Summer Kickoff

The invitation said "Summer Kickoff Pool Party" in bright pink letters, and normally I would have declined. Parties weren't my thing. But my roommate Jenna had been begging for weeks, and apparently the house belonged to some girl from her marketing class who was "absolutely loaded" and "had a pool bigger than our apartment."

I didn't care about the pool. I didn't care about the house. What I cared about was getting through one social event without embarrassing myself, and then hiding in my room for the rest of the summer.

That plan lasted exactly fifteen minutes.

* * *

The house was ridiculous, a sprawling mansion in the hills with more windows than walls and a backyard that looked like a resort. The pool was everything Jenna promised, complete with a waterfall, a swim-up bar, and what appeared to be a grotto.

"See? Told you." Jenna was already pulling off her cover-up, revealing a bikini that left very little to the imagination. "Go mingle. Have fun. Try not to look like you're attending your own funeral."

She disappeared into the crowd before I could respond, leaving me standing at the edge of the pool deck in my sensible one-piece, surrounded by people who all seemed to know each other.

I made my way to the bar, at least I could pretend to be busy getting a drink, and that's when I saw her.

She was floating in the pool on an inflatable flamingo, sunglasses pushed up into blonde hair that looked like it had never seen a bad day. Her body was tanned and toned, and her white bikini was exactly the kind of thing I could never pull off. She was laughing at something someone said, and even from across the pool, I could tell her smile was trouble.

She caught me staring and raised her drink in a mock toast.

I looked away immediately, face burning.

"You're not very good at being subtle, are you?"

I turned to find her standing beside me, somehow having teleported from the pool to the bar in the time it took me to order a vodka tonic. Water dripped from her hair, trailing down her collarbone, and I forced myself to look at her face.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to

stare."

"I didn't say I minded." She grabbed a towel from a nearby lounge chair and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I'm Sienna. This is my party."

"I'm Tori. I came with Jenna."

"Marketing Jenna? She's fun." Sienna leaned against the bar, close enough that I could smell chlorine and coconut sunscreen. "You don't look like you're having fun."

"Parties aren't really my thing."

"Then why did you come?"

"Jenna's very persuasive."

"She is." Sienna smiled, and up close it was even more devastating. "Tell you what. Let me show you around. If you're still not having fun in an hour, I'll personally drive you home."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know. I want to." She held out her hand. "Come on, Tori-who-hates-parties. Let me change your mind."

* * *

The tour started with the pool house ("fully stocked bar, hot tub, sauna"), continued through the gardens ("my mom's pride and joy"), and ended at the dock where a small sailboat bobbed in the private lake behind the property.

"And this is where I come to escape when the party gets to be too much."

"You throw parties and then escape from them?"

"I throw parties because it's expected. I escape because I'd rather be sailing." She sat down on the dock, dangling her feet in the water. "Sit with me?"

I sat beside her, close enough that our shoulders almost touched. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink, and the sounds of the party seemed very far away.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."