𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 11.

━  𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆.

𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 front of the mirror, looking at the bruise on my side, when Caroline and Daryl returned home later that day.

A large, throbbing, purple and blue mark covered my right hip, where I had fallen, but it was less visible than I'd expected. My shorts were halfway pulled down to reveal the dark injury. I glanced over to the pack of frozen peas still resting on my bed covers, which I'd found in the freezer upon arriving home.

"Charlotte?" Caroline's voice shouted out through the silent house, startling me.

The sound of the screen door hitting against it's end entered my ears, and I quickly pulled up my shorts, buttoning them as footsteps neared. In a fast motion, I reached for the pack of frozen peas, which weren't really frozen anymore, and shoved them under the bed before hopping on top of the covers.

"There you are," her face relaxed into a soft smile when she laid eyes on me, through the already open door.

I pried the book away from my face, pretending to have read it, "Hey," I greeted casually.

"Come out, we picked something up for dinner," she announced, her voice soft. She smiled at me once more before turning on her heel and stepping away down the hall.

I let out a stressed breath, placing the book down beside me. My legs swung over the side of the bed to let my feet meet the ground, and I trotted towards the door, following her out.

Daryl was sitting at a chair of the round table, a plastic bag in front of him, with steam coming out of the top. He looked back to see his wife, and soon after, me, entering the kitchen, a wide smile on his face.

"I hope you like burgers," he chuckled at me, while reaching a hand into the bag.

I delicately pushed a piece of hair behind my ear, not realizing it was dinner time already. "Yes, of course," I laughed in return, while approaching my usual spot, near the window.

He was still grinning as he placed a cardboard platter in front of the chair I was about to sit in, the fresh smell of food filling up my nose. Caroline smiled with anticipation as she sat down across from me, a platter placed in front of her soon after.

"I thought everything was closed because of the power outage," I said with a curious tone, my eyebrows only softly narrowing, remembering how all the stores I had passed while bike riding, on the Cut, weren't open.

"We picked em' up over on Figure Eight," Daryl hummed, while taking out his own platter, and dropping the empty plastic bag on the floor beside him. "They got their generators and stuff. Must be real good hamburgers though," he laughed, glancing to Caroline who nodded in agreement.

"What's Figure Eight?" I asked kindly, while opening my cardboard platter to reveal one of the biggest hamburgers I'd ever seen.

Caroline waved her hand in the air as if swatting something away, her eyes rolling, "just the rich part of the island." She said, before taking her first bite.

I thought about the beautiful beach houses I'd looked at on my bike ride, and the intersection with all the fancy boutiques.

"Did you go on a bike ride?" Daryl asked, as he swallowed the food in his mouth.

"Yeah," I nodded, my voice normal. I told them about it, leaving out the part where I almost got run over, and the purple bruise on my hip.

Both of them smiled at me and nodded calmly, happy looks on their faces. No one talked for a few minutes after that, while each of us devoured the food from our platters.

"So, um," Caroline spoke up after a bit, her fingers wiping over her mouth with a napkin. "On the way home we saw that there was this uh," she spoke slowly, looking to her husband, "party— on the beach, and we thought you might want to go,"

"It looked like all kids your age," Daryl added, both of them looking at me.

"You guys would let me go to a party?" I lightly laughed, placing my half-eaten burger down. "I've never been to a party,"

"For sure," Caroline shrugged, "You can meet some new friends your age, you know... for going into the new school year coming up and stuff," she said slowly, as if it were going to offend me.

"It's okay, I think I'll just stay home," I tried to protest, my voice coming out quiet and soft.

"I'll help you pick an outfit," Caroline smiled brightly at me.

"Maybe just go and check it out, if you don't want to stay thats alright," Daryl said casually, taking another bite of his food.

"You guys would really let me go to a party, on the beach?" I sort of laughed, at how different and laid-back they were compared to my parents.

"No drinking," Daryl put up a finger. "None of that stuff."

"I don't know anyone, though," I said.

"That's okay, you'll find someone there eventually," he tapped my hand lightly.

"Come, I'll help you pick an outfit!" Caroline beamed with excitement, standing up from her chair.

"Carol, hun, let her finish eating," Daryl laughed lightly.

"You eat, and I'll plan," she mused happily, while skipping away from the table, leaving her half-eaten hamburger resting in it's platter.

"That woman," he shook his head, continuing to eat.

I laughed. Soon after, I finished my dinner all while Caroline shuffled through boxes and soared between rooms. I stood up from the table and reached down for my platter.

"I'll clean up, don't worry about it," he stopped me, grabbing my garbage before I could. "Go and get yourself ready," he smiled up at me, chuckling.

I forced a smile on my lips, even though my stomach twisted and turned with nerves. I pushed in my chair and headed straight for the bedroom, where I found Caroline searching through my closet. There were multiple pairs of shorts laying on my bed, but she seemed dissatisfied with each of them, and flew though everything I had packed with me.

