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[indent][i][color=35996B]“What in the [i]fuck[/i] is happening?!”[/color][/i] 

The sound of Archer’s shrill voice made Marisol instantly look up, eyes wide with surprise. With his scowl in place and arms crossed in front of his chest, her best friend was looking less than pleased at what was going on. The small pit of panic and despair that had been nestled in the young woman’s stomach grew significantly, threatening to swallow her small figure whole. Had Archer seen [i]everything[/i] that had just happened between her and Jason? It certainly looked like it, with the way he was acting. But how was Mari supposed to explain everything that had happened? She was so fucking exhausted of explaining herself and dealing with these stupid feelings that were making her vulnerable and weak. All she wanted was to lock herself in a dark room and ignore the world for a few days.

She’d been in the middle of composing her departure message when her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a familiar female voice.

[i][color=CF5685]“Stop it!”[/color][/i] the girl scolded Archer, slapping his arm and stepping towards she and Jason. It was only when the moonlight illuminated the woman’s features that Sol realized it was Julie Macmillan, whom she’d harbored a small crush since they’d been in elementary school. Oh, fucking [i]great[/i]. That’s exactly what Marisol needed: more embarrassment in front of people she was crushing on. [color=CF5685]“Are you alright?”[/color] the redhead asked her as Archer silently scooped her away from Jason.  

Mari nodded, not uttering a single word while she let herself be guided back to the party without a fight. Now that the adrenaline of her scene with Jason was gone, the brunette was starting to feel just how damn cold it was tonight. The more she tried to forget about it, the more she noticed, and the more her body began to shake. And although Archer’s arm around her provided a small amount of body heat, the black bikini clinging to her bare skin and the absence of a towel or blanket weren’t helping her case. Her lips were taking on a light shade of purple, and her teeth began to chatter.

Before she had caught up to the other two Julie had grabbed the pile of clothing lying on the pier and stuffed them in her bag. She saw how the small girl was shivering even in her friend’s arms, which made sense since she was only wearing a small bikini. [color=CF5685]“We should get her out of that… and into something dry.”[/color] she whispered as she trailed behind the pair.

Archer turned his head to look at her with an annoyed expression as if to say he already knew that. He knew he should be grateful that she was trying to help but right now there was so many thoughts swimming around in his head that everything the redhead said was like a nail on a chalkboard to him.

[color=35996B]“Yes. Do you have any suggestions where we could do that?”[/color] he mumbled as they were getting closer to the party. He looked down at Marisol and squeezed her closer to him; he could feel her shivering more and more as they walked. She looked catatonic. [color=35996B]“Dude…”[/color] he began, but changed his mind. It would maybe be for the best to let her talk when she was ready.

Julie racked her brain as she trotted behind them. At least she wasn’t wearing heels. [color=CF5685]“Oh! I know! They have a pool house where they keep all of their pool supplies. I bet they have towels and stuff in there!”[/color] she exclaimed in a sing songy voice, happy she had come up with something.

[color=35996B]“Great… perfect.”[/color] Archer sighed as he led Mari towards the small shack that Julie had pointed out. 

The place where the Fernandez family kept their pool supplies was the size of a small apartment, and weirdly enough just as furnished, albeit sparingly. The young man led Marisol over to a small cabana-style sofa that stood in the corner, sat her down and began to rummage through the large cabinets.

Seeing the state of the small girl, Julie strode over to the sofa and perched herself beside the petite brunette. She opened her bag, retrieved Marisol’s shorts and placed them between them. She noticed she had to many shirts as she held up the first: a men’s button down shirt. [color=CF5685]“I’m guessing this isn’t yours,”[/color] she smiled as Mari shook her head, and tossed Jason’s shirt aside before placing Marisol’s shirt on top of her shorts.

Mari had continued to stay quiet throughout it all, her still-chattering teeth being the only noise she was making. The privacy this poolside shack offered away from the rowdiness of the party along with the warmth radiating from Julie’s body provided Sol with some much-needed comfort. With the redhead so close, all the smaller girl wanted was to curl up in her lap, tell her all about her problems and cry it all out while having her dainty fingers running through her hair. There was something serene and peaceful about Julie; something that made Marisol feel as if she could trust her with her darkest secrets, and that she would get nothing but sweetness and understanding in return… Which is exactly what she craved right at that very moment.

