𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐙𝐄 | 𝐓𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐏

05 │ forever wild.

"Wear this," Nicole mumbled, placing her Red Sox cap on Eviane's head, "It looks better on you." Before Eviane could ask why, Nicole leaned close to her, the distinct chatter and music making it difficult to hear one another, "I'm going to get another beer," and with a kiss on Eviane's cheek and a quick goodbye, Nicole rushed off.

Slightly frazzled and worried, Eviane picked up the can of beer which had grains of white sand surrounding the bottom rim and walked to another spot which was located near the beach's entrance. Somewhere much quieter and a perfect spot to keep an eye out for Nicole.

"Hey," a voice interrupted her thoughts, breaking Eviane's stare from Nicole. Eviane let out a smile as Conrad settled himself beside her, "Hi!"

"I see you're wearing my flannel," Conrad commented, nodding towards the piece of cloth which Eviane put over her thick strapped tank top.

Eviane gratefully nodded her head, "You were right, it's pretty chilly tonight."

"How were your swimming competitions?" Conrad questioned, clearly trying to make small talk.

Groaning, Eviane shook her head in frustration, "Don't even get me started on most of the competitions because first of all, they decided to have multiple judges?? Who the fuck has judges who do nothing but sit on the opposite side of the pool, check the big screen, and have them declare the winners. The only judge that matters is the turn judge but apparently, he had no say because this entire competition was bullshit and biased from the start."

With his mouth bobbing open and close like a fish, Conrad stared at Eviane dumbfounded as everything she said made zero sense to him but he didn't want to interrupt her as she continued to vent.

"That's not even the worst part, when I and other people clearly won, the judges decided to announce this other girl as the winner and you know why?" Not waiting for Conrad to answer her rhetorical question, Eviane continued, "Because one of the judges was her dad. HER DAD!?"

Furrowing his brows, "Didn't anyone file a complaint?" Conrad asked.

"Oh they did," Eviane smirked, "You should have seen how scared the judges looked when my mom stormed into their office after telling the head of the swimming foundation what had happened."

Conrad and Eviane chuckled as they imagined the scared judges being chased by Natalie.

"Evie," Nicole whistled for her friend, drunk of her mind. Spotting Conrad sitting quite close to Eviane, Nicole made her way with narrow eyes and a determined face, squeezing herself carelessly in the middle of the two.

"Ouch," Eviane muttered, shielding herself from Nicole whose elbow hit her ribs, "What are you doing, Nicole?"

Cheekily grinning at Eviane, Nicole answered, "Sitting." Eviane stared at her, unimpressed, although it quickly vanished when she saw Nicole groaning, placing her hand on her head, "Why is it so bright. My head's killing me."

"That's what you get for having too many drinks," Eviane reprimanded, removing Nicole's cap from her head and placing it back on Nicole's head, trying to shield the glow emitting from the fire from shining into Nicole's eyes. The whole scene reminded Conrad of Eviane portraying a disappointed mom and Nicole listening to her with a pout as a scolded child.

Humming in appreciation from the light not getting in her eyes, Nicole turned to look at Conrad who stared at her bizarrely, "Well, don't mind me, continue with your conversation."

"Actually," Eviane stated, wiping the back of her pants with a hand to remove the sand that stuck to it as she got up, "I'm going to meet Jere."

"I'll come with you," Conrad replied.