SHARING (TAG:MANDY)

[mooshi]

Rodney could feel the pain shooting up his leg into his thigh. He winced but kept on pushing himself forward. It was the only way he was going to be able to prepare himself for the last home game of the year. He still had awhile until then, but so far he’d been out all season because of his freak out accident from Wesley. Just thinking about him pissed him off again. But hearing Mandy’s tennis shoes hitting the trail next to him made him feel better already. He glanced over at her as they ran side by side through the trailed woods along the river. She was breathing just as heavily as he was, yet she was still keeping up which was more than he could say for the other people he had run with before. He smiled. He had gotten closer to Mandy. Ever since that day of craziness at the shopping mall, they had begun to hang out rather regularly. Most of the time it was jogging together because she was the only one that seemed to be able to keep up with him and push him when he wanted to stop because of the pain. Today was no different. Rodney picked her up as usual, they drove down to the docks on the east end, and then started running along the river through the wooded area. It was a normal thing to do now with her.

Yeah he was mainly doing this because he wanted to try and get his knee worked enough to where coach would actually let him play this last game, but there were other reasons for wanting to do this. Rodney was having a lot of issues lately. He hadn’t spoken to Merry in weeks. He hadn’t spoken to Axel in weeks. He and Marina were good but they could always be better. There were a lot of things that were straining their relationship that Rodney was attempting to work through without her. Reginald being the main person there. He needed to get rid of Reginald, and he had been planning for a while now, but he just couldn’t make himself. His conscience kept getting the best of him. And it wasn’t like he could talk to Marina about these things. It was her father, and she was already going through so much. He couldn’t tell Axel. He had no clue what was going on with his roommate. If he told Mandy that he was planning on killing some guy she’d probably freak. So, he was stuck with it all being buried up inside of him. He was hoping that leaving with Marina for the weekend to go to the lake house would make things better. That was a day away so hopefully it really would. But what could he do right now, in this very moment. Well, he could talk to Mandy and leave out the killing part. Even though most people wouldn’t trust someone like Mandy with their issues, Rodney did. They had been friends long enough to talk to each other about things. And God knows Mandy was as open as a freakin amusement park in the middle of summer. If he did talk to her about Marina, he knew Marina would be very upset, but everyone had that one friend that they talked about everything with.

”So, you dating someone right now, Dee?” Rodney asked between heavy breaths. This was a nickname he had recently come up with to shorten her name. That was what friends did when they were close right? This was the best way to start talking about his girl issues. By starting with maybe some issues of hers and working his into them. Not that he didn’t listen to hers. He would be more than happy to listen to hers. He was a wonderful listener when it came to giving people advice. But just jumping right out and saying ‘hey I need to talk about something serious’ kinda ruins the mood for everyone.

[mandy]

It was hard for Mandy to keep up with Rodney, but she liked the challenge, she always took her training ultra serious and Rodney challenged her so much physically, she really liked it, even though her legs were always basically spaghetti after their training sessions but it felt good and really helped her get into shape. Ever since their shopping day, Mandy and Rodney have been spending a lot of time together. Lots of jogging and training and she could always talk to him, he was a great listener. Although she hoped one day he would open up with her, but she enjoyed having someone to talk to about her double life. But the training was good, for her cheerleading and getting him back into shape for his football training. It was nice running near the river. She always imagined going to take a swim in there after a long day of training but today, like every other was training day and Mandy wasn’t going to hold back, for Rodney’s sake anyways, it was the only reason she tried keeping up, Rodney needed the training. She found herself doing a lot of things just for Rodney recently.

They were side by side, as usual, though keeping up with Rodney was no easy task. But no pain no gain they said, this extra training should be good for her. Though running next to Rodney had it’s perks, she could see his muscular arms all sweaty and she had to admit, if most guys took as much time into getting into shape like Rodney, they would be as in shape as in him. But Rodney was up for conversation, time for multitasking again, something Mandy was probably used to by now. He asked if she was dating, well, what a question, Mandy’s dating life was not one to brag about, most guys flaked out when she asked to go shopping, while others were just jerks and tried getting in her pants. So dating right now? She wasn’t sure how to answer this one, but he did call her “Dee” which was cute, though she wouldn’t know what to call him, she was horrible at making nicknames. “Rod?”, “Ney”, maybe that would sound like she was referring to his Knee, oh well instead of thinking up a nickname maybe she should just answer his question.

