Me, Poppy, Bodhi and Wren were all in the car, Wren was sat in the passenger seat and was recording us all. I was sat behind her, Poppy was in the middle and Bodhi behind the driver.
Wren: "We just got to Byron!"
I wasn't really paying much attention, I was too busy on my phone, texting Baxter. I had gotten his number from the group team chat Wren had made. He had asked if we were here yet and he also asked to keep him updated on what we're up to.
Wren: "And we're coming up now to the beach."
They cheered.
Poppy: "Oh, my God!"
Wren: "You know, Summer, you could look a little more excited."
"Whoo! We're in Byron, baby!" I said sarcastically, mocking her.
Poppy laughed.
Bodhi: "Look!" She squealed, pointing to the building we were approaching.
"Oh, my God!"
They cheered, and I did too, this time.
The car quickly turned and pulled up under a canopy, in front of the building, where four workers in peach shirts and Molly were stood. We all jumped out of the car beaming. Molly pulled Wren into a hug before giving handing her keys.
Wren quickly opened the door to a humongous villa! We walked through the glass doors, surrounded by glass windows, that led out to the vivid blue pool - similar to Bax's eyes, then we opened another door, which was to the actual living area's.
Poppy: "Wait, is this whole place ours?"
Bodhi: "Guess so."
"Woah!"
We all followed Wren down a white and wood hallway which led to the living room/ kitchen/ dining area.
Wren turned to look at us all.
Wren: "So, guys, on the last shoot here, I saw two Hemsworths. It was pretty good." She shrugged, smiling.
Bodhi: "Let's get a video." She said, pulling her phone out of her back pocket.
Poppy: "I'm checking out the fridge. I bet they got some good stuff in there." She said, excitedly, rushing towards the kitchen.
I laughed.
Poppy: "Ooh! Fancy fizzy water!" She exclaimed.
Wren followed behind Bodhi as she videoed the room.
Wren: "The Ocean Room has such a good vibe." She said, taking Bodhi's hand. "And waking up with the sun is so nice." She said, leading her away, back down the hall.
"Sick, gift bags!"
Poppy: "Did you just say sick?" She asked, from the kitchen.
"What?" I said turning to look at her, puzzled.
Poppy: "You just said, sick, gift bags, right?"
"Yeah?" I asked, even more confused.
She smirked.
"What!" I laughed.
Poppy: "Baxter always uses the word sick.." She shrugged, smiling, as she moved away from the kitchen island.
I rolled my eyes.
Poppy: "Just saying!" She laughed, shrugging.
Was I seriously using his vocabulary now? Already!?
Poppy: "Anyway, Sum-Sum.. room service or pool?" She asked, as she reached my side.
"Uh.. both!" I laughed, throwing a pink bikini top at her, from one of the gift bags.
Poppy: "Okay. Come on!" She squealed, grabbing my hand.
"Let's do it!" I shouted, a smile plastered on my face.
Me and Poppy, were lying down on sun lounges, in our matching pale yellow, plaid bikinis. Our food had just been brought over by two of the staff.
Poppy sat up and turned to me, taking her sunglasses off.
Poppy: "Summer Waves, I challenge you to be nice to Wren while we're here." She pointed at me with her sunglasses as she spoke.
"Why is it on me to keep the peace?" I said pointing to myself.
Poppy: "Because it's my first photoshoot too and I really need it to go well."
"What and I don't?"
She sighed and gave me that look.
"Fine." I sighed. "Challenge accepted." I smiled.
Poppy leaned over towards me, her pinky out. I interlocked my pinky with her's as she relaxed back against the chair, I turned my head and crossed my fingers, as I took my sunglasses off of my face.
Me and Poppy watched as Wren and Bodhi walked around the pool, talking to Bodhi's phone as she recorded.
Wren: "We're loving our new threads."
I heard her say as they stopped at the edge of the pool, showing the camera how blue the saltwater pool was.
Wren: "And I'm so excited to have my bestie by my side. She's just such a beautiful soul." She smiled, wrapping her arms around Bodhi.
I tuned to Poppy, she rolled her eyes.
