Rose Lalonde was more than happy to spend a summer afternoon on the beach, especially considering they would all be entering high school the next day. John and Jade were out in the water; Jade providing a particularly useless surfing lesson. Rose was shirking from the sun underneath an umbrella, and her cousin, Dave, was laying out on a towel next to her, watching their friends in the ocean. Rose smirked.
"Pleasant view?" she asked.
"I swear to god, I can feel your smirk on the back of my head," Dave snipped back, not bothering to turn around to face her.
"And here I thought you were over your crush on John."
"Okay, what the fuck. I didn't have a crush on John; I'm not gay."
"And what, then, may I ask, are you watching so intently out there, then?" Rose pressed, sounding more agitated than smug at that point.
"Jade. Yeah."
"You're a terrible liar. You know that, right?" Dave turned to face Rose, his eyes hidden behind the sunglasses he ever so stubbornly insisted on wearing basically all the time. Despite that, Rose could still see his frustration.
"Why do you have to act like you know everything all the goddamn time, Lalonde? Jade's cute, I could like her."
Rose chuckled a bit. "Dave, you are easier to read than you realize." This wasn't even to mention the fact that Rose was the only person Dave really confided in when the trio of brothers moved to California from Texas when Dave and Rose were about 10. Rose was more than happy to introduce him to John, if only to get a break from Dave's rambles and spend time with some of her other friends, but Dave was always just a little awkward around John once they got into middle school. John, of course, was too adorably naïve to realize what was going on, but Rose certainly picked up on it. And then Jade joined them that summer, and the four of them had been pretty much inseparable. "Do I need to remind you that I have known you for my entire life, and have had the joy of seeing how you interact with others for the last 4 years?" Dave didn't say anything, still just looking at Rose. "I know how people react to unrequited feelings, and I am no stranger to homosexuality, either, if that's what's making you uncomfortable in this conversation."
"Rose, what the fuck?"
"It may surprise you to know that I have followed in the footsteps of my sister and older cousins. I have also succumb to being insufferably gay." There was a note of levity in her voice, but the overall tone was serious.
"Are you fucking with me or something?"
"I have to be honest, this isn't the reaction I expected to receive from coming out to you. Dave, I'm a lesbian." Dave was quiet for a moment, seeming to ponder the information he'd just been given.
"Shit, okay, so that makes 4 out of 5."
"And as for you?" Rose wasn't going to let Dave weasel out of the conversation that easily. Dave glanced back at the water, a flash of unsuredness crossing his face.
"Okay, so… maybe I had a thing for Egbert. But. I don't know, Rose…" Dave looked a little uncomfortable. "It's weird. He's my best friend and that was a huge fucking thing going on in my life for like, two years that I couldn't even tell him about. It was probably a fuckin' fluke anyway, just me latching onto someone giving me fuckin' positive attention because that's a goddamn anomaly in my life."
This comment pricked something in Rose's mind. It didn't sound quite right, but Rose chose not to say anything about it in that moment. They were having a different conversation just then. "Dave, you know none of us are going to think any less of you for not being strictly heterosexual, right?"
"It's not…" Dave sighed. "Yeah, of course. I just… I'm still dealing with that myself on a fucking conceptual level." Rose smiled to herself, glad enough for any kind of admission on Dave's part. She assured herself he would work through it at his own pace.
"Fair enough. I won't push it anymore." She could tell Dave was relieved, even if all he did was roll back over to look at their friends in the ocean again as John fell face first into the water.
"Should've brought my camera," Dave laughed. "This shit is priceless." Rose returned to her book as John approached the sand bar and came running back up to her and Dave. He fished his glasses out of his bag and plopped onto the towel next to Dave. "Good job out there, Egbert," Dave muttered. "Really. Great work."
"Pfft, at least I tried. You too cool to get your ass dunked in the ocean or something?"
"Figure there's enough cool out there. Jade's cool."
"Yeah, I got it."
"How'd you say you two were related again?"
"We're not. Our parents grew up together. I guess we used to spend a lot of time together when we were kids, but then her parents… well, I'm not sure what happened to them, really, but she had to move to that crazy island. We used to talk over Pesterchum a lot growing up, but she hardly ever got to visit. Her grandparents finally decided she needed to go to real school this year or something," John explained.
"Yeah, I know that. She's been here all summer," Dave retorted. Rose smiled to herself.
"Not that you mind, right?" Rose glanced up from the top of her book just as John waggled his eyebrows at Dave, who wasn't paying full attention. Oh, dear. That was going to be a weird conversation, whenever Dave chose to have it.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing. You just—" The conversation was interrupted, much to Rose's relief, by a stray volleyball rolling up to them, followed shortly by a boy who was, for lack of a better word, tiny. Rose turned back to her book while Dave dealt with the situation.
"This yours?" she heard Dave ask.
"Yeah, fuckface, hand it over," said a raspy voice. Rose attributed it to the small boy.
