Pool

•Amethyst•

I regretted everything.

Well, regret is a strong word, but I was super tired the next morning and I hate being tired.

The rest of the party consisted of Max and I snuggling together, him kissing my forehead or hair and me sticking to his side like glue.

I really hated everything else though.

I stayed up so late and talked with Max for the most of the night after dancing for a few hours. I realized that it was time for me to go home when my mother asked me how the party was. Max drove me home, apparently (I fell asleep so I don't remember), and my mother and father told me that he was so sweet for carrying me to my room.

He is really sweet.

Then when I woke up I felt like absolute crap, my body not used to partying and staying up late, and I got a text from Max. He asked me if I wanted to come to his house, have breakfast, and swim in his pool with his family. I loved the kids, even Noah and Ethan, so I said yes.

I quickly grabbed a simple pair of denim shorts and a simple yellow t-shirt. I paired it with some white flip-flops and put on my waterproof make-up, all after a shower of course. I grabbed my phone and keys and trudged downstairs where my parents were drinking coffee and snuggling close to each other.

"Hola mama y papa," I greeted as I walked to the fridge to grab some apple juice. (Hello mom and dad)

"Hola hija," they said in unison. (Hello daughter)

I turned to my father and smiled. "¿Puedes conseguir una taza para mí?" I asked, pointing to the cabinet. (Can you get a cup for me?)

He nodded. "Sí." He got up and walked over to the cabinet before grabbing me a cup. (Yes)

I nodded my head in thanks and poured myself some juice before trudging back up to my room. I quickly picked out a cute bikini: a high-waisted bikini bottom with a black and white striped pattern and a bandeau top. I then grabbed my purple duffel bag and put in my beach towel, sunscreen, make-up wipes incase my make-up gets smudged (even if it's waterproof), my goggles and glasses, some extra contacts, another t-shirt that I cropped to look cute and some extra shorts, and put my phone and keys in the bag.

I then skipped downstairs, put my empty cup in the sink, told my parents where I was going, and left to my car. I drove to Max's house with ease, remembering all of the lefts and rights he told me to take, and pulled up in his large driveway. I could already see Ainsley and Noelani running to my car in their bathing suits with large smiles on their faces.

I chuckled to myself as I parked and got out of the car.

"Amy!" They squealed as they ran into my open arms.

"Hey girlies!" I giggled as I hugged them.

They pulled away from me and smiled. Noelani was wearing a white bikini with yellow polk-a-dots white Ainsley was wearing a yellow bikini with white polk-a-dots.

"Max has been getting ready since the morning when he knew you were coming," Ainsley said.

"Yeah! He was super worried about looking ugly for you," Noelani informed.

I blushed and fixed the strap of my bag. "Really?" They nodded. "I guess I better change into my bathing suit, then."

They grabbed each of my hands and dragged me into the house. I laughed the whole way until I saw that everyone was at the kitchen table except for Max. I frowned a bit but waved to everyone anyway.

"Hello everyone," I greeted.

They all turned to me and smiled. "Amy!"

Noah and Ethan jumped up from their seats and pulled out a chair for me. "For you, m'lady," they said in unison.

I giggled and sat down. They pushed in the chair before going back to their seat. I was sitting between Audrey and Alexander, making me feel very short, and waved at the both of them.

"Hey Amy!" Audrey greeted cheerfully.

I smiled. "Hi Audrey."

"Sup A," Alexander greeted with a slight nod.

I raised an eyebrow. "If you can call me that than I can call you Hamilton."

He shook his head with a smile. "Hi Amy."

I nodded. "Hello Alexander."

I smiled when someone set a plate of food in front of me. I looked up and waved to Elm, Mrs. King, and she waved back.

"Hi Elm, thank you for the breakfast."

She nodded and went back to her seat. "No problem, sweetie. You still look as beautiful as the last time I saw you, and as the pictures that Max showed me."

I paused right when I was going to put the for of food in my mouth. "What pictures?" I asked.

She stopped chewing and quickly swallowed. "Hm? You don't know?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't."

"Max posted some cute pictures online as soon as he got home. You should check them out," Audrey said.

I nodded and put the food in my mouth when someone spoke. "Who should check out what?" A deep voice asked.

I turned my head as I swallowed and almost fainted at the sight I saw.

Maximus King, the Maximus King, was standing half-naked, in his swim trunks, with wet messy hair, and water droplets cascading down his muscled torso. His six pack was gleaming in the light, not a hair on his muscled chest. His arms flexed with every movement he made, the muscles so defined and way bigger without a shirt. I don't even think he meant to look that good, since I didn't remember my name for a second, but he looked amazing.

"I'd close my mouth before a fly flies inside," Audrey sang quietly, so quietly that only I could hear.

I quickly closed my mouth and felt my whole face heating up. "H-hi knight."

He smiled, making my already fast beating heart beat faster, and ran a hand through his wet locks. "Hey shortie."

I almost fainted.

Everyone else was already done with their food and got up to put away their things, leaving Max to stand there while I was all flustered.

"You wanna get in the pool? I just came out," Max asked as he came closer to me.

