Leap Year (✔)

May 20

For the first time in May, the temperature broke sixty-five degrees.   Rosie, Brie, Pablo, and Beojun, along with what seemed like half the city of Chicago, decided to spend their morning at the beach. Even though summer hadn't officially started, the sand was a maze of striped towels and reflective umbrellas. The lake glistened like a tantalizing oasis, but Rosie knew better than to dip her toes in the freezing water.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Pablo hurried ahead of the group and threw down his towel to claim a prime spot on the sand, only a few feet from the water.

"Come on!" He groaned as the rest of them dallied over and set their things down. "You guys are taking forever! I have an idea."

Rosie sighed as she spread out her towel. The sun felt like fire reflecting off the boiling sand, or maybe she was just unused to the summer heat. "I'd love to hear your creative musings Pablo, but I have to find my sunscreen first."

"White people problems," Pablo snickered.  

Beojun popped his head up.  "And Asian!"

Rosie rolled her eyes.  She wanted a relaxing day on the beach, not a headache.  "Fine. What's your big idea?"

He held out a plastic bucket. "I'm gonna make a mega sandcastle. Brie. You're helping."

Brie held back her laughter. "Of course."

"You too, Beojun." Beojun looked up from his comic book with surprise. "Your grandpa had an artist's eye. Hopefully he passed it on to you."

Beojun rolled his eyes at the sky and let the comic book drop to the ground. Spiderman would have to wait for a Pablo-free beach trip.

"What about Rosie?" Beojun complained. "She has to help too."

Pablo waved the idea away. "She'll just make fun of me the entire time."

"True." Rosie pulled off her cover up to reveal her old, purple bikini, and pulled out her sunglasses. "Go ahead, you three. Make me the biggest sand castle you've ever seen. Wow me."

Brie and Beojun dawdled off to the water's edge, leaving Pablo alone next to Rosie. He tossed over his t-shirt and ripped off his shorts, revealing Spongebob swim trunks.

"This is weird," he whispered to Rosie as he headed out for the water.

Rosie knew he wasn't referring to the childish bathing suit. It was weird to be out with friends, but have Tessa and Hailey missing. It was weird that Rosie was dating someone and Pablo wasn't. The year had turned out differently than either of them expected-- not worse necessarily-- but different.

Rosie lay back on the towel and closed her eyes until the prickles of sun on her arms felt more like pain than pleasure. She sat up to reapply her sunscreen and found Brie sitting right next to her, snacking on some carrot sticks. "Oh! How long have you been here?"

Brie smirked. "Long enough."

What did that mean? Brie's hair hung long and wavy, dripping with lake water. Somebody should have told her the water wasn't as warm as in Florida. Her bathing suit hung tight around her body. Rosie wanted to reach out and...

Brie spoke. "Carrot stick?"

"No thanks. Those are gross."

"They're delicious." She bit into one to prove her point.

"Opening night of the show is tomorrow. Ready for your big debut?"

Brie shuddered. "Don't remind me."

Rosie fumbled for something to say. Anything to take her eyes off Brie's skin-tight bathing suit. "How's the sand castle going?"

Brie pointed out to the edge of the water, where Pablo and Beojun rushed around a mound of sand. Pablo belted instructions while Beojun raced around, dumping buckets of wet sand and trying to dissuade Pablo from building a moat.