Scarlett
Even though a white t-shirt and red sports shorts are covering it, I keep adjusting the black strappy one-piece that was kind enough to Ricki lend me. I can feel my barely there breasts threatening to break free from the material. I'm pretty sure she purposely gave me her most risque suit because she wants me to find a man so we can double date when her "man" comes to visit.
I'm constantly telling her that I didn't come to college in search of a guy, but to further my education so I can get a degree. It always falls on deaf ears. I feel like Ricki's projecting her thot tendencies on me because she knows good and well that she can't go looking for a man when she already has her own very faithful boyfriend back at home.
Besides exposing more cleavage than I'm used to it, my butt is basically eating the material of her swimsuit, causing me to have an awful wedgie that I wouldn't dare pick out with Lucas mere inches from me. On Ricki's tall and slim frame the suit probably looks cute and tasteful but on me, it's one slip up away from making me look like I collect dollar bills off a stage and dance on tables for a living.
I've been fixing and adjusting myself since Lucas picked me up from my dorm promptly at 2:45. That boy can't be on time to save his life. I'm surprised Lucas hasn't commented on my constant state of adjustment yet. It's probably annoying him as much as it's annoying me, but at least he doesn't have a swimsuit half way up his ass.
Lucas and I finally arrive at the beach, and it's packed like a can of sardines. Everyone must have had the same idea as Lucas. Kids are screaming, dogs are barking and there's barely any room for someone to enjoy themselves. I've never really been a fan of crowded places and I regret letting Lucas drag me here. In my eighteen years of life, I've never been to a beach and this is not how I expected my first time to be. I imagined frolicking through the waves, not fighting off someone's snot nose kid for personal space.
"Don't worry we're not staying here. This is just the closest parking spot." Lucas comes from behind the SUV with a bag full of...toys? Sticking out of the bag is a water gun and a football. "The part of the beach we usually go to is about a mile down. I hope you don't mind walking."
After about a mile, my breathing is heavy and my t-shirt is sticking to me. I'm pretty sure that the walk is a lot longer than a mile. It's not helping that the heat is suffocating and the sun is relentless in its efforts to kill me. I pray that I'm not sweating through my shirt. I look over at Lucas who looks completely unfazed by the heat. He looks cool and composed in his black tank, blue board shorts, Nike slides, and signature dark shades. The sun is bouncing off him just so and I wonder if he ever thought of modeling. He would definitely have a promising career in that.
Lucas' friends are already on the beach when we finally get there. My t-shirt is completely stuck to my body and I can feel my hair frizzing under this sew in. Looking like a sweaty mess is not the way I intended to meet his friends.
"Lucas! My man what took you so long?! You left us here alone with all these crazy bitches." I recognize the guy giving Lucas a bro hug, as the bartender from the party. Lucas had introduced us at the party but I can't remember his name and I'm usually really good at names.
"Yeah. If you're going to leave us with crazy bitches, at least make sure their hot crazy bitches." Another one of Lucas's friends says while dapping him up.
"Careful guys. Don't forget my sister is one of those 'crazy bitches.'"
I look past the guys and a little further down the beach I see Lauryn and who I assume to be Heather and Juliette, laying out in the sun.
Great.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes when I see Juliette. I've been avoiding her like the plague lately. She's gotten nothing but worse since I first met her. I'm almost tempted to ask for a room change. It's not like she's a bad person, so far she's been nothing but way too nice. That's just the thing. She's just really ignorant about certain topics and way too peppy for my liking. We're way too different for this arrangement to work. She may not see it but I do. It's just a matter of time before I choke her out with her own extensions.
"A woman of color?! Say it isn't so?" The suddenness of the voice scares me and I drop my bag, spilling the contents onto the sandy beach.
"Crap," I mumble. Damn my bad nerves. I go to pick up my things but the voice beats me to it and quickly gets my stuff up
"Dang my bad. I ain't mean to scare you like that." The guy the voice belongs to hands me my bag, and I give him a slight smile as a thank you. He's tall, light skinned and all around fine.
Issa snack.
"Lucas, aren't you going to introduce us to your new friend?" Lucas's friend that isn't the Malibu Ken doll or the fine black says. He raises his eyebrow at Lucas and the two friends share an inside joke. Lucas rolls his eyes.
"Guys this is Scarlett, my English partner. Scarlett these are my roommates and best friends Liam, Alex, and Jeremiah." He gestures to each of them, before continuing "And before you guys ask no we're not sleeping together."
That would explain the look Alex gave Lucas. From what I pieced together and common sense I figured out that Lucas is a notorious womanizer, who probably slept with most girls on this campus. So I get why he would think Lucas and I are... but he's far from the truth. Lucas and I are barely friends but something tells me the girls he sleeps with are barely his friends too.
"So this is the poor girl you're leeching off of?" Jeremiah shakes his head in mock pity. "You might as well do the project yourself. Lucas is useless. Believe me, I would know. He leeched off us all throughout high school. We're basically the only reason why this dumbass graduated. " The guys laugh at Jeremiah's accusation while Lucas just looks pissed off and annoyed.
"Did he do anything to help yet? Or is he just going along with whatever you say?" Alex raises his eyebrow at me. How do people even raise just one eyebrow? More importantly, how do people only raise one eyebrow and make it look good? When I attempt to raise just one brow, I look crazy.
I go to answer Alex's question, as truthfully as possible but Lucas cuts me off.
"Okay, no more questions leave her alone. Come on, Scarlett. Let's get you set up over with the girls." Lucas is practically dragging me over to where Lauryn and her Barbies are set up. The feminist in me wants to protest him making me stay with the girls as if I'm not good enough to hang with the boys but I keep quiet. Not wanting to come off as the angry black woman, I follow Lucas over to the girls but not without shooting daggers with my eyes and cussing him out mentally.
Lauryn and her cronies are situated farther back on the beach away from the water. There's an umbrella set up that none of the girls are under. Instead, they're laying out directly in the sun no doubt working on their tans, something that I don't have to thanks to my god given melanin.
"Scarlett!" Lauryn shrieks while I'm getting comfortable under the umbrella. "How've you been? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. You haven't texted me back."
"I've been good, but busy you know. I'm swamped with work and I'm still getting adjusted. I didn't mean to ignore you, but you know how life is." I'm partially telling Lauryn the truth. I have been busy and also drowning in work but not so much that I couldn't text her back or make plans with her. That's just me being anti-social and skeptical of Lauryn's desire to be my "bestie." She's a cool girl or whatever, I just don't trust her.
Not wanting to be bothered I stick my earbuds in and pull out my very worn copy of The Great Gatsby, using them as silent cues for the girls to leave me alone and let me read in peace. I open up my book and start off where I had last left off.
"I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scarelett's (well Ricki's) swimsuit up above