Sunshine
Valerie and I pulled up to what seemed like a mansion. I saw a guy standing in the doorway. It looked like he was older, but Val mentioned earlier that everyone would be between 21 and 24 years old. He had short brown hair that almost covered his eyes, but it was slightly longer at the back. He wore a patterned white and blue shirt and matching swim bottoms.
“You sure we’re at the right house?” I asked. I was skeptical, but something about it felt right.
Valerie looked up, and waved, “Yeah! This is Kellen’s house. He’s the one you see in the doorway.”
“Oh, who else is coming?”
“Only Shayla and Louis. He didn’t want to throw a huge party since he has work in the morning.”
“Alright,” I breathed, relief filling my body. I knew it was supposed to be a pool party, and I didn’t mind swimming with others. However, I was self-conscious about my body and my inability to swim. So the fewer people the better.
“Oh! And Blake was supposed to show, but he had work.” she added as she got out of the car.
I nodded as I grabbed my bag with my ‘bathing suit’, my floaty, sunscreen, and other things that I might need. I stepped out of the car, and instantly the sun started beating down on my skin. Thankfully, my glasses turned into sunglasses when I was in the sun, but it didn’t help on days like this.
Valerie called out before I reached the front door, “Oh, Kellen! This is Elise!”
“Nice to meet you,” he smiled, his voice was smooth, but had a higher pitch than I expected. “Val talks about you a lot. I’m excited to finally meet you in person,” He slid out of the doorway and onto the porch, waiting for Valerie.
“It’s nice to meet you too.” I stepped in and was in awe, the house was beautiful. I turned around, “Where can I set my-”
“Oh, duh, the backdoor is right through the kitchen, you can set your stuff on one of the lounge chairs if you want,” he offered while pointing to the left of me, showing a hallway that had family pictures on the wall.
“Thanks!” I started to the hallway, only to be greeted by a small, fluffy dachshund. Their tail started wagging so fast that their whole body shook. “Oh, look at you!” I kneeled, holding out my hand. The dog instantly came up to me, and I started to run my hand through their fur, which was a light brown with little white splotches all across their back. ’You are so fluffy, but I have to go find the bathroom, I’ll pet you later.”
I stood back up and walked through the hallway. A smile spread across my face as my anxiety faded, feeling a little more comfortable now that I knew I could just play with the dog if things became too much.
I reached the kitchen, which was littered with different snacks and food. Chips and drinks were set up on the table, and ingredients for Nachos were spread across the counter in bowls. I scanned the room and found the backdoor. I peeked out, and the only word to describe it was peaceful. There was an in-ground pool that stretched the length of the yard, colorful lounge chairs lined the right of the pool, and on the left, there was a large yard that was fenced in.
I stepped out onto the porch, where there was a table with a large umbrella coming out of the center. I set my bag on one of the chairs and pulled out my sunscreen. As I was putting on the sunscreen, I heard Val and Kellen talking,
“I think Willow is supposed to stop by, she called me a few days ago and asked me if she could,” Kellen mentioned as he opened a cabinet
“She knows she’s always welcome.”
“Yeah,” his voice turned somber, “She’s just had a rough week.”
“I feel like the girl can’t catch a break, with all of the family stuff and work.” Valerie paused, “I hope she’s able to come over. The girl needs a break.”
“Who?” I stepped in the doorway, tilting my head.
Kellen jumped as he spun around, “God! When did you get-” Kellen caught his breath and started laughing.
“Our friend Willow, we are not 100% sure if she’s coming over or not yet,” Valerie answered.
“Oh, I think you’ve mentioned her before,” I finished rubbing the sunscreen on my shoulder, “Where is the bathroom?”
“Through the hallway,” Kellen pointed, “and on your left.”
I went out to grab my bag, then walked back inside, “Also, sorry for scaring you.”
“You’re fine,” he chuckled.
I walked to the bathroom and got changed into my bathing suit. As I was changing, I looked down at my body. I hated the way I looked, but due to health issues, I couldn’t change it. As I was growing up, I had a few surgeries that left scars, so I don’t show my skin much. My stomach was also rounder than I liked, so I made sure I kept myself at a healthy weight. I took a deep breath, trying my best to keep any feelings of anxiety down.
