(not done, but you really should read this) Chapter 18 - Friday: Did I really blush? Coco....... Told me I blushed tonight. I rushed over to the seat at the very back of the room, there I could watch anyone who came and went in the room. Coco came and sat down next to me. Being her first Youth Group, I understood if she was a bit nervous and wanted to hang around me for a bit. Joy came over and we talked for a bit about all sorts of stuff, including how big the pockets were for men and how much stuff fitted into women's bags. Every few minutes I glanced at the doorway, where was Ethan? Was he coming? 'I heard we're playing capture the flag.' Joy said excitedly. 'Hey, what's the time?' I asked and Joy pulled out her little tablet. '6:39.' She said, showing the screen. 'Oh, I guess Ethan isn't coming!' I started bouncing up and down, I did want him to come, but I also had one plus fangirl here, Coco. 'People are supposed to arrive from 6:20 to 6:30.' Coco interupted me, 'People are still coming in. He might still come!' Joy nodded agreement. 'Yeah.' We all stood up to grab some food. I was standing in the line, very close to the back, with Joy and Coco talking in front of me. I looked at the doorway again and my jaw dropped. Ethan was standing up the line, talking to his friends. Not only had he skipped the line, but he was there too, at the group. 'No way.' I said out loud. Coco and Joy turned to me, both giving me a 'what?' look. 'He's here.' I whispered. 'WHERE??' Coco asked. I pointed up the line and they both got onto tiptoes and saw his curly head. What actually surprised me was that they both started screaming excitedly and jumping up and down. 'Shut up! He might actually look this way.' I said while trying not to laugh. As we got closer to the front of the line, our friend Penny came in the door, still in her school uniform. 'Hey Penny!' I smiled. 'You alright?' 'I'm sick,' She moaned. 'Mum forced me against my will to go tonight.' We all went to sit down, me in a seat against the wall, so could see what was happening. Penny sat to my left and Joy to my right. Coco sat in the seat next to Joy, which turned out to be the seat near Ethan's. He sat at the table next to ours. Penny, Joy, Coco and I had been talking for a while, when I remembered something I really wanted to tell them; 'Um, I'm planning to visit the school again next term.' I said quietly. Penny and Joy perked up, 'Really?' 'Yeah...' I looked down, 'Um, cause of Ethan.' 'What?' They both said. 'Okay, I'll tell you the story.' I grinned, then looked up to see Ethan standing up, looking at me. He nodded a hello and I returned the nod. I looked back at my friends and Coco leant forward. 'You're blushing so much.' She laughed. I covered my cheeks, then felt my ears. 'No, I'm not.' 'Yeah you are, you're really pink.' She smiled. 'I'm just sunburned.' I tried to make up an excuse. 'You weren't in the sun for more than five minutes earlier.' I was about to tell the story, but then we all had to go play the game. The room was separated into three teams, with a towel as the flag and a little section for a jail. I looked at each of the teams and saw that Joy and Penny were in one team and Coco, Amy and Ethan were in the other, I was in the third. As the game went on, Coco kept shouting to me how many times she had been captured, by the end she'd been caught eight times. I mostly stayed in my team's area, but eventually I got brave. I was loving watching all the people running around and laughing, my smile was bigger than I remembered having for ages. After a while, I got distracted watching other people playing again, then Ethan ran straight towards my flag and I blocked his way, so he had to dodge right. Another kid on my team came from the other way and made him have to move back then left, giving me enough time to get in front of him and tap him. 'YESSS!!!' I screamed. 'I didn't think I'd catch you.' I was feeling pretty good, until Ethan ran passed me while I was distracted and got Amy out of the jail. I turned around in time to see Amy grab his hand and my heart leapt to my throat. I tapped Ethan to capture him and I almost feel like I could have hit him slightly harder that time. My chest began to shake as I breathed. I had to try calming down, but I couldn't get the image out of my head. I ran full speed to the jail area of Ethan's team. Anna noticed I hadn't really been caught though and ran after me. When I stood in the jail area, she stared at me as if I was crazy and her hand hovered next to my arm. 'You weren't caught though.' She said completely confused as she tapped my arm. A second time I ran over to the jail and Anna noticed again, but this time, when she reached out to tap me, I dodged her hand and slipped passed Amy, Ethan and a boy who had made a wall to keep their flag safe.
I almost reached it, when someone tapped me and I turned to go back to the jail. Then the boy who had been screaming the entire game, screamed at me to go to the jail. I had already been going to the jail and I was tired of him screaming, so I stopped walking, looked him in the eyes and said, 'Shut up.' He shouted at me to go to the jail and I repeated, 'Shut. Up. Your shouting is really annoying me.' He looked at me for a second then said, '.... Okay.' Next, we came back to sit down and we listened to a talk by one of the leaders. As we went into little groups to talk about it, Clara and Bella came over to me; 'Is that your little sister?' Bella asked while pointing at Coco. 'Yeah, that's my sister Coco.' I smiled. 'What's the age gap?' Bella said. 'Four years. We are not twins, so many people have asked that.' Clara came up on my other side, 'She's like a baby version of you!' I laughed. 'So many people have said we look so similar. I mean I guess I see some similarities, but.....' Bella looked at me and smirked, 'You don't see it?' I nodded, 'No I don't.' As we came back from the smaller groups, everyone got a piece of cake and my friends and I went back to the seats we had before. I started telling them about how one Sunday, Ethan had asked me if I was going to visit the school that term. When I had answered no, he had looked disappointed and asked why. I explained that it stressed me out, and he apologised like he was the only one making me stressed. 'How sad did he look?' Penny asked incredulously. 'He kinda hugged one arm like this,' I showed them, by grabbing my right arm just above the elbow with my left hand. Joy and Penny nodded like this was flawless evidence for uncovering a crime. I looked up and saw that Ethan was standing near the table next to ours, talking to his friends. That wasn't the thing that caught my attention though. I saw in his right jeans pocket was a water bottle, but not a small one. A large bottle. I laughed and all three of the my friends turned to me. 'What?' Penny asked. I couldn't stop laughing, so instead pointed to him. Joy, Penny and Coco burst into laughs. I opened my eyes and looked back at Ethan, who was staring at all of us. He looked like he wanted to ask us what we were laughing at. 'Someone should ask him what brand of jeans he gets to fit a bottle in the pockets.' Joy said through giggles.
