Chapter Six: Marine Mammals

Think of every cliché teen movie you have ever seen and picture it in your mind. Now, fast-forward through all of the awkward encounters and dramatic dialogue until you are watching that scene. You know the one I am talking about—the one where the main character is given a makeover and then roped into going to the biggest party of the year.

She arrives with a grand entrance and nobody recognizes her. She is hit on by all of the popular jocks until her crush finally asks her to dance. They slow dance and move together in sync for hours until they finally kiss and then BAM! They are a couple and everyone lives happily ever after except for the bitchy queen bee who nobody really likes.

Now, erase that completely fictional scene from your mind and think about every teenage party you have ever gone to. The house isn't a mansion. In fact, it's only two stories high and every room is way too jam-packed for anyone to move comfortably. The jocks are doing keg stands and the school players—both male and female—are grinding on a tiny dance floor.

That is the type of party Rachel dragged me to after the "non-existent love" argument with my mother. There was no dramatic makeover on my part and I refused to change out of my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt much to the dismay of my best friend.

Now, it was close to midnight and I was walking through Kent Johnson's house with an already drunk off of her butt Rachel. The room was more than jam-packed and I was having a hard time avoiding the various elbows nudging into my side. Rachel on the other hand seemed to be oblivious to the dwindling amount of space as she waved at every single person who walked by us.

And, I still hadn't seen any sign of Lucas.

Rachel blew a kiss at yet another girl that didn't look like anyone I recognized and then turned to me with a lazy smile on her face, "I think I need another one of those fruity drinks. Do you want one?"

"No," I responded, laughing at her carefree attitude. "I think I am good."

"Your loss!" She squealed, disappearing into the large throng of people as she headed in the direction of Kent's kitchen.

I kept walking around, looking for someone I could talk to. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was actually looking for any sign of a boy with black hair. Rachel had said that Lucas would be here tonight and yet I hadn't seen him once in the two hours we had been at the party. I was walking by the family room, which had been turned into a dance room by pushing all of the furniture out of the way, when it happened.

I should have known it wouldn't be a party with out the queen bitch's presence.

Marcie Kensington smiled evilly at me as the remnants of her bright blue cocktail dripped down the front of my TMNJ T-shirt. I looked down at the damage and sighed, realizing that the shirt was probably ruined.

"Oh my god!" Marcie cried, feigning a dramatic apology. By this time, she had drawn in an audience and everyone was staring at us. "I am so sorry, Maddie. I didn't mean to! The drink just slipped out of my hand."

Of course, she didn't mean to ruin my favorite T-shirt.

Why on earth would she want to do that?

She narrowed her eyes at me and stomped away from the crowd that had formed, making her way outside. I blinked my eyes a couple of times trying to comprehend what really just happened. Marcie had just spilled her drink on my favorite shirt and walked away. I was about two seconds away from following her and breaking her perfect fake little nose.

A hand suddenly wrapped around my arm, as if sensing my impending rage on Marcie.

"Hey," A boy spoke softly and I recognized him as Kent, the host of the party. "That was really low of her. If you want you can wash your self off in the bathroom upstairs. No one will bother you up there."

I thanked Kent and took him up on his offer.

If there was anyway I could salvage my shirt, I would try it now. Kent led me through the crowd of people and led me up the stairs to the second floor of his house. It was immensely quieter and even cooler up on the second floor and I was incredibly grateful. Rachel was going to get a huge ass-kicking when I finally found her later.

"My room is just through here," Kent explained, pushing open a dark brown door. He led the way into what looked like a completely typical teenage boy's room, with clothes piled on the floor and sports trophy lining every surface, until he came to another door on the far wall. "This is the bathroom. Feel free to clean yourself off in here."

I thanked Kent again and watched him close the door shut behind him. I was relieved to see Kent's bathroom was relatively clean for a teenage boy and rather large, with a spotless white bathtub that also served as a shower, a toilet, and a large granite-top sink with an attached mirror.

When I was sure that he was back down stairs, I pulled the dirty T-Shirt over my head and threw it in the sink. Underneath the sink, I dug around the various cleaning supplies, looking for some kind of laundry detergent or stain remover. I prayed the blue bottle that I picked up would do the trick and began spotting my T-Shirt. It was working pretty well and when most of the blue stain was gone, I dabbed some water on it and hung it on the towel rack to dry.

Now, I just had to wait.

I walked around the bathtub for a little while and eventually sat down on the toilet. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sit and I suddenly found myself staring at the huge bathtub. Ignoring the part of my brain that was screaming "you are a crazy person," I walked over to the tub and plopped myself inside it's white walls.

And, to my surprise, it was actually pretty comfy.

