All Grown Up by Sadie Grubor Page B

was taking Max over to his house for a little while to hang out , we borrowed my dad’s car and headed to the beach.
    We pulled up to the parking area and parked beside Mina’s car. Stepping out of the car , we could hear the music and the fire from where we stood. Max and I started heading toward them but were stopped by a voice.
    "I would stay here if I were you." Max and I turned to see Christy sitting on the hood of Chloe’s truck.
    "What?" Max asked her as we walked over to her.
    "I said , I would stay away if I were you." She smiled.
    "Why is that?" I asked her looking back to the fire . I noticed that it was just the three of them singing and dancing.
    "Well this is a ‘girl ’s’ night, so to say. It’s sort of a tradition after a break-up or a really bad time in one of our lives." Christy’s eyes stayed on the girls while she spoke.
    "So , why are you up here and not down there?" Max asked.
    "I only came over to check and make sure they were okay. I have to get back to Michele and Randy. I’ll be back to check on them again before I go to bed. There is a chance of rain and I don’t want them to attempt to drive after all the drinking that goes down." She jumped off the truck and was about to turn to go when I stopped her.
    "Christy, is Mina okay? I mean you said that these nights are because of…" she stopped me.
    "No, no, it’s not Mina. Chloe and Lucas broke up. He cheated on her. This night is for her." She seemed to be searching my face for something but I wasn’t sure what. How could he cheat on her? He’s a dumbass.
    "Oh ." This was the most intelligent thing I could conjure up at the moment.
    "I would stay away. They tend to get pretty brutal towards men on these nights." She laughed as if she was remembering when she was down there.
    "Christy ," it was Max that stopped her this time, "we’ll keep an eye on them, okay? If need be, I’ll crash down here with them to make sure nothing happens, or I’ll take them back to Leo’s parents."
    " Thanks, Max." Christy waved and left.
    Max and I both sat down on the edge of the sand and watched the girls dance, laugh and sing. They were clearly drunk, but also hilarious to watch. I looked over to see Max with a strange look on his face. I followed his gaze, trailing it back to Roni and every move she made.
    " Ahem," I cleared my throat and laughed.
    "What?" he snapped out at me.
    "Oh, nothing, Mr. I Don’t Make Them Girlfriends." I chuckled. It had become very clear what the look on his face was after he watched Veronica.
    "You don’t know what you are talking about." He said with a little too much conviction.
    "Are you trying to convince me or yourself of that?" I laughed again.
    "Shut the fuck up , dude! She is just hot…that’s all." He shrugged.
    "Yeah, yeah, yeah." I shook my head. "You know, it’s not a bad thing, Max, to actually be with one person and not a bunch of different girls." I kept my eyes on the girls who were winding down but still laughing.
    Max was silent for a moment before he said anything. "You should take your own advice, dear Leo." I laughed lightly.
    Then it went silent. The laughing stopped and so did the music. Max and I walked slowly toward the fire, they had all curled up and fell asleep.
    "Hmmm…do we take them back or leave them here?" Max looked at me.
    "I’m honestly not sure what to do." I looked at him then back to the girls.
    "Well , I’m thinking that we should probably get them to your house," Max spoke as he knelt down to Roni and lifted her up.
    "Okay…then let’s…" just then I heard a low rumble and looked to the sky to see that dark clouds had rolled in over the water. “I guess we should get moving, just in case that hits soon." I turned to see Max carrying Roni back toward my car.
    I started packing up their stuff as Max walked back. He put out the fire and picked up Chloe. The moment he had her in his arms, I felt that damn twinge in my stomach again. I pushed it aside and picked Mina up,