“Oh my dating life” Mandy breath heavily as she tried to talk. “Well not” again, more breathing from Mandy, guess talking and running was harder for her than usual today. “really right now” She continued jogging next to Rodney as they made their way through the forest. “My mom did try setting me up, but an hour later, I was ready to go home, not the most greatest guy to be honest” As she tried not to fall back as they ran, she didn’t want to slow Rodney down who seemed on pace. “What about you mister? Chasing off the ladies” She was pretty sure Rodney had no issues with the ladies, she got a good glimpse of his body during their training sessions, so girls must be fighting each other to be with him, though no girl tried attacking her yet for spending all this time with him, so maybe not.

[mooshi]

Rodney continued on running as she answered his question, and he couldn’t help but laugh at her response. He figured Mandy would have a ton of guys who fancied her. She was adorable, outgoing, and fun. But some people probably saw her more as annoying than anything else, but that was just because they couldn’t handle her behavior. A lot of people probably couldn’t. He was pretty sure that Marina would turn the other way after spending more than five minutes with Mandy just because of her very blunt and outgoing comments which would have probably been strange to most people looking in on Rodney. Mandy and Marina were so different yet he was close to both of them each on a different level. But Rodney was not one to judge, and he definitely didn’t base his opinion on you from someone else’s view. He’d heard so many things about Mandy in the beginning, most of which were actually true, but people didn’t get her like Rodney did. Mainly because they saw hyperactivity and ran the other way. But Rodney actually enjoyed his time with Mandy. It was….enlightening in the ‘I’m completely socially inept and this chick is helping me branch out’ sort of way.

Rodney glanced her way when she asked him if he really had to ask that specific question at this very moment. She was right. It was a bit strange to do considering the fact that they were both completely out of breath, although Mandy sounded a bit more strained than he did. He heard her response about the guy her mom tried to set her up with but was too distracted by the wavering Mandy was doing to answer. Rodney was used to pushing himself way past the limit, so sometimes he didn’t realize how far was too far. It was a good thing that Mandy was reminding him right now though. The last thing he wanted was either of them to collapse and die of a heat stroke. Rodney slowed down hoping that Mandy would do so as well. He turned to her as he slowed, making sure to have his arms ready if she fell at any point. ”Hey, how ‘bout we slow it down for a bit. Let’s walk it off. Don’t want you to fall on me now. What would I do without my training buddy?” He gave her a soft smile. He knew that stopping abruptly wasn’t good for the heart, so walking it off would be the best way to slow their pace.

Rodney was brought back to her comment from before they had stopped. ”You’re mom setting you up with boring guys again?” Rodney asked with a breathless chuckle. It was true. Her mother always tried to set her up with guys that seriously wouldn’t interest Mandy at all. Wow, he actually knew the type of guys she’d probably be interested in? The femininity of him really scared him sometimes. He became a bit quiet when Mandy asked him about the ladies that always chased after him. It had taken Rodney this long to realize that maybe he was a good catch to some. That maybe all those times he thought girls were just being nice, they actually were flirting. His confidence was shot down by Merry under very awkward circumstances, but his encounters with other women had become very….interesting to say the least. Marina was the main person to pop into his mind. ”Well, I’m…I’m kind of seeing this girl. But I mean I don’t even know if you would consider it seeing her. I mean I do see her, see her.” He chuckled. ”I mean that is obvious, right? Um, but I don’t know if you’d consider it dating, dating.” He looked at Mandy a bit uncomfortable about the subject. He’d never really talked to Mandy about personal things before, so he wasn’t exactly sure how this would go. But he knew that she was his friend, and she’d most likely be there for him….most likely if she didn’t see a butterfly and say ‘oooo pretty’ and run after it.

[mandy]

There she was, trying to keep up with Rodney, she didn’t mind running at his pace but it was getting a bit hard for her to keep up. She knew Rodney needed the training and she didn’t want to hold him back in his training. Her breathing was getting heavier and she hoped Rodney didn’t notice she was practically out of air, but here she was cheerful and all smiles, for Rodney’s sake. But before she could make mention of her being too tired, she was more than thankful Rodney was such as observant person. Because he started slowing down and then suggested they maybe walk it off a little. Of course Mandy was more than overjoyed about this, keeping up with Rodney was kind of hard. So she had no problem slowing down now and catching her breath. “Maybe we should, and if I did fall, well, you’d still have a training buddy for the day, it would just be weight training because you’d probably have to carry my butt back” she laughed as they slowly started slowing down a bit, enjoying the fresh air a bit more as it hit their warm sweaty bodies, it was always nice to feel the fresh air when training, it beat running in the gym on a treadmill, it was just more refreshing she thought to herself. As they started walking across the path, still breathing a bit heavy, but just enough for them to continue their conversation.

