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THE AFTERNOON TURNED into evening, and sooner than later Julie found herself standing on the front porch of the summer house, waiting for Anya and her boyfriend, Drew, to pick her up. As expected, her mother had had no problem at all with her daughter going to the start-of-summer-party, instead smiling brightly at the mention of the blonde girl going out with her summer friends again.
Jeremiah, Steven, and Conrad had all left earlier, confused on why the girl didn't want a lift from them, but she'd rather drive with her friends; the drives in Drew's car were always fun, as he was the designated driver for more than one of the girls in Cousins, and the backseat of his black Mercedes often turned into a pre-party for the rowdy group of girls.
"Hey! Jules!" The loud voice of Drew pierced through the evening air, making her head snap up towards the sound.
She waved excitedly at the boy and ran down the few steps before reaching the ground, jogging over the pebbles to the left side of the car, opening the back door.
Upon entering the backseat, a bottle of white wine — a favourite of Anya's — was immediately pushed into her hands, but she quickly refused.
"'M not drinking too much today," she grimaced. "Conrad's gonna be there ... I love him, but he won't hesitate to take me home if he thinks I'm too intoxicated,"
"He's way too responsible for an eighteen-year-old," Stella sighed loudly, flipping her dark over her shoulder, "It's cute though — how he actually cares about you, I mean," she took a swig of the bottle, smiling as she swallowed. "My brother would just let me drown myself,"
The other girls let out a obnoxious laugh, having obviously already filled their blood with enough alcohol to make every single joke funny.
Julie let out small laugh too, resting her fingers on the top of thighs, chapped blue nail polish on full view for everyone, a sign of the vacation feeling going through her whole body. This was the best feeling possible.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
FEELING ABSOLUTELY THANKFUL forthe choice of not wearing heels to the beach, Julie, along with Anya and Drew, the latter having both arms slung around the two girls, made her way down the crowded beach. She had for once discarded her sneakers, instead opting for a pair of sandals; this had apparently been a bad choice, too, as the warm sand touched her feet with every step, tickling the bare skin between the straps.
The thin fabric of her soft blue summer dress was already clinging onto her damp skin, the heat of the bonfire engulfing all the teenagers surrounding it in a warm hug.
Ahead of her, she spotted Jeremiah and Steven, surrounded by their friends, all sporting a beer in their hands and wide grins on their faces. Steven caught her eyes over the crowd and waved childishly at her, blowing her a kiss. She laughed at his drunken state, waving back with the same enthusiasm as the older boy.
Steven kept looking at her and she smiled attentively back, only looking away when her friends abruptly halted, pulling away from their friend to kiss each other.
"Please warn me next time you feel like eating each other up," the blonde girl scrunched up her noise, not surprised when her statement went unanswered.
Instead of waiting around for them to pull apart, she glanced around to find some new company, frowning when she caught sight of Isabel, dressed in a very short summer dress, talking with an older guy, who was staring her down.
"Hey, Bells!" She was quick to jog up to the pair, throwing her arm around the girl she considered an younger sister.
Belly smiled back, leaning into the older girls embrace, greeting her shortly.
"Hi," the boy looked Julie up and down, smirking slightly at the sight of the blue-eyed girl.
"Hi," her reply came curtly, lips in a tight smile. "Mind if I steal Belly?"
Instead of waiting for a reply, she just turned them around, steering the younger girl towards the big campfire.
"You recognise anyone here?" Julie squeezed the brunette's shoulders, hesitant about leaving her alone again.
"Yeah," Belly lied, "right over there. You don't need to worry about me, Ju," desperate to get away from the older girl, wanting to make her own friends, Belly pointed to a couple of people in the distance. In reality, she recognised nobody, she had never seen any of them before in her life, but Julie still believed her, waving as she started to make her way towards them.
— NOTE 🫶 very short chapter, but i'll probably update again tomorrow, so look out for it!
i just got summer vacation! i'm literally so happy. no school for over a month!
1k reads? you are literally the best ❤️❤️ thank you for reading, ilya!
