2 6 | t h i r r o u l

I FROWNED, flipping the paper over in my hands. I'd received my school schedule last night, which meant term one was fast approaching.

I glared down at the black printed lines and typed letters. Mondays were the worst. A double period of chemistry at eight in the morning? Not fun. And then after lunch, another double period of English. I felt tired just imagining it.

A part of me wished I'd spent my summer doing what Everett had suggested – catching up on sleep and resting before school started.

But there was no use thinking about it now. There were still two weeks of summer left, and I was going to make the most of it. I shoved the timetable into my school bag and tossed it into the corner of my room, quickly pulling on my sneakers.

"And where are you going?"

I turned to see my mum standing at the open door to my room. She sent me a teasing smile, her eyes sparkling.

Where my dad was all warmth and golden smiles, my mother was full of teasing smirks and mischievous looks – like she always knew something you didn't. I'd inherited her brown skin and eyes, but where my hair fell in long, loose curls, hers was wavy and cropped short.

I raised a brow at her. "There's a party down at the beach. I'm meeting the others there."

"The others, huh?" My mother's smile grew. "And is that boy going to be there?"

My face warmed and I avoided her eyes. "Yes, Mum, Austin will be there."

"I wasn't talking about Austin."

I blinked, furrowing my brow. "What?"

"I meant that cute boy who came around a few weeks back. You know. Dark hair, kind of gloomy, American accent?"

I groaned. God, I'd forgotten they met. "Everett?"

"That's the one," she said, grinning. "He was a lovely boy."

"Oh, please," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Lovely is an overstatement."

"He was! He came looking for you. Called me Mrs Monroe and everything. I haven't been called that since –"

Since dad died.

She cleared her throat, shaking her head. "He's Mrs Clemente's grandson, isn't he?"

"Yeah, Mum," I said quickly. I pressed a kiss to her cheek, using it as a distraction to slide past her. "He'll be there. Don't wait up for me, okay?"

"Alright, Isla," she said, raising a brow. "But stay safe, okay?"

"Yes, Mum!"

"And tell Everett I said hi!"

I groaned internally. "Yes, Mum."

"Love you!"

"Love you, too," I replied, shouting as I locked the front door behind me. I jogged down the steps, hopping onto my bike and immediately zipping down the hill towards Clemente House, eager to get away from this conversation.

I'd never asked my mum about what really happened when Everett visited. I thought he'd been joking when he said he went in for tea, but now that she was asking about him – my face warmed. I wondered what else they'd spoken about.

A part of me didn't want to know.

When I reached the towering bed and breakfast, Everett was already waiting on the porch. He spotted me first, making his way to the footpath as I hopped off my bike.

"Long time no see," he teased.

I rolled my eyes, knowing we'd seen each other just a few hours ago at the Shack.

"Good one, Everett."

"I try."

It was already dark, and I could see the flickering bonfire in the distance. I locked my bike on the bike rack, following the noise of drunken teenagers and pounding music.

The smell of alcohol mixed with sweat and the salt of the ocean that lingered in the air. Around us, teenagers and tourists were already drinking and dancing and singing loudly. That was a plus side of Shellside Bay – the houses were close to the beach, but far enough for us to be as noisy as we wanted during the summers.

I saw Austin first, my eyes landing on him despite the crowd of people. He stood with a drink in hand and Mia in the other.

"Austin," I greeted, smiling as we reached him. He turned and Mia sent me a sharp look. My smile faltered. "Mia."

"Isla, Everett," Mia said before Austin could speak. "So glad you could make it! Actually, Charlotte was looking for you Everett."

At the mention of Charlotte, Everett grimaced. "Great."

"She's just over there," Mia winked, shoving him in the direction of Charlotte. She watched him from one of the logs, grinning, and sent him a wave. "Go on."

"What? Like right now?" Everett asked, his nose wrinkling.

"Yes," Mia said pointedly, raising her brows like it was obvious. "Go! She's waiting."