"Whoa, you got a temper there."
"Look, just stop being a douche and give me the beach ball back."
"Maybe you should stop calling me names, then, shortstack." Rose rolled her eyes at Dave's comment.
"David," she chided him, "stop teasing the boy." Dave grumbled at her, but did return the volleyball to its owner.
"Thanks, David," the stranger said.
"It's Dave."
"Yeah, whatever." And with that, the kid was gone. Dave sighed, sitting back down.
"David isn't even my name," he said, clearly annoyed with Rose's antics. "How'd you like it if I called you Rosalind?"
Rose mulled it over for a moment. "I think there's a certain amount of elegance to it, to be honest." And then her thoughts rolled away from her cousin and to her sister, who was off getting stuff for their beach-side dinner with Dave's brother, John's cousin, and Jade's cousin. Roxy had a certain propensity for liquor that made Rose a bit nervous. "I do hope Roxy isn't getting the others into too much trouble."
"Speak of the devil and they shall arrive, Rosey," a silvery voice said. Rose turned, and yes, indeed, it was Roxy. She didn't seem to have indulged in her habits, but it was hard to tell with her. "We weren't doin' anythin' troublesome, but it's sweet of you to worry, sis." Roxy patted Rose on the head. Rose scowled at her, but it went unnoticed.
"Really," Rose said, deadpan, "you didn't bring any illicit substances to the beach today?" She wondered to herself if she vocalized her disbelief enough.
"Nope!" Roxy said, a cheer in her voice. Rose let out a low sigh and turned her attention back to her book.
"Did you guys bring the food?" John stood up and asked his cousin. Rose delved deeper into the literature as the four older kids puttered over towards the grills and Dirk began cooking for them all. Rose didn't dislike her sister, she just thought Roxy had some things she needed to work on, the least of which was her seemingly-inherited alcoholism. Still, it was nothing out of the ordinary, giving Rose no reason to be beside herself, and she did her best to enjoy an evening at the beach with her friends. They had hot dogs and as the sun set, began roasting marshmallows over the fire.
"Ah, wish we could just stay here forever," Roxy said with a breath. "It's so pretty." She gestured towards the shimmering orange and pink of the sun as it set over the ocean.
"Yeah, too bad we gotta go to school tomorrow and 'get an education' and 'contribute to society," Dave muttered.
"Have fun in high school, you kiddos," Roxy said, reminding everyone of the fact that she was starting college a year early. While not feeling ready to move out of her mother's house, Roxy hadn't been able to resist when her counselor suggested that she finish high school early. The idea of being somewhere a bit less structured, where she'd have the freedom to study what she wanted to for a little while was definitely exciting. She grinned at Jane.
"I still can't believe you graduated early, Roxy!" Jane said.
"Janey, Janey, Jabet… I may not seem it but I got mad haxxor skills."
"I didn't mean to insinuate that you weren't the intelligent type."
"Oh yah. I knowwww. Anyways, college is gonna be soooo cool. Gonna get my party ON!" she cheered with a laugh. She glanced over at Jane, who was looking at Jake, and then over to Dirk, who was also looking at Jake. After a moment, Jane leaned into Roxy's shoulder and Roxy knew she'd noticed Dirk, too. It seemed like Jake was the only one who hadn't. Why Roxy had to be the one mediating everyone else's feelings, she didn't understand. Dirk didn't want to say anything to Jake because nobody was sure if Jake was straight or what, and Jane didn't want to say anything to Jake because the concept of that made Jane really nervous, and it resulted in a lot of venting to Roxy and seeking advice, and Jake was clueless all the while. Maybe Roxy just didn't get the appeal of Jake English. Yeah, he was like, vaguely attractive, but the kid was such a damn dork, Roxy didn't see why her other two besties were both crushing on him so hard.
"Yeah, I'm really excited for you, Rox," Jane said with a toothy smile. "And it'll be fun having everyone at Skaia High this year." Roxy's eyes met Rose's, and the younger sister's eyes were filled with judgement, and a touch of concern. Rose didn't exactly condone Roxy's habits. Whatever. It was Roxy's life, wasn't it? Mom didn't exactly care if Roxy pilfered some vodka now and then. Roxy turned her attention back to the conversation.
"I've never been to a real school before!" Jade said. "Has it been fun, Jake?"
"Well, there's quite a bit of hullabaloo at first, but once you get acquainted with everything, it's the bee's knees! I was a bit jingle-brained at first, nearly made a hash out of things my first week, but I'm sure you'll be fine." Roxy snorted. She only caught about half of what he'd just said, but Jade seemed to understand perfectly.
"Okay, I'll try to pay attention, then."
Rose wasn't sure whether she was really excited for high school. Roxy was clearly excited for college, and everyone else seemed to be looking forward to this change, but Rose felt… unsure, she supposed. Oh well. There was nothing to do but make the best of it.