𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 23.

    I felt bad wanting to deny the offer, so I very hesitantly untied the straps of my own sun dress, and looked down at the small rolls of skin on my stomach, which were only a little bit hidden underneath my high-waisted swim bottoms. Then, I had noticed the bruise on my hip, which I had completely forgotten about. It was still visible, only a lighter shade of purple, spread out across the side of my hip-bone, just above the rim of my bathing suit bottoms. When Sarah stood up, I did too, my hand trying to cover the bruise, in hopes of just going straight into the pool without anyone noticing.

    But when she looked back at me, she instantly noticed, "Oh my god, Charlie, what happened?" She asked, her voice loud over the music. She sounded genuinely concerned, as she rushed back over to me and softly removed my hand from covering my hip.

    "It's just a bruise from falling off my bike," I shrugged, making it sound like it wasn't a big deal.

    "When Topper almost hit you?" Her perfectly-shaped eyebrows were sharply narrowed as she slightly bent down to get a better look at the mark, her eyes worried, "Oh my god,"

    "It's fine," I laughed, "It doesn't hurt anymore, I'm okay." I reassured her.

    Before she could speak, or do anything else, we heard a loud shout of Topper's name, screamed over the booming music. It caused everyone's heads to turn, and I looked over to where the voice came from, eyes quickly landing on a shirtless teenage boy, pointing up to the roof. Then, Sarah and I both shifted our gazes up to the roof, taking notice in her boyfriend, Topper, standing at the edge of the it.

    "Topper's on the roof!" Someone shouted, also pointing up.

    "Oh my—shit," Sarah breathed out, before quickly leaving me and running towards the back door of the house.

    Topper took a swig of beer from his can, and then put his arms out to the side as everyone cheered. I stood by the pool by myself, like an idiot, slightly squeezed between locals who were too drunk to notice me, as Sarah quickly came into view on the roof. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but her mouth was moving as she reluctantly approached Topper at the edge, his hands reaching out for hers. My breathing slightly hitched when he picked her up in both arms, everyone else soon screaming "Jump! Jump!".

    And then, before I knew it, they were jumping, and a scream left Sarah's mouth. I scrambled past people as they rose to the surface of the neon blue water, walking closer to where they were. Everyone was cheering, Sarah and Topper were laughing, and Topper shouted out something about his girlfriend. Sarah gripped onto his shoulders tightly, a wide smile on her lips, as she searched for me amongst the people. Once she found me, I crouched down to water level so she would hear me speak.

    "I'm going to get water!" I told her loudly, some people around us looking at me oddly, but others still cheering. Topper was cheering too, punching his fist into the air, not paying attention to us.

    "Wait, I'll go with you," she shouted back, and quickly let go of her boyfriend's shoulders and swam to the side of the pool. Topper didn't seem to mind as he laughed with some of his friends who were jumping in the pool to high-five him.

    Sarah pushed herself out of the pool, water dripping from her body, and girls and guys high-fived her, tapping her back as well, while she simply smiled. She laughed, while she locked her arm with mine again and guided me to the back door. I felt safer, knowing that she was going to stay with me, despite where I was going. She grabbed a towel on the way inside, wrapping it around her whole body.

    Inside of the house, the music was just as loud, and there was just as many people. I tried not to look like an idiot while I stared at the inside of the home, that was even more beautiful than the outside. Sarah dragged me into the kitchen, where there was a counter full of alcoholic beverages, red solo cups, and bottles of liquid, all scattered on the sleek white countertop of the humongous kitchen space. I stood by the kitchen island as she went into the fridge and grabbed me a bottle of water.