June has only one more summer before she marries her high school sweetheart. She intends to make the most of it, but she has no idea what is waiting for her in Dolphin Coast. Socks on the Beach is a tale of steamy love, jaw-dropping heartbreak, and...
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Walking back through the threshold of 1255 Bud Ln, I felt like a different person and it didn't help that the waxy faces of Pearl and Perry were looking at me like they didn't know me either. They looked weird. Quiet and pensive as they sunk into the white leather couch, side-by-side. Perry's blonde bangs hung over his uncaring eyes. The air smelled sharply of cleaning supplies and I was reminded that the maid service came yesterday. Grey-toned wood floors shone.
Pearl's doe-eyed stare on mine used to be a source of comfort, an indication that she saw me and could either read my mind or had my back, but now my vulnerability in her presence was anxiety-inducing and unfamiliar. An x-ray from an unkind source. My knees shook as Sam and I sat as far as humanly-possible from them, while also sharing the couch.
"I'm sure that the gay fiance and the new weirdo best friend love the new look but how exactly are you planning on hiding the skunk stripes from Mom and Dad?" Perry started and Pearl elbowed him in the ribs.
Nope. Not doing this.
I stood up and looked down at Sam, silently beckoning her to leave with me. Telling Perry about Dean was a mistake and it always had been, but it got hard to hide it from him when we were the only two real residents of our family home in RiverCrest. Mother went on trips with the other wives and Mark traveled for work a lot. Perry quickly noticed that Dean came and went during the day, rather than at night, and when he caught me fondling the pool boy, the truth came out.
"Wait! Wait! Please don't go!" Pearl cried out, rushing over and grabbing ahold of my arm. I shook her off reflexively. "June, can we talk? Just us? Give me one hour to explain myself and then after that I won't push it. Please."
Her face was strange but the pain in her eyes was real and screaming to be seen. Wide-eyed and weeping. It plucked the harp-strings stretched across my beating chest. I pulled my gaze from her.
"Is that okay, Sam? I'm sorry about Perry. He's an ass," I spat the last word in his direction, rather than Sam's, but otherwise my tone was gentle. Her head nodded, bouncing the burgundy twists and clacking the green ceramic beads at the ends of each twist together. The sound was muted and earthy, like the floor-length forest green dress hanging from each thin shoulder. She was kind and he was not. It was that simple.
"Yeah, I'll be alright. I'm gunna go wait in the car."
She floated out the front door and disappeared, all proof of life except for the distant thump of metal in her parked car gone. I was outnumbered and annoyed by the dead-eyed stare I was getting from an unmoving Perry.
"You're leaving too, I assume?" I asked, crossing my arms against my chest.
"Yes, lucky me," he replied, standing and moping into his bedroom, slamming the thin door behind him.
"Follow me," Pearl near-whispered before leading me through the kitchen and out the back door. My feet moved silently. Sadly. Until we were at the bench. The bench with the aloe-plant and the cutesy little corner that I loved was a bittersweet comfort.
