Float

Original Edition: Chapter Two

When we stepped outside into the humid air again, it was sunset. The sky was purple, the ocean below it painted orange in the glow. I managed to spot a few surfers out in the waves who looked like they weren't going to leave the beach until it was too dark for them to see their own feet.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" Rachel asked, nudging me with her elbow.

"Yeah," I replied, unable to tear my eyes off the water.

Then I spotted something. Off in the distance, from somewhere further down the beach, there were lights out on the sand. I turned towards Rachel, George, and Chloe to see if any of them had seen it, too.

"Is it that late already?" Chloe frowned. "I thought those kids wouldn't start the beach bash until after dark."

"Beach bash?" I repeated.

"The kids in town like to have them during the summer," Chloe explained. "Oh, Waverly, you should go!"

"Um."

"You absolutely should, Waverly," Rachel agreed. "It's a Holden rite of passage."

Me. At a party.

Did she not understand that I knew no one in this town?

"Maybe Blake could take you," Chloe offered, like she'd read my mind.

My stomach twisted at the mere thought of spending time with Blake. If I had thought he looked like he wanted to kill me before, what was he going to do when his parents made him drag me, the weird new girl, along with him to a party? Before I could even try to compose myself enough to put up an argument, Rachel looped her skinny, tan arm over my shoulder and pulled me towards her. 

"She'd love to!" she spoke for me.

"Great!" Chloe said, "I'll send Blake over to pick you up when we get home."

With that, Chloe and George slipped into their sedan and pulled out of the parking lot, speeding off before I could ever comprehend what I'd just been talked into.

"Come on, Waverly!"

I marched to Rachel's car like a prisoner towards an electric chair.

The ride home was silent. I kept imagining a million different scenarios, all in which I ended up embarrassing myself in front of every kid in Holden. By the time we pulled back into the driveway in front of Rachel's house, I felt sick to my stomach. How would I manage at a party where the only person I knew even in the slightest clearly didn't like me?

Rachel cut the motor on the car and sighed.

"What do I wear?" I blurted, glancing down at Rachel's jean shorts. They really were huge on me. "I mean, is what I'm wearing okay?" 

"You look fine," Rachel assured me. "It's just a casual thing."

I opened my mouth to ask her if I should bring anything with me to the party, but was interrupted as the front door of the Hamiltons' pale green house flew open.

Blake Hamilton stepped outside.

He wore a plain white T-shirt, a pair of dark shorts, and a scowl. I shrunk down into the passenger's seat, hoping he wouldn't notice me. But I'd forgotten that the vehicle I was sitting in was neon green, and therefore the first thing Blake noticed was me, hiding badly.

His eyebrows pinched.

"Look, there's Blake!" Rachel said.

I let out a little noise from the back of my throat that sounded like I was being strangled.

"Why don't you go out and say hello!" Rachel reached across me and pushed open my car door. I remained frozen in my seat. "You kids should head down to the beach. I think the party's starting."