins.
"Did they wake you up? Did you guys wake her up? What did I tell you? I said-" Leah starts yelling as I walk away. I'm surprised that she never loses her voice with the way she yells like that all the time. Totally unattractive. I wonder if she gets that’s many boyfriends? Once in the bathroom, I wash my face with cold water. I look like hell. I can't believe Shane had to see me like this. Ugh! How embarrassing!! Hmmm, I wonder where Shane is anyway? Maybe I'll run into him on the way back. I keep my eyes open in case I see him. But wait, what am I supposed to do if I do see him? Things are different between us now, that's for sure. Okay, maybe I don't want to see him just yet. I need some time to adjust to the change if events called growing feelings of love. Well okay, not exactly like that but you get the picture. I quicken my step since I don't want to bump into Shane at the moment and plus it is night time. What if a creature pops out from somewhere? I'm about halfway to my cabin when someone says behind me,
"well if it isn't miss crybaby or should I say miss couch potato fatty"

I freeze and turn around to the source of the voice. Ugh! Reddy.
"What do you want and what are you talking about?" I snap at him. I so do not want to deal with him right now. I already got enough shit to deal with from my step family. I don't need to add Reddy to the mix.
"I guess I'm not the only one who thinks your fat. It seems like your family and I are all in agreement" Reddy says with a big smirk on his face as he leans against a nearby tree. My face pales. Shit!!! How the hell does he know that? It can't be possible, unless......
"That’s right. I heard everything your dad and sisters said to you today since I was sitting at the table right next to yours" he tells me walking toward me. "So? They always talk a lot of shit. It doesn't even bother me" I say trying to sound my usual bad ass self but it isn't working.
"You’re lying. You ran out of the rec hall crying. It so bothered you because you knew that they were right. Your fat, fat, fat and you know it. And don't get any ideas that Shane actually likes you. He was just being nice to you because he felt sorry for you. Everybody feels sorry for you now, Bailey; especially after today. Just leave already" Reddy says looking sorry for me. I glare at him. What a jerk-head. I want to slap that look right off his face. I was about to tell him to fuck off but Reddy decides he has had enough of me. He pushes me to the ground with his shoulder as he walks away. Why does he have to be so mean? I continue to glare at him as tears start to stream down my face. Wow. I can't believe I have any tears left after all the crying I have done today. I stand up and brush leaves off of my butt. I have a major headache now. Thanks a lot Reddy. I start to walk to the infirmary while brushing tears from my cheeks. I just want to forget about this suckish day that I have had. Well, except the parts with Shane. Those were definitely pretty awesome.
The Next Day:
"so your head feels one hundred percent better?" the nurse at the infirmary asks me. I nod my head and smile at her.
"Completely better. Can I go now?" I ask her. I spent the night and the whole morning at the infirmary. It actually has really comfortable beds here. Even better than my bed in the cabin. So all I can say is that I had a very comfortable stay here. I didn't even wake up till late this morning because I was so exhausted from all the stuff that happened yesterday.
"I guess you can but I don't want you to play any soccer until tomorrow. Just to be safe" the nurse tells me. I stop myself from rolling my eyes. Safe from what? A headache. Oh brother. I think I freaked her out last night when I came in crying and holding my aching head (and heart). Plus, I'm sure she has heard about what occurred with me yesterday. Actually I bet the whole camp has. No surprise there.
"Okay" I say and head for the door. I'm so out of here.
"Oh and by the way, make sure you go see Shane. He came by last night to check on you and was very worried" she tells on my way out. I smile at what she said. See, Reddy. Shane actually does like me. So ha!
As soon as I'm out of the infirmary, I walk straight to the fields. Lunch just passed and everyone’s gathering with their teams now.
"Bailey!!!" I hear my name and turn to see Morgan and Jazzy run up to me and hug me.
"Hey guys" I say smiling at them. I'm so happy that I have them as friends.
"Are you okay?" Morgan asks me with concern in her eyes. And I said concern NOT feeling sorry. Dumb Reddy. Hmph!!
"I'm doing okay. I’ve been better, that's for sure" I tell them. They don't ask what happened because they're cool like that. We get to our team and head for the bench. I don't see Shane anywhere.

“Where’d you go last night? Leah came back a little while later and asked us where you were and when we told her we didn’t know, she freaked out” Morgan tells me. Man, wished I’d seen that. Instead, I was crying my eyes out……again.

“Yeah she was really worried” Jazzy tells me next. Well that’s a first. I didn’t think Leah cared about the people she yelled at.

“I had a migraine, so I went to the infirmary and spent the night there” I tell them.

“That sucks” Morgan tells me. Yeah, tell me about.
"So are you playing today?" Jazzy asks looking down at my flip flopped feet as she puts her water bottle down. I open my mouth to answer but someone beats me to it.
"No, she's not"
We turn to see Shane standing behind us. For some strange reason, my cheeks instantly start to blush. Stop it, Bailey. Just because you like Shane and are pretty sure Shane likes you doesn't mean you have to start acting like a freaking girlie girl.
"Excuse me Shane. I can answer for myself thank you very much. What I was going to say before I was interrupted was no, I'm not playing today" I tell them with a shrug. Nice one, Bailey. Shut up, Shane's the one who made me look like an idiot. I can tell Morgan wants to know why but stops herself from asking. She has a lot more self control than me. I soooo would have asked her without a second thought. Shane grins and rolls his eyes.
"Morgan and Anya, why don't you go and start everybody on the warm up drills for me?" Shane asks them as he walks over to me. Eek! Remember to relax, Bailey.
"Sweet!! So we can be in charge?" Morgan asks excitedly. Shane never lets anybody else be in charge. The only time he ever does is for the warm up and cool down exercises. And that's because I think Shane gets lazy, in my personal opinion. Shhh, this stays between us.
"Yeah, but don't let it get to your head" Shane tells Morgan while rolling his eyes. Oops, Too late. Morgan obviously didn't hear Shane's comment because she was already grabbing Jazzy by the arm.
"Come on Jazz, let's go boss everyone around for once" Morgan says with a smirk as she pulls Jazzy away. I think she is taking it a little too seriously. But then again, I would do the same thing Heehee. So now, back to Shane. Act like everything is normal, even though it totally ISNT.
"How did you know I wouldn’t be playing today, anyway?” I ask turning toward him with my hands on my hips. Is he like psychic or something?

“I have my ways” Shane says with a wink while taking my hand as he leads me toward a nearby bench. Relax Bailey, one step at a time. I sit down next to Shane (who still hasn’t let go of my hand by the way) and look up at him.