"I have the perfect thing," she stepped away from the closet and pointed a finger up in the air, signifying that she had a brilliant idea.

She wizzed past me and out the door, flying over to her own bedroom where I assumed, she was searching through her own closet. I sat down on my bed and sighed, thinking abut the last time that she'd loaned me something from her wardrobe. The saggy overalls didn't fit right, and I was scared for what she was going to pull out next.

But, when she breezed back into my room holding a short, pastel-yellow coloured sundress, a smile rose to meet my face. She presented it to me as if it were her most prized possession, holding it up beside her, metaphorically saying "tada!"

"This was my old dress I wore back in my thirties," she told me, while stepping towards the bed.

She handed me the dress, and I looked at it more closely. There was the tinniest of white flowers patterned on it, and it felt soft on my fingers.

Caroline smiled at me admiring her dress. "Go ahead, try it on,"

___

The sun was starting to go down over the horizon when Caroline stopped her truck on the side of the road.

I was sitting in the passenger seat of the run-down vehicle, it's engine roaring loudly, wearing the sun dress that she'd loaned me. It made me happy at how excited she was to be picking my outfit and getting me ready, causing me to ask her why. I was showing her the dress on body when I asked, and she'd replied with, "I've always wanted a daughter to pick outfits for," which made my smile shoot through the roof, and my stomach to warm up.

She had also taken the liberty of picking out my shoes, as well. She pulled out a pair of simple white sandals, that I didn't even realized I had packed, and chose a pair of gold earrings from my small jewelry collection that I'd brung with me. She told me my hair looked best when worn loosely.

Even though it was one of the nicest things someone had ever done for me, picked out my outfit for me, my hands were still shaking with nerves. I'd never been to a party, ever. Not even a birthday party for a friend. I didn't know how I would act, being surrounded by dozens of teenagers my age, all in one place at the same time. Although it felt nice to get dressed up and go somewhere to see other people, which I had rarely ever done before, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.

"I used to go to these things all the time," Caroline smiled longingly at the teenagers visible on the beach from where we were parked.

"Are you sure I'm allowed to go?" I asked again, looking at her. I could already hear low music. "We could stay home, and, play cards—"

"Of course, honey," she smiled over at me, her eyes crinkling. "Just, you know— don't drink," she laughed.

"Okay," I smiled a small smile, while unclipping my seatbelt.

"Have fun, dear," she beamed, as I slid out of the truck and landed my feet on the ground. "Use someone's phone if anything goes wrong," she instructed.

"Will do," I gave her a thumbs up as I stepped up the curb, my hair delicately blowing in the wind. I half-forced a smile to my lips again.

Her lips pulled up into one last smile before gripping the wheel and driving off in the truck. I waited until the rusty vehicle was out of sight down the road to turn around.

The nerves clenched the muscles in my stomach and danced around as I stepped off the curb and onto the sand, looking up at all the teenagers on the beach in front of me. I had absolutely no idea where to go, what to do, or who to talk with.

There was loud music beaming from somewhere on the beach, and I felt the sand ride up over my sandals as I walked with no destination in mind. Normally, I would've stopped and taken a moment to admire the water before me and the foreign feeling of the sand on my feet, but I was too nervous to function properly and didn't even bother.

The people around me didn't notice my presence either, as they laughed and talked, drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces. I pushed small strand of loose hair was behind my ear as I looked up into the distance.

A few people stood behind a small stand, and I strained my eyes to see cups placed on it's surface, and some type of barrel with a tube attached to its top. I figured it would be a good first place to stop, maybe ask someone for a water, and then go and sit by the beach by myself, out of sight and away from everyone else since I couldn't spot a familiar face.

As I began to head towards it, a voice called out to me.

"Hey!" the sweet recognizable voice shouted, causing my head to turn in it's direction. Immediately, I laid eyes on the rich girl that I ran into earlier. She was wearing the same flow-y sundress as before, and she pushed away strands of hair that flew into her face, as she walked towards me— from previously standing in a small crowd of people. "Charlotte, right?" She spoke loudly, approaching.

"Yeah," I answered, sort of uncomfortably.

She stopped and stood in front of me. "How are you? Are you okay?" She asked with concern, referring to the small incident.

"I'm fine," I lightly smiled at her, trying not to say it with attitude.

"I'm sorry for my boyfriend— we were talking and he wasn't paying attention," she rambled, genuinely sounding sorry.

"Really, it's okay," I laughed, somehow warming up to her.

"Okay," her plump lips pulled up into a soft smile.

"Sarah, what are you doing?" A manly voice called out in our direction, causing me to look behind me her and see the teenage boy she was with, her boyfriend. The same guy who nearly ran me over with his Jeep. He was standing with a few other guys, a cup in his hand.