Then Rodney brought up her little comment about her blind date, which turned out to be a total bore. “Well, not boring, just not my type, he was nice, a little funny, he had great teeth, but then he started talking politics and then he’s this eco friendly hipster and all about animal cruelty, I mean, I really don’t keep track of what I buy, but don’t kill shopping for me you know? That is true cruelty right there” she laughed as they continued their walk. “So we just didn’t click I guess” as she lifted her shoulders giving the “I don’t know” gesture as she looked around enjoying the view, when you slowed down and walk, you really got to see how pretty the surrounding was for a walk. But now she was left wondering, did Rodney have a special lady in his life, they have been spending a whole lot of time together but she was always afraid to bring it up, though she was sure Rodney would have but Rodney was a bit more conserved when it came to that, this was actually one of the first times Rodney started out the personal conversations. Maybe he was trying to find out if she was available, though she did make it a bit obvious she was, but maybe he needed a clarification and well, guess she just made it clear that she was a single lady and looking of course.

And then there it was, like a bottle to the back of the head, like a hangover after a night of partying and drinking he said those words, he is kind of seeing someone, or well he wasn’t sure, it wasn’t official, well, for once, Rodney may have actually been a tad more confusing than she was, but oddly enough, she did get what he meant and she certainly got one thing for sure, he wasn’t available, which Mandy, tried her best to hide, because it did upset her a bit that Rodney wasn’t available, but looking at Rodney, you’d be surprised he was available, he was one of the better guys she’s came across in all her years dealing with boys. She gave Rodney a smile, though, hopefully it was a convincing one as she continued their conversation, she wouldn’t want it to end awkwardly. “Well, that surely sounds like something that comes out of the world of Mandy, so I totally get what you mean” she said with a slight laugh after. They continued trucking up the path as her curiosity did grow a bit about his current situation with this girl “So what’s keeping you from making it, official official with this girl? I mean you’ve been seeing her and dating her, does she make you a little shy guy” she laughed, which might have been the case she guessed. Rodney wasn’t the most upfront guys, he’d always be completely honest with you, but he’d also be a bit shy at times, maybe that’s why he hasn’t made things official yet with this girl, maybe he needs a little push into helping him do it, though, did Mandy really want to be that person to help him get that slight push, she was his friend after all, it is the friend like thing to do, well, seems she may be a bit conflicted as well, not as confusing as Rodney’s love life, but it certainly was up there.

[mooshi]

When Rodney was comfortable and sure that she could handle walking on her own without possibly falling, Rodney let her go. He didn’t want her to think that he believed she couldn’t handle herself, so he moved discreetly as if it were nothing at all. He listened to her as she responded about the date. He just chuckled. It was hilarious how picky she was with guys. It showed yet another difference in them. Rodney was definitely not picky at all with women. He did seem to have a type though. Sweet and shy librarians. But something so small bothered Mandy. I mean in the long run it might be a problem if she was buying furs of animals while her boyfriend was all for saving animals, but that was something that one could get past right? He decided not to ask about it. That was just Mandy though which made it humorous to him. But the way she said that they just didn’t click made Rodney think that she wasn’t picky at all, just not interested in dating. The shrug gave it away as well. But what he didn’t catch was the hint of disappointment in response to his answer that he may have been seeing someone. But that was Rodney….not knowing who was actually interested in him or not. At this point, he just thought Mandy was being Mandy around him. He had no clue she might have an interest in him.

Rodney shrugged and went on to answer her. ”I mean, I don’t know. There is just a lot going on I guess….in her life. I mean you’ve heard of the whole baggage thing. I mean if the person has baggage you don’t really want to deal with it right? But I don’t know. Baggage was never an issue with me. To be honest, who doesn’t have baggage, right?” He shook his head. ”I guess the reason it isn’t official is because everything seems to be happening so fast, and I just…I just don’t know where to take it. And what is okay, you know?” He sighed and shook his head a bit bewildered with the sentence he was about to say. ”I feel like I’ve spent so much time trying to protect her and make her understand that everything will be just fine that I…I haven’t been able to really get to know her.” He chuckled and lifted his hand to scratch his head. ”I don’t know what her favorite color is. Or the first thing she likes to do when she gets up in the morning. Or…or even what type of food she’d prefer, sushi or Mexican, hell or even both.” He glanced at Mandy. He was rambling on and on, and he was sure Mandy didn’t want to hear any of it. Mainly because it was all just jumbled thoughts coming out. ”I really like her, Mandy. I just don’t know where any of this is going. Or what it even means. And I guess I’m just going crazy because we are actually going to have some time this weekend together without having to worry about everything. It’s sort of a celebration of sorts I guess you could say. And I’m meeting her mom and all. I’m just a big ball of nervousness.” Rodney chuckled nervously, and decided that maybe it was best to go back to Mandy issues. ”So, why are you so against dating? No way can just animals get in the way of some Mandy time.”