“Are you feeling better today?” Shane asks me with concern on his face. In your face Reddy. “Don’t I look better today, Shane?” I ask him. He better say yes, because I know for a fact that I do. Hmph! If he says no, I’ll be pissed and tell him he needs his eyes checked,

“Well you definitely are acting like yourself today, so I take it that you are” Shane tell with an eye roll. Hmmm, I don’t like the tone of voice he used.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Shane?” I huff at him while folding my arms and looking at him expectantly. 

“I’m glad you’re feeling better” he says with a smile that I am starting to love now.  I smile back at him. Our eyes are locked with each other until something catches my eye. Ugh! Reddy. Major loser. He thinks he’s all that just because Shane compliments him, and uses him as an example a lot and he somehow popular with the girls. But so what? I’m just as good as he if not better at soccer. Grrrrr. And I’m NOT jealous. I just don’t think it’s fair.

“Shane?” I ask him as he stands up. He turns back around to face me.

“Yeah?” Shane asks me curiously.

“Um seriously how did you know I wasn’t going to play today?” I ask him putting on my quizzical face. Okay so that wasn’t really what I was going to ask Shane. What I really wanted to know was if he really did care about me or was just faking it. Or what he saw in Reddy face loser over there? Or how come he never lets me lead warm ups ever? Actually……I’m still going to ask him about that one later. I would make such a kick ass warm up leader. Ideas are already forming in my head. It would be total payback time. Shane just looks at me a moment before answering.

“I can’t give away my tricks, Bailey. Even you should know that” Shane says with grin. How does he always come up with an answer that I don’t have a comeback for? I really need to start bringing up my A game.

“No really Shane, just tell me” I plead giving him a sad look also. See what Shane does to me? I have to plead and beg now. Unbelievable.

“Nice try, but it’s not going to work” he tells me obviously enjoying this. I’ll get him next time.

“Is there anything else you want to ask me?” Shane asks me this time. Can he read minds?

“No, I’m all good” I say looking down at the grass. I have a feeling Shane would be able to tell that I was lying.

“I meant what I said at the beginning of camp Bailey. If there’s anything wrong, just come to me, okay?” he tells me.

“Okay, I will” I tell him looking into his brown eyes. You know, it’s always good to know that you can go to someone if you need to. But I won’t be going to Shane anytime soon, that’s for sure.
I'm sooooo glad I didn't have to join the team today. They were doing conditioning. My favorite; NOT. Shane made everyone run two miles before they could have a water break. Sucks to be them, that's for sure. Morgan and Jazzy plop themselves next to me on the bench gasping for breath and trying to drink water at the same time.

"well it looks like you guys are enjoying yourselves over there" I say grinning. I love rubbing it in their faces; especially since I don't have to do anything. Haha! They aren't amused.

"shut up, Bailey" Morgan tells me dumping water on her face to cool her off.

"yeah, your time will come. So I wouldn't laugh if I were you" Jazzy says still trying to catch her breath. Ugh! Don't remind me. I just hope that Shane won't decide to do any more conditioning this week or my time really will come. Eek!! I'm already feeling tired just thinking about it.

"hey, check it out" Morgan says grabbing my attention by jabbing my side with her elbow. I look to the other side of the field to see Shane talking with Alex and the hot guy who I always see. I think his name is Spencer. But how should I know since no one EVER says his name. Sheesh!

"what are they Alex and Spencer doing here?" Jazzy asks looking confused at the three. See!! I was right. Good guess, Bailey.

"I don't know. Probably discussing some important leader stuff" I say. I bet they're talking about top secret leader business or something cool like that. What? So I like to watch FBI shows, okay.

"whatever it is, it doesn't look good. They all look mad; even Alex" Morgan tells us. I look closer at their faces and sure enough she's right. All three do look pissed. I mean, I'm not surprised about Shane since I've seen him pissed (yeah, at someone known as ME) and I've seen Spencer mad in my cabin during the smoking fiasco but ALEX?? No freaking way. If I hadn't had seen it with my own two blue eyes, I wouldn't had believed it. Can you imagine "funny" man, big mouth Alex angry? I know, it's hard to believe.

"I wonder what's got their panties in a twist" I say continuing to watch.

"I think we're about to find out" Jazzy says when the three guys head over to Shane's team. Good thing I have a front row seat if any action occurs. I have said how happy I am that I don't have to play today?

"alright, everybody line up next to each other. Now!" Shane yells at our team. Everyone, noticing the leaders unhappy faces and the shift in the mood, quickly heads towards where he is standing with Alex and Spencer in a straight line. Shane doesn't say anything at first. He just stares each of them in the eye. Man, I don't know what I would do if I was standing there also. Hmmm, probably laugh and end up getting into trouble; which isn't surprising. Shane walks toward the first person in the line and stands in front of a small boy named Billy. Well okay, compared to Shane he's small. Billy seems to shrink under Shane's dark, intimidating gaze. (happy sigh)  My soon to be boyfriend(hopefully) is so hot when he's dangerous looking.

"Billy, what's the first camp rule I told all of you?" Shane asks him. WTF!?!! Why is he asking that? Apparently, I'm not the only one surprise; everyone else is too.

"um no cussing or uh fighting is allowed?" Billy tells Shane  not sure if he got it right. Paris and Nicole wannabes glare at me when he said no fighting. Total Bitches. Shane looks at him for second more before moving on the next person who was Jazzy and asks her what the second camp rule was and so forth and so on until everyone had said a rule.

"does anyone know why I asked you to tell me what the camp rules were again?" Shane asks his team. No one dared to say a word incase they got it wrong.

"it's come to my attention that apparently someone on this team seems to need a strong reminder of what the rules are here at camp. Especially since this someone has broken a big rule. Which completely pisses me off!!" he continues on his impromptu speech. I can tell the team is getting nervous and wondering who this someone is.

"yeah, in case Shane didn't tell you guys this but whoever broke this rule, also broke one of Shane's biggest pet peeves" Alex interrupts, putting his two cents in as well. Ohhhh, this is getting good. I need some popcorn. I feel sorry for this person who they are talking about. Shane just stares at Alex and then rolls his eyes. Alex shrugs at Spencer and throws a 'what did I do' look. Spencer tries not to laugh at him in reply.

"do you guys want to know what the broken rule was?" Shane asks next. Um yeah!! Geeze, spit it out already mister.

"being respectful towards others. That was the rule that wasn't followed. The person who broke it was extremely disrespectful through their words and actions. And that is something that I will NOT tolerate. Ever!! Is that clear?" Shane asks. A chorus of yes sirs are heard. Let's reveal who it is already. I'm getting old here.

"so does anybody have any idea who I'm talking about?" he asks next. Most of the team look at me (I'm actually quite offended by that. Jerks!), Morgan and Jazzy look at Paris, Shirley looks at Reddy, and Reddy just stares at the ground. I instantly have an idea of who it is. Shane starts at Billy and slowly walks down the line again. He stops at the person who I had guessed in my mind. Reddy.

