Wow did it take me long enough to update or what? Sorry about that.
Iris felt rather good about all of this. At first she felt crappy and humiliated but, as the school day ended and she hopped in her car, she did it with joy.
She had been adamant on the idea of not skipping school despite the sweltering heat and the persistence of her friends, but somehow Raymond had convinced her to join them immediately after school. As most of her other friends skipped as well, she headed out alone, though she was sure Cassie, Sam, Bridget, and Dixion had also been talked into going later.
Anyway, as Iris pulled out of the school parking lot, her thoughts drifted off of the road and onto the day that she thought would never happen. But ever since what Piper had told her over the phone, Iris could not help but consider telling Daniel of her feelings for him. And after procrastinating those four long, hellish days since they'd spoken on the phone, Iris took advantage of the unusually empty hallways this boiling hot Thursday and spilled it all.
Her immediate reaction was extreme awkwardness and she felt horrible. But as the day wore on she felt better, proud, in fact, that she had finally come clean of her feelings.
Piper was right, she thought, feeling the wind whipping about her face, making her anxious to get to the ocean. There was no reason to be ashamed for liking Daniel even though he was the world's biggest nerd. And if anyone had a problem with it, they could take it up with Iris.
And no one took up their problems with Iris.
As she pulled into a parking lot, she grabbed her bag and hopped onto the beach, letting the hot sand creep over her toes. She knew exactly where her friends would be and walked in that direction.
Iris spotted Piper playing beach volleyball with Amelia, Steven, Leo, and Sawyer. Cheerfully she threw her bag into the sand and hopped in their court, bumping the ball and sending it soaring over the net.
"How nice of you to join us," Piper noted, scooting over and making the teams equally 3 on 3.
"Sorry I'm late," she grinned. "I got caught up in some…business…"
She met Piper's brown eyes and could tell her friend understood. But the full story could wait till later; today was meant to be relaxing for a reason. She tied back her blonde hair and her mind was set on the game.
Unfortunately, it would not be forgotten easily.
"Yes Iris, how very kind of you," Leo agreed, malice flashing in his dark brown eyes. Beside him, Steven smirked, as if an evil thought had shot through both of their minds simultaneously. "But I'm sure it was with good reason that you stayed behind today." Steven served it over the net.
"You're right," Iris growled in a sort of tone that was meant to warn him not to mess with her. Of course, he would not listen. "You see, I want to go somewhere in my life and therefore value my education." At her side, Sawyer hit it back over towards him.
"Of course," Steven nodded, watching Amelia hit the ball. "I'm sure you and your boyfriend, being pretty much the only ones left at school today, had a Hell of a time."
"As I'm sure you and your boyfriend had fun too," Iris retorted venomously, nodding at Steven.
Both boys chose to ignore this but Piper started laughing so hard that she missed the ball. Iris smirked and Leo chose to ignore this comment. "I'm betting a lot of chemistry went down? In third hour, of course," Leo sneered, clearly showing that what he meant had nothing to do with third hour.
"I took chemistry sophomore year," Iris said conversationally, as if she didn't understand his true intention. "I'm actually in physics now."
"Then things got pretty physical?" Steven questioned, and it was Leo's turn to snicker cruelly. In response, Iris mustered up all her strength and spiked the ball over the net and into Leo's chest, knocking the wind out of him, while Piper tossed sand in Steven's eyes. The two of them walked off haughtily while Steven and Leo stood in their pain, and Sawyer and Amelia stood around looking very confused.
…
Bridget was feeling unusually brave today. After denying Amelia's offer to join her in volleyball she had wandered for a few minutes before her eyes fell on a certain British bass player, and for some reason, she fought her instinctive shyness and strode over there.
"Hey Zack," she smiled. Bravery could only get her so far; if it wasn't for her friend Zack, who also happened to be standing in this group, she probably wouldn't have walked over there anyway.
Zack did not look nearly as eager to get away from this conversation as he had previously at the bonfire. Still, he smiled his very wide smile and said hi. "Did you just get here?"
"Yeah," Bridget said. She was, she hated to admit, tempted to skip school just because she knew Charlie would, but she convinced herself that it wasn't worth it. "Didn't miss much, did I?"
"No," Zack shrugged. "Mostly everyone's just been hanging out and messing around."
