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july 2nd 2024

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IT WAS ELEVEN IN THE MORNING WHEN ARABELLA AWAKENED. she remembered last night. after meeting up with her friends again, they also met kimi and paul's friends, who they stayed with for the rest of the night.

the new faces consisted of two very tall boys, both brunettes. arabella had learned a lot about the four guys in the span of a few hours. paul was estonian, ollie was british and dino was swedish. linnea's guess about kimi being italian was correct. all of the boys lived in italy and went to school together.

oliver came to the maldives with his family a lot when he was a child so, when everyone was finally allowed to go out on their own, he decided he wanted to take his friends to his favorite place.

arabella had also noticed linnea stealing glances at the tall british boy. she would definitely talk to her and lucy about that today, just like how she needed to tell them about her liking of the italian boy.

so, she rolled out of bed and took a look in the mirror. it wasn't too bad. she brushed her hair and deemed it fine.

she walked downstairs to see that she was te last one to wake up. "good morning my beautiful girlfriends." bella smiled, joining the other two girls on the couch.

"morning bells" lucy and linnea chorused, gasping and high-fiving each other after. "we have to talk about last night." lucy stated after, grinning deviously at arabella.

"don't look at me like that. you're a freak." bella accused, looking away innocently. "YOU LIKE HIM. don't deny it." lucy continued, excitedly.

"okay, i'll admit. i think he's cute. BUT, linnie. let's talk about you and bearman eyeing each other all night, first." bella changed the subject quickly, turning to her friend, who suddenly got very quiet.

linnea seemed to hesitate before breaking, "okay yes, he's so fine. i think i've found my summer fling, if i manage to bag him." she grinned, shyly.

the other two girls whooped in happiness, "OKAYYY. get him girl!" lucy shouted out, making linnea laugh. "he wants you so bad. i saw how he looked at you when you weren't looking." bella told lin, who looked pleasantly surprised.

"okay now, back to you and kimi. bella, i need you to abandon all of your morals and just go for it. he's cute and he definitely thinks you're fine as well." lucy turned the conversation back to the first subject.

"I KNOW. he's so sweet and such a cutie but i know i'll get attached and will not be able to keep it at 'just a summer fling'." arabella reasoned, knowing herself.

lucy and linnea smiled sympathetically at their friend, "i don't think i'll be able to not catch feelings, either. but whatever happens, happens. if he wants to continue contact after summer, then that's wonderful. otherwise you'll have to let him go. it's going to be the same for me if i bag oliver."

"WHEN you bag oliver. don't get it twisted. that man wants you." lucy butted it, making the conversation a little more light hearted. the three girls laughed and abandoned the subject of boys after that.

until a few minutes later, arabella's phone buzzed next to her. she flipped her phone over to look at the notification,

'instagram
k1miko: hi bella :) me paul ollie and dino were wondering if you guys wanted to join us at the beach just outside of the resort today? lmk 🙏'

"BROOO. he wants you so bad." lucy said, linnea frantically nodding in agreement. "don't make me delusional, lulu. he doesn't even know me." bella denied.

"he's definitely interested though, don't deny that." linnea butted in. arabella sighed, "i don't know guys, we were drunk last night. maybe i'll give it a shot." she smiled, looking at her hands.

lucy and linnea cheered before bella interrupted, "ONLY. if lulu finally admits that she likes santiago." she grinned mischievously. lucinda groaned, throwing her head back.

"i don't like santi, oh my gosh." the girl denied immediately, linnea started protesting, "no, you absolutely do."

"do not!"

"do too!"

"do not."

"do too."

"okay, so maybe he's kinda fine."

*.•🪻•.*

after the guys agreed to go to the beach, bella texted kimi back, saying they would be there around five in the afternoon.

now, it was four thirty. the friend group of five had gotten some pre-made sandwiches for everyone, including the other boys.

they all took their beach towels and some sun cream, and left the girls' house, where they had gathered.

bella texted kimi that they were on their way to the beach right now, the boy immediately replying that they were leaving their house as he was typing. they had agreed to meet at the entrance of the resort and walking to the beach together.

arabella was walking at the front with linnea as lucy was annoying santi and diego about god-knows-what. then, bella spotted the four boys, standing by the entrance.