Clearly, most of the team wasn't expecting him. Even Morgan and Jazzy wasn't expecting that. Except Shirley didn't seem surprised. Hmmm, I wonder why. To them, Reddy is a super cool kid who everybody wants to be friends with. But I know that's not right. He is a total asshole. Now the question is, how did he get caught? Reddy seems to shrink under Shane's gaze just like Billy did.

"Tyler, did you break a camp rule?" Shane asks him. Why is he asking? We all know the answer to that. Reddy looks like he is about to pee his pants. All he can do is nod his head and look fearfully up at Shane.

"were you ever disrespectful toward anybody while at this camp?" Shane asks next. Hell yeah, he was. Like me.

"I mean I guess I did say some things I shouldn't have said, but-" Reddy starts to say before he was cut off.

"you were disrespectful. Period. Start running. Now. And don't stop until I tell you that you can" Shane tells him. Reddy just looks at Shane to see if he is serious. I'm actually looking to see if he is serious too. That's it? All he has to do is run? Pshh! He got off easy. I'd probably get my butt spanked. HARD!

"Well what are you waiting for, I'd start running if I were you and you better run fast" Shane says walking back toward the here Alex and Spencer are standing.

As Reddy starts running, Shane says

"there's twenty minutes left of practice. The rest of you are going to sit down and watch him run and see for yourself what happens when you break a rule. I told you at the beginning of camp don't break a rule and you won't have to find out what happens. Well, guess what? This is what happens. So don't try me" Shane tells his team piercing them with his dark gaze. Man, he is totally bad ass. Although again I ask, that's it for Reddy? He got off so easy. I hope he gets spanked later. On the look on Morgan’s face, I can tell she thinks he got off light too. Oh well, at least I get to see him run for being mean to me. Paybacks a bitch!!

"Did you hear what happened to Tyler, today?" I hear a girl say behind me ask her friend in the line for food in the cafeteria. Wow, I didn't know Reddy was so popular. It seems like word has gotten around fast about what happened to Reddy earlier today. Which isn't a surprise at all. Word on the street is that he might be turned into the office and kicked out. YES!! Let's hope that's true, but I'll just have to wait and see for sure. Shane made Reddy run for the whole twenty minutes left of practice. When he finally told him to stop, Reddy threw himself on the ground in exhaustion and looked like he was going to puke. I'll admit that he did it all a lot better than I could. Knowing me, I probably would have collapsed on the ground somewhere on the trails and pretended to have fainted or something just to get out of it. Wait......that's actually a good idea. I gotta keep that in mind. Anyway, Shane then dismisses the team for the day before walking over to where Reddy was laying with Alex and Spencer. The three leaders stood around Reddy looking down at him. Reddy was still catching his breath and crying at the same time. That's right. Crying!!! Hell, I'd be crying too if I was him right now. Surrounded by three pissed off leaders? No thank you. Unfortunately, that's the last thing I got to see before Morgan pulled me away. Hmph!! Not fair at all.

"So did you hear anything else?" I ask Morgan as soon as I sit down at the table. She always knows all the latest camp gossip.

"Well, I heard that Shane took Reddy somewhere" Morgan tells me. Somewhere? Like an empty cabin hopefully.  

"Where and what for?" Jazzy asks while eating her chocolate pudding.

"I don't know. No once has seen either one of them since then" Morgan answers. Well, let's just hope that Reddy is getting his butt whooped or is packing his bags. Either one is fine with me.

"Did you hear that he might be sent home?" I ask hopefully.

"Yeah but I don't believe it. Someone would have seen him getting to leave by now. I bet Shane's talking with him or something like that,” Jazzy says. Damn, she has a point.

"Hmmm, I hope Shane's doing less talking and more you know what" Morgan says. She got that right.

"We’ll just have to wait and see" She continues. Ugh! I hate waiting. I take small bites of my hamburger. I'm not really in the mood to ear right now. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself anyway.

"How come you’re not eating?" Jazzy asks me curiously. I shrug.

"I'm not really hungry. I had a big snack before dinner" I lie to them. A white lie can't hurt right? Just then, a group of girls walk by our table. AKA the gossip trio who seem to know the in and outs of the gossip at camp. They, of course, attract Morgan's attention.

"I think I'm gonna take a walk with Cacee and them to you know, see what's up" Morgan says with a grin and a wink.

"Catch you later girl and let us know what you hear,” I tell her with a wave. Like I said, I can always count on Morgan for info. Let's just hope she gets more news about Reddy.

I can not wait to get into my bed tonight. Daydreaming time about Shane. My new favorite activity; besides soccer anyway. I'm walking back from the girls bathroom after getting ready or bed when I hear Paris's voice.

"it's all your fault, you know" she says. I stop and turn to my right to see her and Nicole. I roll my eyes. Great, just what I need right now. I sigh.

"what are you talking about?" I asks her yawning. Paris gets annoyed.

"what happened to Tyler today is all your fault" she explains. Her comment grabs my attention fast.

"yeah, because your a big tattletale" Nicole adds. What!! Who do they think they are?

"excuse me? You guys are crazy. I definitely didn't say anything to get Re- Tyler in trouble" I say defending myself. Plus, what do they know.

"yeah right. Tyler said some things to you that completely put out of proportion and went and told on him. Talk about some major sensitive issues" Paris continues. Okay, if I thought she was crazy before, I really think she is insane now.

"first of all, I DON'T have sensitive issues. You'll find that I'm the last person to have any sensitive problems. Secondly, I don't snitch on anybody. Even if I really wanted to. So get your facts straight" I tell them with my hands on my hips and glare at the two freaks. Paris matches my stance while Nicole stands back a little.

"really? Then explain how Shane found out about what Tyler said, huh? He could have only gotten it straight from the source. Which was you" Paris tells me. Nicole nods her head in agreement. I roll my eyes again.

"well I wasn't the source because I didn't open my mouth and was just surprised as you guys with what happened today. So there" I say. You know, I'm still wondering who the true source actually is? Ugh! It's just another mystery for me to solve, I guess.

"whatever. I bet you're happy that Tyler got into so much trouble today. Did you know that he got spanked also and is getting moved onto a different team? Tyler's so depressed now because he really looks up to Shane and really, really loved being on his team; but now he isn't anymore because of, well, you" Paris says glaring at me even more. YES, REDDY GOT SPANKED!! I cant wait to tel Morgan about this. I try not show my grin.

"are you making this up?" I ask suspiciously. Nicole shakes her head no.

"no, it's true. Tyler told us directly from himself. He also told us that he hated having Shane so mad at him. He's beating himself over it" Nicole tells me. Well, he totally deserves it.