"I'm sorry, I gotta go," she looked back to me after glancing at him. "Maybe I could show you around the island sometime? To make up for that fall," She asked kindly, locking her hands together, surprising me with how she remembered I was new.

"Sure," I smiled back at her, enjoying the offer. I felt my stomach warm at how nice she was being to me, when we'd just met.

She smiled brightly, before turning around and skipping back towards her boyfriend. Her blonde hair flew in wisps behind her, along with her dress, and she rejoined her small friend group, only some of them looking at me. Her boyfriend slung a hand over her shoulder while they started walking together along the shores barefooted.

I smiled to myself and began to make my way over to the drink area, feeling slightly more comfortable after the unexpected friendly interaction. I scrambled through the people who were drinking and dancing to the light music playing, trying not to step on feet or bump into their drinks. A long breath had left my mouth when I'd made it out of the crowd, my head lifting up. My eyes were only focused on the red cups sitting on top of the pop-up table, at a short distance, walking right over to them.

"Fancy seeing you here," another familiar voice spoke out.

John B held the small tube, that was attached to the barrel, between his fingers while leaning a hand on the plastic table, the usual stupid cheeky grin plastered over his lips. He stared at me, smiling.

"You've got to be kidding," I immediately felt my stomach drop, my eyes lowering at him.

"Couldn't get enough of me, Charlotte?" He placed the tube thing on the table, a small laughed falling from his mouth.

My eyes rolled, "Just couldn't get enough," I retorted, sarcastically smiling back at him with an intentional slip of attitude.

He leant both hands on the table, inching closer. "That's a pretty dress," he let his eyes trail down to the dress on my body.

"Do you have any water?" I quickly asked, annoyed. My stomach did a flip when his eyes had flickered downwards.

"Didn't think you were the party type, Cherry Cola," he seemed to ignore me and stopped leaning, reaching down into an open backpack laying in the sand.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that," I crossed my arms over one another.

"Well, Charlotte's a bit formal, don't you think." He came back up over the table, placing a metal bottle on the surface.

"What's that?" I asked, my eyebrows sharply narrowed, while I pointed a finger towards it.

"You asked for water," he slid the bottle across the table. "All I have is a keg of beer. So, you can have my water that I brought from home," he told me, while leaning on his hands again. He smiled.

"How do I know there isn't drugs or something in this," I grabbed the metal container, bringing it up to my face. "I mean, with you being in your gang and shit, you could've done anything to this water," I said, pursing my lips together.

"Don't be so silly, Cherry Cola," he rolled his eyes. "I may drive a sketchy van— to you, but I'm most definitely not the type of guy to roofie a girl's drink." he sounded serious.

"Mhm," I opened the lid, looking inside at the seemingly perfectly normal water.

"So, who you here with?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"No one," I said, sort of quietly.

"Jesus," he laughed, looking down. "Why'd you come, then?"

"You don't need to know," I said coldly, before taking a sip of the cold water.

"Why don't you come and hang with me and my friends," he suggested casually, standing up. "You can stay with us if you'd like."

"The drug dealers?" I swallowed, furrowing my brows at him as if he were stupid. "No thank you."

"Come on," He motioned for me to approach him around the table, "I'm not letting you sit on the beach by yourself."

"Last time I let you take me somewhere, we almost got arrested by the cops." I said.

"That, was your idea to come." He pointed a finger at me.

I tried not to roll my eyes as hard as I wanted to, and stepped around the table, knowing that he was right. I walked past his body and towards his recognizable friends, who were sitting on small fallen tree trunks and talking.

They looked up to me as I headed for an empty tree trunk at the end of their circle.

Jj put down his cup of beer. "Hello, sunshine," He looked to me as I sat down.

Kiara smacked his stomach. "Hello, Charlotte." She greeted, sort of correcting what he'd said, a small smile forming on her lips. I smiled back at her.

Pope didn't speak as John B sat down on the fallen tree trunk beside me, our shoulders only slightly touching.

"I'm sorry to invade," I apologized for walking in on their conversation.

"No, it's okay," Kiara shook her head and popped out her bottom lip casually.

"I don't mind," Jj smirked.

Kiara hit him again, this time whispering to him angrily, "Shut up, dickhead."

"What were you guys talking about?" John B asked the group, his voice somewhat loud over the low music.

"We were going to go sit down by the water," Kiara answered, "Y'all wanna come with?" She shifted her eyes between me and John B.

"Nah, you guys go ahead," John B waved them off casually.

His three friends stood up from their spots, and I watched them walk away from us.

"Why aren't we going with them," I turned my head to the side, looking at John B who was sitting close beside me. "I wanna go sit by the water," I claimed with a slight frown.

He turned his head, and his eyes twinkled brightly, "I never got the chance to tell you everything about the island, now did I?"

༄

𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 !