"oh look, they're already there guys." linnea informed as they started speeding up, waking their way towards the boys.

"kimi!" bella yelled out, making the boy spin around in an instant. "bella! hi!" he said as the five friends reached the four others. arabella smiled at the italian boy before greeting everyone else.

"well, let's go! i wanna get into this magical ahh sea, as soon as possible." linnea said, grabbing bella and lucy's hands, pulling them with her. the six boys followed in tow, not complaining.

they found a nice spot in the shade, under some palm trees. everyone laid out their beach towels and stripped down to their swimming clothes.

it wasn't that she was specifically looking... okay yes, arabella was looking. her eyes raked over the italian boys' shirtless figure, and she was pleasantly surprised by his lowkey defined abs.

she was in her trance until lucy hit her shoulder, "girl, stop. don't make it too obvious." she whispered, not wanting to catch any of the guys their attention.

bella quickly looked away and blushed, "i need to lock in." she told lucy, who laughed —well, cackled—. the six males turned their heads towards them, santiago and diego looking at them with a disgusted expression, while the other four just looked confused.

"bruh, what the fuck was that?" diego said, starting to chuckle after. "a laugh. mind your business, weirdo." lucy shot quickly.

"more like a dying seagull." santiago commented, making the group of nine all laugh. "santi, i just put a double barrel shotgun to your head." lucy deadpanned, making santiago laugh even louder.

"you wouldn't shoot me, even if you actually had a gun. you loooooove me too much." he teased, making lucinda straighten up. arabella quickly noticed her friend getting flustered and uncomfortable.

"go play in the water with all of your new boyfriends, santi." bella said, waving him off. the eighteen year old didn't reply, just shrugged and ran off to the sea.

"he's so stupid, why do you like him?" linnea commented, laughing slightly. "i don't know bro, he's got this charm." lucy said absentmindedly, still looking at the boys figure in the distance.

"the charm of a naked mole rat? girl, get up." linnea joked, making the other two girls laugh.

"you guys coming?!"

"yeah!!"

the three girls quickly put their phones under their towels and ran towards the water, joining the six boys. "who wants to do one big chicken fight?" diego asked, everyone quickly agreeing.

"who will go with who?"

now this was the perfect opportunity. bella quickly made a plan in her head. "i wanna go with kimi." she said, deciding to be bold. the boys smiled at her, seeming a little surprised.

"i wanna go with dino!" paul said, throwing his arm around the taller boy. "we're gonna take all of you out." dino commented, high-fiving the blond next to him.

"linnea? you wanna partner up?" ollie asked, a little shyly. "yeah, of course." she replied, making the boy let out a relieved sigh as he joined her side.

"santi, you go with lucy. i'll be ref." diego took one for the team, knowing that the eighteen year old definitely liked lucinda.

bella turned to look at the italian boy next to her and nodded, making the boy dunk under the water. she quickly got on his shoulders as he lifted her up.

"am i not too heavy?" she asked, moving the boys' wet curls out of his eyes. "heavy? you literally weigh nothing." kimi replied, readjusting his hands on her legs.

the pair looked around to see everyone ready to go. "three! two! one! go!" diego counted down, paul and dino immediately moving towards the duo of santi and lucy.

"this is racism!" lucy yelled out as she connected her hands with paul and started pushing. out of nowhere, bella felt kimi turn around. she saw ollie and linnea quickly approaching them.

"oh lin baby! you're going down!" bella said as the other duo reached them. arabella grabbed linnea's shoulders, giving her a firm push, almost making her topple into the water.

