I start getting ready as soon as I get back home after the announcement of the dreadful meeting.
Preparing to go to the beach usually consists of putting on a swimsuit and a pair of shorts. Not today, though. I shower, taking the time to exfoliate and shave to the maximum of my ability. I even wax my mustache and pluck my eyebrows, and neither of them was in desperate need to be attended to.
Normally, I'd wear whichever of my swimming tops is clean and a pair of black bottoms. However, today I try on every single one. Most of them look like a sports bra, with the exception of a lilac triangle-shaped one and a strapless one I never wear because swimming in it is impossible.
I look between the latter two, squinting. "Strapless it is," I mutter to myself. If Sofia's friends dress as feminine as her, I don't want to be the one looking like a rat.
I sigh knowing I'm going to need as much time to find a good outfit, but the pile of clean clothes on my bed makes the choice easier. That, and Olivia's honking from outside.
She's waiting in her shiny red Audi A3, one of the few extravagant presents she has kept from her parents. Their initial thought was to get her a Tesla, but they were worried she might stand out too much, as if her current car blends in. Most eighteen-year-olds don't even have a car.
As soon as I step foot outside the house, I shout "Shotgun!" and Olivia chuckles when the neighbours shout back at me to keep it down.
"You're wearing your strapless bikini, I see," Olivia says when I get inside the car.
I take notice of her high ponytail and fresh nail polish. "You're one to talk."
"I don't even know why I did it. It would make sense if one of us liked Alex, but we don't," she says.
A nervous laugh escapes my lips. "Of course not."
When we stop outside his house, Alex gets in the backseat and sits in the middle, leaning his head forward so we could all hear each other over the air conditioner and the music. He's in his usual beach attire: straw hat, black Ray-Bans, buttoned-down shirt, swimming trunks that almost reach his knees. The strong smell of sunscreen makes me wonder if he actually showered in it, which might not be far from the truth, considering the unblended bits on his face.
In the twenty minutes it takes us to get to the beach, it's all fun and out-of-tune singing.
But then we reach our destination.
I get out of the car and instantly feel the temperature difference. It's as if I stepped into an oven. Still, I can feel my serotonin levels skyrocketing. The beach is swarming with people as per usual at this hour, but it doesn't subtract from the fact that the sea is glittering under the sun and moving in perfect little ripples.
I shoulder my bag and follow Alex and Olivia to the cafe/restaurant on the left half of the beach where Sofia and her friends are supposed to be.
"She must be somewhere around here," Alex mumbles when we reach the first one. "She said they-"
"What?" I exclaim. "Paradiso sucks. Have you tasted their coffee? It's basically water."
"Try finding empty loungers at Seashell at this hour," Olivia replies. "It's okay, we'll survive. We have sandwiches."
Alex huffs. "I had to make a dozen just to be sure there were enough for everyone. You got me in so much-"
"Hey handsome!" says Sofia as she runs from her lounger to him.
She tugs at the collar of his shirt and Alex bents down, giving her a chaste kiss. Sofia smiles before averting her eyes to Olivia and me. Next to Alex, she looks much less pale than she actually is. With her red hair up in a ponytail, bare face, and jean cutoffs, she looks eighteen for once.
"Hi, girls. I'm sorry, but there were only five loungers available by the time we got here." She nods towards the area where the rest of her friends are currently sunbathing. "We're seven but we can take shifts, right?" She glances at Alex. "I'm going to swim with this hunk now, anyway. Feel free to use my lounger."
"Thanks," I say, forcing a smile.
Sofia waves her hand. "No problem. These are my friends, Foteini, Angel, and Kate." She tilts her head to the side. "How come Angel isn't playing rackets already?"
Alex bends down slightly and kisses the top of her head. "Aren't you the sweetest? Let's go swimming now."
With that, they leave. I throw my towel on the empty lounger and lay there, looking at them both running towards the water. They paint a good picture, I'm not going to lie. Sofia's long, fake red ponytail sways as she runs. Alex is holding his hat to stay on his head with one hand while the other is intertwined with Sofia's. They look like they belong in a movie inspired by a YA novel. I wouldn't want to be Sofia, though. At least not when Alex finds out what has happened.
"Hey, no crust and tomato, take it," Olivia says, handing me my sandwich, distracting me from my thoughts.
I thank her and start eating, my eyes still on Alex. I can't help but think how he doesn't deserve this, yet I know there's nothing I can do about it. He deserves to be happy. Even if he's living a lie.
I let out a sigh. He might never find out, I think to myself. Which is probably the case. I'm the only one who could tell him but after so long, I wouldn't be doing him any good.
