Riptide

Chapter Five: Liquid Courage

Kris, Tammy and I spend Saturday afternoon tanning, and Tammy points out the local boys she likes when they come down to the beach. They’ve brought a ball and they start kicking it around. From our spot on a sand dune we watch them. I notice Tammy adjust her bikinis.

‘That one’s Hayden,’ Tammy tells me, pointing to a cute young guy. He’s skinny and tall, with spiky blonde hair.

‘He’s cute as hell,’ Kris says, placing her sunglasses on her head so she can get a better look at the boy. ‘Have you spoken to him yet?’

‘No,’ Tammy says. ‘But I was hoping I could talk to him tonight. You know, if I’m a bit drunk maybe I’ll have the courage.’

‘And who’s supplying you these drinks?’ I ask. ‘Because I’m pretty sure Ryan isn’t buying you alcohol.’

Tammy gives me a worried look, and I laugh.

‘Don’t worry, kid, I’ll buy you drinks. Only a few, though.’

‘Thanks, Indy,’ Tammy says.

‘So have you gotten any further with juice girl?’ I ask Kris. I roll onto my back and put my floppy hat over my face, because the sun is too bright even with my eyes closed and my sunglasses on.

‘Uh, well she said she’s coming to the beach party tonight,’ Kris says. ‘With all her friends.’

‘How about you, Indy?’ Tammy says pointedly. ‘If Kris and I are getting drunk tonight and hitting on our crushes, you have to too.’

‘What?’ I say, sitting up and pulling the hat off my face. Tammy smirks.

‘My brother,’ Tammy says.

‘Your brother, Ryan, as in Ryan-with-a-girlfriend?’ I say.

‘Come on, Indy,’ Tammy says. ‘You know you like him. And he really likes you.’

‘And yet there’s the problem of the girlfriend,’ I say, sinking back into the sand and putting the hat back over my face.

‘Speaking of Ryan-with-a-girlfriend,’ Kris says, and she coughs. I sit up sharply again, pulling the hat off my head, to see Ryan and his girlfriend Rose walking down the beach towards us. Ryan has a surfboard under his arm. Rose is wearing denim shorts, a singlet, and a camera around her neck. Her light brown hair is once again in a messy bun.

‘Hey guys,’ Ryan says. He flicks out his towel and lays it down next to me. ‘I’m going surfing. Indy, did you bring your board down?’

I twist around and look pointedly at the surf. ‘Ryan, the waves are shit. You’d be better off going round the point.’

Ryan shrugs. ‘I might just sit out there.’

He kicks off his shoes and drops his sunglasses onto the towel and starts walking down towards the water.
Rose sits down awkwardly on his towel.

‘How’s the photography going?’ I ask her, in a somewhat condescending tone. I didn’t really mean it like that, but I can’t take the words back now. Tammy kicks her foot, and sand flies across my towel.

‘Um, good,’ Rose says. She kneels on the towel and starts adjusting the camera. Finally she takes off her sunglasses, puts her eye to the window, and takes some shots of the ocean.

‘Do you surf?’ I ask her.

Rose pulls the camera away from her face and looks at me. She’s quite pretty. Pale, with a smattering of freckles across her nose, and light green eyes.

‘No,’ she says. ‘I’ve never tried.’

‘Ryan didn’t offer to teach you?’ I ask, feigning appal. I’m trying to be casual and friendly with her, but I feel too awkward about it and it’s coming off as aggression. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to treat Ryan’s girlfriend, because I’ve never met one of his girlfriends before. Sure, I’ve seen him in photos online with girls, but he’s never brought a girl to the beach before. Every summer the only girl in Ryan’s life is me. That’s how it has always been.

‘Um, no,’ Rose says.

‘So how’d you guys meet?’ Kris calls over me.

Rose looks from me to Kris, and then suddenly she blinks. ‘Oh, you guys are twins.’

‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘I’m Indy, that’s Kris.’

‘You’ll be able to tell them apart eventually,’ Tammy tells her. ‘Every summer when I get here it takes me a little while to remember who’s who.’

‘Yeah I have that problem with you and Ryan, because you look so much like a man,’ I say smartly, and Tammy laughs and pushes me.

‘So how’d you meet?’ Kris asks Rose.

‘Uh, through friends, that kinda thing,’ Rose says.

‘Cool,’ I say, stretching out the word. Tammy flicks sand at me again.

‘So you’re keen for the beach party tonight?’ Kris asks. ‘Everyone will be there. The locals are pretty cool, the people who live here year round. And all the other kids who come for holidays here every year. It always gets pretty wild. This is like Vegas. What happens here stays here.’

‘Oh, yeah, I’m really keen for that,’ Rose says. ‘I don’t surf and I don’t really like the beach that much so it was always going to be hard for me to make friends here, but if everyone’s drinking and dancing, then maybe I can fit in.’

‘Huh,’ I say, raising my eyebrows. ‘Not a bad point, Rose.’

Ryan comes back within twenty minutes. He lays his board flat next to Rose and flops down on the towel beside her.

‘Babe, you’re wet,’ she says, sitting up and moving away from him, and wiping her hands on the towel.

‘So, beach party tonight?’ Ryan asks. ‘You girls want to come round to mine before and we can have a few pre drinks?’

‘Yeah,’ Kris says. ‘Tammy and I both need to get drunk tonight. Liquid courage.’

Ryan raises an eyebrow at his sister. She’s lying on her stomach, with her face resting on her arms, and she doesn’t look up to acknowledge she has heard the conversation.

‘What do people usually wear to beach parties?’ Rose asks us.

‘Bikinis, dresses, what you’re wearing now,’ I say. ‘Anything goes.’

‘Is it too trashy to wear a bikini?’ Tammy asks us, without lifting her head, so her voice is muffled in her towel.

‘Yes,’ Ryan says, at the same moment I say, ‘Hayden will like it.’

‘Wear a bikini top and shorts,’ Kris advises her.

‘Can you not give my little sister advice on how to pick up?’ Ryan asks, but Kris ignores him.

Rose crosses her legs, twists around and snaps a photo of Ryan lying on the towel. Then she stands up. ‘I’m going to go,’ she says. ‘I’m too pale and I burn pretty easily. But I’ll see you guys tonight.’

‘See you there!’ Kris says. I roll over and put my head down the way Tammy is. I’m conscious of the fact Ryan is now lying on the towel directly next to me. I peek a glance at him through my folded arm, and see he is now lying on his back, with one forearm over his eyes.

But then he sits up and says, ‘you know, I might go in too. You were right Indy, surf’s crap. I’ll see you tonight.’

He picks up his towel and his board and walks up the beach. I can feel his absence like a gaping hole in the sand.

// Author's Note

Hey guys,  I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please vote and comment to tell me what you think! Next chapter is the party chapter where things will start getting really interesting ;)