Nathalie really didn't want to think about it. She was afraid that maybe what Lisa had said earlier that day was true. Why would Jason help her or even go against his cousin to be with her? It just didn't make sense.
She sighed as she took the sketchbook out of her bag and flipped to the page she had drawn Jason. She stared at it for a few minutes before ripping it off and squishing it into a ball before dunking it into the trash can.
"Fuck 'em all," she muttered under her breath as she walked away.
As the time for the summer camp drew closer, Nathalie grew more tense. She had to find a way to convince her parents she didn't want to be there, but she had no plans in mind. As much as she didn't want to go to the camp, she didn't want to ruin their holiday plans in Hawaii either. She subconsciously bit her fingers when those thoughts came up. She couldn't even ask Danny to help her. It would be a total waste of time anyway, she muttered to herself.
One afternoon after school, she got into the car with Danny and Lisa. Danny was trying to focus on his driving while Lisa was chatting nonstop, her voice high-pitched with excitement.
"You're going to make it, right?" she had asked Nathalie, who wasn't even paying attention.
"To where?" she asked as she raised her face from her phone.
"Weren't you paying attention?" Lisa sighed. She raised her hips a little to get three squished flyers from her pocket. "It's a pool party." She said as she gave Nathalie one of the flyers.
Nathalie examined the piece of paper that was probably designed by someone who didn't know what they were doing. The colors weren't coordinating and the texts were a little too tiny.
"On the 27th?" Nathalie asked.
"Can you make it?" Nathalie asked again.
"I don't know about that," Nathalie started to decline.
"Nonsense," Danny said from behind the wheel. "I'm going and so are you, Nathy."
She thought for a while. It would be on a Saturday and she was definitely going to be free on that day; so it wouldn't hurt to attend. Or would it?
"I'll come," she said finally, giving in.
"Yay!" Lisa exclaimed. Then she spent the whole ride home excitedly chatting about how cool the party would be. Since she was very popular in the school, she could easily get tickets for her friends.
When they got closer to Lisa's house, she turned around and said, "Would you like to go shopping with me Friday after school to get swimsuits?"
"But I have one I can wear on Saturday," Nathalie replied.
"Is it the red polka-dotted one you wore last summer?"
"Yep," Nathalie replied, a bit confused.
"You looked like a lollipop in that!" Lisa laughed, which made Nathalie frown in fake annoyance. She didn't think the swimsuit looked as horrible as Lisa had said it was, but since Lisa knew more about fashion and color combinations than she did, it wouldn't hurt to take her opinions on those kinds of things.
"Friday then," Nathalie said.
"Can't wait to see you then," Lisa said as she closed the door and waved at them as they drove away.
On Friday, Lisa and Nathalie went shopping. Nathalie knew she wouldn't be buying much, and she also knew that Lisa was a shopping freak, especially when she wasn't spending from her private savings. Seeing how happy and excited she was that Friday, she definitely wasn't spending from her savings.
The ladies soon got to work. They tried out different outfits that weren't really related to what they were looking for. They also bought some jewelry, makeup, extra sunscreen, and Lisa convinced Nathalie to buy bikinis instead of a swimsuit.
They both stood in front of the dressing mirror. Nathalie's face was flushed from shyness while Lisa kept saying that she definitely rocked the outfit.
"The orange looks like you set yourself ablaze, girl, you look hot," Lisa said as she winked at their reflection.
"I can't wear this," Nathalie mumbled shyly. She couldn't imagine her schoolmates seeing her in this sort of outfit.
"All the girls would be wearing bikinis! Swimsuits are only for the juniors," Lisa said as she dramatically rolled her eyes. "And look, I got the same design," she said as she whipped out another bikini, with the exact same design as Nathalie's but the only difference was Lisa's was deep blue.
Nathalie could only lower her head in defeat, but she immediately whipped around to face Lisa.
"I'll wear this but on one condition;"
"What is it?" Lisa asked.
"I'll wear it with a shawl."
"Common!" Lisa exclaimed in annoyance as she slapped her hand on her forehead.
"I'm not budging from my decision."
"Fine, fine," Lisa frowned as she gave in reluctantly.