Strawberry Island (girlxgirl)

The Color Orange

"If you could permanently get rid of any color, you know- wipe it off the face of the earth to never be seen again, which would you choose?" Clara asked curiously to a rather concentrated Florence who was busy making delicate paint strokes by the poolside. "Did you read that off of one of those ridiculous ice breaker card games?" Florence kept her eyes glued to the canvas, her tone ringing of indifference. 

"Well I think i'd definitely get rid of the color orange. I for one wouldn't miss the color of spray tans, Cheeto dust fingers, obnoxiously bright hunting clothes, and... carrots." Clara sighed satisfied with her answer, her toes swirling in the water. Florence paused her strokes and slowly turned her head to the bubbly girl who sat on the other side of the pool, the rays of sunshine hitting Clara's glacier blue eyes. "You've put way too much thought into that question." Florence flashed her a look of irritation and resumed her painting.

Clara scoffed to herself, entertained by Florence's frigid demeanor. "Why are you not spending time with Evangeline, is that not the entire point of you being brought to the island?" Florence couldn't help but directly ask the question that had been running through her mind. 

Clara leaned back on her hands soaking up the sunlight and mild breeze. "Have you ever met 'Baking Evangeline', she's a menace to society. She's too busy whipping up blueberry muffins to hangout -or talk for that matter- so I had to evacuate Winterberry." Clara took a sip of her La Croix, preparing herself for the sour retort Florence would counter with.  "And you what? Just decided to relocate yourself to Mulberry to 'chat' with me?" This time rather than turning her whole head Florence only eyed Clara, she didn't want to give off the impression that she was interested in the conversation by any means. "I'm pretty sure I might develop migraines if I have to spend another minute discussing politics with Indigo. So I guess you could say I'm looking to branch out." Florence didn't respond, she hoped that Clara would just take the hint and wander off, back to Winterberry or if she was lucky: back to Lexington, Massachusetts. 

"Do you mind if I take a dip?" Clara didn't wait for an answer, she began peeling off her white long sleeve shirt revealing her baby blue bikini top. Then her black nike shorts soon fell to the ground as well. Clara slowly lowered herself into the rather cold water, goosebumps covered her skin but she quickly adjusted to the temperature. Florence ignored her and continued painting the shoreline that was a few yards in front of her.

Clara floated on her back, staring up at the clear blue sky, she remembered the last time she was in a swimming pool; sophomore year at Julia Wilde's party. It was the most anticipated bash of the summer, Julia's parents were out of town and her older brother had purchased enough alcohol to open his own pub. She could vividly recall straying away from the commotion of the party around midnight and into the deserted pool, gazing up at the night sky, her ears submerged under water; not hearing but instead feeling the pulsating music surrounding her body. She was way too drunk to be swimming unsupervised but she did it anyway because she felt invincible. She remembered hearing Lainey Mraz's soft voice call out her name, surprising the drunken Clara who had found herself entranced by the stars. "Do you want any company?" It didn't take much contemplation before Clara nodded, accepting Lainey's request. She quickly became mesmerized by the tall brunette caught in the moonlight as she immersed herself in the chilly water. The both of them had never actually talked before, they'd like each other's social media posts, and sometimes text each other whenever they needed answers to homework but that was it...until Julia's party. 

"You had to escape the rowdiness too, huh?" Clara asked, peering into her honey brown eyes. "Well, after Collin F. suggested we all play 'seven minutes in heaven', I got flashbacks to 8th grade and wasn't too eager to relive it." She chuckled, watching her own hands move back and forth centimeters above the water. The two girls conversed for awhile, retelling their embarrassing middle school stories. One thing inevitably led to another, "Your fingers are pruney, how long have you been in the water?" She held Clara's hands delicately. "I lost track of tim-" she trailed off, Clara watched as Lainey closed the distance between them. Her gaze shot from her eyes to her plump lips and slowly they connected. 

"Clara, are you hard of hearing?" Florence raised her voice out of annoyance. "Sorry what?" Clara coughed up some water after being snapped out of her trance so unexpectedly. Though not one for repeating herself, she made an exception. "I said: you're going to reek of chlorine and be all shriveled up for brunch if you stay in the water any longer." An irked Florence explained, shaking her head. 

"Fine, will you at least help me up?" Clara requested, her forearms rested on the edge of the pool. Her crystal eyes looked up at the preoccupied painter. "So you can pull me into the pool like they do in every cliche film? I'm not naive, Clara." Florence let out an exasperated sigh but remained composed. Then again it was key that she maintained her composure whenever she was painting to not compromise her artwork. "You're no fun, Florence. You can live a little, you know." Clara chuckled as droplets of water fell from her soaked body as she hoisted herself up out of the pool effortlessly; Florence paid no mind. 

Clara dried herself off quickly, "Should I be nervous about this Ainsworth brunch." Florence gave a concise answer, "Terrified." 

Clara could hardly ever tell when Florence was being truthful or just unsympathetic which only made her more curious about Evangeline's cousin. She tossed on her clothes to the calm sound of the crashing beach waves and started heading back towards where she was staying. 

"Pink." Florence announced abruptly, causing Clara to turn her head puzzled. "I'd get rid of the color pink if I could." Florence assured before carrying on with her painting. Clara smiled to herself and headed over the hill to catch the trail back to Winterberry.