Birthdays and Oceans Don't Mix

Camping was never on Marcie's bucket list, especially near the ocean. Marcie hated the water. Marcie never wanted to be near a large amount of water under any circumstances since she was young. Yet Willow brought her here. Now Marcie was stuck in their tent, waiting for Willow to come back from the gas station they passed earlier. She had told her dear friend multiple times that she didn't want to go to the beach beforehand. Not for her birthday, not ever. It was just too much to handle. August was never a good month for
her, either. Something always went wrong.

Willow soon opened the tent flap around nine o'clock with a bag of food in hand. As she entered, her smile grew wider. Marcie knew her smile, and it normally meant Willow was up to no good. She likely put something in Marcie's share of the food. A fake bug? Willow had done that this morning and caused Marcie to jump into the store shelf like a frog.

"Put on a sweater and your shoes." Willow dropped her bags on the tent floor, her pink ponytail moving along with her. "I want to show you something."

Marcie groaned. She definitely didn't like the sound of this. Reluctantly, she grabbed her grey cardigan and sneakers. Willow was halfway down the dark, rocky beach by the time Marcie finished tying her shoes, beckoning her to follow. This scared Marcie. Each step she took closer to the shore made her stomach twist. Once she finally reached Willow, her stomach was doing back flips. The cold didn't help either. It bit at her arms and face, making Marcie shudder. She silently cursed herself for not grabbing a warmer sweater.

"Okay, so I know you may be mad at me for taking you here, but you won't believe how amazing this place can be!" Willow laughed.

Marcie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, says the swimmer."

"The water is a beautiful thing. You don't have to be in it to appreciate it, you know that?"

"I hate the water, Willow! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it."

"I just wanted to do something nice for you! And try to get you to actually see that water isn't going to try and kill you!" Willow argued. "You don't even need to touch it and you're ready to blow a fit."

"You've known me for how long now? It's my birthday and you still do this to me." Marcie pushed past Willow. "You just don't get it."

"Wait― Marcie!"

Before Marcie realized what was happening, her foot slipped from the rocks and she fell into the water. The ocean swallowed her whole, tossing her around like an old ragdoll. Salt water rushed into her nose and mouth. The salt water burned her eyes. Her chest began to feel tight as she sank. It hurt. It hurt so badly, she wanted to scream, cry, do anything! Her vision blurred, but she saw a glimpse of pink. Willow? She felt two hands grab her, then the coldness of the night air. Never had she thought that the rocky shore would feel so relieving. Willow was next to her, grabbing at the grey cardigan and trying to shove her hoodie into Marcie's arms.

"I'm so, so sorry."

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My friend bxlynnx was the one who gave me the idea to post this, as long as she posted a story of her own. Check it out my dudes.