Seafoam //Completed//

Chapter 44

"That's my spot." A lazy voice spoke from above her. Lulu sat in the middle of the empty pool, hidden in the shadows. She'd climbed in, pretending it was full, picturing what the surface would look like from within the chlorine blue water. It was dark out now, but she imagined the sun breaking through the blue, refracting through the water and her body.

Tyler lowered himself into the hollow pool and took a seat next to her. She'd spotted him earlier when she got home. At first, she didn't know who he was, but when he drew closer, his smile was knowing. It was his voice, a light southern drawl, which she'd recognized. It didn't match his face. Probably because she'd only seen half of it and a wisp of his blonde hair.

"Told you I'd see you again," he'd said, and she'd knew him immediately. He was pretty, like a girl, with long eyelashes over clear blue eyes, and golden hair which curled at the nape of his neck and around his face. His features were sharp, filed to cut glass. He had the face of trouble.

"So what problems are keeping you in an empty pool on a Friday night? Shouldn't you be out with your boyfriend or transgender girlfriend who identifies as an owl...or whatever it is teenagers are into now?"

"Ha. You're not old enough to say that stupid line."

He chuckled lightly and took a swig of his beer. "Want one?" He offered her a bottle, just like the night before, and this time she took it silently. He uncapped his and then hers, the metal caps clinking on the algae stained tiles of the pool floor.

"How old are you anyway?" she asked.

"Too old for you, honey."

"You should be so lucky." Lulu tried the beer and had to fight to keep it down. It was piss-warm and tasted as bad.

"It's nasty, I know." He looked at her apologetically. "It's all I got."

"Maybe I know where we can get something better," she said, thinking about the party she'd been invited to today at school. She'd started eating lunch with some girls that weren't technically who she'd consider friends, but had been there forever. Delia and Margarita were the kind of girls that grew up together, forced into a friendship just because they shared the same teacher every year. It was easy to be around them. They didn't expect too much from her, and she never gave more than she needed, but they still genuinely liked her. Today at lunch, they mentioned a party Michael was throwing and asked her to come. When she declined, they looked like they expected that answer, so they didn't insist. Now, Lulu was reconsidering the invitation, and thinking about taking a blonde plus one.

"A high school party? I haven't been to a high school party since I graduated." Tyler scoffed when she offered.

"Which was how long ago?"

"Four years."
"Psh. You'll blend right in." He wouldn't. If anything, he would stand out against all her pubescent classmates, but that didn't matter. Maybe she wanted people to talk, to notice.

"There'll be free booze."

He stared at her for a long minute and sighed. "Screw it. I'm down."

She went home to change out of her jeans and cardigan into something a little less Babysitter's Club, and a little more appropriate for a party. Her dad didn't think her outfit was appropriate for anything at all and made sure she knew. Lulu had found a barely-there, black mini skirt she'd bought a couple of years ago before she'd had a sudden three-inch growth spurt. It fit snuggly on her hips and she threw a low cut, burgundy t-shirt to match. It was too much hassle to wear high heels, but she threw a pair of black booties on and put on some black eye shadow to tie the whole outfit together. It took less than ten minutes to get ready and less than two to run out of the house and into Tyler's car before her dad realized she hadn't gone back up to her room to change. Hopefully, he'd be asleep before she got back.