"Florence?" I'm cut out of my thoughts at the sound of Isla's voice calling for me from down the hall. I'm thankful it's her and not someone else because I'm still sitting on the edge of Conrad's bed, clutching the necklace in my hands. That moment between us on the beach on my fifteenth birthday was one I held close to my heart, partially because of how heartbreaking it was to now. That night on the beach, we promised infinity, that we'd be best friends no matter what. I thought that promise was thrown out the window by now, but then there's this, a small token that would mean absolutely nothing to some but absolutely everything to me.

   I don't shove the gift back quick enough before Isla peers into the room, her brows furrowed together, "is this..." She drags off, entering the room. Her eyes are scanning the room, which is spotless. "Conrad's room?"

    "I was just putting something away."

     "And snooping apparently," She winks at me, sitting beside me, "is that for you?"

     I didn't hesitate to nod. There was no doubt this was for me, "we, uh, had this conversation a while ago about infinity. I didn't think he remembered."

    "Oh, Florence," Isla shakes her head, patting my shoulder with pity, "when are you going to understand that boy remembers every detail about you."

    "I shouldn't have snooped, though," I say, carefully placing the present back in the bag, folding the tissue paper to the way he'd had it, "I mean, he didn't give this to me for a reason. I had no right to look."

    Isla being Isla, just shrugs, as if I didn't totally invade Conrad's privacy, "it's fine," She rolls her eyes at my stressed demeanour, nudging my arm with her own, "Conrad doesn't have to know, and it's your birthday, you are allowed to do whatever you want."

    "I don't think that's true," I say, tilting my head to the side, "you don't get a free pass to do anything because of a birthday, Isla. I mean, it's just a day."

    "And this is why your mom keeps making you do chores," She gestures to me, shaking her head, "you need to let loose, Flo."

    I hum, moving to stand and straighten out Conrad's comforter, nudging Isla to stand. "Maybe you and Conrad are more alike than I thought. He said those exact words to me earlier."

    "So, he's as smart as he is handsome," She nods her head in approval, and I roll my eyes. "Look," she sighs, her expression serious, a rarity from Isla, who's always joking around, "just for today, forget about Belly not talking to you and what your mom thinks. For once in your life, put yourself first."

    It sounded easier than it actually was. My natural instinct is to make sure everyone else is happy first, "I don't even know how." I admit, shrugging.

    Isla links her arm through mine, "we'll figure it out together. Come on. I heard everyone else is down at the beach playing some drinking games. That seems like a good place to start, right?"

    Or a terrible one, I think, as Isla drags me out of Conrad's room.

☀️

    I giggled as Isla trails behind me, her eyelids fluttering tiredly as we walked, swaying. The sand felt unbalanced, my feet slipping as I walked. "Uh oh," I giggled, shaking my glass in my hands. The addictive red liquid had disappeared again, only a little bit at the bottom, swishing around, "I need more."

    "Joseph," Isla calls over her shoulder, slurring, "Jackson?" She calls again when Jeremiah doesn't turn to look at her. Her shoulders slump tiredly.

    "Jeremiah," I correct her, matter of factly. My voice sounds different, higher pitched and happy. The sound alone makes me giggle again. Everything feels lighter now, like the more margarita's I have, the more weight is lifted off my shoulder.

    "Right," Isla nods, "Jeremy." She calls, completely ignoring my correction. Luckily, Jere is used to being called this and looks over at the two of us. I don't understand why, but for some reason he looks amused as he walks over to us with the jug. "The birthday girl needs a refill."

    "I ran out," I stick my bottom lip out in a pout, holding my glass out.

    "We can't have that now, can we?" Jeremiah asks, filling my cup once again.

     He fills it halfway, and I sing, "more..." Jeremiah raises his brow at me, filling it a bit more, "come on, Jere... I'm thirsty. Don't hold out on me now."

    Jeremiah fills it to the brim, and I let out a cheer, my arms flailing excitedly, "Oh, you are so gonna regret this in the morning," Steven says, shaking his head at me.