I kicked both of my feet up, resting them on the edge of the tub and leaned back against the wall. I started humming the lyrics to a song that been stuck in my head for most of the day and let my eyes close for a moment of peace. Then I realized that I was at some guys house, laying in his bathtub in nothing but shorts and my bra.

If only my mom could see me now.

I was enjoying the quietness of Kent's bathroom for about ten minutes, my shirt still hang drying on the towel rack on the wall, when the bathroom door burst open and a boy came running inside. He was nothing but a blur of black hair and I was too busy staring at the door that was still hanging wide open to notice anything else about him.

Didn't Kent lock it when he left me up here?

Of course, he didn't because it locks from the inside.

I was supposed to.

Oops.

I heard the familiar sound of someone unzipping his jeans and then a steady sound of liquid hitting liquid. Oh my god. This guy was going to the bathroom and I was practically sitting right next to him.

He was going to the bathroom!

I quickly placed my hands over my eyes, not wanting to accidentally see anything.

"There is a girl in here!" I screamed, making my presence known to the boy who was going to the bathroom. "Please stop peeing while I am in the room and put your you know what away!"

The boy zipped up his pants quicker than lightning and flushed the toilet. At the sound, I slowly uncovered my eyes and looked at the boy standing in front of me. His blue eyes stared right back at me with as much intensity, a bright red blush tinting his tanned cheeks.

I should have known.

It just had to be Lucas. I had just heard Lucas Evans going to the bathroom and now he was staring at me with those wide blue eyes of his. It was starting to make me uncomfortable. Why the hell was he still staring?

"Maddie!"

"Lucas!"

"What are you doing in the bathtub?"

"I needed to wash up and Kent said I could use his bathroom," I explained, looking at the door that was still wide open. "Do you think you could lock the door?"

"Do you think you could put a shirt on?"

Oh.

That's why he was staring.

~...~...~...~

I stared at Luke's back as he walked over to the bathroom door and switched the lock shut. It locked with an audible click and I let out a thankful sigh, grateful that no one else could run in on me and use the bathroom. I was still sitting in the bathtub and it seemed that the boy with the blue eyes wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Lucas turned back around and kept his eyes on my face.

"Here," Luke said suddenly, taking off his grey button down. He still had a white undershirt on underneath as he handed me the shirt. "Can you please put this on?"

I took the shirt with a smile and slid it over my shoulders, buttoning it up one at a time.

Lucas was still staring at me.

"What," I asked.

"Can I sit with you?"

I nodded wordlessly and Lucas stepped into the tub, sitting directly across from me. It was the closest we had ever been to each other and I couldn't help but memorize every detail of his face. Like, how he had a dark freckle under right underneath his bottom lip and his right eye was a darker blue than the left one.

"So," Lucas began, looking around the room. "Care to run this whole situation by me again. It's not everyday a half-naked girl in a bathtub tells me to stop using the bathroom."

"It sounded gross!" I defended myself. "And, it's not that big of a deal. This girl "accidentally" spilled her drink on the front of my shirt and Kent, the host of the party, let me come up here and clean it. Now, I am just waiting for it to dry. What about you? I didn't even think you would come to the party."

"I came with Aidan and Audriana." Lucas explained. "I think they are downstairs with Rachel. We ran into her when we got here. Audriana loves having another girl to hangout with that isn't some crazy actress and Aiden thinks she's cool."

Rachel might not have been an actress but she was definitely crazy.

I could only hope she was keeping it in her pants.

"And, you are in here because?"

"I think that has an obvious answer," he stated. "I really had to go to the bathroom and the line downstairs was just too long for my liking. I didn't think anyone would be up here."

I stare at Lucas, "but you broke the number one rule of house parties."

Lucas seemed utterly confused, "I wasn't aware that there were any rules to partying."

"Oh, there are tons of them. Don't puke in someone's pool. Don't put your drink down and then pick it back up. Don't be a bitch and deliberatly spill your blue drink down someone's shirt. "

"And, I just happened to break the most important rule?"

"Yeah," I explained.

"Which is?"

Did he seriously not know?

"You never go upstairs at someone's party unless that said person invites you. That way people can't you know, do it, in your bedroom or something. How could you not know that?"

"If you haven't noticed," Lucas began laughing. "I haven't been to many house parties."

I had forgotten he was a famous actor and this was probably one of his first real teenage parties. He was probably used to the hollywood life clubs and bars. He might have even filmed a few teeny-bopper party scenes for a movie but had never been to a real party thrown by real teenagers.

"You haven't really missed out." I comforted him, placing a hand on his warm shoulder. "Don't worry."

Lucas looked in my eyes and I quickly removed my hand from his shoulder. I can't believe I just touched him. In the bathtub. This was all too strange and 80's movie-like to process.