"Summer!"
I snap out of my thoughts with a jolt.
"I'm going to swim with Foteini and Angel here, do you want to join?" Olivia asks.
I frown. "Didn't you just eat?"
Olivia waves her hand in a dismissive manner. "It was only two bites. Are you coming?"
I look down at my swimsuit. There's no way I can swim in that.
"No, I'll stay here with..." I glance at the third girl, sending her an apologetic look for forgetting her name.
"Kate," she says chuckling.
"Okay, see you later," Olivia says, dragging the last word as she runs to the sea, flailing her arms.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Kate asks.
I eat the last bite of my sandwich and nod before getting up. As soon as I stand next to her I feel the same as when I'm close to Eliza: Kate is slim, with shoulder-length blonde hair and eyes somewhere between hazel and green. She looks like a model.
"Let's walk close to the shore. The sand is still pretty hot," she says.
"I know, it's so hot it's almost glass," I reply, forcing a chuckle.
We make a dash for the part where the ocean meets the land and walk along the wet sand. The water splashes against my feet once every few steps. There are people playing with their rackets and kids building castles, their arms and backs white from the ridiculous amounts of sun protection their parents make them wear. Some families have set up entire picnics, gingham blankets and straw baskets included.
"Okay, I'm going to cut to the chase," Kate says after a few moments of silence. "Our friends are dating, which means we'll be seeing a lot of each other. I thought it would be nice if we got to know each other a bit and, if we end up hating our guts, we can pretend we don't."
I nod. "Sounds good. But, I don't think they're going to include us that much in their plans."
Kate laughs. "I hope so. They're really sweet but I hate couples in their honeymoon phase, and Alex and Sofia are living it now."
My eyebrows raise. "Right? It's so uncomfortable!"
"Exactly! I have a cousin who never stops feeling her boyfriend's thigh. Never." She shudders. "Just thinking what they might be doing when we're sitting at the table..."
I chuckle. "I'm grossed out when people do more than hand-holding in public."
And somehow we start talking more casually, and I regret a little less going to the beach. If Alex wants to drag us to places with Sofia at least there's going to be Kate too and Olivia and I won't seem rude for only talking to each other.
"Fuck!" Kate exclaims, wincing. She's holding a small lime green ball in her hands, which a tall fit boy with big sunglasses takes.
He flashes a smile at us. "Hi girls, I'm really sorry. My friend over there" - he nods behind us- "is throwing extra hard today."
"It's fine," Kate says and is ready to leave but the guy continues.
"I'm extremely sorry for hitting you..."
"Kate," she says through gritted teeth.
"Kate," he repeats. "Well, I'm Dean. What do you say your friend here replaces me and we take a walk instead?"
Awesome, now I'll have to play rackets with a guy I don't even know and... I steal a glance at him isn't even my type.
Her eye twitches. "No, I'm gonna pass," she says and pushes through him as she walks away.
Dean looks at me as if he can't believe what just happened and I stifle a laugh before catching up with Kate.
"Why did you turn him down?" I look behind me to check him out. I know, I have no shame. "He looks good."
Kate snorts. "He's an idiot. I've been seeing him doing this trick to every girl he sees. We were in the same class at school for three years and he still doesn't know my name."*
We're far away from our loungers now. We must have been walking for a while since the once pleasant heat of the sun is now unbearable. So, we make a u-turn. On our way back we meet with Sofia and Alex. The latter is holding his hat upside down.
"Look, we found seashells!" he says, smiling from ear to ear.
I peer at the hat and notice it's almost half full of pretty orange shells.
"We tried finding some that aren't broken but we didn't have much luck," Sofia says. "And we can't stay out in the sun much longer, otherwise Mr. Christopoulos here will be cooked," she adds, reaching up to pinch Alex's cheek in the process.
It's too cheesy for my liking, yet Alex is enjoying it. I have to fight the urge to gag a lot more times until we reach our umbrella, but it's worth it. On our way to the car, Alex hugs both Olivia and me and thanks us for being so friendly towards Sofia and her friends somewhere around a thousand times. He can't keep his lips from forming a smile. If being civil with a few girls causes it, I'm more than willing to keep doing it.
.......
*In Greece, the schools aren't big so even a small town can have two different high schools
And yeah, I decided to do a quick and light editing today for whatever reason.
1471 words
This is basically part one of the chapter I wrote but I had to split it bc it was 3500 words or sth. I'll probably post the second half tomorrow, and now I might start writing the next chapter, it's one of my favourites :)
Thoughts on Sofia?