    "I'm having fun," I inform him, chugging back another gulp of Margarita. The liquid no longer burned my throat like my first few sips had, "letting loose."

    "Mom is going to kill you."

     "Well, she'll have to go through-" Isla stumbles as she walks, and Jeremiah is quick to steady her. She'd been pretty energetic after her first few drinks, but now she looked drowsy, her eyelids tiredly fluttering closed. "I don't need help, Joshua."

    "Really?" Jeremiah lets go of her waist, and Isla's body tilts to the side, "thought so," he mutters, steadying her again.

    "I'm sleepy," Her words are muffled by a yawn, her l's sounding more like w's.

     "I'm not," I announce, a bounce in my step. In reality, I felt more energetic than I've ever felt, like I could do anything, "I think we should play another game? Maybe flip cup or something? That involves alcohol, right?"

    "I'm taking Isla up to Flo's room," Jeremiah informs Steven, chuckling at my enthusiasm, "make sure your sister doesn't do anything stupid?"

    "Me? Stupid?" I ask, "you really think tweedle dumb is going to prevent that?"

    Jeremiah rolls his eyes as he practically carries Isla back inside, her body slumped against his tiredly. I've always wondered what kind of drunks we'd be... I guess Isla was a tired one and me? Besides the energy and lightness I feel, I don't think I'm acting any different.

    "You can barely walk," Steven argues.

    "Can, too," I scoff. I walk in a straight line, my arms out like a tightrope walker. I giggle as I tip the side, my feet stumbling over the other, "see," I gesture to myself, "perfect."

    Steven rolls his eyes, probably because he knows I'm right. I'm barely drunk. He's just being lame, "whatever. I'm going to go inside."

    He walks ahead, leaving me on the beach. Giggly, kicking the sand as I walk, my flip-flops in hand. "Florence, hey, wait up." I turn to face Nicole, who's running to catch up with me. I hadn't paid as much attention to her and Conrad since my first drink. Everything that I'd been stressing about earlier completing leaving my mind. "I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

    "I am a beacon of wisdom," I tell her, nodding my head, "ask away."

     "Okay, um..." She looks at me weirdly, for reasons I can't understand, before asking, "do you know if Conrad's interested in me? I've been trying to read him all day, but I just don't get him."

    "Get in line," I giggle, taking another sip of my drink, "he's like super hard to read sometimes. Like, all the time, actually. I swear, one minute he can barely look at me, and the next, he's all over me. It's exhausting."

    "He's all over you?" Nicole asks, her brows furrowing together. I simply nodded, taking another sip, my cup is nearing empty again, and my top priority is to find a refill asap.

     "Just the one time," I shrug nonchalantly, "he's a good kisser though, huh? Like super good."

     "W-what?"

     "Was he not good?" I ask her, shocked. Conrad had seemed like an expert to me, his lips moving against mine in sync, his warm hands making me want to melt into his arms, "he's gotten better." I let her know before she could answer, "you know, if kissing were an Olympic sport, I'd happily judge and give Conrad Fisher all the golds."

    "So are you guys, like-"

      a hiccup escapes past my lips before Nicole can finish her question, the sound causing me to giggle, "hiccup," I say, another hiccup following soon after, "isn't that a funny word? Hiccup?" The giggles escaping my lips are unstoppable at this point, and my stomach is beginning to hurt from laughing so hard.

    "I'm gonna go sit with the others," Nicole tells me. She looks at me weirdly before walking over to the dock, where Shayla, Belly and Cam are sitting. I look for Conrad, feeling confident about talking to him for the first time in days, but he's nowhere to be seen.

    "I need more," I say to no one, chugging the last of my drink and heading towards the house to find more of the addictive liquid, taking ten times longer than normal due to how wobbly my legs feel.

Drunk Florence has absolutely no filter and I'm here for it... We'll get to see her and her drunken state talking to Conrad in the next chapter.