Wherever You Go #Wattys2016

Chapter Thirteen

Ash and I sit in her shiny new black golf cart on the beach where the road meets the sand, arms crossed. We're glaring- well, Ash is glaring, anyways- down at a group of tourist girls with long, ombre-dyed hair in high ponytails. They're tall, skinny, and wear Marvel superhero crop tees and ripped denim micro-shorts over white bikinis. The leader of their group, blonde and tanned as hell, is openly flirting with a tall boy, probably eighteen or nineteen. He's got shaggy dirty-blond surfer hair that he keeps pushing back from his face and his bare torso is well-muscled and wet from the ocean. A blue longboard is standing in the sand behind him next to a group of guys his age with similar boards.
    The reason for Ash evil-eyeing the out-of-towner is the identity of the boy. He's Spencer Newman, her boyfriend of two years. "He's just flirting with her! Outright! I could probably walk right by him and he wouldn't notice a thing."
    I pat her on the shoulder. "Look, I don't know Spencer. But you've told me about him, and he seems like a pretty good guy. Cut him some slack, kay? We're spying on him, so let's just give him a chance to prove himself."
    She nods, but doesn't look convinced.
    Blondie makes a Superman gesture with her arms out to the side, and her little followers laugh loud enough for us to hear over the waves and yells of beachgoers. Spencer mimics the gesture with a small smile, and I can see the biceps. Like, full-out, this guy goes to the gym every day. It's almost revolting. Blondie reaches out a hand and grabs his arm, admiring the muscles. Ash makes a noise I'm not entirely sure is human.
    But Spencer- thank his lucky stars- pulls out of her pink-nailed grip (Yes, they're pink enough to be seen from a distance). I breathe a sigh of relief without looking at Ash for fear of her reaction. He gestures over another muscled surfer dude, a slightly-shorter guy with unruly black curls. He not-so-gently hands Blondie off to him; neither of them seem to have a problem with it, though she keeps flicking her eyes towards Spencer.
    "Who's that?" I ask, and Ash sighs, running a hand through her hair.
    "That's Pat, one of Spence's friends. Patterson. He's sweet, but he couldn't keep a girl if we tied her to him. It's sad, but true."
    "Do you... wanna go see Spence?" Some of Blondie's posse are walking away down the beach, led by a mocha-skinned girl with curly dark brown hair pulled up in a messy bun. She stands out in the group of symmetrical tourists, walking along the beach like she owns it. Her skin contrasts beautifully with her white lace strapless bikini.
    Ash stares at her like she knows her- and maybe she does, if she's a regular- but then shrugs. "Yeah, why not? Let's go introduce you to the guys."
    We step out of the cart and straighten our shift dresses, me in vivid orange and Ash in soft teal. We're still a good ten feet away when Spencer sees us- well, Ash, really- and his face lights up. He jogs towards us, calling out his girlfriend's name, and I see Blondie's head snap up to stare at them as he sweeps Ash up in a tight hug and spins her around. God, they look like the cover of a Nicholas Sparks novel, with the bright sunshine surrounding them like a halo of perfection.
    Blondie is facing towards them fully now, though Patterson still stands hopefully by her side. Her hands are in fists and she does not look happy as Spencer finally sets Ash down on the sand and kisses her soundly.
    "Hey, babe. I was hoping you'd show up," he says, all smiles, and I know from the look on Ash's face that she's not pissed at him for flirting anymore.
    "I wanted you to meet Mika," she explains, waving me over. I turn from Blondie and walk over to the creepily-perfect couple. Spencer seems to be getting taller as I get closer; damn my dad for not passing on his height genes. "Mika, meet Spence. Spence, this is my friend Mika. She's new to Caribia, but her dad lives here."
    Instead of the handshake I expect, Spence crushes me to his side in a hug. Jeez, these beach people are huggers, aren't they? I kind of just pat his muscled stomach awkwardly and wait to be released from his hold. "It's nice to meet you," he says with a smile on his face. He's got warm brown eyes and a dimple in one cheek and if he wasn't my friend's boyfriend I think I would've just melted a little bit.
    "You too," I say. "Ash talks about you a lot." His eyes flash to hers, softening. "All good things," I add quickly, but I honestly don't think he registers. He looks at Ash like she's the focal point of his world, the one thing he focuses on. I can't help but hope that I'll find someone who will look at me like he looks at her.
    My thoughts- and Ash and Spence's staring contest- are interrupted by Blondie. God, she can't stay away, can she? Doesn't she realise that Spencer won't look at anyone but Ash?
    "Hey, Spencer," she says in a high-pitched, whiny voice that makes me want to punch her in the throat- seriously. "You're coming with us tonight, right?" She looks at me, her eyes skipping over Ash like she doesn't want to acknowledge her existence. "We're gonna come back down here around midnight and play volleyball. Ky's got a case of Mike's and I think Talia has some Absolut. I guess you could come with." She pauses, thinking, and then extends a hand to me. "My name's Vianna."
