That Summer

Giovanna is absolutely miserable. When I look at her, she forces a smile and gives me a thumbs up, but I can tell she hates this. Why did she suggest going to this beach party some of her classmates told her about if she wouldn’t enjoy it?

“God, this sucks.” Giovanna’s older sister, Nic, slides next to me, handing me another wine cooler.

“Why did you come?” I ask, twisting off the top of the bottle.

Nic shrugs, lifting her own wine cooler to her lips. “I have deep rooted self-hatred,” she tells me before taking a sip.

I look towards Giovanna who’s talking with some of her classmates. While she’s currently smiling, her body is tense and shows her discomfort.

“Oh fuck me all the way,” Nic says. I’m not sure how one would fuck someone less than all the way, but she’s shuffling away from me, a look of horror plastered on her face. “If anyone asks if you saw me, say no.”

I furrow my brow. “What’s happening right now?”

“The worst person to exist is here, and I have to hide from him. You’re on your own, kid.” And just like that, she slips into the crowd.

I shake my head in confusion as someone stops beside me. He’s tall and blond, and big with some scruff on his face. “Was Nic Quinn just here?” he asks, looking around with squinted eyes.

“Nope,” I answer easily, taking another sip of my drink. I am many, many things. But I ain’t no snitch.

“I thought I saw her over here…” he begins to say.

“Must’ve been someone else,” I interrupt, shrugging my shoulders and turning on my heel to head towards Giovanna.

“Hi,” she says, “Having fun?”

“No. I wanna go home,” I lie.

Giovanna blinks in surprise. “Oh! I…we can go back, if you want. Are you not having fun?”

I shrug. “I’d rather be watching Miss Congeniality or something.”

Her resounding smile is so bright. “I love Miss Congeniality.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the blond guy I talked to approaching Nic, who looks horrified at his existence. As he takes a step towards her, a girl behind him takes a step backwards, colliding with him. His solo cup of beer ends up spilling all over Nic.

“Asshole!” she yells at him, throwing her almost-full wine cooler at him, drenching him in a sticky red liquid before she stalks off.

Giovanna and I both wince, reaching for each other’s hands instinctively. She squeezes our palms together, but makes no move to help her sister. I giggle at the guilty look on her face as she pulls me with her away from the party. “Let’s go home, honey.”