End of the Summer Beach Bash

Chapter 3

Raelyn had already been waiting in her room for Jack to get out of the shower for 20 minutes. The water was still running. The digital clock told her that it was only 10:45, so she decided to unpack. By the time she was finished Jack would have to be done.

In the corner were one big suitcase, a trunk, and a big mesh bag packed with stuff. This should be fun, she thought sarcastically. But, in fact, she got very wrapped up in her task. By the time she was done the room looked actually lived in. the closet was full of hanging clothes, books all over the floor, and loads of other things she couldn't find places for. The dresser was full, and its counter was covered with jewelry, make up, brushes, and other miscellaneous items. Old stuffed animals littered the floor, pictures and posters covered the walls, and worn looking Ninja Turtles sheets had replaced the clean blue ones.

Satisfied, Rae got up to take her shower. Looking at the clock she saw it was almost 1:00. Shit! She ran quickly in and out of the shower. Her long hair dripping. She only had time to towel dry it and shove it into a messy bun near the nape of her neck. But no matter how fast she had gone it was still almost 1:30.

Rae ran to her dresser grabbing the first bathing suit she could find. It was a black bikini lined with different shades of pink polka dot. Good enough for me. Then she grabbed a pair of jean shorts. It was a simple outfit, but with her slim and curved form it looked great. She threw on her make up in a rush making sure to stick to waterproof. When she finished she studied herself in the mirror. The black suit against her tan skin. The make up natural except for black eyeliner. Rae was satisfied with the look.

Jack's voice shouted from the hallway, "Come on. Don't make me late."

Rae slipped on some flip flops and grabbed a towel. Jack, who had already gotten in his car, honked at her to hurry up. She sat down in the passenger seat, and he sped off down the road.

Rae could see the beach was only three blocks down from the house. I wonder why he's driving, she thought, if it would only take a few minutes to walk. Probably just wants to look all cool pulling up in a car.

When they got to the last block, and the road turned in to steps leading to a boardwalk, Jack pulled over.

"You can walk from here, ok," he said as he reached over her and opened the door. She glared at him. He threw up his hands in defense, " Hey, you understand."

"Sure," said Rae sarcastically, but she got out of the car. She waited till Jack pulled up the road and parked before she started walking.

A bunch of people her age were also walking up the block. But it Jack was any measure to how some people in this place were, Rae didn't think she would very much like to talk to them. There were maybe one or two that didn't look like they thought themselves to be superior to everyone else. One, in particular, caught her eye. A guy with golden brown hair to match his golden skin. His hazel eyes twinkled as he laughed with a group of people. The people he was walking with seemed pretty ok too. Maybe this wont be too bad, Rae laughed in her head.

The beach was beautiful. There was a DJ and a dance floor connected to the boardwalk off to her right. Girls were getting tans, and guys were playing volleyball. Rae decided to go swimming, because, even though it was a beach, hardly anyone was swimming. Rae was a strong swimmer. She had been on many swim teams back in NJ.

For a while she practiced her strokes. But then she just fooled around. Rae was swimming under the water trying to walk on the sand when something grabbed onto her foot. She jumped up and screamed losing her footing and falling backward. She hit something else behind her and was still so startled that she jumped away from it franticly. But the it grabbed her arm, steadying her. Rae could here the laughter coming from it but chose to ignore it. She let the person hold her up as she looked at her foot. There was a deep gash across the ball of her foot. The ocean water stung as it touched the wound. The blood coming from it colored the water, and she cringed.

" That looks nasty," the person holding her observed.

Again surprised, Rae looked up. It was the guy she had seen before, his golden hair wet and now he had his shirt off. Rae could only stare. He looked even more gorgeous up close. When he raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, she finally came back to reality, " Oh, um…yea. I guess."

He smiled and his eyes twinkled, "Well, maybe I should carry you back. Wouldn't want to get any sand in a cut like that."

Rae smiled back and nodded her consent. The guy picked her up and she imagined they were a newly wed couple walking into their new house. Rae couldn't stop smiling, and it had been a long time since she had felt that way.

Rae pointed her savior to where she had put her stuff. He set her down on her towel. A group of three people had placed themselves by her towel. Then he sat himself down next to her.

She smiled at him, smitten, "Thanks."

"Oh, no problem," he said waving her off. "It was my pleasure." He put his hand out to shake, smiling broadly. She shook with him.

"Raelyn Campi," she stated.

"Brian Ramsey. But you can call me Jinx."

She looked at him quizcally, "Jinx?" I don't get it."

"He smiled, eyes glinting, "You will."