[color=brown]“I feel so stupid…”[/color] Marisol finally whispered, speaking for the first time since being escorted away from Jason. She looked up at Julie with tearful green eyes, her bottom lip trembling now but not because of the cold.

Julie turned to face Marisol placing a comforting hand over hers. [color=CF5685]“We’re all stupid…”[/color] she uttered, biting her lip. [color=CF5685]“Uhm, what I mean to say is: no matter what went down out there, don’t let anyone tell you how you should live you life or what you should do!”[/color] She turned away and looked at her shoes. [color=CF5685]“Take it from someone who knows how it feels to be talked about… You just have to ignore it.”[/color] she shook her head as if to shake her feelings away.

[color=brown]“But you’re sweet, and so pretty, and popular, and the only reason people talk about you is because they’re jealous, not because they mean all those nasty things they could ever say about you!”[/color] Marisol told her, squeezing Julie’s hand.

Archer snorted from inside one of the cabinets. Julie frowned and threw a pillow that hit the young man’s back. [color=35996B]“Ow! No it’s not that! These people have [i]Hermes[/i] blankets in their pool closet! How bougie can you get?!”[/color] He emerged from within the cabinet with an amused look on his face, tossing one of the blankets and a towel towards the girls.

The redhead caught the items and stroked the soft blanket, [color=CF5685]“Hermes isn’t even that expensive for such a nice brand.”[/color] she mused as she threw it around Marisol. When the others stayed quiet she looked up from securing the blanket around the girl. Archer had an disgusted expression plastered on his face. [color=CF5685]“What?!”[/color] Julie exclaimed staring back at him.

[color=35996B]“You’re really one of a kind, Macmillan!”[/color] Archer said as he closed all the cabinet doors he had opened. When he was done he sat down on the armrest next to his best friend looking down at her with worried eyes. [color=35996B]“So Slim… What… happened?”[/color] he tried to sound as non judgemental as he possibly could.

Although she knew he was trying his hardest to sound understanding, Sol wasn’t convinced. Still, the unspoken words were starting to eat her alive, and all she wanted was to get rid of the suffocating weight building up on her shoulders. [color=brown]“What exactly do you know so far?”[/color] she asked him, in order to determine from what point exactly she should start narrating her story.

[color=35996B]“Well I saw you on top of Weaver… So maybe start from there? I’m confused, because last time I checked I thought…”[/color] he trailed of shifting his gaze towards Julie. The redhead held up her hands and shook her head to indicate she wasn’t listening and began to inspect the rest of the pool house.

Blood rushed to Marisol’s face, reddening her cheeks with shame, humiliation and embarrassment as she was reminded of how he’d so brutally rejected her. [color=brown]“The stupid, pasty-ass fucker nearly drowned after getting into a fight with me in the water,”[/color] she began to explain, wrapping the towel more tightly around her slender figure. [color=brown]“He said some nasty things to me and I tried to punch him, but the asshole dodged them and then grabbed me and pulled me underwater to stop me from swinging at him again. I started to kick and elbow him to get him off me, and I connected one and swam away, but I noticed he wasn’t coming back up. So I swim back to look around and sure enough this walking piece of shit had gotten one of his big feel stuck in a reef and had passed out. So me, being the Good Samaritan that I am, got him out of the reef and back to shore. I tried to revive him but realized that I had no other choice but to give him mouth-to-mouth-”[/color] Sol said with her face now looking as if she was staring at a particularly nasty booger. [color=brown]“So that’s what I did. And I have no idea why, but before I realized it he’d pulled me on top of him and was kissing me hard, and me being as stupid as only I can be really fucking enjoyed it and kissed him back. That’s what you saw, I assume?”[/color]

[color=35996B]“Oh.”[/color] Was the only thing that Archer could muster to say. Leave it to his newly deflowered friend to start making out with her rescue subject. [color=35996B]“Well! If Weaver spreads this around we just deny it and we do damage control!”[/color] he mused, his mind going 100 miles a minute. 

[color=CF5685]“God, you're dense.”[/color] Julie commented from the other side of the sofa, her head resting in her hand. She hadn't been able [i]not[/i] to listen to Marisol's story.

[color=35996B]“I beg your pardon?”[/color] Archer asked, offended. 

