Lie Until You Laugh

14- Trouble

“You seem upset today,” Stella tells me on Saturday morning.

“I’m not,” I assure her with a halfhearted smile. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“You’re not dressed yet either, missy,” She reminds me.

I hop off of my bunk with my black hair bouncing around me. “We need to get dressed! We’re going to the beach today! GET DRESSED!” I yell excitedly at her as I shuffle through my clothes for the bikini that I’d purchased last weekend.

“Okay, okay,” She laughs at me, going through the dresser that holds her clothes (I don’t know how she keeps all of her clothes in that small dresser) and she starts to pick out an outfit for this very special day.

I’m excited for going to the beach today- especially because I need something to get my mind off of P-E-N-N. Just saying his name makes my skin crawl. I don’t let myself think about him or what happened last night. The whole thing is too stressful for me to even think about at all. Thinking about what I’m going to do on Monday makes it hard for me to feel my fingers.

I distract myself by grabbing my new bikini- black bottoms with strings attaching the front and back at my hips and the top had a fake diamond jewel-thing in between the breasts. Stella let me borrow a swim suit cover that is basically a gray oversized t-shirt, only it is kind of see-through, which is okay with me considering I’m just going to take it off when we get to the beach anyway. When we went to the mall, I also got a pair of flip flops, so I grab them too along with a beach towel that I stuff into my duffel bag. I also put a bottle of water in there and my cell phone since I don’t have any pockets.

“Okay, let me just text Mason and Brian and then we’re all set,” Stella chirps.

I nod excitedly, just thinking about the sand squishing through my toes and the waves crashing around my shins. I hope Stella and Mason aren’t too old to build a sand castle with me. Maybe Brian will do it with me if they won’t though. I have to make a sand castle.

There’s a knock at the dorm door and I assume that it’s Mason, so I hurry over to it and open the door.

“It’s about-“ I stop speaking when I see that it’s actually not Mason, but it’s an older lady dressed in business attire with a straight line built in as her mouth. “Um, can I help you?” I ask politely.

“I’m looking for Sienna Mast,” She says in a bland tone.

My heart starts beating faster in my chest and I wonder if I might be having a heart attack. “Oh, that’s me,” I inform her hesitantly.

“Are you from the office?” Stella wonders, joining me at the door.

The lady nods. “I’m on here on behalf of Mr. Chester,” She says as if that means anything to me.

“Who-“

Stella interrupts my question by putting a hand on my shoulder. “That’s the dean. You should go with her. I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding or something. Once you get it figured out, we’ll head to the beach.”

“Okay,” I sigh, looking down at my outfit. My see-through swimsuit cover probably isn’t appropriate anymore. “Do you mind if I change first?”

“I was told to bring you to the office as quickly as possible,” She tells me. “We have to go now.”

“Okay then,” I mutter softly. I wave a helpless goodbye to Stella and then follow the lady through the dorm building and then outside where there’s a golf cart waiting for us. She gets in the driver side and I slide into the passenger’s. “Can you tell me what this is about?” I attempt.