I walked back out to the Kitchen and was greeted by his dog again. “Hey, you’re back!” I kneeled once again and started petting them.
Valerie noticed, came over, and knelt next to me. “I see you’ve met Wando, she loves everyone,” on cue, she jumped on her chest, “I’m sure she loves you too, but no jumping, okay?” Wando responded by jumping down and wandering off somewhere. I got up and made my way to the kitchen where Kellen was pouring himself something to drink.
“I like the swimsuit,” Kellen commented with a smile.
I wrapped my arms around my body, “Thanks,” I shyly responded, I wasn’t used to being complimented.
“Oh! I got a text from Willow as you were gone, she said that she’s picking up some drinks and then heading over,” Kellen announced.
“Bet!” Valerie beamed, grabbing herself a cup, and walked over to the drinks on the table.
“What is she like?” I asked.
“Well, we haven’t seen her in a while, and she’s been going through a few things, so she might be prickly,” Kellen started to say, but Valerie cut in, finishing his explanation.
“But she’s really sweet, she’s not online a lot, so she might not understand certain references that we make, but she gets into video games and is starting to get into Anime and stuff.” Val took a drink, “She cares a lot for her friends, has a good sense of humor, and is just fun to be around.”
“What about Shayla and Louis?” I didn’t fully remember their names, “Those are their names right?”
Kellen nodded, “There both cool, Louis can have a temper sometimes, but he’s good at controlling it. Slayla, on the other hand-”
Both rolled their eyes, causing me to chuckle, “What about her?”
“She can be a diva, which makes her annoying at certain points. But, when she’s not acting like a snob, she can be cool,” Valerie warned.
“Okay, she’s not that bad, she’s just-” Kellen pondered, thinking of a way to not offend her, ”When she gets drunk she can be intolerable. She can be a little extra-”
“A little?”
“Shush, she’s not as bad as Estella”
“Sure,” Val stated, walking outside.
“Who?” I questioned, but he just waved it off.
I followed her after grabbing my floaty from my bag. I brought it outside and attempted to blow it up, but was out of breath by the third attempt. I set it on the table next to me, then walked over to the pool. Even though I couldn’t swim, I loved the water. I didn’t like oceans or deep waters, but walking around in a pool always felt good. I went over to the stairs that led into the pool, dipped my toe in, and-
“Holy fuck!” I exclaimed, jumping back onto the concrete in shock, “How is the water cold?!”
“Lemme see,” Valerie set her cup on the table, checked her pockets, and fully sent it into the pool. I don’t think I’ve face-palmed so hard. She fully dove underwater came back up, and let out a shriek.
“The fuck?” Kellen nearly slipped coming out of the doorway, “Who died?!”
I nearly fell over due to how hard I was laughing. With her diving into the water, Kellen nearly falling, and the shriek that came out of Valerie, I couldn’t breathe.
Valerie pushed herself out of the pool, then sped walked back over to the door, “F-fuck you g-guys.” she shivered, grabbing one of the towels that were next to the door.
“You did it yourself!” I laughed, “I told you that the water was freezing, that’s why I didn’t go in!” I sat in one of the chairs, trying to catch my breath.
“Are you okay,” Kellen asked Val as he leaned on the table.
Valerie nodded, she let the towel fall to the ground, then stripped off her shirt and shorts, revealing her pink and black bathing suit underneath. I noticed Kellen glance away, a light blush appearing on his face. I didn’t blame him though, the swimsuit complementing her light skin tone in a way that almost made her glow. But that could have been from the water too.
After taking another minute to catch my breath, I walked back over to the stairs. I set my foot in, and forced myself to slowly go deeper into the water. I reached the bottom and realized it was only up to my knees, so I stuck to the edges and tip-toed until the water was up to my chest. I leaned myself against the edge, and let my body relax against the light waves.
“Awe, you guys are getting wet without me?” I heard a new voice say.
My dirty-minded humor kicked in, and I nearly slipped by laughing so hard.
“Looks like I got a response from her,” the voice playfully said.
I looked over to where the voice was coming from, and my eyes landed on a pair of green eyes. I looked down and saw a slim, caramel-toned, body with a light blue bikini that left very little to the imagination. Her dark brown, curled hair, flowed down a little past her shoulders. She had a smirk on her lips while carrying a case of Seagram Escapes, she then set the case on the table next to her. I pulled my eyes away, scolding myself that I made it obvious that I was checking her out. I saw someone sit on the ledge next to me, and I glanced up to see Valerie.
