oxygen (e.d.)

chapter thirteen

{riley}

"it'll be fun," wyatt tries to convince me.

"no it won't," i state, spinning around in my desk chair.

"he won't be there."

"yes he will!" i laugh in spite, "he always is! beach parties are his territory."

"look," wyatt sighs, "i'm not going to make you go. only if you want to." he stands up and walks to my door.

"wait," i stop him before he can turn the handle, "i'll go."

"we'll leave at 8:00," he says as he leaves.

i sigh and glance around my room.

i should probably get ready.

the sky is getting dark, which makes me nervous, but i'll have wyatt.

[7:35] me: please come with me to a beach party tonight
[7:35] me: pleaseeee

[7:36] sloane: i'm in
[7:36] sloane: what time

[7:36] me: picking you up at 8

i put on waterproof mascara and my favorite bikini.

it's white, which makes me look really tan.

i also pull on jean shorts and grab my phone from my charger.

by the time i'm done waiting for wyatt, it's time to go.

"picking up sloane?" he asks once we get in the car.

"stupid question," i say, taking a deep breath and popping peppermint in my mouth. it's my "calm down you're fine" candy.

10 minutes later, we've picked up sloane and are headed to the beach.

"so what's this anyway?" sloane wrinkles her nose.

"a beach party, i guess," i shrug. i grab sloane's bucket hat off her head and put it on mine, seeing what it looks like in the mirror.

"keep it," she yawns, "my head is too big."

"is not,"

"this is what girl best friends are like?" wyatt asks from the front seat, laughing a little.

"only the good ones." i reply.

sloane grins and reaches across the small aisle of the car and hugs me tight, pressing her cheek against mine.

we arrive at the boardwalk parking lot and i already hear music.

"are they allowed to do this kind of stuff this late?" i ask.

"yep," wyatt sighs, "sadly there's not rules against it. but hey, sometimes it's fun." he says, "plus, it gets you out of the house."

wyatt ruffles my hair and i smile.

we reach the sand and i see a beer pong table, a bonfire, tons of coolers, and a volleyball net with colored lights around it.

sloane takes in the party, but my eyes travel to the big, full moon across the sky.

the moonlight leads my eyes down to where it dances across the water, creating a path.

a silhouette i know all too well throws their head back and laughs. a smaller silhouette splashed him with water playfully. the light dimly lights up their faces as they turn back to the beach.

ethan sees me staring.

he stops laughing and gives me a halfhearted smile. the girl next to him looks between him and i, confused.