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Chapter 1- Summer Tan

"I think you should come in sweetie."I heard my concerned mom say for the millionth time. She was standing in the freshly trimmed grass of our backyard using her hands to block the sun rays that had already hit me way too hard. I kicked my soccer ball hard at the fence."I'm fine" I grunted. My mother gave me one of her oh come on looks. I just gazed down at the soccer ball between my feet. I dribbled over to the other side of my soccer goal where a bench was and sat. I snatched my Gatorade which was basically empty because it tipped over earlier from an over step strike on my soccer ball. I gulped the cool red liquid down until it was empty.

When I scanned my yard I was happy to see that my mom had gone inside. How was I supposed to make tryouts if I didn't practice? I know it's summer and it's supposed to be the time to hang out with friends and have fun, but I had no time for that if I wanted to make high school soccer tryouts. I went back to dribbling around my yard, but stopped in my tracks as soon as I heard laughing. I looked over my fence to see two perfectly tanned girls walking back from the pool. Self consciously, I pulled up my nike shorts to reveal my soccer tan. From my short line down I was tan, but the rest of my skin was utterly pale. I sighed as I saw my very attractive neighbor, Max,run out and jump at the chance to flirt with these model girls.

I kicked the ball over the fence and made it look like a mistake. I ran out and apologized. Making sure to do a fancy move as I kicked the ball back over the fence. Max watched me for a couple seconds but quickly returned to using his cheesy pick up lines on the attractive girls. I mumbled a cuss and got back to work.

I juggled the ball harshly, but soon stopped when I felt someone watching me. I turned and saw Max. "What happened to your girl friends?" I teased. "Eh not my type anyways." He smirked. I shrugged and went back to work. But as I turned around to make a scissors cut, he was still standing where I left him. "I bet I could beat you in a game." He challenged. I laughed and accepted his petty challenge. "I cant today, but tomorrow your freaking on." He jogged away, leaving me in peaceful silence.

That night I thought for hours and hours. I need to try on a bikini my mind screamed. Why do you want to try on a bikini the other half of my brain yelled back. After hours of arguing with myself, I decided that I should at least give it a chance.

I drove to the mall, and walked around for a couple of hours looking for a bathing suit with decent coverage. They seemed to be in very short supply. Finally, I found a teal blue top with matching bottoms. I tried it on and to my dismay found my bathing suit had no straps. Frustrated, I went out to check for another one that hadn't been manufactured wrong. I couldn't find anymore and decided to ask the cashier. I blushed as she told me that it wasn't supposed to have straps.

I awkwardly walked back into the changing rooms and tried it on again. I liked it, but why wouldn't it have straps? I texted my friend, Courtney, a picture and she approved. I took the bathing suit to the cash register and she checked me out. My total ended up being fifty dollars.FIFTY DOLLARS. It doesn't even cover that much? Why does a bathing suit cost as much as soccer cleats?

Authors note: I'm not sure how good this is, so please comment some feedback. I know it's a short chapter, but I'm just getting started so be patient with me.