"oliver! hold me better, dude!" she said, getting competitive. arabella grinned as they connected their hands again.

after a vicious battle, arabella was unbeaten once more. "yes! i'm so goated at chicken fight." she stated, mainly to herself.

kimi spun around beneath her once again, this time to witness dino and paul approaching rapidly. "oh shit." she could hear kimi say out loud.

safe to say, paul and dino won that round.

after two more rounds of chicken fight, everyone was exhausted. they all got out of the water and returned to their towels. linnea pulled out the sunscreen, "ollie, you're already turning into a tomato. come here." she ordered.

the boy complied, without a single complaint. lucy and bella made eye contact and grinned at each other as linnea started rubbing the sunscreen on the british boys' back.

about half an hour later the friends were all eating the sandwiches that lucy had brought with. "i don't know who makes these, but these are fucking great." lucy said, taking another bite.

then, arabella spotted someone, surfing on the waves. it looked like a girl, though she couldn't really see from how far away she was.

"look at her." she said, pointing at the girl pulling tricks over the waves. everyone turned their heads to look, ollie immediately smiling. "oh, i know who that is." he said, making linnea turn to her girl friends with a worried expression.

"who is she then?" bella pushed, wanting to get more information for linnea. "her name is valentina, she's a local. moved here from colombia when she was ten. a goat at surfing, though. she tried to teach me when i was like thirteen but i was ass." he provided, making linnea's face turn a little somber.

"you like her?" dino questioned, even him picking up on the mood souring the more oliver spoke. "nah, we're friends." he stated, not really giving it a second thought.

it didn't convince linnea though. bella and lucy looked at each other. this one was gonna sting.

the subject was changed and everyone went back to normal conversation. arabella hadn't seen but supposed 'valentina' had come out of the water and was walking towards them.

"val, hey! nice to see you again." ollie said, standing up to hug the smaller girl. "hey fucko, how've you been? and who are all your friends?" the girl said, smiling at everyone sweetly.

bella, lucy and linnea didn't smile back. even though arabella knew it was unfair to the girl, it wasn't her fault. "i've been good! these are my friends, i've told you about kimi, dino and paul. we met santi, diego, linnea, bella and lucy yesterday."

the boys all introduced themselves as valentina laid down her surfboard on the sand. she sat down on it as she introduced herself as well.

"hi, i'm linnea!" the girl said, faking her friendly smile. this took lucinda and arabella by surprise, they followed in her footsteps non the less. "i'm arabella." "i'm lucy."

valentina offered a friendly smile, but she could feel that the girls didn't like her. she didn't know what she had done wrong though, she only just sat down.

eventually the boys decided they wanted to go swimming again, leaving the four girls alone. there was an uncomfortable silence, no one dared to break.

"i'm gonna join the guys." bella said, not able to take the silence any longer. she made her way to the water, wanting to find santiago or diego. she spotted the two with the four others, a little further into the water.

she walked to where the water was up to her belly button. "hey! diego!" she grabbed his attention, the boy hearing her and starting to come towards her.

"yeah? what's up?" he asked as he reached her. "it's so fucking awkward. linnea obviously has a little crush on ollie and this valentina girl just ruined it. worst part is, it's not even her fault." arabella ranted, as diego listened.

"i saw lin's mood drop when ollie spoke about her, but i for real think he doesn't want valentina. he's just dense." diego said, making bella look over at the tall brit. him, paul and kimi were trying to make a tower of three people, and failing miserably.

she looked back at diego, "last part is definitely true. it's already hurting lin's feelings though, you know how sensitive she gets." bella said, diego nodding in response.

"i know. only thing we can hope for is that valentina doesn't like him like that, which i honestly don't think she does." diego said honestly.

"i hope so."

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belladeluca has posted on their sto

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CEE SPEAKS !
SIDE CHARACTER DRAMA. yur. meet valentina y'all.

and this is 2300 words btw hello???? did i eat?????

xochitl gomez as valentina castsaño
17 | taurus | 29 - 04 - 2007
@/xovalentina

*.• dedications !

msyamal joaoflms halfwayheart L0VENYMPH everlarksaep