Bridget's first reaction was to ask what he meant by that but she hesitated, not entirely wanting to know, if this was the crowd he's been hanging out with. He sensed her hesitation. "If you want to know what I'm talking about, go find Liv, Colin, and Gene…they shouldn't be too hard to find…"
"I'll pass," Bridget said immediately. Something was off about this situation, and after scanning the scene for a few seconds, she realized what it was. "Where's Claire?"
"She caught up with Sam, Dixion, and Cassie," he said. Bridget should've guessed; she'd come here with them. She noticed Zack's eyes dart to his friends, notably, Luke and Kate.
Bridget rolled her eyes. She honestly wished Luke and Claire would just go out already. Never was she entirely for the idea, but who was she to talk? How different would it be from her and Charlie? Not that that's ever going to happen…she added to herself sadly.
"Hey, there's a bar a little bit down that-a-way," Brandon interjected. "Who's in?"
Everyone shrugged, looking a little pleased at the idea of something to do other than just standing there. Zack looked at Bridget, both of them looking unsure. Nobody noticed their hesitation and starting trudging through the sand anyway.
Charlie, however, declined, surprisingly. "I'm going to go see Claire, maybe I'll catch up with you," he waved to them as he walked in the opposite direction. Bridget looked away at his words and didn't catch the small, friendly smile shot in her direction.
There was an awkward silence that Kate, oblivious, decided to break. "Are they together now?" she looked at Luke quizzically, then glanced around at everyone else for an answer.
"They might as well be," Dominic answered awkwardly. Both Bridget and Luke tried too hard to look uncaring, as if this was just another piece of gossip. Taking a stab at hinting, Dom added, "Claire's trying to get over some guy, and she and Charlie have always been good friends, so it's perfect really."
He put a strained emphasis on the word 'perfect', almost sarcastic. Brandon gave a scowl that went unnoticed by everybody except for Zack and Cassie.
"Aw, well, I'm happy for them," Kate said, glancing over at Luke, who had squeezed her hand rather tightly at those words. He shook his head and muttered something incoherent.
As they once again started their journey down the beach, Zack pulled Brandon back. "You're losing your touch, Master Matchmaker," Zack said with raised eyebrows.
"I'm working on it," he looked stressed.
"Yeah? Well, it aint working," Bridget interjected, quickly catching up on the situation.
Brandon gave her a strange look but ignored that comment. "I can't keep worrying about Luke and Claire and Dominic and Shannon anyway. I've got my own life…"
Dominic and Shannon? That could wait, Zack thought. "Your own life? This have to do with the new cute brunette chick?"
"Sophia," Brandon told him, looking unembarrassed.
"Tell you what," Zack began. He kept shooting glances at Bridget, who was listening interestedly, but not speaking. "You work on Luke and Claire, I'll talk to Sophia for you."
Brandon grinned. "I don't need your help, but sure, what the Hell? Seeing as we're talking business here, you two have anything in mind."
"No," Bridget said immediately while Zack just laughed and looked flustered.
"I'll take that as a yes," he said, noticing her quickness to react. "Who is it? C'mon, you can tell me." She remained silent. "Do you know?" He directed to Zack when she didn't answer.
"I-I think I might," he said.
Bridget's head shot up. How did he know? She had never told anyone. Her thoughts were flying; how'd he find out? And if Zack knew, did others know too? What if Charlie himself told him?
"Who is it?" Brandon urged.
"I don't know for sure," Zack hesitated.
"Hint."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"No."
"Yes."
"HA!" Brandon exclaimed in triumph.
"Dude, did that really just happen?" Zack questioned himself.
"Okay, now you owe me a hint," Brandon said.
"He has blonde…ish…hair…" Zack said. "Right?" Slowly, petrified, Bridget nodded.
"Blondish," Brandon pondered aloud. "It's not Sawyer?" Both of the others shook their heads.
"Why are we talking about me?" Bridget said before he could make another guess. She shot a dirty look at Zack, who looked guilty. "I can see that you got out of questioning pretty easy."
"That's right," Brandon said. "Zack, who're you into?"
"Hey, isn't that Colin? What're they up to now?" Zack said, pointing ahead of them slightly, speaking rather louder than necessary.
Bridget rolled her eyes. How like Zack. Brandon just smirked and shook his dreadlocked head. He supposed he could let Zack change the subject, after all, it was the student-made day off.
It could wait.
…
Amy felt bad for Shannon, she really, really did. But if the girl wasn't such a dumbass, Amy wouldn't have to do this. She scanned the beach, sending an I-wish-you-a-very-painful-death glare at some guy who'd been checking her out, searching for a certain group of people.
