A Better Boyfriend (GirlxGirl)

Twenty-One- Scarlet

Something was going on with Destiny. Alright, so she hadn't flat-out told me that, but I had a feeling. A hunch, I supposed. I could tell when she was feeling a certain way or not. We had been friends for years, now. It was kind of like a superpower of mine. A sixth sense, if you will.

"What's on your mind?" I asked her, once we had returned to her room.

"Why isn't Chase here right now?" she asked me, rubbing at her temples.

I guessed that he had a lot going on.

In all honesty, I didn't really miss him that much at present, either. Not when I had Destiny. I didn't need to talk to Chase right now. I was okay. I was fine. He was getting on with whatever he was getting on with.

Destiny was eyeing me with concerned eyes, this time around.

That was simply the thing. We would always look out for one another.

The concern soon faded, though, and it became playful. Flirtatious, almost. Perhaps I was running away with my imagination.

"Why are you staring at me, Scarlet?" she teased.

"I'm not staring at you," I blurted, almost automatically. Too quickly. Now, I was going to seem suspicious, for certain.

"Alright then. You, know, I'm starting to think that all of this happened for a reason," Destiny told me, and I felt my eyes grow a little fuller with curiosity.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"What I mean is that... the universe must have realised that you weren't spending enough time with me, your best friend since forever, so they arranged for you to take some time away with Chase and spend it with me instead," she said.

"I just..." I trailed off. "I wouldn't even know what to say to him now, if I saw him, even if I tried."

Destiny's head tilted slightly to the side, revealing her sharp collar bone, as she met my gaze with an expression of curiosity.

"You'll figure it out in time, I'm sure. Do you want to go to the beach?" Destiny offered.

It would be a welcome distraction from all of the thoughts that were currently rushing through my mind. That much was for sure.

"Yeah. Why not?" I spoke.

The two of us got in her dad's car because he had once again passed out on the sofa, and Destiny drove me to the beach.

"You alright with this?" she asked me, on the journey there.

"I'm hardly going to tuck and roll out of the car, now," I joked, which caused Destiny to cough on a laugh.

The corner of her mouth twitched, before she spoke again. "You're funny, Scarlet. You know that, right?" she asked me.

Well, I did now.

We got to the beach and Destiny parked up.

The two of us left the car and Destiny began to head towards the ocean at a rapid rate.

I was kind of nervous around the ocean, admittedly. I had this irrational phobia of stepping on an urchin, but I supposed the only creatures that existed in these waters were fish.

I would be safe. Probably. It was England, after all, not Australia.

"I didn't bring my swimming costume," I said.

Destiny laughed out loud, before splashing me with water.

"Wanna just strip down to our underwear?" she asked.

"I..." I trailed off. "I don't know, Destiny."

Destiny had always been far bolder than me.

I wasn't sure I could do such a thing.

Besides, there might have been people around.

"There's literally nobody here," Destiny told me, with a reassuring smile. "Be confident, Scarlet."

I released a small exhale of anxiety, before I took my shoes, jeans and t-shirt off, so I was only in my grey underwear.

Destiny did the same with zero hesitation. She headed over to me and grabbed me into a hug.

"I'm so proud of you right now," she said.

"Thank you. I feel like an idiot," I said.

"You look like an underwear model, Scarlet. You should own it," she told me, with a wink.

I felt my cheeks flush, but Destiny didn't seem to notice.

At least, if she did, she didn't tease me about it.

I appreciated that.

"At the very least, that makes up for my messed-up brain," I said.

"It's not messed up, Scarlet," she said.

"It is, though. I feel like... I feel like I don't remember it at all," I told her.

Her eyebrows drew together in an expression of concern, then.

"What do you mean?" she asked me. "The incident?"

I nodded in answer to that question.

"It's probably a good thing. I wouldn't want to remember something like that...it would be traumatising."

That was an understatement.

"I just want you to look at me and see Scarlet and not some slightly broken version of-"

"I see you, Scarlet. I've always seen you," Destiny promised.

That lifted by spirits a little. Destiny always seemed to know the right thing to say.

"Do you see yourself as broken because of what happened?" she asked.

"Maybe a little," I admitted.

"Well, you're not. Don't you dare think like that, Scarlet. It's not true. You are beautiful and you have always been beautiful and amazing and my best friend," she said. She stopped herself, then, as though she was afraid that she had said too much, but I couldn't help smiling at everything she had said.