[mandy]

Mandy was going to be a trooper though, a friend, it seemed like something Rodney really needed right now, maybe a girls perspective could help him with his girl issues, though right now Mandy kind of wished it was another girl and not her. And there began the rambling, a language, Mandy was a major in, if there is someone who knew about rambling on and on it was Mandy, she did this on a regular basis. So this girl came with baggage. Who doesn’t have baggage? He did have a point, but Mandy decided to go all yoga on him and agreed with him. “We are all traveling through life, it only seems logic we all carry some baggage” she said with a slight laugh, though still a bit uncomfortable talking about this with Rodney, she was going to be as helpful as she can with him, like she said before to herself, it was the friend thing to do. He didn’t know where to go with this girl it was all talk of a kind guy who obviously likes a girl and scared it might go wrong, why was he such a coochi cooch? He was such a sweetheart and obviously was dealing with liking a girl who had a lot going on. Mandy just nodded and listened to him, since he was kind of going on.

Then he talked about how he spent so much time protecting her, and not getting to know her very well. Mandy could relate to it all, though Rodney was just someone who liked being kind and over protective, even with her now, making sure she was okay seemed like his priority but he was afraid he didn’t know this girl well enough but Mandy knew that feeling but she thought to herself, maybe she didn’t know Rodney all that well either, but she did like him, so maybe it worked both ways, either way, she was going to have another Yoda moment with him, for the second time today too. “Well that’s something that always keeps a relationship fresh if you ask me. The new things you learn along the way, keeps it fresh and lively” she said, hoping it made him feel better about it all. But when he seriously told her he liked her, Mandy knew her chances may have been axed right there, Rodney and she kind of phased out all she heard was time alone, celebrating, meeting mom, Mandy didn’t pay much attention to all of that, because she was just processing Rodney telling her he liked this girl, but it was just how he told her that made her feel like her chances were now gone.

So now he wanted to know why she had something against Dating, well, guess she might lay out her baggage to? Well she was just going to just lay it out, but she did smile slightly when he called it Mandy Time, was that what this was? Mandy Time? Anyways, he already saw parts of her crazy, he might as well get it all now. “Well, I don’t have anything against dating and the Mandy time is always fun isn’t it?” she said with a laugh as she nudged Rodney a bit. “But, I don’t know, the last guy was just showing off, telling me about his majors and what he wants to do ten, twenty years from now, how rich he was going to be, and I really didn’t want to hear about that” she rambled, it looked like she was going to say a whole lot. “My family has money, don’t try to impress me with your money and wits, just be yourself, Just say hi I’m Daniel, not hi I’m Daniel and I’m a future doctor and going to be worth 90K in ten years, I don’t care” she said laughing, she hated when guys did that, trying to be show offs, she wasn’t a material girl, she loves shopping but don’t impress her with Money, money made her parents miserable and she never wanted that for herself.

“Then the worse of it all, saying how you took time off the help the poor in some country in Africa I can’t pronounce while drinking some $75 wine with me, like oh my god, can you be anymore contradicting” Mandy never really liked rich boys who flaunted Money, which made Rodney more appealing than most rich boys, sure he had a nice car, but he never tried to impress Mandy with his money, or the money his parents had, then again, he did have a girl, so maybe he wasn’t trying to impress Mandy at all, maybe she’s over thinking it, well Rodney was really getting to her it seems. “So I’m really not picky with guys, just show me who you are and not you think you’d think I’d like and I’m good, show me fun not riches” she said smiling, she was in a total Yoda mode today. And because she was so caught up with all Rodney’s drama she kind of blurted that out “I feel like your Yoda today” and then her eyes were suddenly wide open.