"well boohoo for him. Tell him to suck it up. Sheesh, and you think I have sensitivity issues" I say with a huff.

"well at least he's not a tattletale like you" Paris says with a smirk. That so pisses me off.

"I just old you I didn't tell on him!" I remind her feeling my blood boil. I look around to find nobody around. Why is it, that I'm always alone when these confrontations occur? Seriously, what is up with that??

"like we believe you. Please! Anyway, people aren't happy that Taylor got into trouble. He didn't deserve it. I'm just letting you know that your not going to get away with this" Paris says. Oh brother. My bones are shaking with fear. Not!

"and exactly how are you going to do that?" I ask her with a small grin.

"and ruin the surprise? Yeah right. You'll just have to wait and see" she tells me. I'll be waiting all right.

"and don't think Shane will be there to rescue you either because he won't" Nicole says threateningly. Okay, whatever that means.

"yeah, Ty told us that you think Shane cares about you. News flash, he doesn't. Not in the way you think he does anyway. Shane's your leader and your his responsibility. Thats the only reason he cares. Plus, i hear that he and Becca might be getting back together. Just saying" Paris tells me, giving me one last glare with a smirk before turning and leaving toward the direction of the bathroom with Nicole on her heels. I'm left there thinking about what Paris said. I am Shane's responsibility. Is that the only reason he cares about me? And I do see Becca and him together a lot and smiling with each other. Maybe they ARE planning to get back together. Well, I feel stupid. Dumb Morgan and her you like him, he likes you crap. All I have is a school girl crush that I have to make go away. So no Shane daydreaming tonight. Or ever anymore. I sigh and start to walk toward my cabin again. I don't get very far when a new voice asks me

"you don't like it here, do you?"

I stop for the second time now and turn to see a tall girl who fits the emo image pretty well. She's wearing black sleep pants with skulls on them, a black shirt with some kind of band that I don't know on it and black dark make up. This girl is leaning up against a tree staring at me. Okay, kind of creepy.

"what'd you say?" I ask tiredly. I'm really tired now. All the Paris and Nicole business back there was too much for me.

"I said, you don't like it here, do you?" she says again walking towards me. Dang, she really is tall. Hmph! No fair.

"well yeah, I guess I do. I mean I don't like some people here, but I do like the camp overall. Why?" I ask her suspiciously.

"well, I couldn't help hearing what those dumb airhead chicks said to you a few minutes ago and saw how unhappy you looked afterwards. That’s why I asked" emo girl tells me. Well thanks for listening in on my conversation.

"it's nice to know someone cares" I tell her sarcastically and start to walk away again.

"actually I have an offer I'm willing to share with you" she says stopping me again. I turn back towards her again.

"what kind of offer?" I ask her curiously. I can't pass a good deal even if I don't know what it is yet. Hey, I like to bargain.

"well you see, I hate it here and I’m planning on getting out of this fucking place. Wanna join me?" emo girl asks. I look at her like she's crazy. Get outta this place? What!!

"are you serious?!!" I ask her shocked. How in the world is she going to achieve that?

"yep. I'm planning on doing it tomorrow. Listen, it'll be easy. My leader told us today that its supposed to rain tomorrow and that everyone will probably spend the day in the Rec Hall. So I'll sneak out during the day and head for the woods and walk my way out of this stupid camp. See? Easy" she tells me with a smile. Ummm oookay. This chick is more crazy than I thought.

"what's your name?" I ask.

"Emma" she replies. Wow, the name totally fits her.

"listen Emma, not only does that plan sound incredibly stupid, it also won't work. Sometime tomorrow, someone, most likely your leader, will notice that you aren't there and go looking for you. And where exactly do you plan on going? Do you have a map of this place or something?" I ask her. Her plan will never work. Emma pulls something out of her pocket. No, is that what I think it is?

"I have one right here and found a route that will lead me to a side rode. I'll hitch a ride from there" she shows me with a victorious smile. I look at the map and sure enough, it is an actual map of this huge camp ground. Well she sure showed me.

"okay back to what I was saying, if you do leave, will the camp say to your parents? That they lost you?" I ask trying to show her that her plan will never work.

"I'll worry about that once I get to it" she tells me. Yeah, IF you get to it, which you won't.

"uh huh" I say slowly.

"so do you wanna join me?" Emma asks me excitedly.

"hell no!! Your little plan will never work out. So I suggest you don't try it. Trust me. It's not worth running away" I tell her.  I have definite experience on running away. Sometimes I just need to get away for awhile to handle my feelings in peace or to get away from my problems also. But I'd never do it at camp. She's crazy I tell you!! Emma looks disappointed. Oh well.

"sorry" I tell her before heading back to my cabin. There sure are some strange people in this world.  Running away, ha! As if I'd go along with her. I laugh to myself.  She'll back out of it tomorrow; hopefully anyway.

The Next Day at Lunch:

"You were right. Reddy did get spanked yesterday and is switching teams. I heard that he is going to be on Becca's team now" Morgan tells me as soon as she sits down at our lunch table. Last night before bed, I casually told Morgan and Jazzy that I had heard thing about Reddy from 'someone' in the girls’ bathroom. I didn't exactly believe it for sure. I mean Paris and Nicole could have been lying. But if Morgan heard it too, then it probably is true.

"Well all I can say is that he got what he deserved,” I say moving my chicken salad around on my plate.

"Ain’t that the truth" Morgan says agreeing with me.

"Why aren't you hungry now? You barely had any breakfast this morning" Jazzy asks me looking at my uneaten food. She's right. I only had a half of a muffin and a few bite of eggs. I'm just not that hungry anymore.

"I'm just feeling a little off today. I think it's the weather or something" I tell her hoping she accepts my answer. Emo girl was right. It is supposed to rain today; as in this afternoon. Everyone still had morning practices with the coaches but instead of meeting with our teams, we'll all just be in the Rec Hall.

"yeah, I heard that we get to do whatever we want to in the Hall. Well, as long as it’s cool with the leaders anyway" Morgan says happily. Jazzy still looks at me suspiciously but decided to drop it. Okay Bailey, be careful. She's onto you. I look around the cafeteria and spot Reddy and his posse. Wow, Paris and Nicole really weren't bluffing. He really does look depressed. I can't say that I feel bad for him. Not one bit. Duh! And their threats about getting back at me. Right. I'd liked to see them try.

