45. Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Sloane
O ur first full day at the beach wasn't the beautiful beach day we had hoped for. Instead of warm Florida sunshine, we got cool cloud cover. However, we were determined to layout by the pool, even if we did keep covering ourselves with our towels to keep warm. After we showered, however, Maggie and I were in for a rude awakening. I look at my red face and body in the foggy mirror. How the heck did this happen? I think to myself. I dress and walk through the bedroom I'm sharing with Maggie and into the family room. "Oh my gosh, y'all, look at me!" My skin is burned and tight. I look at Maggie whose skin is just as red, if not more so.
"I know," Maggie says sullenly. "I had no idea we would get this much sun on a cloudy day." She shifts on the sofa and winces at the pain.
"I have aloe," Annalise says as she hops up and runs into the room she is sharing with Beth. Annalise is a beautiful shade of bronze, clearly not affected by the sun like me and Maggie. She arrives with aloe in hand and offers it to me. I sit next to Maggie, and we share the bottle, applying it liberally to our arms, legs, and face.
“I can’t believe we were so stupid,” I say to my friends. “Our first day, and we're burnt to a crisp."
"I know," Maggie laments. "This is not fun."
Beth hollers from the kitchen, "I'll make strawberry daquiris. That'll make you feel better."
"I've got ibuprofen in the room," I tell Maggie. "I'll get us some." As I stand, the skin on my legs feels so tight and uncomfortable.
***
After eating too much fried food at a tourist restaurant on the beach, we head back down to The Summit, the condo where most of our class is staying or hangs out. We had a pretty good time there last night. As we walk down the moonlit beach, I joke, "At least it's dark so people won't see just how sunburned we are."
This elicits a chuckle out of Maggie which I'm glad for because she seems more uncomfortable than I am. "At least the ibuprofen helped with the pain a little," she says.
When we get to the crowded beach, Beth says, "I'm going to find some beer."
"Hang on," Annalise says, "I'll go with you." The two best friends dash off.
"It's sweet how concerned they’ve been," I say to Maggie as I watch groups of kids drinking, playing hackey sack, and some couples making out. I try not to think of Ky when I see the couples enjoying this beautiful night together.
"I know," Maggie says as we gingerly take a seat in the sand. "I just hope we bounce back quickly. I can't believe we got so sunburned on our first day."
"Hey!" a girl's voice squeals from behind me. Before I know it, I'm being bear-hugged from behind and wince in pain.
I shriek as my tender skin burns even more at the touch.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I'm so sorry!" Sara's worried face appears in front of mine. Her hand goes up to her mouth. "Ouch," she says as she takes in my redness.
"Yeah," I say with a smile. "We now know that you can indeed get a sunburn when the sun's not out." I quip.
"It's not that bad," Sara says, giving me a sympathetic smile.
"It's because it's dark," Maggie says. "It's worse than it looks right now."
"I'm so sorry," Sara says, then points to an area where a bunch of kids are sitting in a group. "We're hanging out over there. Y'all should join us."
I can't make out anyone she's with, but I'm guessing Tyler is there, and if he's there, I'm sure other football players are there and that means cheerleaders, too which makes me nervous. "Okay," I reply. "We're just waiting on Annalise and Beth." I secretly hope we can avoid that group, but just as I have that thought, Annalise and Beth appear with four cans of beer.
"What are you waiting for?" Annalise asks. "We're back!" Beth hands me a beer and Annalise hands one to Maggie.
Sara hops up, still smiling. "There's a group of us hanging out over there." She points to the gathering of kids again. "Come hang out with us."
Before I can protest, Beth says, "Awesome, let's go!"
Maggie and I stand and follow Sara, Beth, and Annalise. "I honestly don't know that I'm up for this," I say quietly to Maggie as I dust sand off my backside.
"I know," my fellow introverted friend says. "I don't even think I want this." She raises her can of beer.
"I can't tell who's there, but I bet there are jocks and cheerleaders," I practically groan. "I just feel so out of place around those people. Like I don't belong."
