Divine Blue [Book One]

Chapter Ten

Adrienne's ringing phone interrupted their conversation. She let go of Taylor's hand to fish her phone from her bag and answered.

"Hello?" Adrienne asked into the phone.

There was a short pause as Adrienne listened to the response of the caller.

"Yeah, Taylor, Grant, Rhiannon and I are already here. We've got a spot on the beach already."

Another short pause.

"OK, yeah... see you guys in a few minutes!"

Adrienne ended the call and put her phone back in the bag. "That was Lizzie. They're almost here. I'm actually surprised we were here before them. I'm prompt, but Lizzie is neurotically prompt."

"Well, it gave us a few minutes to ourselves."

"We'll have even more later tonight." Adrienne winked at her again.

They suddenly heard Matthew's loud voice and turned around to find him heading towards them lugging a large cooler and the other three following behind him. Lizzie was carrying a large bag and a beach ball.

"Hey, guys!" Matthew announced his arrival. "Where are Grant and Rhiannon?"

"In the ocean," Adrienne told him, lifting her sunglasses onto the top of her head.

"Oh, gross! Are they doing it?"

Taylor laughed.

"I guess it wasn't just obvious to me, then," Adrienne said.

"Who's doing what?" Lizzie asked as she laid down the large bag and the beach ball. Taylor noticed that the bag was filled with all manner of snacks.

"Grant and Rhiannon are playing in the ocean," Matthew told her.

"That's so sweet and cute. They make such a good little couple," Lizzie responded earnestly.

Adrienne and Taylor exchanged knowing glances and silently agreed to just let it be.

"So, I brought, like, a ton of snacks so we could make it an all-day thing. And I brought the beach ball in case we want to play some beach volleyball. And there's a small carnival over next to the pier if we want to check that out later."

"Lizzie is our unspoken event coordinator," Adrienne said to Taylor.

"I'm kind of a stickler for planning. I just want to make sure we account for every possibility," Lizzie said.

"Yeah, she's been the party planner for our annual high school Halloween dance for the past couple of years," Taylor heard Kelsey say.

"And they've been epic every single time!" Lizzie replied, giving herself a pat on the back.

Lizzie, Beth, and Kelsey took off their over-clothes and settled into their own chairs in the small semicircle. Taylor was not at all surprised to find Kelsey was wearing a plain, black two piece. Lizzie was wearing bright yellow, which perfectly complemented her sunshiny personality. Beth had a pastel pink one piece suit covering her small frame. Most notable for Taylor was Adrienne's which was a white bikini with red stripes. Taylor thought Adrienne was striking in it, and it seemed to reflect exactly who she was. Matthew took off his shirt and dawdled toward the water.

"Can we just not go to school anymore and spend every day on the beach?" Kelsey asked rhetorically.

"You won't be asking that when winter comes," Beth responded.

"You're so negative, Beth," Kelsey said.

"No, I'm just honest. But it is really nice out here," Beth commented.