The Reunion

Chapter 6

It was a Saturday night, the night of various graduation parties but Skylar wanted to spend the night with Cherie. 'We will have our own party', she told Cherie, who decided to use her parent's money to her advantage to make the night spectacular for Skylar. She had music, a projector, a Photo Booth, food, mocktails, pool floatables, and underwater lights; it was going to be amazing.

"Cherie, what did you do?" Skylar gawked at the elaborate decorations. "This is too much. You know you don't have to impress me, right?"

"I know but I just wanted you to have a great time since you're missing out on those epic parties to be here with me."

"You don't get it, do you? I love hanging out with you, just you. I didn't need all of this."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. It's amazing but do we need all of this to have fun?"

"Maybe not. I did overdo it a bit."

"How did you even get your parents to agree to all of this?"

"Well, I told them that I rarely ask for anything and they are saving tons by sending me to public school and then I agreed to go to the next ten charity events on their social calendar, so it's like I'm paying for this ten times over."

"You make everything sound like a punishment."

"Oh, it is, trust me." Skylar laughed and started to move around the backyard, taking in all the elements and decorations. "So, are we going to have some fun or not?"

"It would be a shame to let it all go to waste."

***

Cherie agreed to go down to the pool with Skylar to keep the night rolling. She had changed out of her dress, and adorned the other robe for comfort and now she sat at the end of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. Skylar had stripped out of her robe as soon as the pool was in view and wasted no time jumping in. She looked like the teenage version of herself, carefree and Cherie was grateful for the view.

"Are you going to come in or do I have to pull you in?"

Cherie bit at her bottom lip and smiled. There was something exciting about the entire night. She had no idea what was happening, what was going to happen or what Skylar was thinking but she would continue to play along. It felt good to forget herself for the night and put all her hurt neatly in the back of her mind to enjoy her time with Skylar.

She stood up, unfastened her robe, and allowed it to fall at her feet, all the while, she could feel Skylar's eyes on her. Then she eased into the pool, a distance away from Skylar and walked inward until the water was above her chest.

"Nothing about you has changed," Skylar commented.

"You said that upstairs and the way you say it, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing."

"It depends. Are you still pretending that things don't bother you?" Would it make sense to lie, Cherie thought? Skylar was reading her and she had prior knowledge that she was using against her at the moment. "You know you don't have to pretend with me, right?"

"I'm not pretending."

"I can tell you're not okay."

Was it that obvious? Cherie was convinced she was putting on a brave face but what if it was slipping? "I'm fine. Honestly, I'm fine. I'm having a good time catching up with you."

"Well, I know that," Skylar said overconfidently and Cherie rolled her eyes, "but you're not okay. I can see it in your eyes and I hate it. I hate that you're hurting."