I win all the matches that I am in, while Caspian has less wins than me but more than Belle.
"Okay," I call out for their attention after Caspian loses to Belle for their final round, "You and Caspian against me, new game. Let's go!" We've already been playing for about an hour, and its half past eight in the morning now. I check my phone. A text from mom.
Mom: dad and I'll be late today
I send a thumbs up and turn my focus back to the game. I took off my sandals long ago and the sand sifts through my toes. A slight sheen of sweat covers my body while Caspian and Belle are almost drenched in it.
We start the game, me against Belle and Caspian. Caspian serves overhand and I put my hands together and hit it back towards Belle with a powerful but controlled move. Belle hits it to Caspian and he slaps it just over the net, but I was already expecting this move from their body language.
I quickly positioned myself in front of the net in a blur of speed, just in time to hit the ball over the net. I put slightly too much power into the move, so the ball goes to the very edge of their court, but not past the boundary.
Belle reaches for the ball, but it soars out of her reach. At the last moment, Caspian hits it over the net, towards me. I hit the ball at a very precise angle and with just enough strength to send it flying vertically in the air and landing right before the other side of the net while Caspian and Belle stand at the far side.
I give a jump in joy while Belle bends over, her hands on her knees, and Caspian forms a tired grin on his face.
He runs and gets the ball while Belle recovers herself and I take a swig of lemonade.
"Let-let's take a break," Belle says, catching her breath. I nod and we sit together on the chairs. I look at my skin to make sure it's not sunburned. Because of my odd skin color, I do tan, but not very easily, and I usually sunburn, but it's not as bad as if it would be if I had an even paler complexion.
I look at Belle and see her with the expression on her face that says she wants answers.
"So, Vee, what happened with Noah yesterday?" Belle begins the inquisition, just when Caspian appears.
"Wait, what happened with Noah?" Caspian asks. Belle quickly explains how she saw me "beating him up".
He just stares at me until he gives me a high five, making Belle giggle.
"What happened was we were doing a one-on-one celebratory soccer match, and he had the audacity to touch me underneath my clothing, on my hip and run his filthy hands through my hair. After that, I simply punched him a couple of times to let him know I mean business," I finish, putting a fist in my hands.
"I don't doubt you could beat him senseless if you wanted to," Caspian says, smirking.
"Yeah, I've been sparring for a long time," I say, leeching the emotion out of my voice. Revealing my past and my decisions is something I intend not to do. I am lounging on the blue beach chair, my long legs crossed. I cross my arms in front of my chest, my sunglasses on and covering a lot of my face.
"I have a great idea!" Belle calls out, excited, "Since Caspian has been training a little, you two should have a go at each other! It'll be a great way to kill some time, too," After some thought, Caspian speaks.
"Yeah, I agree. I want to see if you are as good as you say, Vivienne," Caspian declares.
"Caspian, I don't doubt you have some finesse, but I don't think you would want to try me," I say, warning him subtly before he does something he'll regret.
"Why not, Vee? If you are as strong as you believe yourself to be, you'll spar with me, right here, right now," Alright, Caspian, if you want a fight, you'll get a fight. For a dramatic effect, I slowly take off my sunglasses and pull off my summer hat.
"Okay," I say, getting up, "Let's go." I make my way into the house, and Belle and Caspian follow, a little confused. I walk upstairs to the second floor and to the last door in the hallway. A sparring court. Boxes filled with wrapping supplies and boxing gloves line one wall, but the rest of the room is a complete area for sparring. Frosted glass makes two of the walls give natural light into the room.
"I don't need to wrap my hands," I tell Caspian, "Feel free to do so yourself, though," He nods but doesn't wrap his hands, taking my unspoken challenge.
"This is going to be fun!" Belle squeals, grabbing her drinks and snacks, though the fight will most likely last no more than a few minutes.
We get into position, both of us standing across from each other while Belle watches from the sidelines. I put my fists up and he does the same. I subconsciously compare our features; he's a little taller than me, but I am faster, and I have much more muscle on him, though he does have more weight undoubtedly.
"Should I make the first move?" I ask when I get tired of us circling around, neither of us giving in yet.
"Sure," he replies, "I need to go easy on you anyway," I tamp down the anger rising up in me from his statement. I need to think with a cool, calm, collected mind, not one on a rampage. I surprise him by holding my arms limply at my sides and wiping my face and body of any expression. When he gives me a confused look, in a blur I swing my right fist at his jaw, hard enough to hear a crack. He stumbles before gaining balance, a glint in his eyes. I will make him regret underestimating me.
He throws a well-aimed punch for my stomach, almost as good as one of dad's punches, but I swiftly side-step it, causing him to lose his balance. He then tries to grab my waist and take me down, but I swing myself around using his momentum, straddling him, and throw a couple of punches at his stomach when he is on the ground. I get up when he starts struggling, there's no way I'm going to let this be a two-second fight.
