Chasing Sunsets

17

"You should have gone and seen him last night." Isla said as she pulled on her wetsuit. We were at the beach, waiting for Isla's competition to start. We had gotten here early to secure a perfect viewing spot, but the crowds of people coming to watch were already starting to form.

"Why? I can wait until tonight. There's nothing that could come up that would make me ditch our Friday night tradition." I told her as I pulled off my sundress before digging in Bella's bag in search of sunscreen.

"We broke last tradition last Friday, when we went to that party." Bella reminded me from below, she was stretched out on the blush pink beach towel she had taken from my house.

I rolled my eyes. "That was different. We were together. What was is that Isla said the night I broke up with Evan?"

"I don't know, I barely listen to either of you." Bella muttered, causing Isla to shoot her a dirty look.

"She said, 'it's the three of us. Together. We don't need anyone else." I reminded them.

"So what? We're going to be married with kids and still sneaking off to watch movies together on Friday nights?" Isla joked.

"That's if you can manage to find someone who will marry you." Bella teased, flicking her head up from the towel and grinning at Isla.

"Well I'd gladly ditch my future husband for you two for a movie night. Do you guys remember the first Friday we spent together?" I smiled to myself at the memory. We had just met each other that week. We were all new in school and ended up sitting together at lunch.

"Yeah, when you lured us to your house with the promise of unlimited cotton candy and then failed to deliver?" Isla smiled as she nudged me with her elbow.

"In my defence, I didn't know twelve year old Isla could consume so much sugar at once." I scrunched my nose remembering the copious amounts of cotton candy she had consumed. "Anyways, we vowed that night that we would be friends for life."

"I remember. I thought who the hell is this girl pledging her allegiance to me already? Your intensity freaked me out." Bella joked, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

"Shut up." I swatted her arm, and I sat down on the towel beside her. "You knew it as much I did."

"Knew what?" Isla asked.

"That we were soulmates." I reminded them, shooting them both a smile.

Isla crouched down in front of us so that she reached our eye level, she grabbed my hand and held it tightly before taking a hold of Bella's and doing the same.

"Soulmates." She confirmed. We smiled at each other before Bella shook her hand lose.

"You guys are sappy today. You both need to get laid." She muttered as she collapsed onto her back, pulling her sunglasses down from where they were perched on her head.

I laughed at her. "That's your solution for everything."

"Because it works." She said with a lazy swish of her hand.

I turned back towards Isla, "are you nervous?" I asked her, steadying her face.

She bit down on her lip, glancing down before she gave herself a shake. "A little. If I do well today, I could be invited on tour. My life would literally be changed, and I could live my dream."

"You're going to do fine." I assured her. "You're amazing."

The sound of a loud whistle came from judges table, indicating that it was time for the contestants to gather. Isla quickly picked up her board from the sand. "I'll see you guys after." She told as as she began to walk towards the table.