Blame It On the Beach

Chapter Eight

"Have a nice day," I say, handing the woman her ice cream. She thanks me and walks to the cash register.

"I'm so tired," Quinn complains, rubbing her temples. "It's way too early for this."

I look at the clock; it's 12:30. "Well, we only have half an hour left, and then you can sleep all you want."

The wind chime at the door jingles as Annabel and Audrey walk in. "Hola chicas," Annabel says, putting her sunglasses on the top of her head. She's tan already, tanner than I could ever be, and I try to tone down my envy and just smile at her.

"Are you guys almost done here? We want to hang," Audrey says.

Quinn nods. "Yeah, we've got around half an hour to go."

"Great!" Annabel says, her voice chirpy. "Meet us at the boardwalk and we can take a walk down the beach."

"Cool, see you then!" I say, and they leave, the door jingling again as it closes behind them.

-

-

After our shift ends we meet Audrey and Annabel at the beach, and start to walk along the shore, taking off our socks and sneakers so we can get our feet wet.

"God, I'm hungover," Audrey complains, the sunlight reflecting off her heart-shaped purple sunglasses.

"I didn't get to ask you last night, Annabel," I say, trying to keep my tone casual. "How'd it go with Milo?"

She exchanges a glance with Audrey, her lips forming a slight smirk. "Oh, right. So we ended up hooking up in Alex's parents' room," she says.

"Was it good?" Quinn asks.

"I mean, like, yeah, I guess. He was so wasted so it was kind of sloppy but it was still good, I guess," Annabel replies.

"So you want to do it again, right?" Audrey asks.

Annabel shrugs. "I mean, I guess," she says. "He's good summer fling material." I feel the need to roll my eyes at her words. We stop walking, and sit down in the pale white sand, stretching our legs out and taking in the sun.

"Hey, where was Sawyer last night?" I ask, suddenly remembering that I didn't see him.

"I think he, like, got a cold or something," Audrey replies. She pushes her sunglasses up to the roof of her head, looking at me pointedly. "Wait, didn't you hook up with Leo last night?"

I groan a little, remembering the vague details from my time in the basement with Leo.

"Yes, unfortunately," I say, and they all chuckle.

"Why unfortunately?" Annabel asks.

I shrug. "It was just pretty awkward," I say.

Quinn pouts. "At least you got with someone last night," she says, and I roll my eyes as she starts to complain for the fortieth time about how she wants a boyfriend.

"Quinn, trust me," I say. "You really don't need one. Having a boyfriend is overrated."

"Yeah, listen to the love guru over here," Annabel says, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "I mean, Em, you've had what, two boyfriends?" When I don't answer, and just flip her off, she just smirks and continues. "Don't worry, Q, you'll find one."

We sit in silence for a little while, before Annabel suddenly sits up.

"Can we go to Splish Splash?" She exclaims excitedly. "Come on, I'm getting bored just staying here all day."

"We haven't even been here a week," I say, chuckling. "But yeah! I'm down."

Quinn and Audrey agree, and we start to plan the trip to the water park. It's about a half hour away, and we plan to go tomorrow, Monday, since Quinn and I have work on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"I'll text in the group chat to see if any guys want to go," Audrey says.

"We should also invite Milo, I could-" I start to say, but Annabel cuts in.

"Ooh, good idea! I'll text him right now," she says, taking her phone out of the back pocket of her shorts.

I close my mouth, and try to shut down the annoyance bubbling up inside of me. I look over at Quinn, who is frowning slightly. I shrug slightly when she meets my eyes.

"Ok, so I can drive four other people, maybe five if we squeeze an extra person in the back. Depending on how many people come," Annabel says as we start to walk back.

"I don't think we'll have to, Noah has his license so he can take his parents' car," Audrey replies.

We continue to talk about logistics, talking about buying our tickets online and when to leave, until we reach my house.

"So we'll talk more about it in the group chat," Annabel says, and we nod, hugging them before walking into the house.

Mom and Dad are sitting on the couch in the living room, reading magazines. They look up when we come in.

"Hey guys," Dad says. "How was work?"

"Good," I reply. "Hey Mom, we were thinking of going to Splish Splash on Monday with a couple of our friends."

She smiles. "Good idea," she says. "Did you invite Milo?"

"Yes, we did," I say. "And what is your obsession with me being friends with him?"

"I don't have one," she says defensively. "I just want to make sure you're being inclusive."

"How about dinner at Palmieri's tonight?" My dad says after a couple of seconds. Palmieri's is one of the most popular restaurants in town-- they have the best Italian food.

"Sounds good," I say. "We'll be in my room."

We walk up the stairs and into my room. Quinn plops down on my bed, taking off her flip flops.

"Ugh, Annabel is being so annoying about Milo," she says. I try to act disinterested, but I'm glad she's brought it up.

"What do you mean?" I ask casually.

"Drop the act, Em, I could tell she was bugging you too," Quinn says. "Just the way she was talking about it, and how she automatically assumed he wants to get with her again. I swear, she does this with every guy she hooks up with."

"Yeah, I guess," I reply. "But, I mean, why wouldn't Milo want to again? I mean, have you seen her?"

"Yes, but I feel like there's vibes between you guys--"

I cut her off. "Shut the fuck up," I say, laughing. She gives me a look, but after a minute joins in, giggling.

"But seriously," she says. "I feel like if you up your game a little you could definitely have something with Milo. I mean, he seemed into you before Alex's."

I give her a look. "Ok, how 'bout we stop overanalyzing? I don't care that much."

Quinn looks unconvinced. "You keep saying that, but I could tell you were salty when Annabel was talking about him like a piece of meat."

I sigh. "Alright, I guess I was. I guess I was a little disappointed, that's all," I say.

Knowing there's more I want to say, but I've never been the best at saying what I feel.

a/n: short chapter, boring chapter, but school is killing me and i just wanted to update :(