I smirked, standing up.
Wren: "This is Bode's first Subtropix trip." She said, while I secretly walked up to the edge of the pool, near them, and in view of the camera.
"Cannonball!" I shouted jumping in.
I laughed at Wren's face as I covered her in droplets of water.
Poppy: "Let's go!" She screamed, jumping from her chair, straight into the water.
"Whoo!"
Poppy: "Get in already!" She screamed at Bodhi and Wren.
They grabbed onto each other's hands and jumped in next to us.
We all just laughed.
We had all dried off now and were in pale yellow robes. Bodhi and Poppy were sat in makeup chairs, while me and Wren searched through the racks of bikinis for the shoot.
I took one off of the rack and turned to Wren.
"Wren, this'd look so good on you." I said holding it up, near her.
Wren: "Oh, thanks. Yeah, it is really cute." She smiled.
"Mhm." I nodded in agreement.
Wren took the bikini from me and slowly walked away.
Poppy smiled at me, as she had seen us.
I sent her a double thumbs up as I approached her chair.
"Told you I can play nice."
"See you down there." The man, our photographer, said as he walked away.
Molly: "No biggie, just the best surf photographer in the country. He's gonna make you guys look even more incredible!" She smiled, approaching us all, as we stood around the tables and chairs.
Bodhi and her began to talk, while I had to go sit down in my chair, for my makeup.
Eventually, we all gathered down on the beach. I was wearing a pink and yellow bikini, the same crosshatch pattern that all of us were wearing, just all in different ways.
Dice: "Alright! Guys, let's get started. To set the scene, it is the '90s. Byron is still a secret surf spot and you guys are just frothing to get out there, okay?" He said, catching our attention, as he approached us holding his camera.
Poppy: "Where do I look?"
"Look right into the camera. Shoulders back." I smiled to her.
Wren turned to look at me in shock.
"What? I did a few shoots back in London." I shrugged.
We all stood next to each other.
Dice pointed to Wren, stood between me and Bodhi.
Dice: "It's Wren, is it? Alright, you're my superstar. So, come take a few steps forward. Left shoulder to me, open it up a bit. Big smiles.." He said, before his camera began to click. "Alright, I'll get you two back to back." He said pointing at Wren and Bodhi. "Okay? This is the 'girls just wanna have fun' moment. Okay? That's it. You're best friends. Smiley, smiley! Just tilt your faces up for me. Okay, sort of half smile..."
He directed, while me and Poppy stood there, watching.
Dice: "Yes! Great!" He smiled.
I nudged Poppy snd pointed at the surfboards on the wooden rack.
We rushed over to them, I grabbed a blue board and Poppy grabbed an orange one.
Dice: "Girls, I love it! Bring the boards in! Yes! Absolutely!" He said, excitedly, as me and Poppy walked back over to them.
The two of us stood next to each other, our boards on the outsides of us.
Dice: "Drop a shaka! Alright?"
I laughed, before putting my free hand up in the position and sticking my tongue out slightly. Poppy put her free arm around my shoulder.
Dice: "Yes! That's exactly what I'm looking for! Yeah!"
"Get these pretty eyes!" I laughed, pointing to my chocolate brown eyes, that have hints of emerald green.
Dice: "That's really good. The camera loves you. That's exactly the vibe we need. Yes!"
"Glad you like it." I smiled and so did Poppy as he turned to look at me for a moment.
Wren: "Do you want me to go in the middle?" She asked Dice.
Dice: "In a bit. We'll just get this shot first and then we'll talk about it later, okay?"
Wren stared in disbelief.
Dice: "Awesome, Summer! Awesome. That's great! All eyes to the camera." He said, lifting his arm and drawing our attention back to him.
After almost a million shots of us all, hands in the air, dropping shaka's, boards next to us, sat on the lounge chairs that had been set up for us, we were finally almost finished on the beach.
Dice: "I reckon that's the cover shot. What do you think, Molly?" He asked.
We were all stood next to each other, in front of the lounge chairs and umbrellas, the ocean and the sunset in the back ground. Bodhi had her elbow resting on Wren's shoulder, I had my hand on my hip and Poppy dropped a shaka, next to me.
