on golden pond | fillie

blue flipflops

six days later...

finn's p.o.v.

"tomorrow's the fourth of july finnie," iris groans, "we've got to have streamers and balloons."

i roll my eyes looking across the apatow living room to where lilia buckingham sits. she's staying with iris for the summer while her parents are building houses for charity. as iris turns to speak with her mother, lilia makes a face. 'drama queen' she mouths, motioning to iris.

iris turns back to me, biting her plump bottom lip. "what should we do for our colour scheme this year?"

i shrug, blowing a strand of dark hair off my face.

"we could go with the usual red, white and blue?" lilia suggests.

iris shakes her head. "that's so boring though." she flips her blond curls over one shoulder. "mommy? do you think we could add a little gold and silver to our theme this year?"

leslie turns from where she sits in their large dining room alongside my mother. she takes a long drag of her cigarette proceeding to tap it on the side of her ashtray with her long manicured finger. "i'll ask your father later hun."

iris's smug giggle is drowned out by our mothers' obnoxious laughter.

"finn, darling!" i hear mum's voice call me from her seat.

i get up off the couch and head over to the dinning room. "yes mum?"

"why don't you kiddos go outside, leave the party planning to us adults."

i sigh. "mum i'm eighteen."

she squints her eyes and i can tell she's drunk. she shakes her head, replacing the odd look with a smile. "i knew that silly, i just meant that you should have fun on your last summer before college." leslie nods from next to her. "who knows if you'll even be here next summer."

"c'mon finn, let's go to the shop." iris interrupts, saving me from a conversation i'm not ready for.

i run after her outside and lilia slips on her blue flipflops, following close behind.

-

the bait and tackle shop has been on the next bay over for as long as i can remember. gaten begun working there as soon as he was of age. his granddad owns the shop.

the small bell attached to the door jingles as lilia pushes it open, stepping into the familiar fishy smelling store.

"gaten!" iris pushes past, rushing over to the counter and standing on her tiptoes to plant a kiss upon his cheek.

gaten smiles a big blushed smile. i walk over to iris's side, smiling back at my friend.

"how've you been?" i ask.

"better than ever."

iris and gaten engage in a conversation about something gaten calls 'monkey kung fu' and it's not until then that i realize lilia isn't next to me.

i slowly wander away from the counter, walking down the aisles in search of the short blond girl. i pass by the chips and head down the aisle lined with fishing poles.