MSC (Rewritten)♡•~

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: The Pool Party

The place had started to fill up even more about an hour after we had arrived at Amber's house.

I felt myself coil in my chair, as more people started to gather, chatting and singing. Beatrice had her sunglasses on and was laying back in the stretch-out chair silently, so I wasn't sure if she was awake or not.

One thing I did know , though, was that I didn't like being in crowded places. I realised that now. Especially if those places were crowded with people I didn't know. I wondered how the people surrounded by loads of friends managed themselves. How can you be close to people if there are just so many of them?

The only time I got up from my chair was to try some of the lemonade which had been over-filled with sugar, and then I stayed parked where I was, not too keen on trying anything else.

Kids splashed around and played in the pool, and it was tempting to just jump in. But what if it looked weird? I never did anything out of the blue.

People might be confused as to why the quiet background girl would suddenly jump into the very centre of the party.

"Just do it," Beatrice said suddenly, making me jump.

"Do what"?

"You know what I mean. Jump in. Go for a splash. You know you want to".

I sighed. "Easy for you to say. You're not socially awkward. Why don't you jump in"?

"I'm watching our boy over there," Beatrice nodded over to Aki, who at that very moment was walking towards us with two plates of snacks.

"I thought you were asleep".

"I don't fall asleep on duty, Jemmy," Beatrice placed her sunglasses on her forehead, and sat up, as Aki jogged over and sat himself down in between us, a bright look in his eyes.

"How's things going with the girlfriend"? Beatrice asked him, snatching a handful of pretzels from one of the plates. Aki signed that it was fun decorating, and now he was really enjoying the party.

He didn't even deny the girlfriend part.

"Have you gone in the water yet"? I asked, even though it was a dumb question seeing as he was still dry and still had his normal clothes on. He shook his head and looked at me nodding over to the pool.

"What? Um, no, I can't swim". I lied, as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

Beatrice gave me a look and I shrugged. She rolled her eyes before pulling her dress over her head and folding it up before placing it in our towel bag. She gave me a cheeky grin. "Well, have fun, clothes supervisor. Aki and I are gonna dive".

I groaned, as they both continued to look at me, expectantly. "FINE," I couldn't hide my smile as they cheered, unzipping the back of my dress, leaving me only in my flowery swimsuit.

I ran after them, and the weight from the anxiety earlier immediately began to clear. As I laughed, running across the grass among the other children, the weight disappeared more and more until it was completely gone. We finally reached the pool, and jumped in at the same time, sending large splashes of water over the people beside the pool.

But we didn't care. As we pulled each other under water and splashed one another in the face, nothing seemed to matter.

In that split moment-it felt like one of my daydreams was coming to life again. I was living like other kids now...but this time it was real.

It didn't feel like anyone was watching us. It didn't feel like Aki was drifting away from us. Playing with him now, I felt stupid from even thinking such a thing.