CASUAL ✷ chappell roan

OO4 .. diet pepsi

The beach was growing to be a place Chappell was fond of. She could look past its troubled past, the one she put so much research into. Because where the life ended at the shore, life began anew in the sand dunes.

It had been four days, and Chappell had kept count. Four days since she had met Iggy, four days sin e something she knew was life changing. She had visited her twice since on the beach, staring out across the water as they sat crosslegged on her picnic rug.

It was at the beach where Chappell returned again, on her bike with the pink tassels. They were an accessory her childhood bike had, until a boy wearing a football jersey tore them off. She had left them off throughout high school but put them back on once the rest of the town had gone off to college.

She kicked the standout, letting the bike stand on its own as she scanned the area. Her eyes looked down the beach, not a soul in sight.

"Is this your usual ride?" Her voice came from behind. Chappell spun around as her heart sunk. Iggy wore a stripy crop top and loose sweatpants. Seeing her made Chappell's cheeks glow red, but she would just blame that on her hair, trapping the heat.

"Yeah, I can rev the engine real loud, and I clean it every week."

"You're starting to sound like a basic white guy."

"And what if I was?" Chappell smirked. Iggy rolled her eyes and began to put her leg over the bicycle. She shuffled back to perch on the back carrier as Chappell placed herself on the saddle.

The wind was whispering in her ears, pushing her hair backwards. She had clipped it up today, afraid it would blow into her face. The roads were empty still, allowing for them to do wild turns down the roads.

The town's little shop had always been run by the same family. Chappell had thought the attendant was old when she was younger. But now, fifteen years later, the same woman still refused to retire.

Abandoning the bike in the rack, the pair dashed into the store. Chappell debated which drink to pick up whilst Iggy poked around the gummies. They tossed the plastics onto the desk, Iggy tapping her foot on the floor as the attendant picked through the items. Chappell tapped her card as soon as she could, and they were ready to go before the reader could even say 'approved'.

They were watching the old doors slithering open as Chappell heard her name being. called from across the parking lot. The door to the squat car slammed, Elia stood at its side.

"I tried calling. Did you even get my texts?"

"What? Dude, can we talk in the morning?" Chappell gave her little time to reply as Iggy began leading her back to the bicycle. She pushed off from the floor as the tassels itched at her hands. Elia's face was calculating; Chappell knew that she was an excellent decoder. She gave the impression that she was three steps ahead of her already.

They got back to the beach in silence, placing the rug down and attempting to get comfortable. Iggy then ripped open her can of worms.

"So, who was that? She didn't seem too impressed."

"So, that's just my friend." Chappell felt the urgency in her voice, an urgency she did not feel about getting Elia out of her life. "She's helping me with my project."

"Oh, I like... projects?" Iggy ran a hand through Chappell's hair. The small shake that ran down her spine wasn't apparent to the other. "Go on, tell me about it."

"People go missing in this town. They die in those waters, and only half of them come back." The waves peeled, almost beckoning. She would never go in. "I'm going to stop that."

"Wow, that's brave," another hand, separating curls. "How are you gonna stop them?"

Chappell shrugged, "Once I finally figure out what kills them. It can't just be a shark. It's gotta be something..."

"Bigger?"

"No. People would know about that. Something smarter."

"Well, you seem smart. I bet you'll stop them soon."

A wave crashed. It then retracted. Chappell took out another bite to chew on. All that was left to do was to stare out into the ocean, letting Iggy part her hair with her fingers. She couldn't keep only hanging out with Iggy on this treacherous beach. The next time would be different. She would come back to her house. She really hoped that she would come over.