"Do you have the sunscreen?" Connor asked from the driver's seat.
"Yeah!" Zoe called as she packed the trunk.
"What about the-" Connor began, but was cut off by Zoe.
"Yes! I have the towels, the umbrella, the cooler, the pails, and the flip flops." Zoe rolled her eyes, shutting the trunk of the car. "So, everything."
Suddenly, Jared came tearing out of the house, dressed in his dark red swim trunks and a t-shirt, "Shotgun!" He shrieked, opening the passenger door and sliding in before anyone else could.
"Jared! I just packed the trunk, I totally get the right to the front seat!" Zoe argued, banging on the passenger side window. Jared simply stuck his tongue out, locking his door so Zoe couldn't get in.
"Who's ready for the beach!" Alana said excited as she and Evan came from the house. Evan was nervously fiddling with his blue bathing suit, he wore no shirt. The poor boy was so pale he looked like he was already beginning to sun burn and he'd only been outside a couple of minutes.
"Hop in the car, but can whoever sits behind Jared kick his seat for me?" Zoe grumbled, sitting in the middle seat while Evan and Alana sat around her.
"Nobody's kicking Jared's seat." Connor sighed, turning the car on.
"Ha! See, my boyfriend wouldn't let that happen-" Jared turned to mock Zoe but was cut off as Connor flicked his ear. "Ow! What the hell?" He grabbed his ear.
"Nobody's kicking your seat because only I can punish my boyfriend." Connor teased, leaning over the middle console to give Jared a light kiss on the lips.
"Oh goody, we're watching this." Zoe coughed as everyone in the backseat averted their gaze.
"Fuck off, Zoe. I just flicked my boyfriend for you." Connor grumbled as he pulled away from Jared and put the car into drive.
"Is that supposed to impress me? Jared's a little wimp." Zoe laughed.
"What! I am not!" Jared gasped, turning around in his seat once more. "If anyone's the wuss, it's Evan."
"We already knew that, Jare." Connor snickered. "It's almost cruel to make fun of Evan's pushover nature at this point."
"Thanks." Evan said dryly.
"I'm not a wuss!" Jared whined, sinking down in his seat.
"Fine, then prove it." Zoe said smugly. "We're going to the beach, we can have some sort of contest?"
"Oh! What kind of contest?" Alana beamed. "We can do a swimming contest, a sandcastle building contest-"
"Ah yes, because sand castle building is exactly what determines who's a wuss and who isn't." Jared said sarcastically from the front seat. Connor pulled into the parking lot to the beach, found a spot, and parked. The whole group hopped out and began gathering their items from the back.
"We could see who can hold their breath the longest?" Alana suggested, carrying the towels.
"Nah, what about a race?" Connor lugged both the cooler and the umbrella while Jared merely carried the plastic pails and spades for their sandcastles.
"Yeah, a race!" Zoe's eyes lit up. "Let's do that!" Everyone seemed to agree, except Jared, who insisted that it wasn't fair as he was the shortest of the bunch.
They found a spot at the beach, which wasn't too crowded anyway as they had gone on a weekday, and began to set up their items. Connor drove the umbrella into the ground and set up shade while Alana carefully laid out the towels.
