Prelude

Chapter 34: Going Out With An Established Couple: The Dos and Don'ts

School on the Monday morning after her cousin's wedding brought Erica walking towards Guinevere like she was on a mission. Guinevere was a little terrified. 

"Everyone else got to go out with you and I'm jealous so you're coming out with Boyd and I." She announced when she reached Guinevere's locker. She let out a dramatic sigh.

"Oh thank god. I thought you were going to kill me or something." Erica raised an eyebrow with a smile. 

"Thank you." She took the sarcastic statement as a compliment and Guinevere laughed. 

"Any time. Where are we going?" 

"The beach. Are you free on Wednesday afternoon?" 

"Yep. All the way up until first bell on Thursday morning."

"Don't be a tease, Guinevere." Erica said in a playfully seductive voice, making Guinevere laugh. "Boyd and I will pick you up at four. Your house?"

"Yep." 

"Great. It's a date then." Erica said with a smile. 

"It's a date." Guinevere nodded. It was half way through her Econ class that she remembered she didn't have a swimsuit that still fit her. Skillfully hiding her phone from Coach, she made plans with Lydia to go shopping after school. 

The shopping trip probably would have been quicker with Peter. Lydia kept trying to convince Guinevere to get a two piece suit but Guinevere kept drifting towards the one pieces and then they couldn't agree on a color or a design and that's how Guinevere left the store with a newspaper print one piece suit that she loved and Lydia rolled her eyes at every time she saw it. 

On Wednesday, school seemed to stretch on forever and Guinevere was impatient the entire day. By the time her free period finally came around, she couldn't ditch the school fast enough and had to remind herself about the speed limit several times. At the last minute, she decided to stop for a coffee break at the place she went to with Lydia that morning and by the time Erica and Boyd were there to pick her up, Guinevere had a nice caffeine buzz going for her and was trying to convince them that she could smell colors. 

"Seriously Erica, you smell like red."

"Whatever you say Guinevere." The blonde said with an amused smile, suddenly feeling like a mom with an annoying child in the back seat. 

"And Boyd smells like blue."

"Is that good?" Boyd asked, looking at her in the rearview. 

"Yes." Guinevere said confidently. "It's like, a blueberry where it's purple if you smash it but it's also green on the inside. And blue on the outside. I forgot to say that part."

"What do you smell like?" Erica asked in amusement.

"Green." Guinevere said with a face. "I hate the color green." 

"She's going to be our new Gremlin." Boyd told his girlfriend. "No more coffee after noon." 

"Can I be Gizmo?! That's the one with the funky hair and I've always wanted a mohawk."

"You can do it with long hair too." Erica told her.

"How about medium hair because that's what I've got." Guinevere lifted her shoulder length locks, eyeing them almost suspiciously. 

"You're a dork, Guinevere."

"Aw, thanks." Guinevere said cheerfully as Erica smiled. "Did you know I haven't been to the beach yet?"

"Seriously? You moved here during the end of summer, how have you not gotten to the beach yet?"

"Oh, you know. The usual excuses; too much homework, too many dates, too much hospital. Those kinds of things." Boyd snorted, trying to cover it with a cough as Guinevere grinned. 

"Well, we're here so enjoy the beach." Erica said as Boyd pulled the car into a parking spot. 

"Interesting." Guinevere announced before scrambling to get out of the car. She had a drawstring bag with her and she dropped her sandals inside before running onto the sand and laughing at the way it felt between her toes. Boyd opened the trunk and grabbed a blanket as well as Erica's bag.

"This way, Guin!" Erica called as they headed for one of the beach tents that were set up along the sand. Guinevere ran after her and fell into step with her quickly. 

"You aren't one of those super lame girls who don't swim, are you?" Erica looked mock offended. 

"As soon as we put our stuff down, I'll race you to the water." She challenged, making Guinevere grin. 

"Deal. Are you going to swim too, Boyd?" She called over her shoulder. 

"Someone has to make sure the two of you don't drown." He replied, making Guinevere laugh. Erica gave one of the guys manning the tents ten bucks and Boyd dropped the stuff to the sand, spreading out the blanket half heartedly and stuffing Erica's bag under one of the loungers. Guinevere let her bag fall from her back and she stepped out of her jean shorts so she was left in her swim suit, looking at the water eagerly as she waited for Erica and Boyd to be ready. 

"No cheating, okay? That means no magical werewolf super speedy feet." She pointed to the two of them with as serious an expression as she could muster. Erica grinned as she pulled her shirt over her head to reveal her black bikini. 

"I'm shocked you would think we would ever do anything like that." She said teasingly. 

"It's like you know us or something." Boyd said with a smile as he tossed his own shirt on top of the lounger. Guinevere grinned and got ready to run as Erica fell in beside her and Boyd scrambled to line up on Erica's other side. 

"On your mark, get set, Ruffalo!" Guinevere yelled, feet throwing up sand as she took off, Erica and Boyd hot on her heels. The three laughing teens ran at the water, Boyd's foot hitting the surf a second before Guinevere's. Their momentum carried them further into the water, all the way up to their shins, before they stopped running and caught their breath. "You're speedy, Boyd." 

"Thanks. Not too shabby yourself." Boyd said before starting to wade out into the water a little further. Guinevere splashed Erica and they were engaged in battle, moving further out into the ocean so they were covered in the water as they laughed and splashed each other. They played in the water for a while, getting out when Guinevere announced she was hungry. They had a quick break for some sandwiches and chips with ice cream for dessert before they played in the water some more as the sun started to set and made the water turn all shades of orange and pink and red. 

By the time they dropped Guinevere back at her place, it was close to eleven and she was drunk on fun. She stumbled across the yard and laughed, waving and shouting good bye to the car as she made her way up the stairs and shouldered the door open. 

"I'm going to have to start setting a curfew if you keep going out." Her dad said from his spot on the couch where he was 

"Did you have fun at the beach?" Her mom asked, sat on the opposite side of the couch as her dad. 

"Yeah. Erica and Boyd are so much fun." Guinevere said with a grin. 

"Good." Her mom smiled, looking up from her tablet to look at Guinevere. "Did you eat dinner?" 

"Yeah. We had some sandwiches and chips."

"There's some left over pasta in the fridge you can warm up." 

"Thanks mom." Guinevere kissed the top of her mom's head. "I'm going to go take a shower." She kissed her dad's cheek. "Good night." She called to her parents. 

"Good night sweetheart."

"Good night, Guin."