“I see you’ve met Willow,” she teased, smirking down at me.
“I don’t wanna hear it-” I muttered, looking back down at the water. I saw a shadow slide across the pool, and realized it was Willow.
“You like her, don’t you Elise~” she sang in the same tone as SpongeBob did to Squidward when he found out that Squidward tried a Patty for the first time.
I slapped her leg, which was dangling off the ledge, causing her to laugh. I don’t know if it was from me being in the sun, or the infatuation that ran through my body, but my cheeks started to heat up.
Suddenly, water splashed on my face. Before I could yell at Val, I noticed a shadow looming over me. I wiped off my face to see what it was, only to see Willow. Our body’s nearly touching as she leaned towards the edge, her hair partially covering her eyes, and slightly out of breath. My body tensed, My cheeks flushed a deeper red, and my tongue ran across my lips. My eyes started trailing down, but I snapped them back up when I realized what I was doing.
She pushed her hair out of her face, then her eyes widened. Apparently, she didn’t notice how close she was either. “Fuck- I’m so sorry,” she pushed back, giving us more room, then rubbed the back of her neck. “I didn’t realize how close I was,” I noticed a deep blush appear on her cheeks as she scanned my body, which was pressed against the wall. She was a little taller than me, so the water came up a little past her waist.
I shook my head to clear my mind, “You’re okay,”
“I’m Willow by the way,” one hand stayed in her hair as the other blocked the sun.
“I’m Elise.”
She nodded, then moved herself to lean against the wall, right next to me. “Goddamn, it’s hot today,” she ran her fingers through her hair, “I was pondering if I wanted to stay home or not, but I’m glad I came.”
“Someone’s certainly hot-” I silently chuckled at my thoughts. Today was going to be a long day. I started to move away from the wall when I heard Willow ask me a question.
“Where are you going?”
“I was going to get something to drink.”
“I can grab it for you, if you want to stay in the pool,” Valerie chimed in, her eyes glancing at Willow as she said the last part.
I shook my head at her, wanting to dunk her into the pool for teasing me, but I decided against it.
“Sure,” I looked over at the table, then at Willow. “Can I have one of the Seagrams?” I asked, pointing my thumb over at the case she brought.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t mind, I brought them for everyone.”
I looked up at Val, “Could you grab a Strawberry?”
Val nodded as she headed towards the table.
“And me a blue one!” Willow shouted. “Also, Elise?”
“Yeah?”
“How old are you?”
“I’m 22,” I tilted my head, “Why?”
“I was just wondering,” she looked down at the water, the blush slowly returning, “I honestly thought you were younger.”
“Oh, thanks?” I chuckled, noticing that Val was coming back with our drinks, I returned to the edge. I grabbed the can from her hand, causing me to suck in a breath from how cold it was. I snapped it open and then took a drink. A shiver went through my body as I felt myself already cooling off. Willow took a drink of hers, then set it on the ledge.
“What have you been up to?” Valerie asked Willow, returning to her spot on the edge.
I tried tuning into the conversation but got distracted by the backdoor sliding open, revealing two people, presumably Louis and Shayla. They were both in their swimsuits already.
“Hey guys!” A high-pitched voice called out.
“What’s up!” A deeper voice came from the guy next to her.
Both had light blond hair, Louis’ was around his shoulders, as Sylvie's hung down past her elbows. They were also wearing matching swimsuits, which made them look like twins.
Valerie got up, and greeted them by the table, leaving me and Willow in the pool. I looked over to Willow who was looking to the other side of the pool, seeming to be lost in thought.
I splashed a little water onto her, causing her to snap her head over. She did it straight back but splashed more water than I expected. I held up my drink so no water got into it, and sent it back. She laughed, then stared at me for a minute.
“Question,” Willow said.
“Yea?”
“Are you straight?”
The question took me off guard. I quickly shook my head as I blinked, “Huh?”
She lightly chuckled, “Are you straight?”
I pressed my lips together, trying to contain a smile, “No, what about you?”
“Proud Lesbian!” She exclaimed, raising her drink. She then brought her drink to her lips.
