Ocean Blue ✓

chapter two

alyssa

Tanner has seen fit to abandon me again, so I'm just chilling on my towel, still attempting to rapidly blink sand out of my eyes. My phone is too dim and too bright all at once; the bonfire flickering just down the beach has me turning my head toward the dark Pacific Ocean, moonlight glinting on its lazy tide.

Nothing scares me more than the sea at night.

I don't know where Tanner went, only that he was with that Jace guy. Mega dudebro vibes from that one. I'm honestly surprised he's queer, and that Tanner managed to pick him out so quickly—we've been here, what, a week? But, that's what Tanner does best. Picks what he wants, lives for himself, all that glorious et cetera. I could probably learn from his occasionally-selfish example. Maybe someday.

Instead of going out and "mingling" like Dad had suggested, I'm scrolling through Max's Instagram. They've apparently moved early to D.C., something we had spoken little about before the last couple weeks. Were they keeping it from me? Or did I somehow prompt it, what with my little disappearing act?

They look happy, at least. Max is the youngest of two literal prodigies, and they have the nicest parents ever. If it weren't for my dad being strict with dating (and for my ironic never-wanting to disobey my dad), the Alman's probably would have let me sleep over. Max had it great, I guess. Early graduation; escape of our small town; genius IQ sidled with charisma but somehow not a sociopath like Jenny Gonzalez, who will now definitely be valedictorian....

I need to stop thinking about Woodbury. All of it.

I've scrolled through posts so old that Max still bears long hair and no scar on their right cheek by the time Tanner texts me.

night swim?????

No. Ocean bad.

you sound like frankenstein but with the ocean and not fire

BRUH. BRUHHH.

SIS. SISSS.

SWIM. WITH. ME.

NO. Go makeout with your new boytoy.

i hate your face

Feeling is mutual. Begone, thot.

love u, butthole

Are you drinking? Butthole is your fav

drunk word.

no? how dare you???

your driving tho.

This is Tanner Speak for "yes i am drinking." Whatever. So long as I don't have to clean up tequila puke ever again, I guess I don't have an issue with it.

Dad is working an early shift tomorrow—apparently Hulhazy Front has no issue with random hospital scheduling, even though it feels like this place is the most minuscule of pimples on the face of the earth—so Tanner will probably get away with it. He's never outlandishly irresponsible, anyways. There's not anything he can't get away with, it'd seem. Guess one of us had to have that particular talent.

A slight breeze blows over towards me, sending chills down my spine. I wrap one arm around my legs, holding the other out so that I can keep scrolling on my phone. I reached the bottom of Max's small page, so now I'm just on the home feed. I can't bring myself to like anything, but I can still see everything I'm missing.