Blame It On the Beach

Chapter Thirteen

On Friday afternoon at around 1, my mom, Quinn and I drive to the Jitney bus stop to pick up Margalit and Cassandra. The bus was a few minutes early, so they're already standing at the corner when we pull up.

We jump out of the car as soon as my mom hits the brakes, laughing as we all get into a group hug.

"You guys are already so tan!" Margalit exclaims, the slight wind blowing her wavy auburn hair around her face.

"This is going to be such a good weekend," Cassandra says, giving us each a huge smile, and we cheer a little and exchange more hugs.

My mom gets out of the front seat, her floppy straw hat almost covering her eyes. "Hi girls," she says, giving both of them hugs.

"Thank you so much for having us," Cassandra says, smiling sweetly at my mom, and my mom beams, as most adults do when Cassandra talks.

"Of course!" she replies. "It's my pleasure." She beckons for us to get in the car. I hop into the front seat, and the three of them pile into the back. My mom starts driving back, as Cassandra and Margalit both look out the window at the town surrounding us.

"It's so cute here," Margalit says. "I can't wait to see the house!"

"We had some renovations done over the winter break, so you're coming at a good time," Mom says.

"Yeah, we basically remodeled the entire deck," I add. "It used to be wooden but people kept getting splinters so we switched to marble. It's way nicer now."

We continue chatting on the way back, and after a few minutes we're pulling up to the house-- the bus stop is pretty close.

Margalit and Cassandra express their love of the house as we walk inside, and they look around the spacious living room.

"Everything is so cute," Margalit says. "I wish I had a Hamptons house."

"Yeah, I never want to leave," Quinn says.

After a quick tour of the rest of the house, we go upstairs to my room with Snapples, and sit in a circle on the shaggy white carpet.

"Ok, so catch us up on what happened so far," Margalit says, her bottle making a loud snap as she opens it.

"Yeah, tell us about the crazy going-ons of Quogue," Cassandra says, smiling.

Quinn and I exchange looks, wondering what to start with. "Ok, Krista- we've told you about her, rich girl, kind of annoying- hooked up with Sawyer," Quinn says.

"Sawyer is the one Em wanted to get with, right?" Cassandra asks, and Quinn nods. I make a face.

"You still should, though," Margalit tells me.

"That's what I've been told," I reply.

"But," Quinn says. "There's also Milo." My insides warm a little.

"Ooh, who is Milo?"

I cut in. "He's my next door neighbor. He just moved in, like a week and a half ago."

"Is he cute?" Cassandra asks.

"Very," Quinn replies. "And I think he wants to hook up with Emilia." Margalit and Cassandra squeal a little.

"That's just not true," I say, rolling my eyes. "We're just friends." Also, don't jinx it.

Quinn shakes her head. "Trust me," she says to the other two. "We've hung out a bunch of times and I'm on the verge of feeling like a third wheel. They're pretty cute."