𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙂𝙤 - 𝙀. 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣

[04] BOAT TRIP

During lunch, Regina dropped down on the bench between Jessica and Tyler, beaming like Father Christmas.

"Someone's in a good mood," Tyler commented before popping a fry in his mouth. Regina grinned.

"My dad told me our boat finally arrived and is docked, so—"

Jessica's eyes widened, "You have a boat?!"

Regina nodded with a smile, not minding that Jessica cut her off, and continued, "Yeah. It's nothing fancy, but it's big enough to fit all of us, so, since it's gonna be clear skies tomorrow night, I thought you guys might come with me and take it for a spin? We could spend the night on it, have a sleepover."

"Sounds like fun, I'm in," Mike agreed.

"Me too," Jessica said, wrapping an arm around Regina's shoulders.

"I have to ask my parents first but sounds good," Angela agreed as well. Eric and Tyler nodded along and agreed with Angela but assured Regina that they were sure their parents would be fine with it.

Regina then jokingly told Tyler that it was an exclusive invite and that his girlfriend, Lauren, wasn't invited. Everyone looked over to where Lauren was sitting with the cheerleaders, laughing loudly at something Regina doubted was that funny. Tyler chuckled with a shake of his head and, to Regina's relief, didn't make a big deal out of it, saying it was fine since he wasn't up for getting in the middle of a catfight anyway.

It hadn't taken long before it became clear that the two didn't get along. Lauren, while not Regina's type of person, didn't bother Regina all that much. Sure, she was a bit shallow, thought she was 'all that' because she was the captain of the cheerleading team, and had the tendency to make the conversation about her, but despite all that, Regina would've been able to deal with her. It were Lauren's back-handed comments aimed at Jessica, and sometimes Angela, that made Regina despise her. The blonde was constantly putting them down or aiming at their insecurities to boost herself and Regina absolutely loathed her for it.

She'd frowned the first time when Lauren made a comment about the amount Jessica was eating, still a bit unsure at this point, but the second time Lauren mentioned how Jessica might skip desert that day, Regina had opened her mouth. She'd point blank asked Lauren why she was making those comments and when she waved it off as a joke, Regina asked her to explain it. This had gotten Lauren all worked up and defensive, but she didn't let it go until Lauren rolled her eyes, muttered 'whatever', and left the table. She hadn't joined them for lunch since, though no one seemed particularly bothered by this, not even her boyfriend, Tyler. If anything, the lunches seemed less tense and much more comfortable.

Regina was quite sure if Tyler had brought the blonde cheerleader along to their boat trip that weekend, she might do something she regretted.

. . . . .

Friday evening came rolling around quickly, all of them having anticipated the weekend and planning for the trip the entire week long. The whole friend group was able to come and Regina had gotten her father to buy food and drinks for all of them. Regina was just on her way to pick up Jessica before heading to the docks together.

Jessica had been running a bit late, meaning that when they got to the docks, the others were already there. Regina pulled up in the parking lot and got her overnight bag and the cooler with their drinks from the back. She hoisted her bag over her shoulder and gave Angela a hug when she greeted them.

"Finally," Mike groaned dramatically. "I was about to die of boredom due to you two slow pokes."

Regina punched his shoulder and gestured to Jessica with her head. "Blame your girlfriend." That made both teens blush furiously, much to the amusement of Eric and Tyler, who wriggled their eyebrows. Angela and Regina shared a look before leading the way to the docks. The Latina spotted the boat immediately, a smile making her way onto her face. It wasn't anything flashy, but they'd had that boat for years now and she had made many memories with it, especially in the summer.