    I grasp her hand lightly, playing along. "Liz," I say automatically- the first thing that pops into my head. My middle name is Elizabeth, and it's popular enough that she won't be able to track me down all summer when I don't show up tonight. "How long are you here?"
    She smiles, and I cringe at the contrast between her fake tan and super-whitened teeth. "I leave right after the Fourth. That's when all the good stuff happens, if you know what I mean." She winks at Spencer and I see Ash shaking. Oh God, I don't want to know.
    "Well, maybe I'll see you tonight," I say, trying to get rid of her. I can kind of feel the waves of tension between Ash and Spencer, and it's making me sick.
    But before Blondie- sorry, Vianna- makes it two steps away, Ash speaks up. It was only a matter of time, I know, but I still cringe at the words staining her mouth- words that run through my head when I see Vianna looking at Spence, but words I'd never have the courage to say.
    "Stay away from my boyfriend, bitch."
    Vianna spins, eyebrows raised. "What did you just call me?"
    "You heard me," Ash says, refusing to back down. Spence wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close, daring a glance at Vianna, who's fuming.
    And Spencer, who is genuinely a good guy, I can tell, decides to stop playing around. "I think it's time for you to go, Vianna; I'm gonna go head out with my girl." He's got Ash pressed up against his side and a defiant look on his face; he's not gonna put up with any of new-girl's shit.
    "Fuck you," Vianna says to him, and Ash steps away from Spence to confront her.
    "I think he'd rather save that for me," she says sweetly, and I choke a little, as does Spence. Vianna reaches out and grabs for Ash's arm and misses.
    Ash dances to the side, letting the warm water lap at her ankles, and Vianna follows her. Spence sends me a hopeless look; he's not about to go in there and fight Ash's battles for her, but he damn well wants to. Smart of him to stay back, but I can see the 911 call in his eyes, pleading with me. I step closer to Ash, narrowly avoiding death by pink manicure as Vianna changes tactics and starts to come at me.
    "Oh, hell no you don't," I manage to say before another arm comes at me and pushes me back into Ash. Our feet slip in the sand and I'm going down, Ash right behind me. As I'm falling, I have a split second to think, 'hey, why not take her down with me?' before I grab her wrist and hit the water. I'm not sure how I manage to do it, but after being submerged for a second or two I sit up and see Ash sitting in the water next to me and Vianna just in front of us, already screeching. Ash is blinking hard and wringing out her hair while Spencer makes his way over to help her up, smile on his face while he tries not to laugh too hard. Patterson, however, is doubled over with laughter, pink-faced and running a hand through his messy curls as he tries to control himself. Soon enough I'm laughing along with him. When he sees me laughing, he grins and jogs over to haul me out of the water.
"Hey," he says. "I'm Pat."
I smile. "I know. I'm Mika."
Vianna's friends have helped her up and onto dry land where she'd fallen in the surf, but she's still spluttering as if I'd dragged her out a couple hundred feet. She's clinging to the beautiful curly-haired girl I saw earlier, as well as a small brunette with a Thor cropped tee, grey with Mjollnir, the hammer, emblazoned on the front.
Ash and model-girl are currently engaged in a staredown; Pat and I look between them in concern.
"You," Ash breathes, and model-girl smirks.
"Me," she replies with a perfectly evil smile, eyes sparkling.
"I can't believe you have the nerve to come back here," Ash seethes. "After all you did, you came back?"
The other girl rolls her eyes. "Last time I checked, you don't own the beach, Aisling Grey. See you around." She, Vianna, and Thor-girl turn and walk back down the beach to their posse without a backwards glance.
"I'm soaked," I say in the sudden awkward silence.
Pat looks at me sideways. "Umm, you were just in the ocean," he says. "So, uh, that kinda makes sense."
I slap his chest and look at Ash, trying not to blush. Since when do I act so flirty? "Let's go to my place and change; I'll lend you something." She looks doubtful, so I add, "I've got Nestle-Toll House cookie dough."
She brightens instantly. "To the Batmobile!" We all stare at her; Spencer's eyebrows disappear behind his hair. "What's wrong?" Ash says. "They all had Marvel shirts on. So let's be DC. We've got a Batmobile, so we're automatically better anyways."
I shrug. Why not? We start to jog up the beach, but Pat calls after us. "Hey! We want cookies!"
Ash and I exchange a glance and laugh. "Enjoy surfing, boys," she yells back. "We'll bring you some later."
"If they make it that long!" I add, and someone- Spencer, I think- curses loudly.
We laugh the entire way home, soaking wet and smiling.

look guys, i finally posted! sorry for taking forever and being a sucky writer, i'll try to post more this weekend. all the best, xx jamie