Ivy knows it's time to return to her childhood seaside town to battle the demons of her past. Two years away from her friends, family and the beloved sandy beach that holds such a special place in her heart.
She knows the visit will be painful but...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✲ ✲ ✲
J J W O O D F O R D
I greet Finn for breakfast the next morning. Yesterday felt like a fucking whirlwind. At least my shoulders now feel ten times lighter that I told Daisy I don't want to see her anymore, it wasn't ever going to go anywhere and I should have ended it sooner.
"You got work today?" I ask as I grab the milk from the fridge.
Finn shakes his head. "Na man, party tonight. I got someone to cover my shift."
I snort quietly and peer over my shoulder at him. "Already?"
He shrugs effortlessly. "They offered, why would I decline? It's my turn to get absolutely trollied."
"Great," I laugh to myself and pour some cereal into a bowl, followed by the milk. I perch beside Finn as he reads through something on his phone. "Can't wait for that."
I hear the floorboards upstairs creak and I remember my short conversation with Ivy yesterday. She said that we would talk today, about last weekend. It's been days now and I want nothing more than to clear up the air.
I've gone over in my head a thousand times what I want to say... if it goes that way, that'll be a different story. I already feel myself cracking under pressure and going off script, I don't even want a script in the first place but if I don't think about it, it's going to be an absolute shit show.
Footsteps patter the stairs as I glance up to find Ivy walking towards us. Her eyes are down on the floor and I wait for her to look at me or even FInn but she doesn't. Something has been bothering her since yesterday and I want to know what it is.
"Hey," Finn calls out. "You good?"
Ivy hums as she reaches the fridge and pours herself a glass of apple juice. "You okay?"
"Yeah, party tonight. You in?"
She shakes her head. "No, I'm going to stay in."
"Why?"
I watch as Ivy drags her tongue across her bottom lip and turns towards her brother, still barely acknowledging me. She seemed fine with me yesterday, what has changed all of a sudden?
"Not feeling it," she sighs.
"You might later," Finn says quickly. "Why don't you invite Daisy with you? Haven't seen her around for a few days."
I cringe at the sound of her name. Finn doesn't even know I pied her off. It's not been something I've wanted to talk about, not when all I can think of is Ivy.
"No thanks," she shakes her head and raises the glass to her lips. "I'll pass on inviting her."
Finn turns to her slowly. "Is that why she hasn't been around? Has something happened between you two?"