Putting a smile on her face she walked over to Mimi, Scarlett, and Memphis. All three of them stopped talking immediately. Mimi and Scarlett glared suspiciously while Amy stood there awkwardly.
She took a deep breath. Get straight to the point, right? "Shannon's a bitch."
"Have a seat," Mimi offered, patting the sand beside her.
"Pardon me if I tune out the drama," Memphis said, turning his shaggy blonde head away in fake disgust.
"No one's asking you to stay here," Mimi teased, sticking her tongue out immaturely.
"Well, I can see I'm unwanted," he said, moving like he was going to leave.
"No, you're wanted, you're wanted!" she cried, grabbing his arm and dragging him back down.
"Okay, if you two would kindly stop flirting," Scarlett said pointedly. They looked at her. "What's going on?"
Amy was a fellow cheerleader. Back in the day it was always Scarlett and Shannon, they were inseparable. They got all the boys, all the friends, all the cutest clothes, and the most fun. Eventually Amy decided that she needed in on this, she needed the boys, the friends, and the clothes. And then there were three. And soon three became four; Mimi, the only non-cheerleader of the bunch, grew close to Shannon.
From the beginning she'd noticed a sort of friendly competition between the two blondes. But now that it turned unfriendly it had seemed like she needed to pick sides. There wasn't much of a choice; Shannon clung to her, especially now that Mimi's gone.
"That's what's going on," Amy sighed bitterly, her voice shaking slightly as she pointed down the beach.
Scarlett frowned. "I don't see any-."
"SEX ON THE BEACH!"
Unmistakably, it was Colin's voice. He was standing by a very bewildered Shannon and Raymond who were merely sitting, watching the ocean, and snacking on ice cream. As he shouted, Liv and Gene ran up and squirted salad dressing and ketchup all over the two of them.
"Where the Hell did they…?" Mimi began, shaking her head slowly.
"I'm guessing that restaurant behind them, where that couple at the table is yelling at them to give them their ketchup back," Memphis suggested.
"That's not the point," Amy said, both frustrated and amused.
At this tone of voice, Scarlett and Mimi turned to her, all crazy antics of the other three forgotten, confused. Suddenly, realization dawned on Mimi; it had been so long since she had spoken with Amy, she had nearly forgotten.
"You like Raymond!"
Scarlett gasped, her memory clearly jogged as well. To Memphis, however, this was news. "I'm sorry, who are you, again?" Memphis said, politely puzzled.
"Amy Hart," she muttered, her face nearly as red as her hair. She'd been told her crush on Ray was obvious, but she was still embarrassed talking about it.
"And you like Raymond too?" he questioned. She nodded. "Damn, I better be a star basketball player in another life. They get all the good looking chicks."
Scarlett and Mimi both hit him lightly, not looking away from Amy. They could not believe that both of them had forgotten this little piece of information. "And all this time, you've just been playing along, instead of pointing out that he's your man and she should back off if she knows what's good for her?" Mimi questioned.
"Of course I have!" Amy said, getting defensive. "Shannon's got more power than I have, she'd destroy me…"
"But we've got something Shannon doesn't," Scarlett pointed out. Amy looked at her questionably. "Numbers," she said with a smile, hugging Amy. Mimi hugged them too.
"What a filthy hypocrite," Scarlett said disgustedly, sending a dirty look at Shannon, who had stepped into the ocean to let the waves wash the condiments off of her. "She hates you," she said to Mimi. "Because you made out with that one guy she liked, but now she's dating the guy who Amy likes."
"You made out with what guy?" Memphis questioned.
"Last year, I was drunk, he was two years older, he's out of school now," Mimi answered quickly. "I know she is! We definitely need a way for revenge! I was thinking that – where are you going?" she cut off her train of thought as Memphis rose beside her and waded into the water.
"What the - ?"
From afar the girls watched as Memphis engaged Shannon in conversation for a few minutes as she rinsed herself off in the saltwater. They watched, still, as he pointed out a spot she had missed on her leg. As she turned to see where, he grabbed her legs and set her flying, face first, into the water.
By the time Shannon resurfaced, sopping wet and fuming, Memphis was already halfway back to them. "You're welcome!" he shouted as he walked past them and toward Colin and Gene, who were probably looking for some new way to stir up trouble.
"Well that's one way," Amy said, watching him go. She was just glad the other two had accepted her, because Shannon had gone too far this time.