Julie stood up with a huff and faced them both. [color=CF5685]“Look: Jason has a girlfriend, and a jealous one at that from what I've heard. He is [i]not[/i] going to be telling anyone about this. So [i]we[/i] have the upper hand right now. If you want this to just go away, Marisol, we can just never speak of it again… And that will be that!”[/color] she offered with a smile. [color=CF5685]“We’ll let you change now. Come along, Archie!”[/color] Julie grabbed Archer by the arm and began to lead him outside. 

[color=35996B]“What? It's not like I haven't seen her change before?”[/color] he protested as he didn't really want to go back outside. 

[color=CF5685]“Don't be gross! Let the girl have her privacy. We'll be right outside, hun!”[/color] she chirped as she dragged the reluctant boy outside. 

[color=brown]“Wait!”[/color] Marisol called out to them, standing up from her comfy spot in the couch to look at their retreating figures with tears in her eyes again, her bottom lip trembling and looking ridiculously small and cute with the huge blanket wrapped around her. [color=brown]“You guys don’t get it… I don’t care about what happened with Weaner. It was just a stupid, meaningless kiss. What really got me angry was that he said-”[/color] she took a deep breath. [color=brown]“He said that I was a bitch and that’s why Sonny will never love me.”[/color]

The pair froze when they heard Marisol call out with a tearful voice. They both turned around to face her again. Archer felt like he could throw up, the knot that had been growing in his stomach for the past week since Mari had told him about her feelings towards Sonny was on the verge of bursting. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

[color=35996B]“I don’t know what to say Mari… I’m sorry that he called you a bitch. But… you also know how I feel about Sonny. To be brutally honest, I don’t think he is capable of loving anyone but himself.”[/color] He said quietly as he stepped closer towards his little heartbroken best friend. All he wanted to do was to hug her and say everything would be alright, but he didn’t believe it would so that would be disingenuous.

Julie let out a small sigh from her position by the door. [color=CF5685]“Change in to your dry clothes and if you want you and me can talk outside. Just us girls, ok?”[/color] she shot Archer a damning look after the emotional Mari nodded. The boy really was thick when it came to a girls feelings. She gestured for him to follow her outside with a flick of her wrist.

The minute that the door was closed behind her, Mari quickly tore the icy cold bikini off her body, and dried herself off with the Hermes blanket she’d been given. Next up was to take care of her dripping hair, which she did by wrapping the blanket around it and twisting it as hard as it would go before letting it back down again and quickly put her clothes back on. Her oversized jacket felt like heaven now, snuggling her petite body and showering it with warmth. That was, until she remembered who she’d stolen said jacket from… But before she could have another ridiculous meltdown like the girls she so desperately hated, the young woman took a few deep, calming breaths before exiting the pool house.

[color=brown]“Okay, I’m ready,”[/color] she told Julie and Archer, who were waiting right outside the door. Her jeweled-colored gaze lingered on the redhead for a few seconds longer than they did on her best friend, sending her a silent signal that she was taking her up on her ‘counseling’ offer.

Julie smiled at her as she stepped out, immediately understanding what she wanted to say. [color=CF5685]“Archer? Maybe you could go get the rest of your, uh, crew?”[/color] she asked him, and gazed in the direction of the drinks table. Archer scowled at her, torn between being livid at being told what to do by Julie Macmillan or helping his best friend. Sighing, the tall boy gave the redhead a curt nod and began snaking his way back through the dancing crowd.

Turning back towards the short girl with a smile, Julie put a friendly hand on the small of Marisol’s back, led her to the big truck that she recognized as being Sonny’s and leaned on the side of the truck. [color=CF5685]“So this night didn’t really turn out the way you hoped it would, huh?”[/color] she cooed, looking down at the brunette. 

The short girl nodded, letting out a long sigh. [color=brown]“It’s probably been the worst night of my life, if I’m being honest,”[/color] Mari replied to Julie, climbing into the back of Sonny’s truck and lying down in the bed of the truck facing up. [color=brown]“You coming up?”[/color] she called out to the other girl, hoping she would accept her offer.

Lifting her long skirt up a little so she would have a bit more mobility, Julie climbed up after Marisol and sat down beside the girl. [color=CF5685]“How come Jason got under your skin like that? I’m guessing Sonny is very important to you?”[/color] she asked, brushing the dark hair out of the small girl’s face. This reminded her of the nights that she and her sister Iris used to spend in hotels on their father’s work trips.

