Elite

III

Natalia's POV:

As soon as I saw Laina she enveloped me the tightest hug possible. I was on the verge of tears and my voice started to shake. I know what happened in class wasn't that bad, but for some reason my brain was making it feel like something horrible just happened. There might be another underlying cause, but for right now I have no idea what's going on.

"Natalia, where are your keys? I'm driving. You can lay in the backseat and tell me what happened." Natalia said, her voice full of sympathetic meaning.

I reached in my bag and pulled them out. She smiled and gave my hand a squeeze. God, what would I do without her?

"I can't believe I fell asleep in class. That's never happened before. And everyone was laughing at me!"

"Natalia, just breathe. Everything will be okay. They probably won't even remember what happened. You know that professor is a hard ass anyway. She'll call ANYONE out." Laina spoke as she easily navigated my car off campus.

I sighed. Laina was right, as always. I just couldn't shake the feeling that my disastrous first day would pave the way for how the rest of the year would be.

By the time we got to our first stop before the beach, this bistro called Paulina's, I was already calmed down. I was too excited to finally eat rather than focus on my anxiety any longer. Lennon and I both ordered the same thing- a vegetable panini with a side of tropical fruit and iced green tea. This is what we always ordered at Paulina's. They make the best paninis and Lennon and I are vegetarians so it works out wonderfully. We sat at this table with a huge umbrella above it and the waiter brought out our food. Except he was forgetting something...

"Um, excuse me, you forgot my order." Celene sounded pissed, I could tell because whenever she gets hungry she gets angry.

"Your chicken and waffles is taking a little longer. The fryer is working slow today, my apologies." He said, very kind might I add. Celene looked like she was gonna tear him a new one.

"Chicken and waffles, Celene?" I laughed

"Have you had their chicken and waffles? Oh wait I forgot, you're vegetarian." She dramatically said

I rolled my eyes and Lennon laughed at us. Typical Celene. Her middle name should be Hangry.

Lennon's POV:

After lunch, we went to Sienna's house and packed bags for the beach. We were probably gonna stay there for a few hours, but still, always go somewhere prepared. Luckily, most of our clothes were at Sienna's so we didn't have to go to all of our houses and change. We slipped on our bikinis and I put this floral lace romper on, while Sienna wore nothing but her swimsuit, and Celene was too busy trying to get her hair in a perfect braid. I'm so envious of their hair. Mine was so damaged from the dying and bleaching, its so dry.

"Guys, are we gonna go surfing or just chill? What's the plan?" I asked them while putting sunscreen in my tote bag.

"I have a better idea." Sienna went in her closet and came out with a bottle of moscato. I knew I was friends with her for a reason. Celene and I fell to our knees like we were peasants begging the Royal family for food.

On our way out, Sienna grabbed three wine glasses and a few magazines off of her dining room table and we were off to the beach. One thing I love about living in LA is that going to the beach isn't a vacation for us. It's a lifestyle. It's a normal thing for people to do. You don't have to take a week off of work to go to the beach or spend time relaxing by the water.

"Guys, hop in the jeep. I'm driving!" Sienna smirked at us. Celene and I grinned way too hard thinking of the many times Sienna almost crashed her car. She was somewhat of a reckless driver, but not purposely.

I was so excited. The feeling of sand between my toes and the shore reaching my feet made a huge smile appear on my face.

"Why are you smiling from ear to ear?" Celene said

"I just love the beach."

Celene's POV:

I sat on my beach towel and just took everything in. I watched as Lennon went in the shallow part of the ocean and caressed the waves with her hands. She would scream "Look what I found!" every time she found a unique seashell in the sand. I laughed to myself because she's so genuine and I don't even think she's knows it. I watched as Sienna slept with her Vogue magazine on her chest. She looked so peaceful which is great because peace is something she rarely gets. I thought about how grateful I am for my two best friends. I didn't even like calling them friends, they're more like the sisters I never had. I thought about how eager I am to start senior year. Last year completely sucked, and I'm going to make this year the best one yet.

As I was deep in thought my cell phone buzzed.

Hey babe, missed you at lunch. Don't forget about the quiz we have tomorrow in econ.  Xo –Austin

Shit. Shit. Shit. I totally forgot about my quiz tomorrow. I waved at Lennon to come out of the water, but she couldn't see me. I shook Sienna's arm to wake her up and she was so confused.

"What's going on?" Sienna yawned

"We have to go. Lennon and I have a quiz we have to study for in Econ and it's already 7 o'clock." I rushed to put everything back in my bag

"Dammit. We didn't even drink the wine!" She sounded bummed

Lennon came running up the beach with a fistful of seashells.

"Lennon, you're sleeping over tonight. We have a quiz to study for."

She nodded and we finished packing up our things but Sienna stopped us.

"Wait, since when did Charlotte cancel her party tomorrow night?"

"What do you mean? Charlotte never cancels a party."

"Some random person named James Burgess posted that on Facebook."

"James Burgess? Does he even go to our school?" I asked

"I don't know, I've never heard of him. Oh well, now that wine will go to good use after all." Sienna smirked as we all walked away.