Brazen Girl by Ali Dean Page 0,60
on social media as of ten minutes ago. So far Beck’s my only follower.”
Everyone here, even Brie and Moses now, knows about the bullies online, the stalker. So when she announces this, they cheer and high five like she just landed a 540.
“I wanted to do it when everyone was here instead of alone in my room. Does that mean I’m not an introvert anymore? I always thought of myself as a loner and now I’m having an identity crisis.”
Naomi tells her, “No, you’re just growing up and realizing it’s no fun facing the hard stuff alone if you don’t have to.”
“Sixteen going on sixty over there,” Griff calls to Naomi from his spot. “Who wants a drink? And no, Summer and Naomi, you can’t have alcohol.”
This would actually be a safer environment than other options for learning about drinking. Griff and I weren’t bad kids but we’d definitely drunk alcohol a few times by their age. The girls don’t bother arguing and most of us go for the soft drinks anyway. It might be summer break, but we all know drinking in California sun starting in the afternoon is a recipe for a hangover.
“Hey guys!” a female voice calls out from the other side of the pool deck. We turn to see who it is. The high school friend, Sydney, wears a big-brimmed straw hat, and this coverup dress thing. Something about the outfit says fancy, even though it’s pool attire. Could be the hoop earrings, the big sunglasses, or the bag that matches the hat, I don’t know. It just seems a little out of place amongst our casual group with worn out flip-flops and faded towels.
It takes her a couple of minutes to cross over to us, which is sort of awkward, since she already greeted us and now we’re forced to watch her or ignore her.
“I heard we’re celebrating!” She pulls out a bottle of champagne from her purse and waves it around. “I’m Sydney by the way, for those of you I haven’t met.” She gives a little wave to Moses, Taylor, Brie and Griff.
“Hey Syd. Thought you had something at the country club today. Glad you could join us,” Lucy says.
“Well,” she drawls out. “I have something to celebrate too.” She beams at us, and I feel awkward again for some reason. Probably because I don’t know her and I feel like she’s about to share something personal. “I’m transferring to Summerside!”
Her smile holds firm for a couple seconds but when no one says anything right away, it starts to fade.
Finally Lucy gets up and hugs her. “That’s great, Syd! I didn’t even know you were thinking about it.”
Ellie gets up too and gives Zora a look that says, come on, get with the program. “Yeah, whoa, that came out of nowhere. I’m just really surprised. You applied already and didn’t even tell us?”
“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure I got accepted before I said anything.”
Zora gets up too and squeezes her friend’s shoulder. “That’s cool, Syd. I thought you wanted out of California but I guess you missed it, huh?”
Sydney’s back to beaming. “Maybe I can room with you guys? I know it’s last minute, but since Beck won the house, Jordan could live there and I can take her room.”
My eyes move to Jordan. She starts to open her mouth but Zora responds. “Whoa whoa whoa, we aren’t kicking out Jordan. Beck’s house in Jay Beach is almost an hour away. That wouldn’t really work since she’s a full-time student and doesn’t have a car.”
“I mean, I’ll stay there sometimes,” Jordan explains. “But I’ll need somewhere near campus most of the time. Maybe I can get a schedule with classes all compressed into two or three days in the week so I’m not around as much?”
“No,” Lucy snaps, which seems to surprise everyone. “You aren’t getting pushed out of the condo, Jordan. I mean, if you told us you were ditching us to live with Beck I’d be pissed, so I’m not about to go make you do it.”
“I’d be pissed too,” Ellie chimes in. “I’d get over it, but I’d be like uh, come on, it won’t be the same without you. We’ve been looking forward to it and we missed you last semester. So, sorry, you’re stuck with us.”
“Okay, sorry,” Sydney huffs, sounding annoyed. “Jeez. It was just an idea. I thought you guys would want me to live with you. I could share a room or something. But