Candy Flip

Chapter Eight

Emilia and Lucy made their way up to Lucy's room shortly after Emilia's arrival and a brief and uncomfortable discussion about the night's events with Aunt Stacey who listened bleakly.

When Lucy snapped the door shut she turned to find Emilia wiping off her makeup and peering into the mirror.

"So uh," Lucy began awkwardly. "How was last night?"

"Crazy. I'm running on no sleep, coke residue, two energy pills and about two hours of rough sex," Emilia replied as she combed out her tangled red hair with Lucy's brush.

Lucy raised her eyebrows in surprise, awkwardly fiddling with a loose thread on her white crop top. She was shy to ask about what Wyatt got up to after returning back to Blur last night. She was even more shy to ask about how truly bad she looked in her drunken state.

"I'm pretty hungover," she said mildly.

Emilia giggled. "You were fucked. Wyatt said you threw up."

Lucy's insides clenched in embarrassment. "Yeah I think so..."

"Did you have fun though?" Emilia turned round to face Lucy.

She nodded. "Yeah you're a fun group to be with although you can probably tell that I'm not used to partying as hard as you do."

Emilia waved her hand to the side carelessly. "Oh please, last night was nothing and you'll get used to us eventually. Don't be too regretful about your state. I was ten times worse than you after dropping three pills last week and Elia once ran down the Nightlife District naked after a night out drinking."

Lucy stared at Emilia, unsure about whether or not she felt any better after that attempt of assurance. "So did you spend the night at Chris'?" She asked, swerving away from the topic of partying.

Emilia nodded, her blue eyes glazing over. "It was some good sex."

"Are you guys together?"

She shook her head. "Heck no. He's just my bed buddy I guess."

Lucy nodded. She wasn't sure about how to react to Emilia showing up in the morning before even going home. They had only been friends for a good twenty four hours so the line of awkwardness had not yet been erased during her sobriety.

"So what was your plan for today? I was looking forward to going to this lake called Shallow Peaks to get a dip in the water," Lucy said. She could just imagine the pleasurable feeling of the cool lake water licking at her hot and sweaty skin after her night out. The cool water seemed ideal for her pounding migraine.

"We can totally go swimming," Emilia's face lit up. "Give me twenty minutes to run home and change and then we can take my car to Shallow Peaks. It's a pretty good hotspot."

Lucy nodded her head and Emilia waved her hand and rushed out of the room to get home. Despite it being awkward at Emilia blatantly inviting herself out with Lucy, she didn't seem to mind, especially if it meant the chance at meeting Wyatt again and proving that she wasn't a weakling.

**

After promising Aunt Stacey that she'd be home to greet her friends during poker night, Lucy and Emilia set off towards Shallow Peaks. Lucy still couldn't get used to her Aunt, unsure about where their brief relationship lay. Was she strict or was she lenient? She was still not sure. Her Aunt was unreadable.

Shallow Peaks was a lake situated in the north of Bakefield behind a forest of pine trees that could only be found by taking a sharp left turn onto a narrow dirt road that opened up into a patch of trees and an organic parking lot. The lot sloped down to the gravelly shore where it led out to the vast lake that ran along the surrounding forest of trees. A wooden pier had been structured along and it stretched out a good distance, allowing the swimmers to jump from it to their heart's content, and enabling a perfect make-out spot for two star crossed lovers that yearned for a sunset kiss.