Molly: "Yeah, Dice, it's great. I reckon we got it." She said moving out from behind the table.
Dice: "I reckon we did. We got it! Well done, guys! Great work, guys, well done!" He smiled and we all cheered and clapped.
Molly: "Wren, Poppy and Summer, let's get you out on the water while it's still offshore." She said and we all made her way over to her.
"What about Bodhi?"
Bodhi: "Wait, am I not surfing?"
Molly: "We'll get to it later, maybe. We've just got a bunch of bikinis we still need to get you in." She said, as Poppy and Wren walked off towards the water.
"I could try them on." I shrugged. "I mean, even Dice said it, the camera loves me."
Molly: "Thanks, but there is a plan. Let's just try and stick to it. Okay? We're a little under the pump." She said, walking off, following the girls.
Bodhi: "Thanks, Summer, it's fine."
I nodded.
"Sorry." I said before also walking away.
Okay this shoot isn't turning out how it was supposed to. I mean Bodhi should be out here surfing with us! And when I asked if I could do the bikini shots she shut me down so fast! I mean is it me? Is it because I'm not good enough, not pretty enough, not as pretty as Bodhi? It wasn't often I was self conscious anymore, I was as a kid, but eventually I learned to love myself, but something about this seemed to be messing with my head..
Me, Poppy and Wren all got changed into the wetsuits, all with the same pattern once again. Then, we got on two jet-skis, along with the photographers, with their underwater cameras. Our boards were attached to the back too.
After loads more shots of us three, surfing, swimming, under the water and on the jet-ski we were finally done!
We were all gathered in the living room, Bodhi was telling us about something Dice had said.
'It's clear Subtropix only signed you 'cause they needed diversity.'
Bodhi: "It was how he said it. And they only signed me for diversity? Like, I don't know what that means. I've been working so hard to prove to them that I'm worth backing all the way to the tour, that I could be a world champ! I feel like I'm in this box with them, and when he said all that stuff, I feel like he just put the lid back on that box." She said, opening up to us.
"He shouldn't have made you feel that way. He's a racist creep."
Wren: "Yeah, Bodes, you're being too nice."
"I actually agree." I added.
Wren: "You know what? I think you should demand surf shots in your next contract."
"Sure, long term, but we should warn Molly so she doesn't hire him again." I suggested.
Poppy: "I'll go with you if you want." She said raising her hand.
Wren: "Guys, we're just groms to them. The last thing we need is a reputation for being difficult."
She said turning to me.
"Us? What about him and his reputation? We should, like, call him out on socials. I don't know, get him cancelled."
Bodhi: "Summer, he's one of the biggest surf photographers in the country."
Poppy: "Guys, you are not listening! Bodhi, what do you want?"
Bodhi: "I just wanna surf."
"And that's fine to do later, but now we have to go big! Trash his room, fill his camera bag with shellfish!"
Bodhi: "Unhinged revenge schemes are a hard no."
Wren: "Summer, respectfully, this is something we've been working toward since we were kids. If we go trashing rooms, Subtropix are gonna drop us."
"Okay, Wren, respectfully, I can't believe we're talking about doing nothing. You can't let him treat you like this."
Bodhi: "Summer, I'm a black girl who surfs. This isn't the first time someone's made me feel like I don't belong. I need to deal with this in my own way and you need to respect that."
I sighed, I knew that was true, but I still didn't agree we should just let him get away with it, just like everyone else has in the past.
I looked to Poppy, she avoided my gaze.
I nodded my head.
"Fine. I'll stay in my own lane." I said, standing up.
I walked off back to my room.
I sat on my bed, my knees up. I looked at myself in my phone camera, fixing my hair. Before I began to call, FaceTime, Baxter. The call rang once, before he quickly picked up, he was sat up in bed too.
"Hey." I said as he ran his hand through his hair.
Baxter: "Hey." He smiled. "Missing me already?"
"Well, you're the one that answered, and in less than a second."
Baxter: "Shorehaven just misses you." He shrugged.