I did the same, but only to hide the deep blush on my face as I realized that I might-
“What type are you?”
I set my drink up on the ledge and started laughing. It might have been how she said it, but I couldn’t help but laugh. “I-” I tried to respond, but I devolved into a fit of giggles.
“What’s so funny?” She asked, sliding closer to me.
“I don’t know, it might have been the way you said it,” I forced myself to contain my laughter. “But I’m Bi.”
She smiled, then looked towards the house. I followed her gaze and realized that she was looking at Sylvie and Louis.
“I’ve never liked them,” she muttered, her tone flattening.
“Oh?” I turned around, “Why not?”
She looked at the water, “You haven’t met them yet then. They can be assholes. They don’t care about anyone but themselves.” Her gaze sharpened.
I could tell that she spoke from experience, but I felt weird asking. Plus I was getting cold and hungry, so I headed toward the stairs, letting her know that I was going to get food. I patted myself off with a towel, then walked up to the door. I didn’t realize that the others already started eating.
“Hey! Louis, Sylvie, this is Elise,” Valerie said, gesturing over to me.
Before I could even wave, they both looked over, said a quick “Hello”, then went back to their conversation. I instantly got a weird vibe from the two. The way that they were talking, their body language, and just the overall attitude of them, something felt off. So, I grabbed food and went back outside. The sun was already starting to set, so I knew that I wouldn’t melt sitting out there.
After they were done eating, they came outside and went into the pool. Out of the 5 people that were in that pool, I only paid attention to one. That one person, in particular, would be Willow. Who was currently sneaking up on people and splashing them, then quickly swimming away when they noticed. She intrigued me- since I remembered Kellen and Valerie saying something about her not doing the best. She reminded me of myself, in the way that she can cover up things that she doesn’t want others to see.
After a few rounds of marco-polo, Valerie, Kellen, and Willow headed inside to grab more towels. Which left me, Louis, and Sylvie outside. They stayed in the pool as they whispered about something. A few moments later, Louis got out of the pool and walked over to me.
“Why don’t you come sit by the pool, you look lonely,” he asked, adding that last part with a small, off-putting, laugh.
Something in my gut told me not to follow them, since I heard multiple things about them not being the nicest people-
“But what harm could it do?” I thought. I shrugged, then followed him to the other side of the pool. They were chilling by the deeper side, so I sat away from the edge, making sure not to get too close.
But none of that mattered as I was suddenly pushed in. As I plunged into the cold water, which was probably seven feet deep, my body went into shock. My body froze, but quickly snapped out of it as I tried to use one hand to push myself to the surface, using the other to plug my nose. I knew it was basic instinct to be able to push yourself to the surface, but when your whole body is unexpectedly plunged into the water and you don’t know how to swim, the only thing taking control was panic.
I didn’t have enough strength to pull myself up and hold my breath for that long. I tried kicking my legs, but the pressure of the water made it difficult. Just as my eyes threatened to close, I saw someone swim up to me, and wrap their arms around my waist. I was pulled out of the water, and set on the ledge. I tried to catch my breath, but being in a state of panic, it was hard.
“Elise? Are you okay?” The voice sounded frantic. I opened my eyes to see Willow. Anger, concern, and panic were written across her face.
“I- I think so?” I coughed, “How long was I under for?”
“I saw Louis push you in, and I called out to the others before diving in, so a minute max? But that could still cause issues,” she pressed her hand against my chest and then took a breath. “Your breathing seems okay, just let me know if you start feeling off.”
I nodded, flustered that she cared for me this much, and that she was currently in between my legs. But I pushed the last factor out of my head as I tried to steady my breathing. Willow jumped out of the pool to sit next to me. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me against her.
I finally tuned into the world around me and realized that the others were fighting. A low growl came from Willow, and I looked up at her.
“The most fucked part about this.” She shook her head, “Is that they knew.” she stated, her voice cold.
I tilted my head, then it hit me. They knew that I couldn’t swim. They did all of this, for what?
“Val mentioned it when we were inside getting food, ’cause they asked about the foalty that you brought.”
My eyes trailed down to the concrete next to us. Feelings of embarrassment and anger slowly filled my mind. Willow must have noticed cause she started to run her hand up and down my arm.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let them hurt you.” She planted a kiss on my temple, “Never again.”
