Pride | Baxter Radic

ten | paper burning

Flo and Summer decided to take Flo's car to the camp so, here they are now, pulling in to the gravel driveway.

"Oh my God, Poppy's right there. Are you going to try and talk to her?"

Flo pushes her sunglasses up on to her head and turns to her best friend before asking, "Like right now? Right now in this moment?" Anxiety builds up in her throat as her voice comes out shaky. Flo has never had any friends besides Summer that she's really had to worry about losing before. This newfound realization doesn't make her feel much better.

When the car is parked, Summer reaches to grab both of their bags and practically pushes Flo out of the driver's seat towards Poppy. Flo trips over a rock and accidentally stumbles even closer to the girl who's mad at her.

Flo runs her hand through her hair and hesitantly calls out, "Hey, Poppy?" The brunette fiddles with her fingers as her nervousness only continues to rise.

Poppy turns around to look at her with a dissatisfied expression. Her eyes narrow as she hones in on the sight of Flo. "Can we talk about the text you sent me? I'm just a little confused. You know what happened between me and Marlon was before you and him started being a thing? And we both agreed it'll never happen again so-"

"Listen, Florentina." Flo flinches at the use of her full name which is something that none of her friends actually call her by. "I don't want to hear your bullshit excuses. Wren told me all about you trying to be a backstabbing, home wrecking bitch."

Poppy tightly grips her surfboard before stomping away from Flo, leaving Flo with a feeling of sadness that she hasn't experienced in years. It feels like... grief? A rush of anxiety slams her in the chest and it gets harder for her to breathe. Her legs feel weak and her knees buckle slightly, forcing her to take a step backward so she doesn't fall down.

"Flo?" The sound of her name being called snaps her back to reality. Suddenly her vision becomes clear and her ears stop ringing. "How'd it go?" Summer's question is answered immediately when she takes in the sight of a teary-eyed Flo. Pulling Flo in for a hug, the girl reassures her that everything will turn out fine— telling her that the both of them just need to keep pushing through.

Flo pushes her tears back and forces herself to breathe again just as Bax comes up to them.

* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚

"You guys are late!" Elo shouts at them, "Moneybags, why are you here?"

"Oh, just some casual fishing." Flo curses herself for not thinking before she speaks because she doesn't think her joke was that funny whatsoever.

The embarrassed brunette catches the way The Douche and Summer lock eye contact and looks between them suspiciously. Doesn't this dude have a girlfriend? And does Summer even have any dignity left at this point?

She's snapped out of her thoughts when she feels Bax pull her in to his side by placing his arm around her shoulders. Summer takes the both of them and drags them to the water as the rest of the group has already started sprinting towards the ocean. After a few hours of watching the team practice their surfing while Flo hangs out on the sand, she notices that everyone is starting to gather around in a circle and Bax had stormed off at some point during her being distracted.

The team starts off by drawing names out of a bowl and saying something that each other can improve on with their surfing. After it getting heated, Elo insists on doing a "purge", deciding to drag Flo in to the activity as well.