Hafid rested his cheek on the palm of his hand and smiled softly as he listened to her list off the three options. “I feel like it can be a mix of all the above, no? Don’t give them an F but shade them just a little in my comments,” he joked and glanced back at the paper for a moment. “A for effort is what you’re saying, hm? How about B minus for effort, that’s not too harsh, right?”
Mack gave a nod at his solution, taking a sip of her tea. “I think that sounds respectable. As long as I can read what you say. Make it clever with just the right amount of sass,” she smiled. “Hell, if I know. I haven’t been in school for longer than I care to admit.”
“How do you know? What if someone sees us and calls the cops?” It was a possibility and Daphne was terrified of it. “I am so bad at lying and hiding things. I’d crack if they asked me one question. I am telling you.”
“If we stand here for another hour while you decide yeah maybe they will.” It was late enough that Mack doubted the occurrence. “We are jumping into a pool not murdering someone. What do you think they would even do to you?”
To call Will vanilla would be a lie and a stretch. He was fun, spontaneous, and always drew in a crowd. But was he practical? Yes. Growing up with his reckless younger brother, someone had to be practical. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his board shorts – always somehow ready for a swim – and gave the girl a smile. “No, I know. It’s not stealing. It’s just.. You know, breaking and entering.” Maybe it was a bad idea, but he still found himself not saying no to it. Color him intrigued. “Whose house is this, anyways?”
Mack hadn’t done anything like this since high school. She was never a troublemaker by any means, but she was a competitive girl who every once in a while had a daring side to her. Tonight the one too many Coronas had given her that little push. “You make it sound like we are busting through a window. They will hardly know.” At his question, she shrugged. “Didn’t really check my address book. “Come on, Will my boy. Are you in or are you out?”
Sara wasn’t sure about this, this wasn’t her usual behaviour. Sara played by the rules, almost all the time. “I’m not so sure about this,” she admitted.
“What is there to worry about? We aren’t hurting anything. We aren’t even taking anything.” Mackenzie countered Sara’s doubt.
Ama didn’t want to chicken out. She was just nervous because she didn’t feel like being chewed out for getting caught. However, going for a swim sounded exciting and she could already feel the water against her skin. “I’m not gonna chicken out. Just was a little hesitant.” She followed Mack’s gesture and threw her own bag over the fence. “I’ve only done something like this once, and like, I got into an insane amount of trouble for it.” After she spoke, Ama placed her foot into the chain-linked fence and began to climb.
A delighted smile brightened her features as Ama went back to agreeing with the plan. She began to climb the fence with her, listening to the reasoning for the caution. “Bit of a troublemaker, huh?” She glanced over before swinging her leg over to the other side. She only took a step or two down before jumping to the ground. “What did you do?”
“You think you’re not gonna be touching yourself when you’re seventy? Count me out on a life with you,” Aiden teased, pretending to pull his head away from her, but he was always sucked back in quickly. He stood no chance with her hands there, the newfound closeness, and the way she whispered the words she did. He had to take a deep breath, finding time for a long blink before he could speak, his hands grabbing her waist to keep her close to him. “You’re full of shit, those panties aren’t wet,” he challenged with a small smile.
“Better leave now because I’m not gonna be touching your shrinking dick and sagging balls either,” she laughed doing a quick grab at his pants. There was a playfulness in her eyes as she studied his features. She could tell her words had the slightest effect. Even with sleeping with each other countless times, she still could get him worked up, when truthfully she was worried one day their love life would grow stale to the man. Her brow rose at his comment. “No? Would you like to check?”
Chey couldn’t help but to laugh with the woman. It was always refreshing to find people willing to crack jokes with her – most of the time it often felt too one sided with Chey. When it came to embarrassing moments, she’d rather make something funny out of it than dwell on how stupid she must have looked. “Oh, believe me. I know all about frustrations with commercials nowadays,” she chuckled, “I’m a filmmaker, so I’m always wondering where the hell they come up with those ideas.”
“A filmmaker?” Mack repeated with intrigue in her voice. “Really? That is so cool.” While living in southern California it didn’t seem to be that unusual meeting someone involved in film, she hadn’t actually run into many people in Eastcliff with such a title. “What kind of stuff do you do?”
“I just think if we waited until they came home and asked nicely, they’d be quite accomodating,” Tamati suggested, not quite the sort to go into private property unless absolutely necessary; if he saw a rare bird perched on a tree in a garden, perhaps. “And we’ve got the whole of the beach. Ocean water’s always superior. But if ‘ya really wanna.”
Her brow furrowed as he gave her another option. “I don’t think sitting at someone’s door waiting for them to come home to ask if we can swim in their pool is going to get an astounding yes.” She laughed, putting one hand on the fence. “Exactly, we can go anytime. This is just harmless fun.”
Mackenzie Beckley was a gift to her father. At least that was what he always said to her growing up. She was sure it was his way of relieving any guilt she might feel at her mother’s passing once she was born. A few weeks in the hospital her mother was found to be unable to carry on her pregancy any futher. While Mackenzie made it after an emergency c-section, her mother did not get the same chance. While grief always echoed through the home, growing up Mack had nothing short of a wonderful childhood. Her father was a good man. Kind and hard-working; at times carrying two jobs to save for his daughter’s education. While there was an absence of a mother in her life, Mack was never short of feeling loved. Her father provided for her in every which way, and the man was not only her hero, but her best friend.
High school prooved to be a time of thriving. With high grades and a group of friends, Mack had about just everything she wanted, but it wasn’t until Aiden did she feel the need for more. It was the typical good girl falling for the not so good boy. It was a relationship her father was not thrilled with but had no way in ending it for he knew that when his daughter loved someone that love was too strong to break. And nothing did break it even with ugly fights and threats of breaking up. They seemed to be in her mind soul mates. That was until college came and while Aiden stayed back, Mack left Eastcliff for the first time in her life and with that her relationship with the boy she loved.
