Uptown Girl ⋆ Daniel Larusso

i. beach fights

✧⁺❀ C h a p t e r o n e . . .

As the sun's radiance began to fade, darkness took dominance and cloaked the sky in ebony with bright pinpicks of starlight. A chill had taken hold of the air and the group had set several small bonfires alight. Amber sparks flickered from the decaying wood and glistened in the air, before dying out.

Sat in a pair of their own, Violet and Nicole had started to shiver. The latter girl had been smart enough to remember to bring a jumper to cover her in the night-time, but Violet had competely forgotten. What with her father begging her to practice her tennis for the country club's tournament next week and her mother offering unsolicited opinions on her outfit and body, it had completely slipped her mind. This left her trembling on the beach, attempting to cover the multiple parts of her that her bikini left revealed.

Not wanting to die of hypothermia, Violet decided to approach the other group of girls to ask if they had a spare top or at least a blanket for her to wrap herself in. Nicole went with her.

As Violet stepped towards her schoolmates, Ali glared up at her coldly and turned up the volume on her radio. It was playing Teenage Kicks, one of Violet's favourite songs. Only Ali could turn it into a negative thing.

"Hey, I was just wondering if any of you guys have something I could cover myself up with. I'm a bit cold, that's all." She smiled softly.

Echoing from the girls like a dischordant chorus, were chimes of 'no' and 'absolutely not'. Violet readied herself to turn back, when she was surprised to see Ali offer help.

The blonde stood up, lifting the red chequered picnic blanket she had previously been sat on. "It's not much, but I hope this will do. Just let me get the creases out for you."

With a flourish, Ali whipped the blanket through the air, in doing so, accidentally spilling the drink which had been in her right hand all down Violet. The brunette knew it was, of course, completely on purpose, but she attempted to withhold her anger.

"I'm so sorry," the Mills girl gasped falsely and she raised a hand to help. Instead of improving the situation, she proceeded to make things worse, smudging Violet's lipstick across her cheek. "Oops! I did it again."

"Who are you, Britney Spears?" Violet mumbled. Biting her lip, she managed to reply, "It's fine, Ali. I totally get how difficult it is to pick a blanket up without falling all over another human being."

At that moment a football hurtled towards them, rolling across the fire and almost knocking a few embers onto some of the girls. It had come from the boys, yet again and Violet couldn't help but wonder if they were doing that on purpose. She was considering kicking it into one of their heads.