where the water meets the moon | e.d.

eighteen

ethan

i'm sitting at the third floor buffet at around dinner time, only partially listening to evan tell me all about his summer in italy a couple years ago.

i poke at the pasta on my plate and offer generic commentary every couple of minutes.

"and then i totally fell into this random mime. he was blocking the sidewalk, in my defense but—"

"hey, guys."

i lift my head up from my plate at the familiar voice, and see a smiling addison standing in front of the table next to cressida.

they're wearing string bikini tops and jean shorts, clearly thinking we're on some sort of cruise... not a storm watch.

evan grins up at them as they take a seat next to us. everyone in the large room seems to be stuffing their faces and shaking their heads at the fact that there's just a bunch of random college students crowding the dining hall.

evan and cressida begin to talk, leaving me with addison.

i turn to her, and find her smiling at me.

my eyes flick over to her hair and the small, light yellow beads that are woven into a strand near the front on each side.

"woah," i furrow my eyebrows. "how did you do that? has it always been like that?"

"no," she laughs. "cress did it for me."

i raise an eyebrow teasingly. "cress?"

"yes," she confirms with a nod full of authority. "she's been my only face to face interaction with another girl this entire month, ethan. let me have my moment."

"not stopping you," i hold my hands up in front of my chest in a surrender.

"better not be," she says back, then notices the drink in front of me. i don't even know what it is, but the lady at the bar said i would like it.

it's a little fruity for my taste, but addison looks like she's drooling when her eyes land on it.

"go ahead, have some," i nudge the glass to her. "it's fine, we're in mexico. you're legal here."

she looks at me curiously, but takes the straw between her lips anyway.

i can tell she likes it by the way her face lights up when she swallows her first sip.

"good?" i ask.

she nods and takes another. "it tastes like... ugh i can't put my finger on it."

"fruit."

"yeah," she laughs. "fruit."

i'm about to respond when cressida taps on addison's arm excitedly and points at the stage set up in front of all the tables.

the lights dim in the room and everyone looks up to a guy who's smiling and holding a microphone.

"any karaoke takers for tonight?" he offers as he eyes scan the room.