He kicks out at one of my ribs, but I absorb the impact without even blinking and grab his foot and twist it around, making him cry out in pain. Adrenaline pumps through my body, but I try not to let it get to me too much, so I don't hurt him too bad.
I give him a powerful roundhouse kick to the side, and he falls face-forward. I dig my knee into his back and hold him in a chokehold while folding one of his legs at an angle until he taps my arm.
I hold him for a few seconds longer. "I warned you," I say, catching his defeated look before he picks himself up.
Belle cheers for me while Caspian struggles to catch his breath.
"You're alright, aren't you? Thank goodness I went easy," I tease with a dimple-popping smile. I check the time as he scowls and Belle fawns over both of us, looking for any broken bones or bad injuries.
Nine o'clock already, and the small sparring session only took about five minutes. We all head back to the chairs outside and grab our stuff to go swimming in the pool. Right behind the house itself is a large crystal-clear pool with a dark granite floor and layering. Leafy plants give cover around the pool and sand surrounds the plant boxes.
I dip my legs into the water, which is lukewarm and bubbling slightly from motors in the walls of the pool.
We all splash around and swim for a while in the sounds of birds chirping, the ocean washing against the shore, and our laughter. The air smells like salt and everything feels...fresh, invigorating.
I look towards the sun, my hand shielding my eyes, when I feel Caspian's eyes searching my face.
"What?" I say with a nervous smile. He treads water and slowly comes toward me, curiosity shadowing his face. He grabs my chin with one hand while holding me in place by gripping my arm with the other. He looks directly into my eyes, but not in my eyes. More like he's examining my irises.
"Your brown irises have the strangest patterns...with gold specs," He trails off, and I feel a jolt go through me at the same time he blinks and shudders. What was that? I look toward Belle as he swims to the opposite side of the pool, but she looks preoccupied with trying to confront him.
"Hey, Caspian, how's it going with your girlfriend?" Belle not-so-subtly provokes him. Even if I didn't know what happened between them, I would from all the nervous body language he's giving off.
He runs his hands through his hair and scrunches his eyebrows, his mouth pursed in a slight frown. His whole body becomes tense and a trickle of sweat slides down his forehead. A giant bruise has already started forming on his jaw and other faint ones on his neck and stomach.
Both me and him pull ourselves up so we are sitting with our legs in the water.
"Well, not that great, I mean we just sort of broke up," Belle raises an eyebrow at him while I cross my arms.
"Really," Belle plays with him, "On what terms did you break up?" Caspian nervously gulps.
"Oh, we thought that because of our strict family it wouldn't work out," He attempts to talk nonchalantly, but anyone could hear the underlying tremor in his voice.
"So, it wasn't after she took your virginity?" Belle accuses, Caspian going pale.
"N-No, well, sort of, actually, yes?" He poses his answer as a question. Belle explodes.
"How could you? I mean, when Vivienne and I decided to help you and not turn you in to our parents, we thought you would at least follow the most important rules of our parents' values!"
"W-well, Lexi was persuasive!" Lexi? It's a small town, and we all know each other's names. I decide to join the conversation.
"You don't happen to mean Alexis Smith, do you?" I say, a little worried.
"Y-yeah, why? Is she popular or something?" Caspian stammers out, confused. I exchange a look with Belle, who also looks confused.
"Look," I begin, getting up and starting to drag Belle with me into the house, "Belle and I need to talk, you stay here, it's just...girl stuff," I nod convincingly, and, though he doesn't look at all convinced, Caspian kicks at the water, dejected, while I drag Belle and myself to the living room.
"Belle, don't you remember?" I say, after seeing the confused look on her face.
"Remember what?"
"Sophomore year, Alexis Smith the queen bee,"
"You mean Lexi...as in abused Lexi?" I nod, and Belle looks perplexed. "But didn't she move?" I rub my temple in thought.
"I'm pretty sure she did. After the incident, everyone involved was frightened, but it was the hardest on her." Belle makes a humming noise at the back of her throat in agreement. Lexi was the queen bee of our school before Sophie, but she was much...kinder. Not like the cliché character Sophie is.
Everyone loved her, and there was always an irresistible pull around her. But one day, her father, who no one knew was actually abusive, kidnapped two of her closest friends; one of them being Julie's older sister, Brenda, and the other being a tall, willowy Latina girl her age named Aralia. She and her family moved out after Lexi's father was imprisoned, and though Julie and her family stayed, Brenda moved out a year ago for schooling in another city.
Lexi didn't have any living family other than some distantly related aunt on the other side of the country, even though the mayor, Noah's mother, offered her to stay with them. She declined, saying she needed to get away.
No one has heard from her since, but now she's back, and not-so-innocent anymore?