She turned and looked at Rodney, a little embarrassed and like such a nerd, she couldn’t believe she made mention of a star wars character, not that she was a huge fan but the fact that she remembered it was enough to classify her as a nerd. “Well, uhm, yeah you must be wondering where I know Yoda from, well uhm” Mandy looked at Rodney, trying to cover up her little slip up. “Well, you see…my friend, she forced me to watch it…yeah that’s it and I just remembered the name….yeah…that’s it” she said laughing at herself, now she really stepped in it, she was the girl who knows a Star Wars character, nice job Mandy. “Well you must think I’m a total nerd now, not that it matters” she said playfully, maybe she shouldn’t have said that, it wasn’t obvious she liked him, well she hoped it wasn’t. “So, does it sound like I’m completely against dating?” after telling her whole story on dating.

[mooshi]

Rodney listened as she gave him advice. She sounded like a fortune cookie which was very strange coming from Mandy. She was really trying to help him here. It wasn’t that he was surprised but just taken back by how good he really had it. She was an amazing person and such a good friend to him. He chuckled as he watched her. ”Yeah, totally fresh and lively.” But as he watched her, he could see that she was either thinking about something else or something had happened because she was trailing off. She looked like she was daydreaming. Was it something he said? It was a good thing he switched the subject because she really rolled with that.

”Of course! Mandy Time is perfect. I’ve actually had quite a lot of Mandy Time lately, and I’m a fan.” He smiled at her as she questions her Mandy Time. As she went on Rodney had to laugh at her comment about the guy she had just went out with recently. And there it was. The reason for her cutting the guy off of his supply of Mandy Time. He was too cocky and uppity for her. That made a lot of sense. Rodney didn’t like those kind of people either. Hence the reason he dislikes Wesley so much. There wasn’t a moment that went by that Wesley wasn’t trying to tell every soul around that he was the star football player, captain and all, and had girls up the wahzoo. Of course Rodney wasn’t trying to date Wesley, so it wasn’t the exact instance, but it was close enough. And the craziness of Mandy’s date kept on coming as she mentioned his act of kindness helping out poor people in another country. ”And I’m guessing you didn’t buy that fake story either huh?” Rodney shook his head as she said she wasn’t picky. ”No, not picky, just know exactly what you want and what you don’t want. That is a good thing. I do think it is crappy though that your parents are all about trying to find you a man. I mean seriously. They don’t even know you well enough to give suggestions.” He chuckled.

Rodney had to stop walking when she said the word ‘yoda’. He smiled with a bit of confusion on his face. “Did you just say Yoda and actually use it right?”

[/b] He listened as Mandy tried to explain herself, but she was doing so with no such luck. ”Just face it, Dee, you are totally into Star Wars.” He nudged her. ”It’s all good. I’ll keep your secret.” Rodney continued walking his eyes moving towards the ocean out in the distance. He could see the white caps and it felt calming and peaceful to watch hence the reason he loved coming out here to run as opposed to a gym or a track trailing the university. Rodney ducked under a branch cutting off onto another path that he had travelled many times before. It didn't stray too far off of the trail, but it was a nice view. As hot as both of them were, they could use a nice breeze to cool them off, and the path lead to a dock on the water. ”No, I don’t think you are completely against dating. I think you are against dating that your parents force on you, which is totally understandable.” Rodney shrugged. ”I mean, if my parents were all trying to get me with someone, I’d run the other way for sure especially if it was someone as fake as the guy you had to deal with.” His eyes moved back to hers, and he smiled.[/size][/blockquote]

[mandy]

Rodney was happy with his Mandy time, she was happy with the Rodney time too, she was actually hanging out with someone her parents didn’t mind, because his parents was of status, though they didn’t know he was kind of a rebel when it came to accepting his parents money, much like Mandy he didn’t want anything to do with it. Though Mandy did use hers to pay for her extra classes, they both didn’t want much to do with their parent’s money, if her parents only knew. But he was a fan of the Mandy time, the Mandy Time was perfect according to him, that made Mandy feel good, someone who didn’t mind being with her nonstop talking and obsessive shopping. Rodney was just laughing at her poor excuse of a date. But he was right, why did her parents feel the need to butt into her love life so much. “Well you see, they prefer me to see guys with a certain status” Mandy then rolled her eyes a bit, since her whole parents mentality was dumb to begin with, she hated it but never cared, she still did as she pleased and pissed them off. “But in their world that means how many figures your parents make”