College was harder. It was different now being a small fish in a big pond, but soon she found her groove and a new man. He was a couple years older. Rich, successful the opposite of her previous boyfriend. They had a connection she never shared with Aiden, but while knowing it wasn’t as deep she said yes when he proposed. With his parents paying and heavily deciding on the wedding plans the months went by quickly, and the wedding approached her before she knew it. Yet, the week of it she was brought home after her father was brought to the hospital and soon diagnoised with MS. The doctors said it was aggressive and that while he was fine now, Mack would need to make plans for him.
It was with no second though that she knew she had to take care of him. Her fiance however didn’t agree with the plans. He had his job and their plans to be followed. Moving back to her hometown didn’t fit. It was then she knew it. A man who loved her like she should be loved would know that she had to be there for her father. It was then she knew those years of ignoring Aiden in the back of her mind just wasn’t right. She couldn’t marry this man. While she was saddened by his lack of understanding she knew that it was unfair for him to be second place. Those two things played into the hardest decision she ever made, and so she broke off the wedding and moved back.
..............
The years since her return have had their ups and downs, while watching her father worsen has been a difficult and heartbreak road, she would never go back and make a different decision. It is never an obligation for her, but serving him out of love as he did so many years for her. She’s content with the life she has when knowing what she could have. The glam and success isn’t anything she envies for nothing can rival everything she has in Eastcliff.
At the woman’s joke, Chey couldn’t help but to pose jokingly with her hand on her hip as if she was trying to show off the flyer she stapled herself to. “Advertising in 2018. You become the advertisement. I didn’t take the next step, I made the next step.” A laugh slipped from her lips as she shook her head and brought her attention back to getting the staple out. Once she freed herself with little to no damage, she collected all the flyers from the bystander and gave the girl a smile. “Thanks for this. Safe to say I did not go to school for advertising, but I guess I should have, right?”
“If anything I think you are quite revolutionary. I can see it now. You’re paving away for advancements in the field,” she laughed, straightening up the papers she managed to collect. “Only problem is some people might be confused about what exactly it is your advertising,” Mack gave the woman a look though a smile was quick to make way again. “Have you seen commercials lately? I don’t think most of the people who work in the field did either. Or maybe they shouldn’t have.”
“Part of me wants to give them credit for messing with me because I feel like it’s a bold move, the part of me that thinks they’re modernizing appreciates the creativity, but the stuck up academic part of me is running around inside my head like a chicken with it’s head cut off,” he said with a laugh and shook his head as he looked back at the paper. “I would understand high school but college..college kids are something else. This person is a junior. I think this is the result of coming to class after one too many hits of the pipe,” he joked.
“You’ve got three ways to go then on this. The question is what wins out?” She leaned her elbows on the table. “The boldness, the creativity, or the academic snob in you?” There was a smile on her lips as she voiced the choices and laughter soon follow at his comment. “Hey, the kid needs something to get through the day. Besides they showed up. That’s gotta give them some credit.”
Daphne looked around one last time before looking at Macky, she sighed. “This doesn’t feel right Macky.” She shrugged, biting her bottom lip. “Isn’t this tre passing or trespassing or whatever it’s called. It’s a felony, I don’t want us to get arrested.”
If it weren’t for the alcohol in her system, Mack would have listened to the other woman’s reasoning. Instead, she was shaking her head. “We’re not going to get arrested because we aren’t going to get caught.”
“Come on,” Mack whispered her whine as to not draw attention. “You can’t chicken out on me now,” she threw her purse over the fence. With her aunt in town she felt safe leaving her dad for the night, and had cooped up a night of no responsibilities. “No one is home. We’re not stealing anything. Just borrowing their pool for a swim.”
“See cause I was thinking she’d just touch herself late at night to the thought of us,” Aiden laughed, tipping his head to the side a touch more. "I’m saying no right now. Try and make me cave, I dare you,” he challenged quietly, arm tugging her in a touch closer.
“Oh my god!” Mack’s face scrunched up. “You’re disgusting. She’s like seventy.” Her eyes wandered to their surroundings before falling back on him. “Do you know how easy this is going to be?” Her hands moved up his chest to around the back of his neck, drawing her face closer. “I know exactly what you like hearing, Aiden King. About how badly I want you. That I miss the feeling of you inside me, and just the thought of that gets me wet. Makes me want to go home, get out of these wet panties and touch myself. In fact, I think I’ll do just that since you have eliminated yourself as an option. But I don’t think you’ll be missing out when I scream your name when I cum, right? You’ve heard it before.”
Aiden leaned in, tipping his head to the side to let his lips fall just short of her ear. “What would Mrs. Parkins say if she knew the things you’ve done, Mack?” He whispered in her ear with a laugh before tugging his head away, eyes rolling at the pat to his cheek. “I could say no to you.”
A sheepish smile pulled at her lips. “I believe she’d mark me the modern day Scarlett Letter.” She gave him a knowing look. “You could say it,” Mack gave a nod. “But we both know you’d take very little convincing to change your mind.”
“Longest two weeks of my life. But I’ve done much, much dirtier things to you since then, Beckley,” he bit his lip, shaking his head, his expression showing clearly where his mind had drifted to. “Oooohhh, you think you’re all that, huh? Think I can’t deny you?”
“Shh. Don’t say that so loud. People from my dad’s church might hear you.” Though her brow was furrowed as she scolded him, she couldn’t hide a smile. “Oh, baby,” she patted his cheek. “I know you can’t.”