Later in the afternoon:

I'm currently listening to my music and catching up on the Hollywood gossip on my phone. Man, I'm totally behind on the latest news. Morgan and Jazzy went to go get popcorn or something like that. I don't know when they'll be back since there is a huge line forming already. I glance up to see Shane and Becca walk into the Rec hall together. They're laughing and smiling with each other. I quickly look down again. I don't know why I'm feeling so jealous. It's not like I could have had a chance with Shane.  They also look good with each other anyway. What Paris and Nicole said about Shane only caring because I'm his responsibility. I usually don't listen to what they say but this time they have a good point. And plus, it makes total since. He wouldn't care about me. He's just like everybody else. No one cares about me. Despite trying to tell myself I don't care, I can't help by feeling hurt. And pissed. I'm most definitely pissed at myself, at Shane, at bitchy Becca, and this whole entire camp. Ugh!! I gotta get out of this stuffy room and clear my head. I stand up and head out of the building. Thankfully, it has stopped raining so I can take a walk on the trails. I continue to listen to my music as I straighten out my thoughts and feelings. I decide to cut through a new part of the woods and get away from the paths. I must have walked for about fifteen minutes when I hear a familiar voice say

"hey, you decided to join me"

I look behind me to see Emma walking up towards me. Great, I just had to meet up with the freak girl. Today she is wearing dark jeans, a black hoodie, black vans, and her black makeup. Should I tell her that black isn't her color?

"if you’re referring to me joining your great escape, think again. I'm just taking a walk by myself" I say. Her disappointment is clearly obvious again. But what did she think I'd do? Go along with her stupid plan with a smile on my face? I don't think so!

"well can I at least walk with you for a little while? It's kind of getting boring out here alone" Emma asks me looking hopeful. Ugh!

"I guess so but don't even try to talk to me. I'm in no mood for talking" I tell her and continue on. She quickly hurries to match my step. We walk together for about ten more minutes before I notice that my cell phone battery is low. I pull out my headphones and stop.

"I'm gonna head back now. I think it's going to rain again too" I tell my companion while looking up through the trees at the dark, stormy clouds approaching. I got to get back before the rain comes. Water + my hair = bad hair day.

"do you know how to get back? I'll let you see my map" Emma says pulling it out of her backpack. Why didn't I notice before that she was wearing one?

"sure. Why not?" I say with a shrug. I look closely at her map and try to find where we currently are. What the heck? I've always been terrible at geography; especially map reading. The whole freaking thing is confusing me. I knew the camp was big, but I didn't know that it has so much land. It's huge!!

"so I think where here" Emma says pointing to part of the map.

"I don't know. I think we're on the other side because I started walking from the Rec hall and it's right here" I show her. I look around us to see if there was any land marks or something like that to identify with on the map. All I see are a lot of trees, trees, and more trees. Well that helps a whole lot.

"you see, I thought I was heading for the edge of the woods where the road is but I might be turned around and is actually walking in the opposite direction. I think?" Emma says not sure of herself. So much for the map helping us. Where are the soccer angels when you need them?

"let's just head back in the direction we came from and go from there" I suggest, hearing thunder in the distance. Uh oh. Emma and me turn back around and walk back in the direction we thought we came from. It turns out it wasn't.

"I could have sworn we passed this tree before" Emma says looking at tall tree covered in moss. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Somebody help me.

"that's funny because I could have sworn that I saw that tree before also. Oh wait, that's right. There’s about a million trees that look just like it!!" I finish loudly. God, is she an idiot?

"well I'm just trying to help. It doesn't look like we're making any progress" Emma says, her feelings a little hurt. Suddenly it hits me. We're both officially LOST!!

"oh my god, Emma!! We're lost. In the woods. On a freaking massive property. And there's a thunder storm approaching. What are we going to do???" I ask her placing my hands on her shoulders and looking at her straight in the face. I'm full of panic now, in case you didn't notice. Who know way kinds of animals or other...creatures live in these woods? Eek! I can tell my little speech has spooked Emma now.

"well let’s just look at my map again-"she starts nervously before I cut her off.

"your fucking map didn't help us the first time, so it isn't going to help now. Unless someone actually knows how to read; which neither one of us do. So zip it with the map" I tell her frustrated. Think fast, Bailey. Who am I kidding? I have no ideas at the moment. Which sucks majorly! I start to pace and try to find a new solution.

"hey, listen" Emma says quickly. I stop moving and listen. I pick up on voices in the distance. I instantly know whom the voices belong to and quickly run toward them relieved. We may have a chance of getting out of this mess now.

"Oh my gosh, you guys are my life savers. Literally" I say hugging my two friends when I meet up with them.

"Girl, what are you doing all the way out here? And with her?" Morgan whispers the last part to me in my ear when she sees Emma behind me. Please don't ask.

"It’s a long story. How did you find me?" I ask them both surprised. Do they have like a missing friend radar or something?

"I have a feeling that you are going to be in so much trouble. Listen, Shane was looking for you back at the Rec hall because you weren't there. He asked us where you were and we covered for you by saying you went to the bathroom. When you didn't show up still, we could tell he was getting suspicious. That's when Jazzy suggested that we go look for you. We went to the bathroom and asked around. A girl said that she saw you walking on one of trails. We hurriedly went to find you and saw that you dropped your charm bracelet off the side of the path and continue to walk in that direction hoping to find you and thankfully we did" Morgan tells me, finishing her last sentence in one breath. Jazzy hands me my charm bracelet that my mom have me on my thirteenth birthday. Shit, I didn't even notice that it fell off. This bracelet is the only thing that my mom has given me the actually feels special. She picked out all these soccer charms to go on it. That's the last time she gave any real thought into one of my presents. Now she just gives me money. Or Ethan tells her to anyway.

"Thanks for finding it. Wait, why was Shane looking for me?" I asked confused. Why would he go out of his way to find me?

"Apparently someone on Spencer's team has been missing most of the day and I think all the leaders checked to make sure their whole team was there. When Shane didn't see you, that's when he asked us" Morgan explains. Crap! Now I'm gonna be in trouble. This just isn't my day, is it?

"Damn, how did he notice?" Emma says to herself. I totally forgot that she was here too.

"What are you talking about?" I ask her. She looks like she has been caught cheating or something. Trust me, I know the look all too well.

"Spencer's my leader. How did he know I was gone?" Emma asks. I roll my eyes and shake my head. She is soooooo naive. On the looks on Morgan and Jazzy's faces, they seem to think so too.

"Anyway, you guys know the way back to camp right?" I ask changing the subject to more important things. Things such as saving my ass.

"Yeah, just head back in the direction we came from" Jazzy says like its totally simple. Easier said than done, sister. That’s what I was trying to do before I got lost. I’m really, really, really hoping that won't happen this time around.  Or else I'll just give up and let whatever scary creatures live in these woods eat me up. What? I have an overactive imagination, okay!

"How long did it take you guys to find me?" I ask them after we had been walking for a while. Today was the wrong day to wear flip-flops, that's for sure. My feet are killing me.