Well she was caught, so maybe she did like Star Wars a little more than most girls, guess the cats out of the bag now, but Rodney, being the sweetheart that he is, promised to keep her secret. “You better, would be attack of the nerds if they found out I was into Star Wars, though hopefully it could scare off some dumb jocks” she laughed, she knew the kind of people who likes Star Wars and those who didn’t and oddly preferred the company of those who did. So here they were, going down a path, Rodney seemingly kept secret from her all this time. Cheeky little secret keeper she thought as they walked down this path that wasn’t too far off the trail, granted Rodney needed to push a few branches out of the way to get by, but tiny Mandy luckily made it through with nor problem as they continued the dating conversation. But he was right, parent’s should be setting up their daughters, especially if they don’t know her too well. Mandy laughed at his remark about making a run for it, though she wasn’t one to run, she’d mess with the guy and make sure he wasn’t going to come back for a second date. But Rodney sure was funny about it all. “Well maybe you know someone you could set me up with?” She said playfully before continuing, maybe Rodney trying to find her a date is not a good idea. “Nah, I’m just kidding, I prefer to do my own fishing”

It was kind of ironic she made a fishing remark, when they finally got there, she could see this dock and this beautiful sight, it was rather nice and calming, she just turned and looked at Rodney with a smile. “So, you’ve been keeping this place a secret from me mister? It’s a really pretty sight” she said, a bit amazed as they made their way towards the dock, feeling the nice, salty breeze in the air as she made her way onto the dock, walking across it, looking down at the water, it was a beautiful sight and the late afternoon orange sky made it near perfect, Rodney certainly had good taste in everything, even in a place to go sit down and just relax. She couldn’t resist sitting near the edge, it was like it was calling her name. As they walked onto the dock, she stopped Rodney in his tracks. “Wait, wait, let me take these off” she said as she leaned her hand against him and used him like a wall to undo her shoe laces to remove her running shoes, she wanted to sit at the edge and probably play with the water with her toes or something. “uhm yeah I think we should totally sit at the edge and just enjoy the sights”

The laces were finally loose and she bent down to picked up her sneakers as she walked towards the edge, she gingerly sat down, placing her shoes next to her with her legs dangling of the edge as she could feel some of the water on the edge of her toes. It was nice and warm. She then turned to look at Rodney. She tapped on the place next to her with her hand, suggesting Rodney take a seat. “Come on Mister, come have a seat and clear our minds a bit” she said with a smile, before turning her head back towards the amazing sight, awaiting Rodney to come join her.

[mooshi]

Rodney actually thought of a few people that he knew that he could possibly set Mandy up with, but he immediately decided to not even suggest them. He got to thinking about the time he had spent with those guys, and none of them he could think of seemed right for Mandy. Not that he was good at judging that stuff anyway, but he wouldn’t want Mandy with them. He knew the type of crap they pulled and he thought better than that for Mandy. ”Yeah, I’m thinking your own fishing is best anyway. If your parents are anything like mine which they sound like, the guys that I know they would definitely disapprove of.”

Rodney stopped walking when Mandy pressed her hand against him to take off her shoes. He chuckled. ”Eh, I figured now was as good a time as any. Just never had to stop this soon.” He said as a bash at how he had to stop his running today for her which was really only a joke, and he immediately felt bad about it. He didn’t want her to think he was being serious. He had no problem stopping for her. And there was definitely a lot of breeze on the dock which was exactly what he thought. ”I’m just kidding, seriously. We needed a break.” Rodney watched as she continued to take off her shoes and suggest that they both sit on the dock with their feet in the water. He was totally cool with that. The water would feel amazing on any part of his body right now.

Once Mandy was seated, he slipped his tennis shoes off as well and stuffed his socks into his shoes and moved them aside. Rodney bent down and situated himself next to Mandy dipping his legs into the water as well. ”You are definitely right. The sight is beautiful.” He smiled out at the water. Like any other day in California, the ocean wasn’t at all calm, but by them, the water was softly hitting the dock. It was almost like they were on a lake instead of an ocean. Rodney suddenly had the urge to be in the water. ”Man, the water feels amazing.” He glanced over at Mandy who was just smiling out at the beauty of the ocean. Now he had the urge to push her in. Hmm, that might be a better idea at the moment. Mandy wasn’t even expecting it when Rodney leaned back grabbing her sides and shoving her in the water. Rodney burst into laughter as water splashed into his face.

[mandy]

Mandy was happy for the break, she enjoyed the sights as Rodney made his way next to her, it was pleasant and nice of him to bring her here, it was a sight she was probably wasn’t going to forget for a while. All the million dollar trips seemed like nothing compared the simple sight before her now. Rodney took a seat next to her, telling her the water felt great, though she wasn’t paying much attention to Rodney, which believe it or not, was rare, when she was with Rodney, her attention was all on him, though the more time they spent together, the more her focus was on him. But before she could answer him back, she was off the dock and into the water, great, wet clothes she though. All she could hear aside from the water splashing around her was Rodney laughing at her. That cheeky little bastard, it was his plan all along, she was sure of it. She just laughed it off. She was just plotting her own revenge right there and then. She wiped the water out of her face along with her soaking wet hear and tried to swim back to the dock.

