One Stupid Thing

1:3:11

"Stella Blair! Get up!"

I am awoken by the sound of Sarah shouting and pounding vigorously at my door. You'd think she is trying to break it down. "Go away!" I yell back. I grab one of my pillows and cover my head with it to block out the noise.

She knocks at the door again. "C'mon! Topper is picking us up in 15!" she pauses and then adds softly, "You promised you'd come, remember?"

"Shit," I curse under my breath. "Okay, okay. I'm up." I throw the covers off of me, hop out of bed and scramble to find a swimsuit to wear.

"Thank you! I will meet you out here. Don't be long!" Sarah's footsteps fade away. I throw on a pink bikini covered in a lighter shade of tropical flowers, freshen up so that it doesn't look as if I just rolled out of bed, and rush down the hall.

Sarah, who is dressed in a pastel green plaid one-piece and a dramatic sun hat, is waiting by the back patio door. "There you are. Topper is waiting for us at the dock."

"Okay...w-wait I thought Wheezie was coming too."

"Rose is going to drop her off later." She opens the door and dashes outside. I have to practically jog to catch up.

Topper had parked his boat up adjacent to the Druthers. His brand new red Malibu sparkled in the early afternoon sunlight. He looks up and a dumb grin spreads across his face. "Sup, Sarah?" he greets. "Stella."

"Hey, Top," Sarah says. Topper helps Sarah into the boat and she immediately kisses him sensually. I grimace and bite my tongue to keep from verbally reacting. Topper turns to assist me by reaching for my hands. I shrug him off and get into the boat myself. I don't know why he never gets the hint that I don't like him. This gentlemanlike act is exactly that. An act. I take a seat at the bow while Sarah holds onto Topper as he drives.

Topper coasted along the shoreline, following it to the beach. It's just my luck that on the way there we pass John B, Pope, Kiara, and of course JJ. It is awkward having to third-wheel to my sister and her annoying boyfriend, but seeing the Pogues is even worse.

As their boat passes ours the tension grows. I feel their eyes burning into me. JJ waves to me, but I can't bring myself to wave back. I almost wish he hadn't. I can't afford Sarah getting suspicious and asking too many questions. His face drops and guilt washes over me. I never wanted to hurt his feelings, but he had to understand that Sarah couldn't know about my endeavors with the Pogues.

Kiara's eyes are staring daggers at us. At first I thought she was glaring at me, but then I noticed that she was looking past me...at Sarah. I will never understand the strength of their grudge but at this point it is ridiculous how much they hate each other.

I thought the moment would never end, but eventually the Pogues disappeared around a bend.

Finally, we arrived at the beach. It is covered in trash blown in by the hurricane. The three of us grab bags and begin to clean up the garbage piece by piece.

"Oh my God! Stella Cameron? I love your bikini!" The compliment came from Sarah's best friend, Scarlet. The auburn-haired girl saunters up to me in a very revealing swimsuit.

"Oh, thank you." I have to look down to remind myself of its appearance.

I had told myself that I would try to make friends from Figure Eight, however I am unsuccessful. Every single person I engage in conversation with ends up being insufferable. Scarlet isn't so bad, but Sarah would have a fit if I became friends with her. My sister is very territorial when it comes to things like that.

At some point, Rose dropped Wheezie off. She and I search the beach grasses for trash while Sarah and Topper are walking down the beach side by side. They seem to be having a conversation which appears to be intense on Sarah's part. As they approach me, their voices come into earshot.