Strawberry Ice Cream

"Strawberry," Abby says with certainty to the middle-aged man on the other side of the ice cream shops counter. 

"Will that be all?" He asks as he puts Abby's order into the till.

"Yes," She replies. The man rings up her total and she gives him some cash as payment. 

A minute later, they had her cone ready and gave it to her. Abby licks the swirl off the top with a smile before exiting the shop. A warm breeze bristles her hair and sand wraps around her flip flops as she begins her walk around the crowd of people back to her blanket.

"Took ya long enough!" Calls out her best friend when she gets back to the blanket they had set up. Today was a perfect day to be at the beach and everyone seemed to be here with their family or friends.

Abby takes a seat on the towel, flipping her flip flops into the sand next to her. Her ice cream was already getting soft so she starts licking at it so not to let it drip onto her hand.

"That looks delicious," says a male voice as he walks up from behind her. Abby swerves her head around to look up at the stunning Caleb Leroy. She'd only known him forever, but recently? She'd started to grow feelings for this average, typical boy.

"Welcome back!" Beth chirps. "Find out anything?"

"The lake is too full to bring in one from anywhere, and all of the rentals are plumb sold out! We would have to go and buy one at this rate." He responds in a sarcastic fit of rage.

"Well, buying one is out of the question." Abby cuts in before bitting into her cone.

"This sucks!" Beth complains. She and Abby had been friends for so long, though, that Abby could tell that Beth was only annoyed but not angry. Her friend was too much of a logical person.

On the other hand, Abby had always been the one lead by the song of the mystical unknown. She was known to daydream and get lost in her own head. "We can at least go swimming," She offers simply.

Beth shrugs and Caleb groans. "I really wanted to bring you girls out," He whines. The two of them join Abby, sitting on the blanket as Abby finished up her cone with a loud crunch. Beth sits next to Abby and Caleb finds a spot in front of the girls but still facing them.

"There will be another day," Beth presses. "Plus, now we get the time to just sit and hang out! Maybe even get a tan..."

"Yes, we do," Abby agrees, gently taking Beth's hand as butterflies rise in her stomach. Being face to face with your crush was something she never thought she would be able to get over being nervous about.

"Is there something you want to say?" Beth prompts Abby sweetly nudging her shoulder.

"No," Abby replies on instinct. She hopes that the heat she could feel in her cheeks was not a blush.

"You two are great together," Caleb comments.

Abby and Beth giggle, both knowing that it was kind of true. Yet, at the same time, all of it was a lie. That's just how great of a friend Beth was to Abby. She would pretend to be her girlfriend, just so Abby would have a chance to become friends with her true crush, Caleb. 

"You would do good with someone at your side too," Beth teases with a wink in Caleb's direction.

He groans again with a playful eye roll that caused Abby to giggle. "I don't need someone like that when you two are such great friends to me."

Abby knew that she was blushing now, wasn't it obvious? "Wouldn't you want a date...?" She asks, dreading his answer.

"Like a date to go to a dance with?" He asks than answers his own question, "I would love to have one but if it doesn't happen it's not how its meant to be."

Beth squeezes her friends hand to aid in her courage. She hoped that Abby was finally going to do it, finally let Caleb know how she fells about him.

"Would you ever be interested...  Would you ever want to date me?" Abby grasps at the air to find the words but finally, finally she was able to say them.

Caleb's cheeks gain color and he moves his hands to steady himself. "But... But you have...?"

Beth gently shakes her head. Caleb's mouth falls open and he looks to Abby. "You... Like me?"

Abby hesitates. Right now, she could be running her chances at ever dating Caleb. But she had to be honest after lying to him for so long. She nods, a smile finding her lips before she says, "Yes."

All three of them fall into a full silence. Beth pulls Abby's hand and grabs Caleb's. She pulls them to meet at the center, her whole face smiling. Her best friend had finally said it! She had admitted to her crush her feelings about him... At last.

Caleb gently takes Abby's hand in his with a gentle smile. Next, he pulls her in for a quick hug.

Abby squeaks in surprise, but before she could react he had let her go. "So... You guys ployed me?" He asks with a smirk.

Beth giggles. "I knew you wouldn't mind too much."