She made her way back as she took out her hand for Rodney to help her out. “Ha, ha funny Rodney, bet this was your plan all along” she laughed as she waited for Rodney to help her out, once he had her hand, she held onto the dock tightly and with one pull, managed to get Rodney into the water, he just flipped over her head and into the water while she turned her attention to him, covering her mouth innocently. “Oops, Sorry” before laughing it off herself. She got him back good and now both of them were in the water, basically enjoying the nice salty goodness of the ocean. She smiled at him as she talked to him once he got his head out of the water. “You were right though, the water feels great” which was true, lucky for them it wasn’t super cold, it was nice warm and mellow, perfect for swimming. “So how long can you keep your head under water?” she asked. As she paddled a bit to keep her head afloat. Of course, like every other guy, Rodney was going to show off how long, well she hoped, she was still contemplating another devious plan in her little head.

Once Rodney took his head out of the water, Mandy gave him about five seconds before jumping onto him, kind of playfully sticking his head down under water. She quickly got off of him as she laughed at him. “Gotcha!” she said out loud like this five year old. She then quickly splashed water into his face before quickly swimming away before he plotted his own revenge. “Ha ha, I got you back Rodney, revenge is salty and wet not sweet” she said with a laugh, while breathing heavily, she certainly wasn’t going to have Rodney catch her to get payback for forcing his head underwater. Though that would seem impossible, Rodney and his big muscles really was going to catch her within seconds. She was right though, one hard thug of her leg and she could feel her back against the chest of Rodney and him playfully splashing water in her face from behind as she giggled and laughed and tried to wiggle out of his hold playfully, which was near impossible since he was much stronger than she was.

[mooshi]

Rodney continued laughing trying to contain himself as much as he could to answer her comment about him having planned this all along. ”Nope, I didn’t, but it is quite the sight.” Rodney finally stopped laughing as he held out his hand to help her out of the water. Oh boy he should have known she wouldn’t let him get away with drenching her that easily. She tugged hard and Rodney as well was pulled down into the water. When Rodney finally came back up for air, it was only out for a few seconds before he could feel Mandy jumping on him and pushing him back down. Man she was getting the upper hand here, and it was so not fair. How did that make him look? A muscly guy being taken out by a petit little chick. He came back up from the water again gasping for air and flipping his soaking wet hair out of his eyes. It was totally on like donkey kong now.

Mandy splashed him in the face and then swam for cover, but it was too late. Rodney was already behind her at first splashing her and then finally wrapping his very large arms around her. She tried wiggling free and Rodney just laughed. ”Come on, did you really think it’d be that easy to get me back?” Rodney lifted her out of the water as he fell back making them both fall into the very clear ocean water. That would teach little Miss Mandy Pandy. Rodney didn’t hold her long though. The idea was to pull her under, not keep her under. Rodney came back up for air, and when he opened his eyes, he didn’t expect Mandy to have come up for air at the exact same time right in front of him.

She was still fidgeting with her face to move her hair away from it as well as probably get the salt water out of her eyes, and while she did this, Rodney just watched her trying to figure out something else to get her with. Rodney moved a bit closer to her face with his. Maybe when she opened her eyes, it would scare the crap out of her to have him right up in her personal space. But as he waited for her to get done with messing with her face, he felt a bit awkward being this close to Mandy. He’d actually never been this close to her before. Even when they shared a hug every time they saw each other, this distance wasn’t the same.

[mandy]

Mandy was filled with giggles and laughs as she tried to get away from Rodney; she seriously stood no chance really. “A girl can try can’t she” she said with a laugh before finding herself lifted into the air and back down the water, though Rodney was not as aggressive as she was when she tried dunking his head under water, then again, she was much tinier than he was, so she needed to do a bit more to get him underwater. Rodney was really sweet about it all though, he barely kept her under the water, in no time, she was ready to come up for air, as she did, she could hear that Rodney already came up as well, oddly almost the same time as her, but she couldn’t really tell where he was, but she could feel the movements underwater so he was pretty nearby, but she could barely see anything, with her super soaked her all up in her face and all. So she couldn’t really see where Rodney was but he was near the little creeper, getting her all soaked and wet, though she liked it, the water was great.

