Finish Line

2

There are five people standing before me. Three girls and two guys. I recognize the girl from last night, fully clothed this time. Two other girls stand before me as well. They are dressed much nicer than myself. I wonder if this is their casual thing. I wonder if they get this dressed up to hang out. 

"This is Cole's daughter, Raimy," Dylan mutters to his friends. I see shocked looks coming from all around the group. I'm confused by their surprise. Dylan must not have mentioned me before. He must not talk about Cole. I don't know why I thought he would've, to him and the rest of this family I am irrelevant. 

The first to speak up is the girl from last night, "Yes guys, apparently Cole has a daughter from Cannon Beach, wherever that is." Her clarification is weak but I chose not to speak up, waiting for someone to ask rather than try and answer for me. 

"I'm Max," Says one of the two guys. He has light brown hair, the tips are almost blonde, while the other guy has sleek black hair, "Max Kavinsky." 

I smile at him in response, his kindness speaks for itself. I can see Max being a good friend of mine. The next person to introduce themselves is Derek Allan. He seems like the player type from what I can tell and I mentally remind myself to avoid his charms at all costs. 

" I'm Katie, Katie Bradshaw," The girl from last night says sweetly. It's almost sickeningly sweet. I don't have a good feeling about her. She seems very fake, faker than my nails that Allison forced me into getting. I just give her a smile. 

"I'm Kendall," Says the girl beside Katie. She's quiet with dark red hair. She's absolutely stunning and her smile is pure gold. She seems like a genuine person and I immediately take a liking to her. I nod back at her, turning my attention to the sassy blonde standing at my side. She seems tough and kind of a bitch, she reminds me of Allison. 

She tosses her hair behind her shoulder. "Paris," She says shortly, "When did Cole get a daughter?" She's asking me and I realize now that it's my turn to speak up. 

"18 years ago, Raimy Munro," I finish the introductions off and answer her question with a breath out. I've always loved meeting new people, however these people are just as intimidating as Dylan. Some seem sweeter than others however the intimidating ones are another story. 

Katie grabs Dylan by his waist, pulling him into her body. He seems uncomfortable but he doesn't make an effort to push her away. "So Raimy, do you play," She changes the subject, nodding towards the volleyball in Derek's hands.

"Yeah I play," I reassure her. She seems taken aback by my response, as if not expecting me to play. She's quick to fire back a snarky response which takes me aback slightly. 

Pressing her body further into Dylan she quickly says," You can play with the guys, you'll fit in with them best. They almost always lose so they could use the help." I laugh at her lack of confidence in her friends. I don't take this as an insult, I take it as information. 

"Sounds great, glad I can be there to help," Dylan lets out a little laugh and leads Katie, Derek, and I back to his car. Apparently we are going to play beach at a park near the Pier. In Santa Barbra and Cannon we would play beach every Saturday morning. We'd get up at like 6:30 and go play. Usually it would be Allison, Keshawn, Livia, Snipe, and I. Sometimes Boston and a few of his friends would tag along too. Boston's also our coach so he wanted to see if we were actually working out or just messing around. It would depend on the people we were playing with though. 

Katie and I took the back, while Derek rode shotgun. They laughed about something they were talking about in the front while Katie tried to make small talk with me. As if it wasn't awkward for us to be casual after hearing her and Dylan all night last night. "So how long have you been playing," She asks.