𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗘𝗡, 𝙅. 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠.

𝟬𝟬𝟵 swallow your fucking pride

"No, you bitch." Seriousness glazed across Athena's eyes, a sigh leaving her lips with her hands reaching towards the fallen pieces from her bun to tuck the loose strands behind her ears. "I was at Kelce's party last night. So, imagine my surprise when I saw your entire friend group there, with you nowhere in sight."

"Are you insinuating that I can't have any other friends besides those five?" Annabelle almost felt offended at that, her mouth gaped open with her finger pointed at her friends who were sprawled out by the pool.

Athena didn't deny it, instead, she just shrugged. "Well, I know that you and Kiara Carerra had a friendship going for some time." She sucked air in through her teeth, resisting the urge to laugh at that failed friendship. "And Sarah Cameron has her tongue shoved down Topper Thornton's throat now, giving her zero time to be around any of her friends—" She added, stopping herself to let out a snicker that indicated how little faith she had in Sarah keeping a relationship for more than a few months. "Speaking of, how long do you think until she cheats on mister frosted tips? I'm giving her a good three months, but even that sounds too generous."

"God, you're a bitch." The hypocrisy of how rude Athena was being, just like she normally would be to others, completely flew right over Annabelle's head.

"I'm honest. Learn to differentiate the two." Athena defensively raised her voice up at the awful name-calling. "Seriously, though, where the hell were you?"

Annabelle exhaled, pretending that she was about to be honest about her whereabouts, but instead, she decided to crack a joke that was destined to irk Athena. "Doing crack with the crackheads."

"You're funny." Athena let out a dry chuckle.

At her response, Annabelle placed a hand over her heart, smiling widely. "That's really kind. Thank you for that." She shot her a funny look, returning her attention to the mimosas that needed to be topped with orange juice. "My humor is my way of coping with the insecurities that mommy dearest has brought upon me."

"Speaking of mom . . ."

"Her life doesn't interest me. And neither does this conversation, so if you could kindly just stop talking now, I'd appreciate it a lot." Annabelle shooed her sister away with her hand, dismissing her from this unwanted chat that the two had found themselves tangled in. She wasn't sure whether her aggravation was a result of not getting enough sleep, having to deal with people at eleven in the morning, or just the mere presence of Athena Monroe herself.

Wrapping her hand around the fridge door handle, Annabelle yanked it open to retrieve the orange juice so that she could finish making the mimosas she'd spent the past few minutes preparing for herself and her friends.

"Hey, where are you spending your summer?" Athena resorted to her specialty of changing the subject, her head tilted slightly to express her curiosity.

"Why?"

"So that I don't wind up in the same place as you." Athena hummed to herself, topping off her bowl of cereal with a freshly cut banana. "That would seriously be tragic. It's my last summer before I go to college, and I would actually cry if I bumped into you."

Annabelle let out a short chuckle at her reasoning. She didn't want to be anywhere near her sister this summer either, so she didn't even take offense. "We haven't discussed places—"

"Bora Bora is off the table, so if you and your little friends could restrain yourselves from heading down there, it'd be greatly appreciated." Athena shot her a thumbs up, placing the milk back into the refrigerator before cupping the bowl into her hands to head back upstairs.

"Duly noted." An annoyed look twisted onto Annabelles features, her tongue swirling back and forth against the roof of her mouth. "Though, I wasn't aware that Bora Bora had your name written all over it."