Once she managed go get her hair out of the way and rubbed her eyes as the salty water went a bit in it, she was a bit surprised to find the first thing in her sight being Rodney up close and personal, she got to say, she was a bit shocked but, it was Rodney, so her being scared wasn’t too obvious, well not to him she hoped as she smiled. “Oh wow, There you are mister” she laughed as she suddenly felt weird about it all, being too close to him, face to face, she’s never been so close to Rodney before, well not without having no reason, be it a hug, kiss on the cheek, simple greetings, it was the closest they got, but there wasn’t really a reason for this close up, but she felt oddly comfortable about it all, though the silence between them, with only the sound of the water splashing against the dock was all that could be heard. She didn’t know what to do, but the moment, just felt right, as she looked at Rodney in the eyes, like she saw him for the very first time, her stomach more in knots than ever before. She just looked at him, and smiled as her next impulsive move seemed a bit out of place.

Looking at him in his eyes, she found herself leaning in, slowly, she could feel it coming from Rodney’s end as well, as she slowly tilted her head on the side as her eyes slowly closed and she slowly leaned in and she could feel herself getting closer to Rodney, their faces getting closer then within seconds she felt something touch her foot and her focus was quickly drawn to that. “Ahh, fish, fish or something touched my foot” she said screaming, moving her head away from Rodney right on time as well, she almost did something she might have regretted in the end. She quickly looked in the water to see what it was touched her as she could see something floating under water. She stuck her hand down and it was nothing more than a plastic bottle in the water. She laughed, awkwardly of course” False alarm, just a bottle” she said with a smile, obviously keeping her eyes away from Rodney’s. Though it didn't feel like a false alarm, it felt like a sign, like a true calling to avoid something from happening.

“Maybe we should head back, just a little more than an hour before dinner” she said as she tried to keep her smile on and avoid talking about what just almost happened not more than two minutes ago. “Come Rod Rod let’s go, I'll race you there” as she turned around and started swimming towards the dock. Again, not looking Rodney in the eyes as she continued swimming Rodney, close behind of course.

[mooshi]

Rodney smiled. ”I was trying to scare you. Guess it didn’t work so well.” Well, he obviously didn’t scare her, so he could move away from her now, right? Why wasn’t he moving away? He wanted to, but he seemed to be….stuck, just watching her as the corners of her lips lifted into a smile. This was very strange for Rodney. He’d never really felt anything like this for Mandy. I mean, he’d seen her half naked and obviously he found her attractive, but he never thought it was or would be anything more than just a close friendship. But the way Mandy had her eyes on him in this very moment made Rodney slip away from his life for a few seconds and relish in the possibility of something different, something completely spontaneous and unexpected. It was a thought that had never crossed his mind before this moment, but for now, the words ‘what if’ kept replaying over and over again in his head. What if things had turned out a bit differently? What if he had met Marina after he had met Mandy instead of before? What if Rodney had been more interested in getting with Mandy in the beginning instead of just sort of feeling her out as friend material. Would things have really turned out different if any of that had actually happened? Rodney wasn’t sure. His feelings for Marina were so….so real. He honestly wasn’t sure if anything would be able to change that.

But even with that thought in his head, when Mandy moved in towards him, Rodney found himself leaning in as well. What was he doing? Was it just instinct? Or did he actually want to do this? Maybe this was just inner frustration working its way out of him in inappropriate ways. But he knew what seemed to be coming regardless yet he still leaned in to do his part. And just as their lips almost touched, he found himself being scared as Mandy screamed in his face that a fish had just touched her foot. Rodney quickly backed away completely pulling himself out of the daze that he had been in. Wow, had he just….almost….kissed…..his best friend? What had gotten into Rodney today? Maybe it was just in the heat of the moment, but whatever it was, it obviously had made things really awkward. Mandy wouldn’t make any eye contact with him now, and well Rodney didn’t know what to say. To be honest, he wasn’t even sure if he should say anything? I mean should he even try to analyze the craziness that just went down? It was just more confusion on top of confusion. He was trying to find out what his feelings really meant to him with Marina, now adding weird Mandy feelings to? God it was going to be good to go on that trip for a while to his parents’ lake house. Apparently he needed to vacation a lot more than he first thought.


”Yeah, let’s get back,” Rodney said as he too began to swim back towards the docks. Rodney just shook his head and chuckled when she called him Rod Rod. ”Wow, you couldn’t think of anything better than that? I mean that is horrible compared to my awesome Dee nickname for you. You didn’t even try!”