Villainous

Chapter 15. Swimsuit?

"So you coming?" Rin turns to me and asks.

At this point, I wasn't sure. I've never been to a beach before, only seen it on TV. Where the girls wear awfully revealing swimsuit and work on their tan. And I've never worn a single piece of swimwear before. Seriously. But it sounds so much fun...

"Lily?" Rin leans her face closer to mine, waiting for my reply.

Without thinking, I blurted an answer. "Sure!" I said a bit too loudly. "When?" 

"Sunday, 3 pm." Rin said. 

3 pm? Sunday? I'm gonna have to ask Mrs. Scarlet about that. 

"Okay, that's good," I replied. Giving Rin a nod.

"Awesome." She smiles. Then she turns to Allison. "Wanna come too?" 

"Um, it's ok, I don't want to cause trouble," Allison said, shifting away from her. 

"You won't be trouble," Rin said. "It'll be fun."

Allison looks at everyone at the table. They all smile pleadingly at her. She pushes a strand of hair behind her ear and answers softly. "Okay."

"Yay!" Maddie cheered. 

Allison smiled at me and mouthed 'Thank you'. I smiled back and continued with my lunch. I was beyond excited to see the beach...

And...to gather information, of course!

***

"You get to go to the beach!" Sasha squealed. We sat at the kitchen table. Sasha babbled on and on about how I was "Soooooo lucky".

"I know right!" I responded excitedly. "I've wanted to go to a beach since I was a toddler." I flipped through the swimsuit magazine I stole from Sasha's room. 

"Give me that!" Sasha yanks the magazine from me. She skims through it and smacks her finger down on one of the pages. She lays it down on the table so I can see. "This is the kind you should wear." She points at a tiny bikini with polka dot patterns. 

"Don't you think that's a bit too risky." I stared down at it. "It's my first time, maybe go with something safer. Like this one." I pointed to a plain black one-piece swimsuit that covers up pretty well.

"Pffffff, boring!" She rolls her head back.

"Guys?" Crystal asks. She paced back and forth in the fridge, chewing her fingernails. "How long does it take for the liquid to freeze again?" 

"Two hours Crystal," I replied. "Still another hour to go." 

"Ugh..." Crystal grabs her hair and continued pacing. "I need ice!!!" She groaned as she throws her head back.

"Oh come on, you'll live." I got up from my table and fanned her with the magazine. She stops pacing and lets out a long sigh.

"Ahhhhhh, thank you!" She closes her eyes and relaxes. 

Sasha giggled while I continued fanning. My arms getting sorer every minute. I stopped and sat back down. Crystal's eyes flew open and gave me a death glare. 

"DON'T. STOP." She gritted her teeth. 

Wow, who knew the nice girl is grumpy without her powers. 

"Ok, ok, geez." I handed the magazine to Sasha. "Your turn." I said. And before she could protest, I sprinted into my room and locked the door. 

"Fan harder!" I hear Crystal scream. 

I laughed and got started on Starlight's homework. 

***

"Mrs. Scarlet, I have a request." I closed the door behind me and stepped toward her desk.