I narrowed my eyes at Mia. Why was she insisting so much? She gave him another shove and he finally gave in, sending me a grim look before leaving our little group.

"And Isla," Mia said quickly, before either Austin or I could speak. "Have you met, um, Henry?"

"Henry?"

"Yeah, he's a tourist, but you should go introduce yourself. He's just over by the drinks."

I glanced at the pile of eskies filled with drinks, on the far end of the party. I blinked, realisation finally hitting me.

She wanted to get rid of us and keep Austin to herself.

I raised a challenging brow at her. "I'm good, thanks."

"Really? I think you two would be so cute together."

"No, I'm sure," I replied, smiling snidely. "I think I'll stay with you guys."

She narrowed her eyes at me, her grip around Austin tightening. Her mouth opened, probably to insist further, when an arm was tossed over my shoulder.

I craned my neck to see Connor's grinning face, his arm weighing heavy over me. Rolling my eyes, I shoved him away from me as River fell in step on my other side.

"Hey, guys," Connor smiled. He settled his gaze on Austin, not sparing Mia a glance. "Austin, dude. Where were you? We've been texting you."

"Oh," Austin blinked, patting his pocket. "I didn't realise."

"Oh, Austin!" Mia cut in suddenly. She turned so that her back was to us, forcing Austin to face her. "I completely forgot. I want to introduce you to some of my friends."

"Now?"

"Yes, silly," she chided, tapping his nose with a giggle. "Come on."

Austin's eyes drifted to mine and his jaw tightened. "But I wanted to chat with –"

"Come on Austin, before you get smashed. Please?"

He hesitated for a moment, searching her eyes before releasing a loud sigh. "Fine."

She smiled, sending us a look before dragging him away. He turned over his shoulder, frowning at me momentarily before Connor turned to face me and River, raising a brow.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I doubt we'll be seeing any more of him for the rest of the night."

"More like the rest of the summer," I grumbled.

"You guys want drinks?" Connor asked, shrugging. We both nodded in agreement and he was off to grab us some alcohol. I released a sigh as he left. Maybe being tipsy would make this party a little better.

River nudged me with his shoulder, and I turned my attention to him, quirking a brow.

"And then there were two," he joked, his voice as bored as I felt.

"Isn't it always?" I teased back. My eyes drifted to Austin and Mia in their little group of friends. Mia chattered on happily, but Austin kept sending glances in our direction, a firm frown on his lips.

"Is it just me, or are they starting to fight a lot more now?" River asked.

I turned, noticing him watching the couple too. "What do you mean?"

"Like, yesterday for example. I called him up asking to hang, but he was with Mia."

"So?"

"So," River said pointedly. "I heard them in the background arguing about whether he could come or not."

I narrowed my eyes. "And then what happened?"

"He came, but he brought Mia," he said. He sent me a half-shrug. "Maybe that's why she's been coming to Isla with him."

"Maybe," I hummed. It didn't make sense. Austin had said he wanted her there. And he certainly seemed happy enough, ogling her in her bikini and scooping her up into his arms every five minutes.

But then there was that tense atmosphere. Even watching them now, I could see the stiffness in his shoulders when she squeezed his hand. I noticed the way his smile didn't quite reach his eyes when he laughed at her friends' jokes. The way he kept glancing at us, not just now, but every time we went to Isla too.

"Great, now Connor's distracted too."

I blinked at River's words, turning to see Connor pulled into a conversation with a group of girls. He talked enthusiastically, a wide grin splitting across his face and his hair flopping everywhere as he bounced around in excitement.

I noticed Charlotte and Everett at the edge of the group, grinning and laughing at something Connor said. Her hand rested on his shoulder and I felt a bite of jealousy rip through me. I narrowed my eyes at them, wrinkling my nose.

And then Everett's eyes were on mine.

My eyes widened momentarily, embarrassed at having been caught staring, and I forced myself to look back at River.

"He's like a golden retriever," I joked uneasily, trying to ignore the feeling of Everett's eyes on me. "He gets distracted so quickly."

