06

Luke Dawson said I owed him a favor. But the way this was shaping up, it looked like he was doing me the favor. I mean, come on: I'm at The Surfside Shack with the two hottest boys. We're talking milkshakes and man-candy.

People were drooling over them, eyeing them as if they were on the menu. Austin grabbed a towel and dried himself down. He put a shirt on and I saw a girl creep up from behind to steal his towel.

These boys had fans. I never really realized it since I'm not very social. All I see of Luke Dawson's life is from my bedroom window. I'd see the cars pick him up for parties and the girls line up at his front door.

But for the first time, I was out with him.

We sat in a booth at the corner of the restaurant, trying to avoid all the attention. People kept crowding the booth to talk to Luke and Austin. Everyone either knew them or seemed to know of them. And the boys weren't thrilled about it.

I, on the other hand, was having a great time.

"Can I have the chocolate coconut milkshake with the toasted marshmallow whipped cream and extra cherries please?" I smiled up at our waiter.

I scanned the menu in my hands to see if anything else was calling my name. When visiting the beach, seas the day. That's how I sea it.

"Ooh, the watermelon wave looks fun. Can I have one of those too?"

Luke grabbed the menu out of my hands, "Ok, that's enough. We'll have two coronas."

"You didn't need the menu for that," I sulked at his boring order.

"Chill out on the girl, Dawson," Austin defended me, "She's doing you a favor."

I'm liking him more and more.

"It's the other way round," Luke answered, slipping his ID back into his pocket.

"But we don't need to go into the details!" I chimed in.

Partly because I wanted to seem like a nice girl to Austin who was a nice guy. And mostly because the truth would involve admitting that I'm a bad driver, which is JUST NOT TRUE. Remember the raccoon story. Never forget the raccoon story.

"Just know that I saved a raccoon's life once," I said.

"Why does that story keep coming up?" Luke exclaimed.

"Because," I calmly stated in a very professional and matter-of-fact way, "it's always relevant. More importantly, why do you get so frustrated about it?"

"You have an unhealthy obsession with raccoons."

"Do you hate animals?"

"Guys," Austin tried to intervene. He failed.

"Do you have a life?"

"Do you have a soul?"

"Guys!" Austin banged his hand against the table to stop our death glares, "We have a job to do here so let's try to focus. Tell her the story Luke. She needs to know what's going on before she gets involved."

The waiter interrupted us, setting two coronas and a giant milkshake on the table. The whipped cream formed a tower on top, with four red cherries poking out of the white surface. Heaven in a soda glass.

I stuck a green straw into it and slurped the creamy deliciousness.

Like I said, I don't go out much - mostly because I have no one to go out with. I don't have many friends, apart from Julie, but she's vegetarian and vegan and allergic to dairy/my favorite foods so this wouldn't be a location we'd hit up.

"Millie," Luke said my name. He sounded frustrated, "Can you stop slurping loudly."

I looked up, straw in mouth, innocently drinking my chocolate-coconut-with-cherries-on-top milkshake. "You're the Grinch."

Luke rolled his eyes, "Hardcore insult right there."

"The Grinch ruined Christmas."

"Almost-"

"GUYS! Come on! What did I just say?! You keep going off in your own world. You both sound crazy." Austin was mature, and probably right.

"She's-"

"He's-"

Luke cut me off, "Obviously you're not here because we enjoy your company. I'm in trouble. Last season I was betting on my own basketball games. I figured I was winning so much, I might as well make a few bucks out of it."

"That's illegal you know. It's insider trading," I said.

"We're not on Wall Street. This is high school basketball," Luke defended himself.

I was still surprised. I hadn't expected him to do that. It's wrong. Flat out wrong.

"I was against it from the beginning," Austin put his two cents in, "Just so we're all clear about that."

"Austin never does the right thing but he always preaches it," Luke commented.

"That's why we're friends."

I was starting to feel a little out of place. No matter how much of a jerk Luke was, his friendship with Austin was real. Their loyalty went way beyond high school popularity. It had nothing to do with it. They trusted each other and that was admirable.

"And as usual, Luke's master plans bite us more than they please us."

Luke smirked, "Like your girls."

Burn.

Austin was left to defend his taste in women while I relished the taste of my creamy milkshake. The vibe was relaxed between us and I liked it. I continued slurping. Luke glared at me.

I stopped slurping. Grinch.

He continued the story, "I started betting against this one guy, until he lost big. Things got out of control and that's why we're here today. We're settling this. A small down payment and then we're done for good. I'll play basketball the right way from now on."

Two wrongs don't make a right. In his twisted way, Luke was trying to straighten himself out. But I could tell he seeks out trouble. I couldn't tell if that made him hotter.

It probably definitely did.

"That brings you in," Austin took over, wrapping the story up, "Apart from us, no one knows about this. Luke has a lot riding on this year, with college apps and all that. A lot of guys are jealous of him and, if they found out, they'd use it against him. You're the perfect person to help. You're nowhere near our social scene."

"You're like a piranha to our social scene," Luke said.

"I get the picture," I snapped back.

Austin laughed. "You two should get a... Basically Millie, you're in the getaway car. When we come out running, you're driving."

I sat there.

"Do you want out?" Austin offered kindly, "Because you're under no obligation-"

"Actually, she is."

"Luke, she doesn't need to be in your mess if she doesn't want to," Austin turned to me with his beautiful eyes, "What do you say?"

They stared at me. It was a lot to soak in. A big responsibility.

"If I'm the getaway car driver..." I slowly repeated, "That means you think I'm a good driver."

Luke gave up, wishing he was anywhere but dealing with me.

I didn't let him go that easy, smiling from ear to ear, "What convinced you? Was it the raccoon story?"