Rae started to laugh, but at that moment an annoying voice pierced her ears, "Hey Jinxy," it cooed.

Jinx looked up at the two girls in string bikinis walked up to them. The taller one with blonde hair that had black on the bottom of it had spoken. Just by looking at her face Rae could tell two things: 1. this girl was trouble and 2. she had it bad for Jinx. Rae looked over at Jinx and saw his face visibly darken.

"Thistle, what's up?" he said to the girl.

"We were looking for you," she was trying to hard to make her voice what she thought was sexy.

"Yea," piped up the other girl. She was maybe an inch or two taller than Rae with pale skin for a Californian and auburn hair. "Blink sent me to find you and Thistle here wanted to come along. He told me to tell you, and I quote "Get your ass over here, Jinx. Minx and Sarah are almost drunk and Mush and Jack are trying to get them to skinny dip."

Jinx laugh his face lighting up now that the other girl was talking, "Ok, Kitten, sounds like a good deal. Tell Blinky Boy I'll be there in a minute. I just got to get my new friend, Rae, some stuff to cover up a cut on her foot," then he turned to Rae, "I'll be right back with something to put on that. I'm going to leave you here with these two just for a moment."

Rae nodded appreciatively. Jinx got up and as he passed he said the Thistle, "Be nice."

The three stood there in an awkward silence. The Kitten finally pronounced, "Look, Thistle, Jinx is coming back. Lets get back to everyone."

She turned around and started walking back. Rae thought the other girl was going to also, but instead she got very close to Rae, "Listen, you and I both know you don't belong at this party. Jinx is just naïve to notice. Stay away from him. He is mine. In fact, just stay away."

Rae could only stare with her mouth hanging open. She didn't think she had ever met anyone so mean. But the time Jinx got back and Rae had regained her senses Thistle was half way to the stage.

"I hope she didn't scare you too much. Thistle that is. She isn't that bad once you get to know her. I guess."

Rae laughed, "I'm not so sure."

Jinx smiled. Every time he did Rae thought he would faint. He had brought back some gauze, which he put over the cut, and tape it down.

"Well, I should be getting back. You going to NRHS?" he asked

"If you mean Notown Regional High School, then yes I am going to NRHS," she said smirking like her old self would have.

He smiled back, "Well, then I'll see you Monday."

"Yup, see you," Rae felt ecstatic as she watched Jinx leave.

Then for the first time she noticed the people sitting close to her listening very intently. She turned to them. There was one guy and two girls. The guy was very cute with his brown eyes and dark hair. One girl was small, shorter than Rae, with brown hair and eyes and an oval shaped face. The other had blue eyes, red mushroom cut hair, and many freckles. They all seemed pleasant enough.

"Um, Hello," Rae said a little uncertainly.

But they didn't even bother with greetings.

"Sorry, but we've been watching you….."

"And we noticed that Thistle doesn't seem to like you all that much….."

"Which is bad. Even a guy like Jinx couldn't stop her from ……."

"Shall we say, damaging you social statis."

"So we propose you do something about this now…"

"We know some people who can help."

Rae would have started laughing. The way they finished each other's sentences and talked like a commercial was very comical. But she wasn't sure just what they were getting at, "Um…sorry…I don't do drugs."

The guy started laughing. The red-haired spoke alone now, "No, no. We just noticed that Thistle might have something in for you. And just incase she does something, there is some people you can go to."

Then the little girls silently whipped out a card from her pocket. Rae took it and it went something like this:

The Conspiracy Club

Dedicated to helping those in need of social revenge.

President: Anthony "racetrack" Higgins

V. President: Chip "spot" Conlon

Please contact one of the afore mentioned if you are

interested in our services.

Rae looked up from the card, a smile playing on her face, "Is this serious?"

The small girl looked at her, "Oh quite. You don't know what the popular group is like at NRHS. Probably at least ten times worse than anywhere else you have ever been." She seemed to shudder as she thought about it.

"Well, thank you…um…" Rae still didn't have a clue as to who they were.

The guy clarified, "I'm Comedy, Ms. Red over here is Mama, and the little guy is Mouse."

Rae nodded, "Well, thank you all. And I will definitely keep this in mind."

Rae then put the card into her pocket, folded her blanket, and stood, "Well, see you Monday."

Rae decided to walk home despite of her aching foot for a couple of reason: 1. She couldn't find Jack. 2. If she got someone to give her a ride they would find out she was Jack's stepsister, and she knew that neither she nor Jack wanted that. 3. She would actually like some time to think about this club…and about a certain golden boy.

……