Page 7 of Alice & Meg: Summer Vacation
Alice
“Babe, I don’t think you need that many towels.”
I didn’t even look up as I yanked another checkered towel out of my bag.Wrecker was lounging on the edge of the bed and watched me as I balanced a stack of five towels against my hip and reached for my beach bag.
“They’re not all for me,” I said and scoffed as I hooked the strap over my shoulder.“I got one for each of the girls.”I held one up and flicked it open with a dramatic flourish.The purple and white checkered pattern caught the sunlight pouring through the motel room window.I smiled brightly.“We can all match.”
Wrecker raised an eyebrow.“They’re all different colors.”
Rolling my eyes, I moved toward the door.“We match, but not match match, ya know?”
He stood and grabbed his sunglasses from the nightstand and slipped them on with a slow shake of his head.“No, I don’t know.But after all these years, I’ve learned to just nod my head.”
He reached for my hand and threaded his fingers through mine as we stepped outside.
“Should I bring my blender, or save that for later?”I asked, eyeing the giant purple duffel with the blender stuffed inside.
Wrecker just tugged me toward the pool.“They have a swim-up bar, babe.I think we’ll be okay without the blender tonight.”
I frowned but didn’t protest.Not that I needed a blender tonight, but it was the principle.I had packed, so I needed to use it.
We stepped through the gate and into the pool area.Sure enough, chaos had already arrived.
Meg and Raven were stretched out on loungers in the middle of a row of nine seats lined perfectly across one side of the pool.The table beside them was already claimed with bags, tumblers, and a speaker playing Fleetwood Mac.
Cyn was sprawled across a blow-up flamingo float, being tugged slowly by Rigid like some kind of pool princess.Greta was wrapped around Bear with a pink drink in one hand, laughing at something he whispered to her.Wendy, Reva, Adley, and Hero were parked at the swim-up bar, with drinks in front of them and feet dangling in the water.King, Slayer, and Clash were floating nearby, deep in conversation that probably revolved around bikes, food, or boobs.Possibly all three.
Only two other people were there.Two older ladies were reading on the opposite side of the pool and eyeing our group with suspicion, as if debating whether to be curious or annoyed.
“You got enough towels there?”Meg asked and propped herself up on her elbows.
I held up the stack proudly.“There is one for each of us.”
I tossed two purple ones to Meg, then two gray ones to Raven.
“And then the rest can fight over which color they get.”
“I call the blue ones!”Cyn called from the pool and waved a hand in the air.“Blue is kind of our color.”
I dropped the blue ones onto the empty chair next to Meg.“Sounds good to me.”
I plopped the rest on the table.“You guys can fight over the other ones.”
Meg opened one of the towels and smiled.“These are really nice.I love the checkered pattern.”
“Same,” Raven added, holding hers up.“It was nice you thought of us.”
I sat down at the table and looked around.“Did we bring snacks?”
Meg grinned.“Snacks are my thing.”
She spun on the chair and dragged a massive cooler out from behind her lounger.With a flourish, she flipped open the lid and pulled out a tray loaded with sausage, cheese cubes, grapes, strawberries, baby carrots, and a bowl covered with a plastic lid.
“A little dip,” she said with a smirk.
Wrecker barked a laugh.“Just a little something to hold us over until dinner, huh?”
Meg shrugged and pulled out two sleeves of crackers.“Just something to take the edge off.”
