{HEY, EVERYBODY! Just a quick reminder – I changed Ally's name to Laura because most people will trip over names that look too similar. This makes it a lot easier to read. Everything else is the same though, so I hope you enjoy the fanfic!}
Laura wrapped a towel around her body, slapped on a pair of sunglasses, and pulled her wide-brimmed hat over her face.
"I'm ready," she said.
Trish closed the car door and stepped onto the sand. She did a double-take at Laura's appereance. "What's all that for?"
Laura hugged her towel closer. "This is my first time wearing a bikini in my life. I'm kind of nervous."
Instead of wearing one of her usual crazy costumes, Trish was wearing a simple black bathing suit. She wasn't even wearing sunscreen, although Laura had applied about twenty layers.
"Don't be shy!" said Trish. "There's only about five hundred people here to see you."
Without another word, Trish took off confidently down the beach. She parked her towel near the lifeguard's chair and kicked off her flip-flops. Laura sat down on the sand near Trish and looked out at the choppy ocean waves.
"Aren't you going to tan?"
"No, thanks," said Laura. "I think I'll just sit here and admire the view."
"Oh, you mean the lifeguard? Yeah, he's pretty easy to look at. He must be new here; I haven't seen him before."
Laura's mouth fell open. "What? No! I meant the ocean view, Trish!"
"Oops." Trish laughed and shaded her eyes against the sun. "But he is pretty handsome. Look, he's wearing some sort of necklace – do you think his girlfriend gave it to him?"
The lifeguard waded into the ocean to pull a struggling toddler out of the waves. He set the boy gently on the sand, and turned to glance back at the beach. Laura immediately grabbed the umbrella and popped it open to hide them.
"What are you doing?" protested Trish. "He was looking right at us!"
Laura could feel her heart pounding, and her palms begin to sweat. Why, oh why, did there have to be so many people at the beach that day?
She turned to Trish and said, under the shade of the umbrella, "I know. That was Austin."