Gilded

Chapter 8

I worked at my aunt's greenhouse on Saturday. It was a beautiful summer day and while I appreciated that my summer job took place outdoors, a part of me wished I could hang out and enjoy the summer days with my boyfriend and friends. Aaron and his friends went to the lake as planned, and he texted me a few times with some funny pics of everyone at the lake. They were planning on going on Sunday too, and I had to admit I was a little bummed. Even Amelia and Nicole were going on Sunday with some of our other friends.

My shift at the greenhouse started at nine in the morning. I was just finishing my bowl of cereal when my phone rang. It was my aunt.

"Hi Sabrina, did I wake you?" Aunt Amanda asked.

"No, I was just finishing breakfast and getting ready to head out to the greenhouse soon," I replied, putting my bowl in the dishwasher. "What's up?"

"Winnie accidentally scheduled too many people to work today. You're welcome to work your shift, but if you want to do your own thing today, you don't have to come in," Aunt Amanda said.

Lakeside! my brain immediately exclaimed. "Thanks Aunt Amanda, I will take the opportunity to head to the lake today instead of working!"

Aunt Amanda chuckled. "I thought you'd take advantage. I'll see you next week then."

I called Eric who was driving Nicole, Amelia and some of our other friends to the lake to see if he could squeeze in one more.

"Always room in the minivan for you," he said. "I'll pick you up in an hour."

I quickly packed a bag of beach gear, snacks, water and sunscreen. I put on the swimsuit that Aaron liked under my shorts and tank top. I didn't let him know that I was heading to the lake. He was going to be so surprised!

~~~~~~~

It was still early, but the beach was pretty packed. We managed to get one of the last spots on the sand. I looked around but didn't see Aaron or his friends anywhere.

"Do you see Aaron or his buddies?" I asked my friends. They took a look around for me, but no one saw them.

I texted Aaron just to see where he was at. "Have you guys made it to the lake yet?"

I got a reply a few minutes later. "Not yet. We stopped for coffee and doughnuts." That meant Aaron was probably still a half hour out.

I plopped down on my towel beside Amelia. "Soooo, what's up between you and Kevin? You two seemed to be hitting it off in the minivan."

I think Amelia turned a little bit pink under her tan. "Just getting to know him," she said lightly. "He's nice. And funny."

"And he looks like he works out," I said appreciatively, catching him taking his shirt off while he was setting up the umbrella with Eric and their friends Chuck and Ming.

Nicole came by and sat down on her towel on the other side of Amelia. "Are guys talking about Kevin? Yeah, he and Amelia are totally going to go out. I think it will be official by the end of the day," she said with a grin.

"And what about you?" I asked Nicole, enjoying this girl talk. It felt like it had been awhile since we hung out. "Are you interested in anyone?"

"I've had coffee with a guy at work a couple times," Nicole said. "He said we should go out next weekend but we haven't officially planned anything yet."

I smiled, tipping my face back to enjoy the sunshine on my face. This was the epitome of summer: boys, sunshine and hanging out with my friends.

"Let's take some pictures, I have a new suit and I want to remember this day," Amelia said. She took off her clothes to reveal a turquoise tankini.

"Looking good," I told my friend. "I think Kevin will be checking you out!" Amelia rolled her eyes, and we took some selfies with Nicole.

"Let's get one of the guys to take one for us," Nicole said. "I know just who to ask," she said, wiggling her eyebrows at me and Amelia. I laughed, knowing what she was up to.

"Kevin!" Nicole hollered at him. "Can you be a sweetheart and take a picture for us?"

Kevin sauntered over. "Sounds like a hard job, but I think I can manage," he said easily.

"Amelia, let's use your phone," Nicole said. Amelia, all shy now, handed her phone to Kevin.

"Alright pretty ladies, one, two, three!"

We goofed around a little bit and Kevin was a good man, encouraging us like a cheesy photographer.

"I think we're good, thanks Kevin," I said. He walked to Amelia and gave her her phone back with a big smile.

"Come play frisbee with us after," he told us, walking back to the other guys.

"Amelia, ask him out," I said as we took a peek at our pictures on her phone.

"What if he says no?" Amelia said. "He was talking with Chelsea earlier, I think he likes her."

"They were talking about last term's math prof," Nicole retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, the pictures look good," Amelia said, ignoring Nicole. I stuck my head between them. Oh, the pics were good. We all looked great, perfect angles and blue sky. I was going to have to post a couple later.

About an hour later, I started looking around the beach to see if Aaron was around.

Nicole knew what I was doing, so she looked around too. "Is that Raf and Jake down there?" she asked, squinting behind her sunglasses and nodding at some guys playing frisbee.

I looked down. "I think so. Do you see Aaron?"

Nicole shook her head.

"I'm going to walk down that area to see if Aaron's around there," I said.

"Want me to come along?" Nicole offered.

I shook my head. "That's okay, I'll go surprise him."

I wandered down to the other area and saw some of Aaron's friends. I was going to call out to Raf and Jake, but it looked like they had just joined the line to the pizza food truck. I continued walking, looking around for Aaron. Hearing a high pitched squeal, I looked out at the water. A girl in a bright pink bikini caught my eye in the shallow part of the lake. She looked familiar, and just when I recognized her, I saw her jump on the back of the guy she was with.

I recognized him too.