"Not this long, but then again we were walking fast,” Morgan answers. Ugh! You have got to be kidding me?

"Soooooo... We're lost. Again" I say folding my arms. Hmph! Some lifesavers they are.

"No I don't think we're lost. I think we just um maybe didn't go straight. We are all deep in the forest after all. It's possible that we didn't go the same way and got a little off" Jazzy says all technical. Me, Morgan, and Emma just stare at her and blink. Does she realize whom she is talking to?

"So in other words, were lost,” I repeat. I groan and put my hands in my face. Why? Why do I somehow get myself into these situations? The thunder is getting closer. Emma starts to get her dumb map out, Morgan and Jazzy start arguing about which direction to go next, and I'm thinking about how much trouble were all in and not to mention what Shane will do to my poor ass when suddenly I hear a branch crack near by. We all freeze. That wasn't a branch falling from a tree crack. It was somebody or something stepping on a branch crack. I'm getting an uneasy feeling now. I slowly move a little closer to the other girls. They all do the same as well. Leaves rustle near by. Everyone freaks and run together so out bodies our in a tight huddle.  

"What was that?" Jazzy asks nervously. Probably a big flesh eating bear or something dangerous like that.

"It’s probably just a squirrel or a rabbit,” Emma says trying to calm us down. I bet she's telling that more to herself than us.

" Yeah, yeah. She's probably right" Morgan adds. New plan: get out of this jungle. I don't care where we're going. I just want out. NOW!!

"Let’s just keep walking,” I advise. I don’t take more than three steps when it starts pour down rain. Really? This day just keeps getting better and better (note the sarcasm).  We have to walk slower now since the rain is coming down so hard. And it's also starting to get dark out, so it hard to see where we're going. Eek! I don't want to be out here at nighttime. I'm helping Emma pass by a bushy area when I hear another crack. This time it's a lot closer to us. We all scream and get together again.

"Okay, this time that was so NOT a squirrel" I tell them. Emma nods her head in agreement.

"I heard that sasquatches live in these forests,” Morgan’s tells us while trembling. Probably from being scared and wet from the rain. That's not what I needed to hear.

"What’s that?" Jazzy asks afraid to know. I gulp.

"Bigfoot" Morgan and me say at the same time. Jazzy eyes grow wide with new fear.

"Well aren't those things nocturnal?" Emma asks trying to help.

"It’s evening time. They're probably just waking up right now and are HUNGRY!!" I exclaim. I'm so freaking scared right now. I don't want to be eaten by Bigfoot. Soccer angels help me. Thankfully, the rain has died down to only drizzling at the moment.

"Guys, stop it! I’m really scared right now,” Jazzy says practically crying. Aren't we all? Game plan time. Think of anything Bailey. Suddenly another bush shakes near us. Even closer than before. Were all scared shitless. That's it!! I'm outta hear.

"RUN!!!" I shout and I don't have to say it twice. We take off at fast speeds away from scary Bigfoot. All of us are screaming our heads off as we run through the woods. I swear I hear something following us. Maybe I'm just hearing things.  It just makes me run even faster.

"Oh my god, it's following us!! Hurry up" Morgan says. I knew it!! Thank god, we're all soccer players. I don't know how long I were running for or where I was going exactly, but somehow we ended up out of the woods and onto a soccer field. Thank you soccer angels!! I look back to see if Bigfoot was indeed behind us but as I turned around, I collide right into a warm body.

Thank you Jesus! I instantly wrap my arms tight around Shane's torso. I've never been so happy to see someone in my entire life. Even more than the man in the ice cream truck. What? He rarely comes into my neighborhood.

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

Shane un-attaches my body from his, then turns me to the side to deliver four hard swats onto the back of my soaking jean shorts.

"You are in so much trouble with me, little miss" he tells me while pulling me back towards him and into a tight hug. I squeak in surprise from the sudden attack on my butt. Which hurt thank you very much. And it was only FOUR! But despite the pain, I can’t help from feeling safe in Shane's arms. Almost in a protective kind of way. I snuggle closer to him hoping to get as much warmth that I possibly can. Since I'm now out of that bigfooted-invested forest, I'm trembling from coldness and not fear.  See, now this is a lifesaver.

"I was so freaking worried about you, love" Shane says tightening his grip around me. I can hear true emotion laced through his voice. Does he actually care that much about me? Or would he be worried just as much about every one of his team members?

"only because you’re my leader, right?" I ask him, leaning back in his embrace. Shane looks down at me confused.

"what do you mean?" he asks me as he moves a piece of my wet hair away from eyes.

"your only worried because I'm your responsibility. You don't really care, do you?" I ask him next. I look up into his brown eyes hoping to find the truth. I need to find out once and for all what Shane really thinks.

"of course, I'm going to automatically have a certain responsibility for my team. But with you, there's something greater that I can't help feeling. I like you Bailey. I like you a lot. I just wish, you'd see it?" Shane tells me softly and then kisses my nose gently. You know I'm not a girly girl, but (high pitch squeal) OMG!!! Yes, he likes me!! I smile up at Shane.

"I do like you; A lot. Every time I  think you like me, I always end up having second doubts somehow" I tell Shane not looking him in the eyes at the last part. I don't think it be good for my butt if I mentioned that my second doubts came from Reddy, Paris, and Nicole. Let's just keep those minor details out of this.

"why?" Shane asks me curious. Ugh. He just had to ask that, didn't he?

"ummmm I don't feel like telling you why at the moment" I say looking at his shirt. I’ve decided that red is a really good color on him.

"well, you'll have plenty of time to let me in on the why part later tonight when you and I will be having a very important discussion. We have a lot of things that we need to go over together" Shane tells me raising his eyebrows as if daring me to protest. This time, I'm just keeping my mouth shut. I'm already in enough trouble. I don't need to add anymore to it.

"okay" I grumble unhappily and snuggle back into him. I look over my shoulder and notice where my friends are for the first time. Jazzy is sitting in Alex's lap on the ground crying her eyes out as he holds her and rocks her in a comforting way. Morgan is in P.K. arms being comforted also but I can tell she is enjoying it way, way too much. I'm gonna ask her about that tomorrow. Emma and a clearly pissed Spencer are arguing with each other. No love over in that corner.

"I finally found you guys and you found the missing girls. I brought some towels with me since they're probably all wet" a new leader approaches with a handful of towels. I don't know her name( not surprising) but she really nice. Unlike some other girl leaders here.

"thanks Lauren. They are wet, so I'd hand them out to the rest" Shane says grabbing a towel from her. I stand back as he puts the towel around my shoulders.

"we're your shoes, girlie?" Shane asks looking down at my feet. I look down also and notice that I'm barefoot. Where the hell did my flip-flops go? They were my favorite pair too. Grrrr. Stupid Bigfoot.