Mari nodded and turned to Julie with sad eyes. [color=brown]“I think I love him,”[/color] she whispered to her, afraid that if she said it out loud the doubts would dissipate and the statement would be certain. [color=brown]“I’ve known him my whole life. My mom and his dad have been best friends since they were our age, and Son and I have been friends literally since we were born. I’m not shitting you: we were born on the exact same day with only like 6 hours of difference. We know each other better than anyone in the world. But after what happened between us this past summer, I can’t help but shake the feeling that what I feel for him goes beyond what I thought I had. ”[/color]

[color=CF5685]“Wow… That’s very intense.”[/color] Julie whispered as she leaned back and looked up to the sky. If you don’t count Iris, the longest friendship Julie has is with Chanel, and they had met in junior high. [color=CF5685]“I know this will sound stupid, but the easiest way to sort this out is to just speak with Sonny. I’m just going out on a limb and guessing he doesn’t know about your feelings?”[/color] she mused, and after quickly sensing a shift in the atmosphere she looked back down at Marisol. When she saw her horrified facial expression, she threw her hands up in defeat and giggled. [color=CF5685]“I know that’s not the advice you’d want to hear but… that’s what I always do. Just face it head on, you know?”[/color] 

Marisol had been listening to Julie’s soothing voice absentmindedly, staring up at the glistening stars in the night sky. When the she suggested that she come clean about her feelings and just tell him, the brunette let out a shaky laugh. [color=brown]“That’s easier said than done. You don’t know Sonny. He’s not exactly the type to be [i]understanding[/i] of my feelings or some corny shit like that. He’d probably call me a big fat pussy.”[/color]

[color=CF5685]“But wouldn’t you be better off knowing what he felt?”[/color] Julie wondered. [color=CF5685]“What are you worried will happen?”[/color] she continued.

[color=brown]“That he doesn’t feel the same way I do and embarrass myself and get hurt and ruin everything,”[/color] Mari confessed, looking back at Julie with those tears in her eyes again.

The redhead spent some time silently mulling the situation over. [color=CF5685]“The way I see it, you have two choices. On the one hand you can ignore it and go on with life as usual but be in this state of not knowing anything. On the other hand, you can talk with him and just set yourself free in a sense. Hopefully he values your friendship as much as you do!”[/color] she smiled. [color=CF5685]“Besides, I didn’t think you were one of these girls that lets a guy dictate how you live your life!”[/color] she shoved Marisol playfully.  

The shorter girl laughed, shoving the redhead playfully in retaliation. [color=brown]“Yeah, I guess you’re right…”[/color] Sol admitted, shifting up to a seating position. [color=brown]“We’ll see how it goes. But for now, I’m heading back into Hell. Gonna see if any of the guys want to bust the hell out of here early.”[/color] she declared, standing up and climbing off from the truck bed. 

She had just turned around to walk away when she stopped in her tracks and turned around. [color=brown]“And Julie?”[/color] Mari said suddenly, looking back at the other girl with a small smile on her face. [color=brown]“Thank you for listening. It means a lot to me.”[/color]

[color=CF5685]“Don’t worry about it hun.”[/color] Julie said as she slowly rose from the floor taking very great care not to dirty her vintage dress. She gently jumped down from the truck smiling at Marisol. [color=CF5685]“Do you want me to come with you?”[/color] she asked looking towards the crowd. [color=CF5685]“Oh, looks like we won’t need to…”[/color] she whispered as she spotted Archer charging towards them.

[color=CF5685]“Did you find them?”[/color] She asked softly when the boy reached them. He already looked to be in a real sour mood and Julie didn’t want to poke an already angry badger.

Archer looked up at them with wide eyes [color=35996B]“Nope! Nowhere to be seen! I’ll call us an über!”[/color] He said as he tapped on the screen of his phone. [color=35996B]“You riding with us Red?”[/color] he asked without even looking up. [color=35996B]“Alright! [i]Shaun[/i] will be here in 5 minutes!”[/color] Archer said as he finally pocketed his phone. [color=35996B]“You guys have a nice talk?”[/color]

Julie smiled at them both [color=CF5685]“Yes we did, but I need to go check how Chanel is doing. I’ll see you back at school”[/color] with a small wave the redhead disappeared towards the party. [/indent]