Welcome to Corbet's Inlet, North Carolina, where the teenagers act like adults and the adults act like teenagers. It's Griffin Connolly's favorite place in the world. And while she may not be good at making decisions when it comes to her own life, s...
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Griffin woke up to the underside of Matty's chin.
Her head must've been resting in his lap; she could feel his knee pressing into the back of her neck. She followed his line of sight down her body and found Charlie at the other end, doing something to her foot. She shifted slightly, not wanting to move too much because she already could feel herself sweating, could hear the ringing in her ears. It was only a matter of time before more nausea set in...
"Griffin?" Matty said, putting his hands on both sides of her head. "Are you okay?"
Griffin hummed. She was still watching Charlie when his eyes flicked to hers. He was hunched over her foot with gauze in one hand and a pair of tweezers in the other.
"What's he doing?" Griffin asked Matty, like Charlie couldn't hear. A sharp prick of pain zipped down the side of her foot. She hissed and jerked away from him.
"Sorry," Charlie said. He gently grabbed her ankle and held up the tweezers. "There's only one little piece of glass left that I'm trying to get out."
Griffin winced again and tried to ward off the waves of nausea.
"So, blood makes you pass out?" Charlie asked, ducking his head a little to get a better angle. Griffin felt another jab in her foot and decided not to run the risk of puking on everyone by opening her mouth to answer.
"She's always been like this," Matty said for her. "As long as I've known her, at least."
Charlie snorted. "I remember last time I was here she cut her hand opening a new can of tennis balls. Don't remember her passing out on us that time, though."
Griffin took a slow breath in.
"Yeah," Matty laughed. "But she almost did. I had to give her a piggyback ride home."
"Good times," Griffin mumbled, pressing a hand to her sweaty forehead and squeezing her eyes shut. She felt another prick and a slight pull.
"Got it," Charlie said, sounding pleased with himself. When Griffin opened her eyes again, he was examining her face the same way he did with her foot. "Are you good? Dizzy? Nauseated?"
"What are you, a doctor?" Griffin asked. She felt way too gross to be having a casual conversation right now.
"Yes," Charlie deadpanned, digging through a first aid kit. "No, I'm not. But I do know how to tape up your foot. I don't think you need stitches but we should probably get Evan's dad to check it out just in case."
"What time is it?" Matty asked.
"Close to ten. If we take her now, we can catch him before he goes to bed."
Griffin watched Charlie closely as he tended to her. He put two bandaids over the cut first, then wrapped gauze all the way around the ball of her foot a few times and squeezed lightly to set it. He cut the medical tape with his teeth instead of using scissors and applied that too. It all took less than a minute.