I nodded since I knew I couldn't talk properly. I picked up my plate and set it on the counter, after awkwardly walking around the god that was Maximus King, and went back to get my bag. I then turned to Max since everyone else had left and awkwardly shuffled my feet on the floor.

"Is there a place I can change?" I asked quietly.

He nodded. "Audrey's room. First door on the right upstairs."

"Thanks."

~<~<~<

After a long talk with myself in the bathroom mirror, I changed into my bathing suit and walked downstairs to see Max waiting for me. As soon as he saw me his eyes widened and his mouth was agape, his face looking just like mine when I saw him.

"Wow," he muttered.

I smirked. "Thank you."

Max blushed before clearing his throat. "Let's get in the pool, shall we?"

I nodded and followed him out to the back door of his house. There was a pool room in the back, with a glass table on the left, grey walls, and hardwood floor. There was a sliding glass door leading to the pool, which took up half of the back yard, a large field taking up the other.

Max opened the door for me, causing me to smile and look up at him, and I walked onto the concrete. Audrey was suntanning in a beach chair, wearing a black strapless one-piece, while Noah and Ethan were playing that game where you put someone on your shoulders and try and knock someone else on another person's shoulders with Noelani and Ainsley.

Noelani and Noah were winning by the looks of it.

"You wanna swim, shortie?" Max asked from behind me.

I was mid nod when Max grabbed me from behind, ran over to the pool, and jumped in with me, myself screaming the whole way. When we emerged from underwater, I was, somehow, facing Max, his arms still around my waist.

He laughed, his head tilting back with his eyes closed, making him look adorable, and kissed my forehead.

"You're mean, Maximus," I said with a pout.

He instantly stopped laughing and frowned. "Maximus?"

"That's your name, isn't it?"

"Not for you, it isn't. It goes: knight, when you're happy; Max, when you're annoyed; Maximus, when you're mad; Maximus King, when you are furious; and Maximus Magnum King when you want to kill me."

I smirked. "Maximus it is."

He pulled us closer to each other, causing our stomachs to touch, and pouted. "Don't be mad, shortie. Please. I won't do that again, I promise."

I smiled and hugged him. "I forgive you... knight."

He smiled brightly before lifting me above his head. "Yay!" He cheered.

I giggled and looked down at his handsome face. "This is fun!"

He pulled me back into his chest. "Wait until West and Kyle come over, then the fun can really start!"

~<~<~<

As I was playing with Max's hair on the grass, his head laying on my legs, I heard boyish hollers followed by a happy squeal. I looked and saw that two boys, a little bit taller than Audrey, were being crushed in a hug by her. I poked Max on the cheek, causing him to look up at me from his calm state, and raise an eyebrow.

"Why'd you stop?" He asked, referring to his hair.

I pointed to Audrey and the boys. "New people."

He sat up off my leg and turned to where I was pointing. After a moment he smiled and nodded his head in recognition.

"West and Kyle, Audrey's best friends."

I nodded thoughtfully. "Goalie and captain of the soccer team, right?"

He turned to me and smirked. "Yep."

I stood up and walked over to Audrey timidly, who was now animatedly talking to the boys and they took of their shirts, both of them already in their swim trunks.

"Hi," I greeted quietly.

The dirty blonde with green eyes, freckles, and a large smile with a dimple on the left cheek, turned to me first and waved happily.

"Hi! You're Amethyst Rosetta Stone, right?" I nodded. "I'm West!"

Kyle and Audrey turned to me. Kyle gasped. He had dark brown hair that was super curly, tan skin, and blue eyes.

"Oh my goodness, you're the smallest, prettiest, and cutest little teenager I've ever seen!" He suddenly picked me up over his head, causing me to giggle, and spun around. "I could just take you home and keep you forever!"

Audrey laughed and playfully slapped Kyle's arm. "Put her down, idiot. She doesn't like random weirdos touching her."

I smiled shyly as Kyle carefully placed me down on the ground.

"Right, sorry. I remember when Jacob scared you at the soccer game last month, you cried after you threw melted nacho cheese on his shirt."

I blushed and looked down at my feet. "I still feel bad... and embarrassed."

Max wrapped and arm around my shoulders. "Sup West," he gave West a fist bump. "Hey Kyle," he nodded to Kyle.

Kyle smirked. "She stole your heart first, I see. I was hoping that I would do so first," he shrugged, "one can only hope."

"I'm straight, Kyle. Always have been, always will be. Plus," he ruffled my hair. "shortie is my best friend."

"So what I'm hearing is, I still have a shot?"

Max rolled his eyes. "Straight."

"Gay, and yet Beyoncé can still turn me on. And let's face it, if Beyoncé can turn me on, I can definitely turn you on."

Max scoffed. "You're saying that you think you're hotter than Beyoncé?"

He shook his head. "I know, honey. I know."

I giggled and leaned into Max. "You don't have to lie, knight. Kyle is pretty hot."

Kyle smirked. "Listen to the little cutie, Max."

I will only let him call me a little cutie, everyone else will get a lecture. I thought to myself.