"He does, doesn't he?" River agreed, though the corner of his lips twitched up and his eyes softened. He paused, catching himself, and shook his head. "Three weeks left of summer."

I winced at the sudden change in topic. "Don't remind me."

"This was a pretty shit summer, hey?"

"Oh, don't get me started," I groaned. "Austin barely hung out with us, Sky wasn't here, and now we're all going back to school."

"And I'm going back to Sydney."

I frowned, knowing I probably wouldn't see River again for months. I threw an arm around his waist, pulling him close. Thinking the same as me, he rested a lazy arm around my shoulders.

"I wish I could come," I said quietly.

"What? To Sydney?" He asked.

I nodded, frowning. "Yeah. Shellside Bay gets so suffocating sometimes. You're lucky. I would kill to live in the city."

He pulled back, meeting my eyes then. "Why can't you?"

"What?"

"Why can't you come to Sydney?" he asked. He paused, his eyes lighting up. "I live alone, Isla. I've got plenty of room."

"What?" I repeated, blinking. "Are you suggesting I move in with you?"

"Why not?"

"River," I sputtered out a laugh. "I need to finish my senior year here. I've only got a couple months left."

"Alright, after that," he said quickly. He grinned widely, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Come on, Isla. You're not going to work at the Shack your whole life, are you? You can do so much more than that. Come to Sydney with me."

"I don't know..."

"Give me one reason you can't," he said, quirking a brow.

I set him with a sharp look. "River, I can't afford to pay you rent. You live in the middle of the city. That's gotta be insanely expensive."

"So, don't," he said, shrugging.

My eyes widened, bewildered. "I can't just not pay rent."

"Why not? You said it yourself. I'm loaded," he said pointedly. "Besides, it's not my place. My dad bought it. And it's pretty fucking depressing being the only one living there. Think of it as a favour."

"A favour?"

"Yeah," he said. "Why do you think I always sneak out to come down here? Why do you think I skip school to hang out with you guys? I don't know how I'm going to survive another four years of living there alone."

I paused, processing his words.

If I moved in with River, I could save a lot of money on rent. And he lived in the centre of the city. I could save money on commute. I could attend university. Focus on my studies. Make my dad proud.

"I guess..." I paused, shaking my head as a smile began to stretch over my lips. "Okay. I'll do it. After I graduate, though."

His smile matched mine and he reached over to ruffle my hair. I laughed, swatting his hands away.

"But you have to be honest," I teased, smirking at him. "The one you really want to move in with you isn't me."

His eyes drifted to Connor and I smiled smugly at his reaction. Connor, always oblivious, continued chatting with the group of girls. Even Charlotte had moved from her conversation with Everett to fawn over him.

I laughed, nudging River roughly in the ribs.

"Not in love with Connor, my arse," I teased.

He rolled his eyes, shoving me back and I laughed, delivering a light punch to the arm. He held a hand over the spot I'd hit him.

"Wow, Isla. I offer you my home, and this is how you repay me?"

"Do you want another?" I joked, clenched my hands into fists.

He laughed, his eyes drifting over my shoulder. His lips twitched into a smirk before he met my gaze again. "I think I have someone else punching me to worry about."

I turned, my eyes immediately landing on Everett.

He watched us darkly. A muscle in his jaw tightened and his lips were pulled down at the corners.

"I don't know what you mean," I muttered back, my voice faltering.

"He looks like he wants to murder me."

I snapped my eyes back to River then and attempted to laugh. "Probably because you're incredibly annoying."

"Or," he said, lifting a single brow at me. "Because he's incredibly in love with you."

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to correct his stupid joke. He was just trying to rile me up. But I couldn't help glancing back towards Everett, my heart leaping into my throat.

He was still watching me.

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A U T H O R ' S  N O T E

Hey! Soo Isla's making plans hehe any guesses as to how this will turn out? Let me know!

I'm back at uni tomorrow so this is unedited. I'll add more soon! Thank you for reading, voting and commenting as always! See you! 💕