Not good for you

16;

Spending the day with Emilia and Leigh helped me calm my nerves and forget about Seeley for a while.

We were lying under the sun, eating and drinking beer. I didn't need only thirty minutes to fully let go and enjoy the moment.

We listened to Emilia gamble about a retired old lady who kept trying to cut in her while waiting in the cashier's queue.

Leigh had let us know that since we had left Hillsboro, she could sleep well and didn't wake up at least four times over the night like she always had at home.

I was glad that I wasn't the only one who noticed a slight change in our lives since our families weren't around to push our buttons.

I was more comfortable and graceful with others while Emilia looked more balanced than she ever had been.

We laughed and sang while strangers were walking past by with their partners, families, or dogs. A golden retriever almost stole my sandwich when a man came down the beach to swim.

"Is this how it would feel like to move away?" Emilia asked and leaned back on her elbows. "Because if so then I might run away as soon as we go back home."

I nudged her slightly.

"You'll need money for that one." I smiled and she slid her sunglasses down her nose.

"I'll rob a bank or someone." She said. "Don't think I won't do it."

"You would have thought that the school nerd would be the one to get into Harvard or some ivy league like that." Leigh laughed loudly. "And here she is, planning to flee her home and rob a bank to survive."

Emilia popped her head up.

"Not everyone is a goddamn IQ master like you, Leigh," she said and I snorted at their girlish argument.

"You should have cheated on the test." Leigh told wisely and Emilia lay down on the blanket we had brought with us.

"Don't you think I tried that?" she asked and I gasped.

"Em, you can't be serious!" I said, horrified and shocked.

Emilia gave me a side glance before shrugging.

"Everyone has their flaws," she said seriously. "Mine happens to be a perfectionist. And I'm not afraid to risk my chance to achieve my plans."

"Then you should have offered yourself to your teacher to give you the answers from the exam," Leigh replied and I slapped her hand.

"Quit it."

Emilia however wasn't affected or ashamed by Leigh's advice.

"If Mr. Hutton was hot and ten years younger than I would have." Emilia answered with a small chuckle.

"You both are horrible." I shook my head.

"You are not allowed to be nice and innocent in a world like this." Leigh played along.

We laughed while throwing other misunderstandable jokes around when something softly bumped into my arm.

I turned to the right and saw a worn volleyball next to me. I raised my head when I heard footsteps approaching us.

"I'd say sorry but it was time for you to notice me," said a familiar voice.

Perkyn stopped beside us with a grin on his face. He was topless, showing us his slim-toned upper body. I was disrespectfully looking as he leaned down and grabbed the ball from the sand.

"I was preoccupied with the girls here, sorry not sorry."

Perkyn shrugged and chewed on his bottom lip.