Those strawberry pancakes were mine. Key word: were. Those chocolate chip and banana pancakes were his. Remember the key word. Our juices, those were switched around. Iggie, with chocolate on his upper lip, bent down and kissed my cheek. I giggled and whipped the chocolate off my skin. Iggie took it the wrong way, frowning just a little.
"You have chocolate on you." I giggled, his frown instantly grew to a smile.
"Mind helping me?"
"Not at all."
I took my finger and wiped the chocolate off him. My finger ended up being swallowed by Iggie. I do believe I've never had my finger practically eaten by my own friend. So this is an experience for me that will most likely leave some interesting memories.
"Are you going to bite my finger off next?" I asked, trying to pull my finger from his mouth.
"That would be cruel. You would have nine fingers, not ten." He spoke a tad muffled with my finger still in his mouth.
"I'm glad you're taking my number of fingers into consideration."
Iggie chuckled and released my finger from his mouth. I was tempted to wipe my finger on his shirt but settled for my napkin. I asked our waiter for a couple boxes. Iggie is so-so at English. He doesn't speak much since, hell, he lives in Norway. People in Norway speak Norwegian. For that reason, his English is pretty broken and I spoke in his place. It works out anyways; I'm like the translator.
We took our pancakes with us. I drove as well, Iggie is afraid to get in trouble. Plus he doesn't drive that much either. He lives in the heart of a large city. Once he finishes of his last year, he'll be moving to the heart of Oslo for university. It's like living in New York City, there's no need to have a car.
I think my California friends would like to meet my Norwegian friend. I drove to Ryan's house. After a couple calls to figure out where everyone is at. The whole Sheckler crew is at the Sheckler's. That makes things easy. But it also means to have to see Ryan. We all remember what happened just hours ago between him and I.
He'll be just surprised as I was to see Iggie.
"Are you okay, with seeing some friends of mine?"
"I'll be fine, are you sure they'll be fine with me?" I sighed and puffed my cheeks.
"I don't know. They don't even know you exist. But they understand and I don't see any reason for them to give you the cold shoulder. Plus, you have me."
I felt him smile at me, but I couldn't look away from the road. I would have missed Ryan's house if I chose to look at Iggie. That's saying a lot too. I can always point out the Sheckler house and here I am, about to drive past it without a notice. It's all because of Iggie and how much he distracts me from Ryan. It's for the best.
I prepared myself for the worst. Ryan should have seen this coming. He hurts me, I hurt him. That sounded incredibly cold; who's going to blame me? He's done worse to me and I'm just bringing my best friend from Norway to meet my California friends. In a few months I'll be out of California and with Iggie in Oslo.
I parked on the street; leaving the drive way free for anyone else. I also want a quick getaway if the time does come to the point I need to escape. I pray that will never come. Times have been awkward before. Awkward enough for one of us to leave? I don't think so; nothing I can remember. But it's never safe to think ahead if the worst does happen.
The fear of something going wrong showed clearly in my eyes. Before getting on the drive way Iggie put his arm around my body and pulled me to his chest. Now close to him, he kissed my temple. I smiled back, putting my arm around his waist. In that way, we both proceeded to the backyard of the Sheckler house. That's where I hear voices and most of all, the sound of moving skateboards.
I didn't bother knocking or proving my existence before entering the backyard. I unlatched the gate and stepped in front of Iggie to lead the way. Still, he kept me close, grasping my hand. I never called or texted saying I would be coming over. By now I think the crew is just expecting me to come over.
Casey noticed my bleached blonde hair first. He yelled over to the rest of the crew and momentarily they stopped skateboarding or what other activity that divided their attention. All smiles were on their face. That includes Ryan but excludes Cambria. She and Ryan have been going out for a couple weeks already; she and I never had a real conversation and she already wants me to leave to Norway. Ryan will never be able to have a girlfriend while I'm around. They all think he and I have this thing! Which we do but let's not ruin the day.
All the smiles turned into surprised frowns and the only original frown turned into an overly bright smile. None of them expected me to bring someone. I'd clear it with them before I bring anyone- let alone a guy. After a few seconds, their faces went up. All but one.
"JEANIE!" I turned my head to the patio door and saw the little boy in a grey Lacoste polo and jeans running towards me.
"KANE!" I smiled almost as loud as he did.
I bent down to hug him and was gifted a kiss on the cheek. He's still my boyfriend. I'm a faithful girl- despite Ryan and our thing.
"Who’s he?" Kane asked, motioning to the unfamiliar face behind me.
"That is one of my close friends from Norway. He decided to surprise me this morning by visiting. His name is Igor but I call him Iggie. Iggie, this is my boyfriend Kane."
Opps; I definitely should have mentioned I have a boyfriend to Iggie. It slipped my mind, honestly. I love Kane and all but not to a boyfriend level. I love him like a brother and when the time comes Kane will realize that. I didn't want to crush him when he asked me to be his girlfriend; and once it's time to break up, he can break up with me.
Iggie smiled, not visibly showing any other emotion. So far, things are going good; or at least a little above border line of good and awkward. Kane sees nothing wrong with Iggie. He actually pulled Iggie aside to ask him a few basic questions. Those two socialized among themselves and I walked just a few steps closer to the rest of the group.
"Jeanie, he's gorgeous." Taylor whispered. She ignored Casey and sent me a grin.
"That's Iggie. He came from Norway to see me." I smiled back. "I didn't know that until he was standing in front of the stairs this morning."