"You sure it's just Shorehaven?"
Baxter: "Okay, you got me. Me and Shorehaven misses you."
I smiled.
There was a pause.
"Do you think I'm a good friend?" I asked, out of nowhere.
Baxter: "Um.. to me? Or in general?"
"Bax." I sighed.
I think he realised I was upset.
Baxter: "Hey, what's wrong? What's happened? Do you want me to come get you?"
I smiled slightly, it was nice to know how much he cared, even when we hadn't known each other long.
"Please, just answer my question."
He nodded.
Baxter: "Well I haven't known you too long, but I can tell you're a good person, so I assume you're a good friend. I mean, I have no reason to believe you're not and you did take the blame for me so you've been a good friend to me."
I smiled at him.
"So I'm not a bulldozing train wreck who never knows her place?"
Baxter: "Ohh. Barely ever." He smiled, I laughed slightly.
There was another pause for a moment.
Baxter: "Ari signed his contract."
I nodded.
Baxter: "Yeah, he's Blu Gravity's next big thing!" He said, somewhat sarcastically.
"We all know, you're Blu Gravity's big thing."
He tried to stifle his laugh, before we both burst out laughing, realising how weird that sounded.
"That wasn't supposed to come out like that!" I laughed.
He hummed.
Baxter: "Sure it wasn't, princess."
I rolled my eyes, before we both let out a little laugh.
"They're gonna have fun trying to change him from vanilla ice cream."
Baxter: "I always saw him more of a strawberry?"
"Nah, that's gotta be you." I laughed. "Maybe he's salted caramel? A people pleaser, but with slight complexity.
Baxter: "Reckon he can use that in his socials? He's not got a clue what to post. Marlon said he had a spotty sock on his hand earlier."
"No, he didn't!" I laughed.
Baxter nodded, smiling.
Baxter: "The guy with a spotty sock on his hand is soon going to be the best flavour of ice cream there is."
"Nah, that's spot is already gotta be taken, by you."
He smiled at me.
Baxter: "Thanks, Summer."
"Why do we keep bringing it back to ice cream, though?" I laughed.
Baxter: "Dunno." He shrugged. "I'm kind of craving some now."
I laughed.
"So, if I was a flavour of ice-cream, what would I be?"
Baxter: "You're like rocky road. Confusing, chewy, hard to define."
"I'm sorry, chewy?!" I laughed, rolling my eyes.
"I dunno." He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, my sister's calling."
"Which one?" I asked.
Baxter: "The one you despise." He smiled and I laughed.
"Well, I guess I see you later." I smiled at him.
Baxter: "Hey, hey. No, who said I was answering?"
I smiled, wider.
I heard as his thumb hit the decline button.
"Wow leaving your own sister for me." I laughed.
Baxter: "Well it's not exactly a hard decision." He replied with a smile. "So how's the shoot going? I bet you're killing it."
"Oh, well, according to Dice the camera loves me, he loves my energy too."
Baxter: "That's sick!"
"Only downside is, they don't think anywhere near as pretty as Bodhi."
Baxter: "What?" He asked, quickly. "Summer you're gorgeous." He sighed.
"Well, earlier I offered to take the bikini shots instead of Bodhi, so she could go out in the water, but Molly immediately shut me down."
Baxter: "Oh, summer-"
I shrugged slightly.
"I'm never usually self conscious anymore, but something about this has put all those thoughts back in my head.. I mean is it me? Is it because I'm not good enough, not pretty enough, not as pretty as Bodhi..? It's not my fault my body doesn't look like hers!"
I could feel my breath getting quicker.
"Sorry for dumping all this on you.. I hardly know you."
Baxter: "Summer, hey, hey." He said, pulling my attention back to him. "Don't worry about it, it good you're not keeping it all to yourself. You can always talk me, Summer."
I smiled.
"And personally, you are honestly, one of the prettiest girls I have ever met, in my whole life. So, don't let 'em make you feel like that, or give you those thoughts again."
"Bax.."
"Don't doubt yourself because of them. If they can't see how beautiful you are then that's their problem. I mean, I think you're prettier than all of them combined." He shrugged.