…
Sophia and Liv stood knee-deep in the water, looking out wearily over the ocean, as if they wanted to swim but were much too lazy. Sophia took a long drag on her joint and, for once in their lives, the two girls were quiet. "Zoey needs to get out of the fucking water," she finally said.
Liv took a sip of her drink, shrugging. "Let her swim. Unless she knows something to kill the boredom…"
"You get bored much too easily, my friend," Sophia noted.
"I have time to rest when I'm dead," Liv said defensively.
"Hey, I'm bored too," Sophia said, giving a half-shrug showing that she didn't mean anything by it. "I'm almost considering going home and just playing drums or something – more interesting than this."
"We should talk to everyone and see if they want to hit up the Whiskey or something," Liv suggested, observing the setting sun over the ocean. "That's always a blast."
"What's the Whiskey?"
"You've never heard of the Whiskey A Go-Go?" Liv gasped, nearly dropping her drink.
"Sounds familiar. Bar?"
"Club," Liv said, in awe at her friend. Sophia shrugged; she had lived in Russia the first half of her life, and coming to this school was her first real big city experience. "Good music, hot guys. It's off Sunset Boulevard, right down the street from the Roxy and the Viper Room. Two other clubs," she said before Sophia could ask.
"I'm game," Sophia said, actually rather excited at the idea. "Shall we ask the guys?"
"No," Liv answered immediately. "They'll all want to go to the strip clubs...they'll ask when we're leaving. We'll get Zoey though." She stared around the ocean, seeing nothing but the little kids from visiting families. "Damn it. Where is she?"
"Hello ladies," the unexpected voice of Zack came from behind them. He had waded out to the water beside them. "Olivia." He nodded, she scowled. "And I don't think we've officially met, but, Sophia, correct?"
Sophia's green eyes narrowed. "Yes."
"I'm Zack, I'm Brandon's friend," he said, putting an unusual emphasis on his friend's name. He too joined them in looking out at the ocean. "So what're you up to? Having fun?"
"Not really," Liv answered. "We want to hit the clubs but we don't know where Zoey is."
"Clubs? Cool," Zack could not honestly say he'd ever been to a club before, despite living in LA practically his whole life. Brandon would probably drag him there when he found out about this plan though, so he just volunteered himself. "If you two don't mind, I'll tag along…maybe I'll ask Brandon…if you don't mind, of course." He peered at Sophia.
"Nah, that's cool, the more the merrier," she said, looking completely indifferent. "I didn't think she swam off that far…"
Zack could see this conversation wasn't going anywhere, and he made a mental note to tell Brandon that his matchmaking job was harder than he thought. He was suddenly distracted. "Wait – isn't that her?"
"Oh my God," Sophia's hand flew to her mouth.
"LIFEGUARD! LIFEGUARD!" Liv cried immediately at the sight of her friend's unmoving, floating form. But all three of them knew better; the very reason they came to this beach was because there was little authority here, and every time they entered they passed by a huge "Swim at own risk" sign.
"Do something!" Sophia shook Zack's arm desperately. He began trying to fight the waves, but the tide was getting stronger at this time of day, and he was too scrawny to fight the waves.
Suddenly, he, too, fell and was overcame by water, but he had the strength to resurface. Shaking his black hair out of his face, he gasped, looking for the source of his collapse.
Both Steven and Raymond had answered to Liv's previous call, but Raymond was finding it rather difficult to get into the water at this time.
"Don't – don't! You could get hurt!"
"I'm not going to!" he said, trying to shake his girlfriend's surprisingly strong grip.
"What if it was a shark or something?"
"That's not a shark attack you idiot!" Gene yelled finally, pushing her aside, sending her flying into the sand, and Raymond was in the water too, though Steven had already almost made it to Zoey's unconscious body.
"Oh my God." Liv noticed Leo by her side and gripped his hand. It was weird to see a tough girl like Liv in this scared of a state but she had never seen something like this before. "Oh my God."
Hmm. Zoey. What happened? Is she okay? Who knows…
And you'll all be happy to know that even if it says submissions closed on the summary, submissions are REOPENED! But for minor characters. And what I mean by that is…you know how I said Mimi made out with some guy who is now graduated? People like that. Other recommendations…
Older/younger siblings
Band members – graduates of the school or dropouts
People from the rival school – preferably cheerleaders, basketball or soccer players
Employees in the city – fast food, bartenders, dancers from the clubs, etc.
People who'd moved away and are revisiting
You get the picture. It'd be best if they were people with a connection to an OC. Not everyone will be accepted, probably, unless I don't get many. Please review?
