A LIE AT THE BEACH

Chapter 12: Athens.

"So tell me....you and Sid?" Jill asks while wiggling her eyebrows with a smirk and I groan.
"What?" I act oblivious. Jill gives me straight face as if to say don't you dare. It scares me because she always does that when she's really determined to find out something from someone. I just have to spill...oh God. "Fine. Okay where should I start?" I ask more to myself than Jill. "From the time he and Jake saved us!" Jill says excited. "I don't remember all that so how about I just tell you about the sort of date we had yesterday." I ask suggestively and she allows. Pheww. She even scoots closer and I give her a look to which she just shrugs and laughs it off.

"Hold onnnn I'll tell you on condition you tell me about you and Jake after?" I ask with a devilish smirk. She looks horiffied and I give her a smug look. She glares at me and I laugh so loud.

"Agreed?" I continue and she squirms.  "Oh to hell, fine I'll spill." I make a fist bump in the air like a kid. "Here we go...once upon a time...." I start to annoy her. "Oh come on Athens you're doing that on purpose." she glares and I laugh at her face. "If only you could see your face right now hahaaaa very monstrous." I continue to laugh.

"Okay fine seriously now.... Sid asked me out to the date the day before yesterday I think." Jill goes back to her happy self. Wow, this girl. "Wait weren't you together that day too?" She asks as if to say something to me and I just stare at her with a 'shut up' look. She mimics zipping her mouth and dumping the key in the jacuzzi and I nod. "Yes we were together but you were also there so it was just a friendly hang out." I say. Jill hums as though she wants to say something but she keeps quiet and I'm thankful.  "Well....he texted he wanted to meet and when I asked whether you and Jake were coming along, he texted no almost there and then." Jill smiles like she knows something. Whatever. "Of course I didn't want to show eagerness so I first resisted until he insisted...then I "gave in". " I say while putting quotations on gave in. Very dumb. "He came at exactly noon as promised...and that's when I came to you to say bye. He looked hot when I met him outside too." I say and don't realize I paused my story and Jill is looking at me with knowing eyes. I roll my eyes and continue while looking towards the trees dispersed in the backyard.

"We went to this place...more like his secret hideout when he wants to be alone and shit. It was so beautiful...." I know I'm smiling right now but I don't care. "We ate food he had cooked with his own hands for the two of us." Jill sighs. "A man that can keep time and cook too aargh girl you're damn lucky."   "Oh please...anyways, we also swam, he kept telling me how beautiful I was...you know, usual stuff."   I continue "We talked some and almost kissed not until you cockblocked when you opened the damn door."

"Hey. It wasn't my fault. I really thought he had already left!" Jill defends herself.
"It's okay I don't think I'm ready for anything yet after all." I say seriously. Jill observes me and finally speaks. "Athens look here." I slowly look at her with an emotionless face. "Look, don't let your past haunt you, A. That stupid guy that cheated on you in your face was just a dumbass who didn't deserve you. I bet he even regrets it by now. Jackass." Jill looks both angry and sympathetic. I get it all...mum used to be like that after my ex and I had broken up but I appreciate it. "Thanks for that cuz." I say honestly and hug her sideways and she hugs me back. "Just don't let it mess up your chances with people you like or love." Jill continues and I nod trying to absorb whatever she just said. I mean, she and mum are right. That fool doesn't deserve my time of day...not even when we were still dating. I don't even know if I should call it dating but all of it...to fucking hell. I hope it doesn't sabotage the thing I have going on with Sid. Still, I have to be careful I mean men ain't shit. I plan to take my time with Sidney Winter.

"Hey. Can we go get out nails done? I'm tired of sitting here to be honest." Jill confesses after a long comfortable silence and I can't agree more. Now that I've reopened this channel of thoughts about Mike...I don't want to keep pondering on it. I need to think of nice things not that asshole.

We leave the jacuzzi and dress up. I wear a sundress and flats with a bucket hat. I apply a little mascara and chapstick. Jill wears highwaist jean shorts and a bralette with slippers. We grab our bags and off we go. We apply sunscreen while in the car....the sun out here is not playing games. We take the open roofed jeep. Perfect. We leave home at around 3 pm.

We arrive at some nice nail place called Roofey's and apparently it's Jill's favorite place. I trust her with these things so we both head in confidently. "Hello Anne." Jill says to the receptionist with a smile. "Hey girl...been a minute." Jill agrees. Anne's almost our age. "Hey." I say to her. "Hello." she replies. "Oh this is Athens, my cousin and Athens this is Anne, my friend from campus but also works here on school breaks."   "Cool. Nice to meet you, Anne." I say with a smile. "You too, Athens."

Anne leads us to a section with two women with heavy makeup and are the ones to work on us. I can't help but laugh a little and when they look at me I pretend to laugh at something outside. God, they look bad. This is why I'm not a makeup fan goddamn. We sit down and the women get to work.