Aedan's Story - 5. Chapter 5: Growing Up

July 1 2017

Jake and I stayed home most of Saturday. It was the weekend, so more people than usual were in town and the boardwalk was crowded. I spent some of the afternoon on the back porch putting some finishing touches on the drawing I started the previous day while Jake went down to walk on the beach. A bunch of people were down there enjoying the nice weather. I was shading some stuff when Jake came running, almost startling me. "Careful, I'm shading," I mumbled. Don't interrupt me while I am in art mode, please XD

"Dude, do you wanna come play sand volleyball? A couple girls our age invited me to play and I came to you to be my teammate."

I really wanted to continue working on art, but the idea of meeting cute girls and playing shirtless volleyball was appealing. "Sure," I rolled my eyes and followed Jake fifty feet to the sand volleyball court. There was a tall blonde girl and a shorter brunette who was around my height. "Hey," I blushed, waving to them. Both girls looked cute, and I'd be ok asking either one out if I could get over my shyness. Jake and I pulled off our shirts and began playing. The girls clearly had more experience with volleyball but Jake and I were athletic enough to score a few points but we lost in the end. I probably played a little better than Jake, but neither of us were good.

I sat down on the sand, panting as the shorter girl handed me a cold water bottle. "Thanks," I opened it and took a long drink. It was a hot day, and sweat was pouring off my back after volleyball. The sun was starting to dip down towards the horizon. My chest was sandy too from diving a few times to save the ball. The shorter girl dusted the sand off my chest. "Huh," I asked, confused. I was probably also blushing, but my cheeks would have been flushed from the heat as well.

I winced as she touched one of my bruised areas. "Oh, sorry..." she removed her hand. "Oh my god, Aedan, you're all bruised."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "It's nothing! Seriously! Stop it!" I stammered. "Don't worry about it." I huffed and rested my forearms on my knees.

"Um, okay?" she sat down next to me. "You wanna talk about it?" she traced a finger on my faint abs.

"Not really..." I gently pushed her hand away from my bruised torso. "It's complicated."

"I... had a lot of fun today," she said, her pale cheeks blushing a little. She twirled her hair in her fingers. "My name's Kate by the way. My sister there is Gail"

"I had fun too," I smiled at her. God, she looks so nice in a pink and orange bikini. Fits her perfectly. "And, uh, thanks for brushing the sand off my chest," I laughed awkwardly, patting my chest. God, my flirting skills suck!

"Y-you have a cute accent," she laughed. I blushed. "Sorry," she blushed. We continued talking for a while, awkwardly of course. Kate was thirteen just like Jake and I. I can't believe Jake did this to try and hook us up with girls. "Um, hey, do you want to, like, trade numbers, so we can text? Since I'm leaving town Monday."

"Sure," I smiled. She handed me her iPhone and I put in my number while I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my baggy cargo shorts for her to put in her number.

"Well, we should get going back to the hotel, Kate," Gail said.

"Bye, Aedan," Kate kissed me on the cheek, and I blushed.

"Girls, am I right?" Jake said, once they had walked far enough away.

"Yeah," I smiled leaning back in the sand. "That was awesome."

"I don't think either of them were very interested in me," Jake blushed as he helped me up and I grabbed my pink tank top. "A shame really. Both of them were cute."

"They were super cute. Especially Kate," I laughed. I pulled out my phone and texted Kate as we walked back home. I put my shirt on before re-entering the house. The place smelled like pizza, which made my mouth water. I hadn't eaten pizza in so long.

"There you boys are," Jake's mom smiled. "Dinner's ready in five minutes."

"Mkay," Jake nodded, and my friend led me to our bedroom.

"Dude, I need a shower," I pulled my shirt back off when we were in the privacy of our room.

"Me too," Jake said. "I got all sandy from that volleyball match." He paused. "There's not enough time for each of us to shower though..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, grabbing my shower towel.

"We can shower together though. Save some time and shit." Jake offered. He saw a puzzled look on my face. "It's no different than showering in the locker room after flag football practice."

I blushed. "Um, okay..." I stuttered before getting undressed as did Jake. He let me get in the shower first. I kept my eyes to myself and above Jake's waist as I cleaned myself in the cool water, but his eyes seemed to be drawn to me. "Um, why are you staring at me?"

"I'm not!" he blushed, stuttered, and looked down at his bare feet. He glanced at my abs and crotch a bit though. And then down at his own. Jake, keep your eyes to yourself...

After the quick shower, I dried off and got dressed quickly. "Jake. You were staring at me in there..." I blushed.

"Aedan, I... er... well... I'm... jealous? Of you?" Jake stuttered. I blinked a couple times in shock before combing my shaggy hair at the sink. "You're way more mature than I am."

"Mature? Me?" I laughed. "Dude, I am far from mature. We're thirteen year old boys."

"I mean... like... you're more... developed than I am. Like. You have muscle... and, well... you're actually in puberty. You sleep shirtless. And you get girls to like you."

"Dude, you're lucky. Puberty sucks ass..." I shook my head. "My body hates me. I feel weird and awkward a lot. You're not missing out." I said as Jake pulled on a fresh shirt. "My voice cracks all the time. It's yuck."

"Oh..." Jake said... shuffling his feet.

"I'm gonna go eat. I'm starving," I said. "You coming...?" Jake nodded silently and followed me to the kitchen. I put a few pizza slices on a plate and sat at the table. Jake followed suit.

"You boys have fun today?" Mr. Grant asked.

"Yessir," I nodded, my mouth full. "We got to play sand volleyball for a bit."

"Yeah, the girls couldn't keep their eyes off of Aedan." Jake teased and laughed.

"I'll be taking the yacht tomorrow for some fishing on the bay. Do you boys want to join me?"

"Please..." Mrs. Grant begged. "It'll make the house a bit quieter for me." Jake and I laughed. We tended to get a bit loud.

"I love fishing, so it's a yes from me." I looked to Jake for his answer. He was also in agreement.