"I guess I lost them in the woods" I tell him pulling the towel around me tighter. Damn, I look like a complete mess. My legs are all muddy, I don't even want to think about my hair right now, and my clothes feel heavy because of the rain.  Shane picks me up with ease.

"I guess I'll just have to carry you then" he says with a smile before kissing my cheek while holding me in his strong arms. I make myself comfortable since I won't be doing any walking. Good thing too because I'm am dead tired. I passed my adventure limit for the day and also the next week. I probably won't be feeling very courageous with the sore butt I'll be having very soon. Ugh, yay me.

I feel like I'm about to get my head cut off or something. I'm following Shane up the steps of our unofficial designated cabin that I'm more than familiar with now. At least I feel and look a whole lot better since I took a shower and put my snuggly pajamas on. Shane opens the door and let's me pass by him into the cabin. I head over to one of the beds and wait. This sucks!! How do I get myself into these situations? Shane walks over and takes a seat on the bed. He then grabs my hand and pulls me down to sit next to him. Well this is different.

"We have some things to talk about. Remember?" Shane says noticing my confused look. Oh yeah. I'm not looking forward to this.

"Well what do you want to talk about? We both know I'm in trouble and I told you why we got lost. Can we just skip ahead to the you know what and get it over with?" I ask. It never hurts to try the easy way out. Shane rolls his eyes.

"Nice try. That part will happen later. First I want to know the real reason why you left the Rec hall today?" he asks me. I cringe. You see, Shane carried me back to our main campsite area since all of us girls somehow walked to the other side of the property. I told you it was a huge freaking place! Anyway, as we were heading back Shane asked me why we disappeared. I told him that I had wanted to get some fresh air and took a walk but got lost. What! It's partially the truth. I needed to get out of the rec hall and I DID end up getting lost. Hmph! It's not like Shane believed me anyways.

"I told you what the real reason was. I needed some air,” I tell him, trying to convince him. I huff and look away with my arms folded. I already know it’s a hopeless case with Mr. Non believer next to me here.

"That's bull and you know it, Bailey. I want to know the truth please,” Shane says grasping my chin gently and moving my head towards his. I look into his dark eyes as he looks into mine. I can't help noticing his lips and wonder what it would be like to kiss him. No! Stop it Bailey. Don't get those thoughts right at this moment. I sigh defeated.

"Alright I'll tell you. I left the Rec hall because... Well, because I..." I mumble not willing to finish.

"Will you just spit it out?" Shane asks me impatiently. Geeze, keep your trousers on. I give him a glare.

"Okay, okay. I thought that you might like me but I quickly doubted it after I heard some things. After I saw you and Becca walk into the Rec hall together and you guys looked so good for each other, I knew that I'd never be a good match for you. I got jealous and it was too much for me to handle so I had to leave to clear my head. So there. Are you happy now?" I tell him as I turn away from him again and angry tears stream down my face. Damn him for making me feel this way. Shane puts his arm around me and pulls me closer to him.

"Why do you think your not good enough for me, sweetie?" He asks me gently next to my ear. I shiver slightly from his warm breathe on my ear. Remember Bailey, don't think those thoughts...yet.

"Because stupid fucking Tyler, Zoey, and Megan all said that the only reason that you care about me is because you are my responsibility and that you ad Becca might be getting back together" I tell him as I wipe my wet cheeks with my hand.

"They told you that?" Shane asks me ask with an edge to his voice as he pulls me tighter toward him. I nod my head. I'm not one for tattletaling but this time I don’t mind. (Evil smile)

"Well I know for a fact that I'm not getting back together with Becca whether she wants to believe that or not. And like I said earlier, I care for my team. But with you, I care a whole lot more. I have feelings for you that keep growing stronger, Bailey. If you keep pushing me away or doubting yourself then we're never going to have a chance" he tells me. Did you hear that? Shane has strong feelings for me. Oh yeah!!

"Do you mean that?" I ask looking up at him. It's always best to double check on things like this.

"I mean it, love. Do you have strong feelings for me?" he asks me next. I smile up at him. Really. Why would he asks such a dumb question?

"Mhmm. A definite yes" I tell him. There is a big shift between us. Shane smiles at me and then leans in and kisses my lips. I'm so happy that I savor the moment before I place my hands on his neck and in his hair while kissing him back. Shane released my lips from his slowly. My body is warm all over just from the kiss and damn was it a good kiss. This boy does strange things to me. Shane smiles at me; his face still inches away from mine. I trace my hand along his jaw as he runs up the tips of his fingers up and down my arm. I return his smile with one of my own.

"I’ve wanted to do that for long time now,” Shane tells me. Trust me buddy, the feelings mutual.

"Me too" I tell him a little breathlessly. I want to kiss more of his delicious lips. Shane gives me a quick kiss before leaning back and giving me space. Not that I was complaining; far from it.

"so...where does this take us now?" Shane asks me. How does he except me to think after what just happened? My mind is still in a daze. I shrug.

"I don't know. Where do you want us to go now?" I ask as I scoot closer to him on the bed so out legs out touching.  

"I would like for us to be more than friends and fast" he says grabbing my hand and holding it in his.

"good because I'm not a friends with benefits kind of girl. So we better start dating" I tell him with a small grin. However with Shane, I might make an exception.

"I'd hate to go against your morals"' Shane tells me grinning too.

"I know. It'd be totally wrong. So your either going to be my boyfriend or we can't kiss or hug or hold hands. Your choice?" I tell him pretending to be serious.

"hmmmm...that's a hard decision..." Shane says pretending to think about it. He laughs when I give him a glare.

"no but seriously, if we're going to start dating lets just make sure we're on the same boat here. Do you want to go public with our relationship here at camp?" Shane asks me seriously. Yes!! Shane's gonna be my boyfriend. Shane's gonna be my boyfriend. Happy dance time.

"um... Not really. I think we should keep it a secret. Just because you know I'm so popular here and everything. So I don't want anymore stares and whispers when we just got together" I tell him. And I'm not taking being popular lightly either. Even the lunch ladies know who I am. How the hell is that possible???

"I agree. Let's take it slow and get to know each other better as well. Only you and I will know babe" he says kissing my cheek. I smile happily. Ha!

In your face Becca and the evil trio.

"soooo, are you going to still spank me now that we're dating?" I ask him. I bet he will but it never hurts to ask.

"your crazy if you think I'm not gonna spank your ass anymore" Shane says with a laugh. Hmph! It was worth a try.

"I was just asking" I say with huff.

"and don't think I'm going to go easy on you for the last two week either. In fact, I'll probably be harder on you" he adds. What! Harder? He's gotta be kidding.