I smiled.
"Thanks, Bax. But I know you're just saying that, to make me feel better."
Baxter: "I'm not! Summer."
I sighed.
Baxter: "Summer, I promise you, I'm not."
I smiled, before lifting my hand to the screen, my pinky up.
"Pinky promise?" I said, stifling my laugh.
He raised his hand to the screen, his pinky up too.
Baxter: "Pinky promise." He smiled, before we both laughed.
The next morning
"Those braids look sick on you." I smiled, approaching Poppy and Bodhi, who was sat in her makeup chair.
Bodhi: "They'll look even better on the water."
She replied, smiling.
Poppy: "And if Molly doesn't let you surf, then we've all got diarrhoea." She smiled at me.
"Yep." I laughed.
Suddenly Molly came storming towards us.
Molly: "Girls. Villa. Now." She said sternly.
We were all sat down, back on the living room sofa.
Molly: "This is not acceptable. Do you know how lucky you are to be here?" She asked, voice raised.
"Did we order too much room service?"
Poppy: "You said it was complimentary." She defended.
Molly: "Dice got back to his room this morning to find his camera bags full of seafood. His lenses are ruined. And someone wrote the word 'creep' in pink zinc on the walls."
I stifled my laugh.
Everyone turned to look, directly at me.
"What? It wasn't me."
Wren: "Yeah, but, who called him a creep?"
Bodhi: "I told you to stand down. Why don't you listen?"
Wren placed her hand on Bodhi's back, comfortingly.
"I don't even use pink zinc! Wren's the only one that does! Wren, this was you, wasn't it? This is exactly-"
Poppy: "Summer, stop!" She said, harshly. "We all fell asleep on the couch. You disappeared."
Molly: "I took a risk on you, Summer. I'm calling your mum."
"Good luck with that." I mumbled.
Molly: "Let me rephrase, I'm calling Abbie." She said beginning to walk away.
"What? No! No! No! That's totally unfair, I didn't do anything!" I said jumping from the couch, and rushing to stand in front of her. "But he does deserve it for what he did to Bodhi."
Molly: "What did he do to Bodhi?" She said turning to look at the others.
Wren: "Uh.. well, during Bodhi's shoot, Dice said something.. problematic."
Bodhi: "It wasn't a big deal. Let's just get back to work."
Molly turned back to me.
Molly: "Pack your bags. You're on the next flight home." She turned to the other. "The rest of you, beach in ten." She said, before walking away.
I scoffed, before turning to look at the girls. They all avoided my gaze. I rolled my eyes and headed down the hall straight back to my room.
I opened the door to the house.
"Ari?" I questioned, as I dropped my bag and entered the kitchen.
Ever since last night I have been craving the rocky road ice cream, that I knew was lying in the freezer.
"You will not believe what happened this morning. The word 'nightmare' is a massive understatement." I said, opening the freezer and placing the ice cream on the counter.
Ari: "I think she's back. Let me have a word, okay?" I heard him say, before he entered the kitchen. "Hey, your call last night, with Baxter. Was it just to make yourself feel better for trashing that guy's hotel room?" He said from the doorway.
How did he know about my call with Baxter?
I rolled my eyes, as I scooped some of the ice cream out.
"Okay. I'm guessing you got Wren's version of events."
Ari: "Yeah, well, she was really upset, Summer. They all were."
"Ari, I swear. I did not do anything last night except talk to Baxter." I said walking over to the table, my bowl and the tub of ice cream in hand. "And I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure your girlfriend deliberately framed me."
Ari: "Oh, my God, seriously. You can't actually think I'd take your word over Wren's? This is not out of character for you, Summer."
"Seriously, Ari, you of all people?" I rolled my eyes, dropping my spoon, back into the bowl. "Honestly, if you don't believe me anymore, we can't be friends."
Ari: "Fine. Make my life a whole lot easier." He said before turning and walking back into his room.
I huffed, pushing the bowl of ice cream away from me.
I stood up and went to my room, slamming the door behind me.
I sat on the edge of my bed, my head in my hands.
Why, why did no one ever believe me?