~<~<~<

"Shake what your mama gave ya, girl! Especially when she gave you a lot of it!" Kyle cheered as I danced on the field with him.

I giggled and turned to Max, who was standing on the side, watching me.

"Come on, knight! You've got to dance with me!" I said as I skipped over to him.

He smirked and shook his head. "No, I don't. Last time we danced, you grinded on me for a whole song. We don't want a repeat of that, do we?"

I frowned. "I said sorry..." I looked down at my feet. "I just wanted to have fun... never mind."

I walked back to Kyle and kept dancing with him, though I was more subtle and having less fun.

Why am I acting this way? All he said was no! I thought angrily as I moved to the beat. I didn't like that Max was affecting my mood so much. I didn't like that he made me feel good with the smallest of things or that he was on my mind all day. I didn't like it because I wasn't used to it. I never felt anything remotely close to what I was feeling when Max was around and I didn't like that.

Tired of pretending to be okay, I stomped out of the field and into the house. I didn't even bother telling anyone where I was going and went through the house to the front door. I opened it and ran over to my car before jumping in and locking myself inside.

I wanted to be left alone, as you can so clearly tell.

"Damn boys and their perfect faces, amazing bodies, tall frames, kind hearts, observant eyes, warm, soft lips that are so good at kissing... I was supposed to ranting. Damn it!" I slammed the steering wheel, thankfully missing the horn.

I groaned. "I hate this feeling!" I growled. "All he did was say no! That's it! What the hell is so bad about a fucking no?!" I screamed in frustration. "A fucking no!"

Tears started to well up in my angry eyes, which made me scoff at myself.

"I'm such a little bitch! Crying about nothing. I asked him a question, and every time you ask someone a question there is a possibility of them saying no, duh, and he said no! So what the fuck am I doing, huh? Why am I feeling like this?" I plopped my face in my hands. "Why?"

"Because you like him, Amethyst," a smug voice said from beside me.

I screamed in fear and shot my head up to see Audrey sitting next to me with a large smirk.

"What in the hell?!" I exclaimed.

"I never thought I'd hear you curse!" She clapped happily. "New things happen everyday!"

I scoffed and crossed my arms. "I'm not five, okay? I'm almost eighteen, meaning I'm almost and adult. Why the hell wouldn't I have cursed by now?"

"Because you're an innocent little cu-" I growled.

"Don't you fucking dare. Don't! I'm not a child. I'm not a kid! I am as old as pretty much every other senior in that god forsaken school and yet everyone treats me like I'm two! I'm not two! I'm not ten! I'm not even sixteen! I'm practically a grown woman who is more mature than almost everyone in that hell hole! Just because I haven't had sex, only had one kiss, never drank alcohol out of church, and still don't know what a fucking 'BJ' is, doesn't mean I'm innocent! Or cute- not that fucking word- don't ever call me cute!"

Audrey blinked in shock before slowly nodding her head. "I get that. I totally get that-well-sort of. You're less corrupted than the rest of us. You haven't had much sexual-or romantic- experiences like most of us have had. You're not 'cute', I guess. You are just more... pure. Your thoughts haven't been clouded with anything nasty or perverted and you don't even think about flirting. You're not cute, per say, but you are at the same time. Cute is the only word we can think of, Amy. Sorry."

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry can suck a sock."

Audrey laughed. "I understand why Max always talks about you, now."

I raised an eyebrow. "'Always' is too strong of a word, Audrey. I'm sure he doesn't always talk about me."

She shook her head. "You're wrong, Amy. I practically know everything about 'the little girl that's super pretty from school' from the fourth grade to now."

I laughed coldly. "There are about two thousand other girls he could be talking about, so nice try."

"None of them are four-feet eleven inches, have wavy auburn hair, have green-brown eyes, wear cute glasses-" I frowned at her calling my glasses cute, "have the best grades, are super athletic, have pink plump lips, quiet voice, and is super shy. There are other things too, but I think those were enough to prove my point."

I nodded. "So he may- or may not- be talking about me, so what?"

It was her time to scoff. "So what? You two like each other more than most of the couples at our school, Amy. He's only talked about you since the fourth grade and had been trying to gain the courage to talk to you, even after all these years. He likes you so much, Amy. Obviously you like him just as much to be talking about how mad you are that he said no. If it were any other guy, you would've been fine."

"I wouldn't have asked anyone else, Audrey. What does any of this have to do with why you were eavesdropping on me?"

She smirked. "I'm here to help you get with my brother."

I rolled my eyes. "I already have a best friend to do that for me, thank you. Plus, I don't want anyone's help, I don't need help. He will never be interested in me, because we're just friends. It doesn't matter if I like him or not, us dating isn't going to happen."

"Not with that attitude."

I shook my head. "Whatever."

"Let me just try something that can help you. Both Samantha and I-I know she's your best friend- can do it. I know Max the best and she knows you the best. We'll be the best team!"

I sighed and shrugged. "Fine. Do what you want, I don't care. Just watch when I fail and he will only see me like everyone else: cute."