"You two going out?" Tony asked, coming from Ryan's skate park.
I noticed how as Tony was coming towards me, Ryan was going away from me. Well, I think I've made the day awkward for him and me in what? Less than five minutes? I think that should be in the Guinness (is that right?)World Record Book. I can see it now- The Fastest Time to Turn an Entire Moment Awkward with Ryan Sheckler. That might not be the exact title but hey, no one cares.
"No." I replied with a straight face.
It's another relationship I need to clear up. Yeah I will say that I love Iggie to his face and when I'm talking about him. But sometimes I can't determine if I do love him more than one of my closest friends. It's another relationship where we both act like a couple when we really are.
To put it in a lot simpler form, Iggie and mine's relationship is similar to Ryan and mine's relationship. The only differences being Iggie isn't shady and he's European born. Mostly it's the part of Iggie not being shady. I repeat myself all the time, though Ryan really is the shadiest kid and know I seriously cannot stand it.
"Well I'm going to meet your buddy Iggie." Tony declared and skated over to Iggie and Kane. Not minutes later, Taylor and Casey joined him.
Damn them.
They left me with Cambria and Ryan; Ryan's still skating however.
So now he's skateboarding, Cambria is sun tanning and I'm standing like a moron. I'm going inside to see what Gretchen is up to. I'll come back out later. Successfully, I walked through the open patio door and into the Sheckler house. I found Gretchen in the living room, reading a magazine, and sat in the sofa opposite to her.
"Not to sound nosy, but what are your plans after this year? You're leaving to go to Norway aren't you?"
"That's the plan. Martin is applying me for scholarships and to every university in Norway. Ava is helping me find an apartment in Oslo and everywhere else in Norway that there are nearby universities."
"This is insane. You're going to be gone in June and I might never see you again!" Gretchen got up and ran her arms around me. I now know someone who will miss me once I leave. That makes me feel a little better.
"That's a lie; Tony will force me to visit." Gretchen shrugged, agreeing and full well knowing Tony will force me to visit California.
Honestly my plan isn't to come back to California. I want to stay in Europe, in Norway. There's no where I would rather be. California is nothing but drama capital of the world. In Norway I'll find peace. I will be back with all my friends, Igor included, and Ryan Sheckler will no longer control my love.
I'll be the one in control. I can date without having Ryan in the front of my mind. Ryan Allen Sheckler, come June you will be a fling and nothing else. That I will bet on. Besides what are the chances of him coming to Norway? I know he skateboards for a life and he's dominating the scene in other countries but he CANNOT come to Norway. He knows full well that is where I live and if I catch him there-
Putting it simple: catastrophic.
"Between you and I," Gretchen let go of me, sat closely against me with a hush voice and intensive eyes. "You're not leaving because of Ryan?"
"That wasn't the first reason," I sighed. "I always planned to go back to Norway before I turn eighteen since I'm still a European citizen. I didn't plan to leave this year though; but going to Norway a couple months ago changed my mind."
For some reason Gretchen wasn't believing my story to the fullest. Ryan isn't the main reason I'm choosing to leave San Clemente- it's one of the biggest reasons. I know for a fact that if I try to explain it further she's not going to believe me, nor will anyone else if I try to explain to them. Tony might be the most difficult; maybe Ryan will be a little more difficult. He's shady, doesn't listen to me half the time, and Tony and I have such a close bond that he instantly knows and I don't have to clarify my reasoning for leaving San Clemente.
Come to think of it, I don't think Ryan's asked me why I'm leaving. Not yet at least. He'll be asking me once the time for me to leave comes closer. He knows full well I'm leaving. I don't complain to him as much as I do to Tony or Taylor about Martin's obsession with my college.
"I'm going to go out there and check if things are still awkward. If I don't come back that means all is good."
Gretchen chuckled and let me run off to the back. Kane ran to me, hugging me quickly then heading towards the ramps with his razor. Ryan really hates that thing; he's trying so hard to take Kane off his scooter on a skateboard. It'd work if Ryan spent more time with Kane. Shane can help Ryan with that. It might work better too since Kane sees Shane more than their older brother. Ryan promised though, and I'll keep it against him.
"Jeanie!" Taylor whispered a bright smile on her face. She looked over her shoulder, checking the coast then pulled me to the grass to sit and talk. "He is a-ma-zing! A) He's cute, B) His accent is cute and C)He's absolutely in love with you it's perfect for you to get over Ryan!"
I laughed with her, causing heads to turn at us in confusion as to why we're laughing. That's reason why we sat somewhere in privacy. I guess if someone really wanted to know what Taylor told me they could have skated really, and I mean really, close to the curb between the ramp and grass. Thankfully no one did that while Taylor confided me her secret about Iggie.
Iggie is amazing. He's off talking to Casey. According to Taylor, Ryan didn't even bother to get off his skateboard in the last eight, ten, minutes. Now, is Ryan jealous of Iggie? Ryan can be jerk at times but usually he's a good guy and will introduce himself to (most) people. This right now, doesn't make sense to me.
I bet it's all because of Cambria. Ryan claims he likes her; a lot- not love her. Yet when she's around with Ryan and his crew she's so quiet. Not that I'm complaining. I'm all for Cambria fading into the background for being so silent. He doesn't spend time with her either. He's with me, calling me, texting me, kissing me. If Ryan really does like her why doesn't he get his mind straight about us as a couple and get back on track with Cambria?