"hey! that's not fair! What happened to team equality?" I say folding my arms together. Injustice I tell you.

"I do treat my team equal. I push everyone to his or her ability. You’re just lazy at times so it seems like I'm pushing you harder. And sometimes I do because I know you can do it" Shane tells me with a knowing grin. Ugh! So I can be lazy but that doesn't mean I should be pushed any harder than my teammates. Screw him and his dumb logic.

"Whatever" I grumble as look away knowing he is right.

"speaking of spanking, I think we should going on that" Shane says as he stands me up and pulls me over his lap.

We just got into a relationship and I'm already over his lap  about to get spanked. I didn't exactly want this to be a memory of our start together but what can you do when your boyfriend is fully in control right now.

"let's get this taken care of and behind us, Bailey" Shane tells me as he pulls my pants down to my above my knees. Yes, that's a good idea Shane. It's not like I enjoy being over your with my pants down waiting to have my butt smacked. Don't you just love my sarcasm right now?

"okay but DON'T pull down my panties this time" I warn him. It freaking hurt last time when he spanked me bare butt. It was like his hand was a piece of wood or something.

"okay, I won't pull them down...yet" he says with a bit of a laugh. Before I even realize it, Shane raises his hand and brings it down hard on the middle of my cheeks.

SMACK!

Holy shit that one hurt and it's only getting worse. How am I going to survive.

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

He continues to rain down hard smacks on my upturned bottom.

"ow Shane please oww not so hard owwwie" I cry out as I wiggle around hoping his hand will miss his target. It doesn't help any since Shane just tightens his hold of my waist, which prevented me from moving around as he continues to spank me. Ugh!

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

My ass is killing me right now. Will this agony ever end? Just as I finish my thought, his hand stops and rests on my warm backside.

"alright baby, before we get on to your real spanking I want you to tell me why you’re getting spanked" Shane asks me. Real spanking?!? What was he just now? A preview before the show? Unbelievable.

"um... (sniff) because I got lost in the woods and you had to (sniff) come find me?" I ask him as I wipe tears away from my face.

"that's only a small part of it; except for me having to come find you. You’re not in trouble for that. Try again" he tells me patting my butt.

"well I don't know then. Just tell me" I say to him. What is this, a pop quiz? Sheesh, I thought this was summer camp not school. I hear Shane sigh.

"Bailey, you give up too easily. You’re getting spanked because of your acting on impulse. You don't think things through. You left the Rec hall without telling anybody. Do you think that was smart?" Shane asks me. I hate it when he's right.

"no I guess not but it's not my fault I got lost" I tell him hoping to catch some sympathy points.

"not really but if you didn't leave in the first place it would never have happened. Plus, Morgan and Anya were brought in it too. Again that would never have happened if you didn't run away without thinking about it first. You got me?" he asks me. Now that he mentions it, I guess that does get me into trouble a lot. Okay, more like always. Soccer angels, help me out more often.

"yeah, I got you. And thank you for finding us" I tell him honestly. If the boys hadn't have found us, we'd probably would have been big foot food.

"anytime baby. And why were you girls running anyway? What, did you think big foot was coming after you or something?" Shane asks me snickering while slipping down my panties. My eyes narrow.

"No! Why would I think big foot was real? We were running because we didn't want to be stuck in the woods when it turned completely dark" I lie to him. And anyways, how does he know that big foot doesn't actually exist? We heard something that definitely wasn't a squirrel.

"I'll take your word for it" he says grinning and continues on with my spanking. Only this time, it's over my poor bare ass!

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

I had been so distracted with Shane's stupid big foot question that I didn't realize he had pulled my panties down.

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

"Oww Shane! I'm sorryyy please ah owwie Stop ahh" I cry even louder now. His hand slaps my butt cheeks hard and fast as it seems like the pain builds up more and more. I want my panties back on!! Grrrr. Dumb Shane.  How is it possible that a thin piece of material can be so much protection?

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

I'm in soooo much pain right now.  This is the only downside to having a strong boyfriend. I squirm and kick my legs hoping to distract him.

"SMACK keep SMACK still SMACK Bailey SMACK I'm SMACK almost SMACK done SMACK" Shane tells me while landing hard spanks to my thighs. Almost done? Could you please elaborate what that means exactly because the person getting her ass spanked would like to know.

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

Shane is doing a good job of making sure my whole backside is spanked evenly; even my sit spots and thighs.

I'm sobbing by now and I'm in complete agony. When will then be over?

"Bailey SMACK answer SMACK my SMACK question SMACK again SMACK please SMACK. Why SMACK are SMACK you SMACK getting SMACK spanked SMACK?" Shane asks never slowing down.

"Because I left without telling anybody where I was going and I acted on impulse,” I sob to him. I don't know if my answer was right or not since Shane didn't say anything else which was totally RUDE!!

SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK

He spanks me a half a dozen more hard ones before stopping. Finally! Almost done, my ass. Hmph!

Shane gently puts my panties back into place before pulling my pajama bottoms up too. Even my soft pajama bottoms hurt to have on.

"Come on lovie, you can get up now" Shane tells me. I stand up with the his help and gently sit on his lap. I wince when my butt makes contact.  Shane wraps his arms around me and rocks me as I sob my pain and suffering away. I love the feeling of being in his arms. It's weird. I feel safe and content. All I know is that I can get used to this.

"You alright baby?" Shane whispers in my ear once I've stopped sobbing and crying. I nod my head against him.

"I'm sorry for everything that I caused. I shouldn't have left at all" I say looking into his eyes. Shane smiles at me and then gives me a kiss on the forehead.

"I know and you were punished for it. So it has been taken care of,” he says. I grin and lean back into his embrace happily.

"No more running away,” Shane tells me. I didn't plan on running away but I'll put that as a reminder to myself for future references. Knowing me, I'll probably need it.

"No more running away" I repeat to him.

"You better remember that too. I won't be so nice next time,” he says helping me stand up before standing up himself. Next time? I didn't think he was nice this time.

"Hmmm, thanks for the information but I won't be needing it since I won't be running away" I say with a bit of a huff as we walk toward the door. Shane just rolls his eyes.

"Whatever you say, girlfriend" Shane says leaning down to kiss me.

"Whatever YOU say, boyfriend" I say right back at him, on my tippy toes to meet his kiss. When we break apart we give each other a knowing smile.

Shane puts his arm around me to pull me closer to him and places sweet kiss on the temple of my head.

"Try to stay out of trouble please. I don't want to come back here any time soon" he says. Don't worry, I don't want to be anywhere near this cabin either. It's like my aunt Lucy's cooking. Everyone avoids it like the plague.

"I'll try" I say and give him a kiss on the cheek. I'll try but I make no promises.