I could just imagine my mother's smug expression if I ever told her how my night ended up.

Suddenly, this whole situation seemed more than awkward. I was sitting in the bathtub with a celebrity, wearing his crisp button down and pair of shorts, explaining the rules of partying.

My life couldn't get any stranger.

"Do you want to play a game?" Lucas asked.

Just kidding, it could get stranger.

"It depends on the game," I replied. "Can it be a game where I don't end up losing? I can be kind of a sore loser."

"How about twenty questions," Lucas spoke after thinking for a moment. "I ask a question and then you ask a question. There will be no possibility of you losing."

It seemed simple enough.

"Okay!" I yelled, smiling. "I call first question!"

Lucas nodded, smiling back at me.

"Let's see," I tried to think of a good question. "What is your favorite marine mammal?"

"Easy," Lucas replied. "Dolphin."

"That's so typical."

"What's yours then?"

"Is that your question?"

"Maybe."

"A walrus." I answered.

Lucas started laughing at me. His face turned red and he started clutching his stomach. I smacked him in the shoulder. I didn't see what he found so funny. A walrus was a perfectly acceptable answer to his question.

At least, I was so unoriginal to say Dolphin.

"My turn." He said after calming down.

"You just went!" I exclaimed.

"That didn't count," Lucas spoke, completely confident in himself. "I was only reacting to your question."

"You are such a cheater."

"No, I just bend the rules sometimes," Lucas's blue eyes smiled at me. "What did you want to be when you grew up?"

Oh, god.

Now, he was really going to laugh at me.

"Iwantedtobeamermaid."

"What?" Lucas asked.

"I wanted to be a mermaid!"

His whole face lit up, "Seriously?"

"Shut up."

"What's up with you and marine mammals?" Lucas raised his eyebrows, genuinely interested in my answer.

"The Little Mermaid was my favorite movie when I was a kid!" I defended myself. "It's not my fault I was more creative than the kids who wanted to be doctors or astronauts or actors."

We continued playing the question game for about twenty minutes and I completely forgot there was a party going on downstairs.

I learned that Lucas loved the color green and hated strawberry milkshakes. His full name was Lucas James Evans. He started acting when he was four years old and failed miserably at playing ny kind of musical instrument, especially the guitar.

He learned that my full name was Madeline Rose Daniels. He found out that I loved sun flower seeds and bacon cheeseburgers. And, I told him that I met Rachel in the second grade, the same year that I ate all of Marcie's purple crayons, which might have been the initial reason she hated me so much.

"You are honestly one of the strangest girls I have ever met, Maddie."

"I hope that's a good thing."

"It definitely is." He smiled again.

He really needed to stop smiling at me. I was about two seconds away from jumping on top of him in the bathtub. I didn't need his flirty smiles and blue eyes tempting me even more.

I needed space. Now.

"We should probably get going." I said, standing up to stretch out my legs.

I stepped out of the tub and walked over to the towel rack. My shirt was a little discolored but I figured a good wash would make it as good as new. Without thinking about it, I pulled Luke's shirt over my head and pulled my old one over my chest. I looked down at the familiar picture on the front and smiled to myself.

When I turned around to give Lucas his shirt back, I noticed he was standing right in front of me. He took the shirt out of my hands, pulling it over his shoulders and I could feel every muscle in his body shift as he moved—he was that close.

"I have one question left." He breathed, his lips almost touching my ear.

I think I might have just died.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," He smiled again and I knew I was done for. "Go out with—"

He was cut off when someone started pounding on the door.

"Hurry up!" Someone shouted. "I am about to pee my pants!"

This wasn't happening.

No.

I was about to punch whoever was knocking on the door and give them a concussion.

I walked away from Lucas like a mad woman and stomped all the way to the door. Lucas was following close behind me and I didn't notice him trip over the corner of the small rug on the floor (because who has a rug in their bathroom?) as I went to unlock the door. I pulled the door open and crashed to the floor as his hard body collided with mine.

Everyone moved out of the way and I landed on the carpet of Kent's bedroom with a soft thud. Lucas instinctively put his arms out, cradling my head, to avoid crushing me with his body. Lucas looked at my face, every inch of his body covering mine.

He was on top of me!

"Oh my god!"

"Is that Lucas Evans?"

"That's Maddie Daniels!"

"Oh my god!"

And, then I saw the flashes around us as my classmates took pictures of the scene with their phones.

Great.

My mom would never let me live this down.

A/N: I am on a roll! Bam two updates in one week! I can't believe it! I am so excited to get this chapter. I love Luke! He is just so freaking cute. I want him. Blahhhh. Okay, I hope you all like it!

Maggie