Run Away

Chapter 15

Harley held Evie's hand tightly, pulling her away from the crowd. Suddenly, a blast of cold water hit Evie square in the back. Evie couldn't help but scream in the panic of it all. Then Harley was hit she squealed but laughed at the same time.

Evie swung her head around as Harley continued to pull her away from the commotion. That's when Evie saw it. About ten boys with large water guns and were spraying everyone at random, drenching them in the cool water.

Evie couldn't help but smile, thinking about how silly she had been for thinking there was an actual threat. It was all a big game. It was fun. A simple teenage experience.

Harley kept on dragging Evie along with her, even though now she had some resistance. Suddenly, they were wading into the lake and they both tripped, falling into the water.

Evie spluttered and tossed around in the water until she found her footing. Pushing herself out of the water, she stood up in the knee-high water, now saturated from head to toe. Harley stood also, looking equally the drowned rat that Evie felt. Both girls laughed at the irony; they were running from water, only to end up worse off in the lake.

"Oh no," Evie exclaimed, "My phone!"

Evie reached into her pocket of her wet shorts and pulled out her phone. She knew it was an expensive and brand-new model of phone, the last thing she wanted to do was have to tell Sandra she drowned it in the lake. Even if it was Sandra who pushed Evie to go to the lake party in the first place.

The phone looked like it was still working, which surprised Evie, knowing how it had been fully submerged. Harley looked over Evie's shoulder at the phone.

"Not to worry," Harley said in a breezy tone, "Those new phones are water resistant."

Evie breathed a sigh of relief at Harley's comment.

Once it looked as though the water fight had ended, the two girls made their way out of the lake and up the shore. Evie giggled when she saw Zane in the distance, looking like he had not survived the water attack either. When his eyes met hers, he gave her a wave as he laughed at how drowned Evie looked.

Harley pulled off her red sundress and rang it out, draping it over a lawn chair to dry in the sun. All Harley was left wearing was a blue and white striped bikini set that looked amazing on her. Evie tugged her top off and did the same, but chose to keep the denim shorts on. As her shirt came off, Evie felt the tankini top rise on her stomach. She reached down as fast as possible and held it down; worried someone may have noticed her scar.

When they met up with Harley's group of friends again, Marcus readily handed Evie another large cup of punch, to which she thanked him. With her drink in one hand, the four girls of the group began to dance around again to the music. James and Marcus watched on, sitting in lawn chairs talking.

Hours passed and Evie felt tired and her head was feeling dizzy. She put it down to the heat of the day and her slight anxiety about being at the party still sat in the back of her mind. The sun was starting to set, a bon fire lit down on the shore of the lake and many lanterns lit around the foreshore.

"I think I need to sit down and rest for a bit," Evie called out over the pulsing music to Harley.

Not getting a response from Harley, she stumbled away from the girls and nearly landed in Marcus' lap. James laughed at her misfortune and went off find Paige amongst the crowd. Marcus held Evie by the hips, helping to steady her as he stood up next to her.

"You okay?" he asked in concern, leaning close to Evie's ear so he could hear her.

Evie nodded, "My head is spinning and I feel hot. I need to sit down."