The Bikini Syndrome | WATTYS2019

» twenty-two: green moons (part one)

       

Holly was shaking.

Partly from fear, but mostly from a nervous sort of anticipation.

She hadn't told anyone else what she was going to do in the end, after Oliver's less-than-enthusiastic response to her idea. She imagined it would be received similarly by her friends.

Maybe that should have told her it was a bad idea.

Or even the fact that she hit every red light to the beach.

Or even the dead cat she saw on the road, which she'd tried to ignore even though she wanted to cry when her car thumped sickeningly over it.

But Holly never turned back. She didn't think to.

When she parked her car, she sat in the dark for a few moments, staring off into the horizon.

She'd told her mom she was going over to Zara's for the night, so she wouldn't have to worry about getting home late.

Or getting home at all, her subconscious said nastily.

"It'll be fine," she said, whispering to herself.

She checked that her phone's battery was full and that she had put 911 on speed dial. She also practiced slotting her keys between her knuckles, and tried to remember those self-defense tips she'd read some time ago.

Was it thumb in or thumb out?

Elbow to the face or the the chest?

She couldn't remember all of a sudden.

"It'll be fine," she said, louder and fiercer this time.

She stepped out of the car and walked briskly -- as briskly as one could in flip flops on sand that seemed to give way under her -- to Tiki Stands.

It was getting late, and most normal people with common sense had decided to head home. The last of beachgoing couples were packing their towels, their umbrellas, their sunscreen and heading home. Families had already long since deserted the beach in favor of the boardwalk, grabbing dinner, watching a movie, or whatever wholesome touristy family things they were supposed to do these days.

Tiki Stands was on a patch of beach that was loud and crowded during the day, but turned into a positive ghost town at night. It looked like the love child of a food truck and a hot dog cart. A fake straw awning hung over a window, where a handwritten sign read: ORDER HERE.

Off to the side was a sort of counter, attached to the stand, like what one might find at a bar. Stools with seats shaped like leaves lined the counted, and a few people occupied them like permanent tenants.

The only people that remained were the seedy, the shady, the lonely, the depressed, and insomniacs. Some even overlapped.

"I'll have a, uh, water," she said, desperately trying to fit in. Before the words were even out of her mouth, she knew that she was making it obvious she was an well-adjusted person who didn't belong here this late at night.

A balding man behind the window looked at her skeptically. "You sure?" She'd seen him in the day time when she'd bought sodas for Zara and Kaya before, and he just seemed like a disgruntled slice of Americana then, but now he just looked downright menacing.

She cleared her throat and tried again, trying to think of what Sadie would do.

She never got to actually try her luck. Luck (or the devil, depending on how you saw it) tried her first.

"You must not order here often, huh?" a voice, low, husky, distinctly male whispered into her ear.

Holly felt the hair on the back of head stand up. When had someone gotten so close to her?

She turned around and found herself looking into green eyes, darkened by shadows, and blonde hair, lit harshly by the lights above them.

His face was so close their noses were positively touching.

Holly took a few steps back, her back pressed against the window. She could only imagine what the person taking her order thought.

Drat, another girl pressed against my window, obscuring my beachfront view!

"No, not really," she said, keeping her voice cool. Pretend you're a confident and gorgeous girl, she thought to herself. Pretend you're not Holly right now.

"So what brings a nice girl like you here at this time of night?"

The boy -- he looked like a college student, at least two or three years older than her, now that Holly got a better look -- cocked his head and smirked at her.

"None of your business."

Holly made to turn back to the window, but the boy grabbed her arm roughly.

Was this the guy?

Holly tried to peek at him from under her lashes. Sadie hadn't described the guy physically, just said he was very handsy and kept on bothering her.

So far, this guy was meeting the criteria.

But maybe it's not him, said her snide inner skeptic.

"My name's Rohan," he said.

"Okay," Holly said. "Can I order my drink now?"

"How about I order one for you? It's on me since it's your first time here."

"My first time? I'm a regular," Holly said glibly. She wasn't lying, to be fair.

Rohan smirked. "Right. You must come here often if you know the menu so well."

Holly raised an eyebrow, not trusting herself to say anything.

"Come on, just let treat you. I'm here often, I know the owner."

"What, did the girls at other bars reject you or something?" Holly said snidely, unable to help herself.

Something about this guy was rubbing her the wrong way, and the way he kept pressuring her made her feel prickly and uncomfortable.

Rohan chuckled easily. "You look like a nice girl. I think you deserve a warm welcome, is all."

He knocked on the window, and the balding man looked positively pissed. He took an earbud out of ear. "What do you want? I'm in the middle of House o' Cards here, and the sleaze is boutta get laid."

"A fruit cocktail for my lady friend here and the usual for me, Jerry," Rohan said unfazed. He winked at Jerry, who merely grunted and put his phone down.

When Jerry set the drinks in front of them, Holly took a deep breath. This was dangerous ground. She had to be careful. She'd never had alcohol before, and didn't know how well she could handle it.

But if she didn't drink, or pretend to drink at least, she wouldn't be able to be proper bait. Sadie had said she was a little drunk that night, which probably allowed her attacker to feel that he could take advantage of her easily.

So Holly had to act drunk too.

Hm, maybe this wasn't such a good idea, she thought.

But it was simultaneously too late and too early to quit.

So she forged on.