"Me, too. At least you'll have someone to look at," she says playfully.
"Stop," I joke. "He's with Sara, and I'm with Ky." I think about Ky and really hope he was being honest with me yesterday. "But I do enjoy talking with him. It's not just music, either. We have interesting conversations."
As we approach the group, the first face I see is Tyler's and I feel the tiniest fluttering in my belly. Sara plops into his lap, and his smile grows wide. I'm standing there not knowing where to sit, feeling awkward like I usually do when Maggie tugs lightly on my shirt sleeve. I follow her, Beth, and Annalise around the left side of the group. The same way Sara went. Beth and Annalise recognize a couple of the quirky, yet semi-popular boys from our school and sit next to them. Maggie then sits next to Annalise and that leaves me between Maggie and Tyler, with Sara in his lap. "Oh, this is awkward," I whisper to Maggie, making her chuckle.
"Sloaner!" Tyler says, a little too loud for my liking, making heads turn. Thankfully, I don't see Amber's face in the crowd.
Even though I have an easy time talking to Tyler in marine bio, I don't know what to say or how to act right now. I look at him with sweet Sara in his lap and smile. "Hey Tyler, heard any good music lately?" As soon as I say it, I'm mortified. Who says that? Why did I say that? Why am I so awkward?
Thankfully, Tyler just laughs and says, "Actually, no." He waves his hand at the group around us. "I love these guys, but dang, their taste in music is bad."
Now it's my turn to laugh, and I immediately relax my shoulders. "Would you rather listen to their music or Billy's?"
Tyler's smile grows across his face. "Definitely Billy's. You know I've got some country music in my blood."
I hear someone gasp across from us, and I turn to look. Staring at me with her mouth agape is none other than Amber Gates who has just walked up. "Oh my gosh, what happened to you two?" She says bursting out in laughter, making her friends laugh along with her.
I roll my eyes and sigh. "Oh, look, Amber's here. Yay." I deadpan under my breath which makes Tyler stifle a laugh.
Amber's tone becomes one of annoyance as I ignore her question. She's in her group. This is her domain, and she is going to make sure to make the most of it. "Seriously," she cuts as her face looks like she's just smelled rotting fish, "did y'all go to a tanning bed and stay in it too long?" She laughs at her own snide remark as she plops down onto the sand and looks at her friends who laugh with her. "You know you're supposed to build up your time in those. It looks like you should have started with five minutes."
I look at Maggie who seems to be shrinking within herself, and this makes me mad. "Tanning beds? Seriously?" I scoff a laugh because she has my blood boiling, and it's one thing to come after me, but it's another to come after my friend. "No, this was from the real sun." I have no idea what to say to her, and I'm sure an amazing comeback will come to me in an hour.
"Oh my gosh, I know," says a friendly voice from someone I hadn't seen sitting around us. I look to my left and see Ramsey from French class. "It was so cloudy and cool today. I didn't wear sunscreen and got so burned."
I exhale with relief and smile at Ramsey then steal a glance at Amber who is clearly disappointed that her game has been cut short. "Same," I say to Ramsey. "Lesson learned." I look at her bronze skin with a touch of pink and say, "You're lucky yours is already tan." I motion to myself. "This will be red for days." I pop open the beer I've been holding and take a long swig then grimace.
Tyler looks at me and says, "Not your favorite?"
I shake my head and feel my mouth turn downward. "Nope." I hold my beer out to him and Sara. "Do either of you want this?"
Sara has moved from Tyler’s lap to his other side. She smiles and holds up her own beer. "I'm good, thanks!"
Tyler downs his beer then holds out his hand. "I'm ready for a new one. I can never let a beer go to waste, even if it is The Beast." I hand him my cheap beer that I guess people call 'The Beast,' and he takes a long gulp, then grimaces. "Yeah, it's pretty bad, but it's still beer." He gives me that mega-watt smile that lights up his whole face, and I feel my cheeks burn. At least no one can tell I'm blushing when I am already so sunburned.