Chapter 1

Ashlee

"Sunglasses?"

"Check!"

"Towels?"

"Check!"

"Wait, why do we need towels?" Kelli asked, throwing the towels onto the white leather sofa in my room. "We won't be swimming," she points out. I rolled my eyes.

"To tan! What are we going to the beach for if not to TAN?" Kelli huffed and began to fold our towels. I brushed my light blonde hair behind my shoulders. This needed to be PERFECT. My insta feed was looking bland, and that was NOT allowed if I wanted to have a summer fling, which I did. Wait, was that ever in question? To retain popularity throughout the school year, you needed stories, and I'm not talking about how you stayed at your grandparent's house for a week. All I'm saying is that, if you wanted to be successful at Goode High School, you needed to have what it takes, and by what it takes, I mean a exes. Tons of exes. Or a current boyfriend. Who would become an ex. Obviously.

"Ashlee, is my makeup on point? If I bring makeup, it might melt."Kelli questions frantically, staring intently into my light pink vanity.

"Well, duh!" I exclaimed, though I hadn't really thought of that. I swiftly unpacked my makeup from our tumblr pineapple beach bag.

"Does mine look totes adorable?" I inquire, anticipating the answer. No duh, it looked fabulous! Before Kelli came, I spent 2 hours on a natural makeup look, even though we said we'd do makeup together. So really, I had two layers of makeup on. Flawless was an understatement.

I glance at my reflection in the mirror. My complexion was olive, though that was with all of the foundation. My skin is usually a dull pale, but no one is complete without a full makeover, so we're not talking about who I was before I whipped the brushes out. My eyes were a dark blue green with a hint of grey. Without makeup, they were...lol. Still blue-green. Sorry, habits are hard to break. My face was completely gorgeous, and under all the makeup, I'm sure it was just as glamorous.

"Okay, Kelli, are you ready for some SQUAD GOALS?" I ask, putting some sass in my voice.

"When is the Squad coming, Ash?"

"I told you not to call me that!" I seethe. Who wants to be related to ashes? Not me.

"Sorry," she mumbles.

"Anyway," I said cheerfully. "I don't know if they're there or not. We're refreshing our Squad to make old Squad jealous, then get back together with old Squad, and stay in touch with new Squad. But old Squad will also be new Squad, so...yeah. Simple!" Kelli nodded, but she was obviously still trying to process everything I just said.

"Are we all packed?" she finally asks, probably giving up on decoding my words.

"Yep! Let's go!" I said excitedly, yet not eagerly, because that could be perceived as an ugly trait, but so was revealing your Squad plans to your henchman, but whatevs. This was going to be the best beach day EVER!

As soon as we got to the beach, I threw my towel onto the sand. What look was I going for? Perfectly messy? Just messy? Perfect? I straightened out my towel, shook the edges a bit, and called it a day. Kelli seemed to be going for the "Just Messy" look. Intentionally or not, it looked horrendous, like she just set out her towel for a fun day at the beach. It was so...natural! "Natural…" I muttered. I messed up my towel a bit. Natural. That was better than messy or perfect. Kelli didn't seem to think about what she did, she just did them. That was probably why she was the second most popular girl going into high school. Me first, of course. Most people say they're intimidated about going to high school, but I wasn't afraid. I had all of this in the bag.

"Woah...hottie alert!" Kelli squealed, pointing at a hot lifeguard strutting in the sand. Not in a cocky way, though. More like a I'm-at-the-beach-and-I'm-ready-to-take-on-the-waves look.

"Dibs!" I blurted.

"Hey! Finders keepers!" Kelli complained.

"Grow up," I snap, and turn my attention to Hottie. Summer fling? That didn't mean anything. A summer fling was when you broke up after the summer. This had to be forever. Hottie and I were soul mates. He had raven black hair styled in a perfectly messy way, like he just got out of bed, but he made it work...almost too well! He was tan and muscular, but not in a disgusting jock way. Maybe he was a swimmer, or just athletic. But he was TALL and dang, those abs! He. Was. Perfect. I couldn't tell the color of his eyes from this distance, but I'm sure they were dreamy. I bolted up to talk to my future-boyfriend, but he dove into the water. Crap. I waited to see when he would come up again, but he stayed under. Saving someone from drowning? Drowning himself? I had no clue. But something told me I'd see him again, if not at the beach, somewhere else. Somewhere special. I didn't know. But one thing I did know is that that boy would be mine, and I'd make sure of it.

Hey guys! Hope you like this! Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series or anything in it. I wish.

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