Chloe (duh)

Chloe could feel her teeth grinding in her mouth, but it was like someone else was making her do it. No say in the matter, no stopping it. Her legs squirmed, toes dipping in the shallow water near the lake shore as she watched her friends. Madison and Ashley seemed to be discussing something on the dock, while Lisa had gone off to not-so-subtly cling to Zack. Delilah and Victoria were swimming gently just off the shore, whatever they were actually doing unclear from this distance, leaving Kurt, Kevin, and Brandon talking about something that was making Brandon blanch and Kevin laugh. Heather floated between them, flitting from conversation to conversation even as groups had splintered and reformed throughout the afternoon. Chloe had been enjoying Zack, Victoria, and Delilah's company earlier before Lisa had lured her ex-boyfriend away and the other two girls ventured into deeper water.

'I mean, it's not like I can really swim in this,' she mused to herself, looking down at the heavy cover she was wearing. 'Cover. It's basically a knee-length sweater. Just the definition of hot.' Chloe let herself giggle a little, though only wryly, since the thing had proven agonizingly warm. 'At least I'll appreciate it at night.' She glanced over to Gavin, who was very pointedly not looking at the docks and just sort of swimming alone. She watched Heather make her way over to him and was happy to see her terminally shy friend engage with her. She hardly knew two people more different, but Gavin was always calm and collected around her. 'Which is a far cry from what she's used to from boys ...'

'Not really you, though.' The self-accusatory tone of the thought stung a little. She glanced down her cover's impractically-high neck, looking at the lovely blue two-piece she'd bought for this trip, and frowned, even the thought of her friends seeing it sending shocks of panic through her mind. 'No, no, that's great, I can just never go in any body of water ever. Or avoid panic attacks at the doctor. Or keep being late getting home because I have to wait for everyone else to be done in the locker rooms after practice like a fucking freak.'

She shook her head, trying to clear it as the noises around her became hazy. Logically, she knew she didn't have anything to be ashamed of. It was just a body. She didn't hold it against Heather how comfortable she was in her more-expensive-than-Chloe's-car blue bikini. But she'd started puberty pretty early, and not in a classroom that was exactly open-minded about it. 'They wouldn't tease you,' she reasoned quietly to herself. 'Okay, Kurt might, but who the fuck cares? Zack and Gav wouldn't, Kevin's too nice, Brandon probably wouldn't and Ashley would make sure he regretted it if he did, I can't imagine Delilah caring, Vicky is just a sugarplum fairy about everything, and Heather, Lisa, and Mads would even be excited for you. So just ... take this off ... and be in your swimsuit.'

Her hands didn't even pretend to budge.

"What's up, Gingersnap?" Heather's arrival wasn't really all that sudden. Hell, she'd had time to get out of the water and sit next to her. All the same, Chloe couldn't help but jump and make a light, almost squeaking noise, one thankfully only Heather seemed to hear. "Jesus, I'm sorry, I was just checking in."

"Sorry, I was ... away," Chloe answered, calming herself down and dropping back to Earth. "Did you just call me Gingersnap?"

"Well, 'Red,' seemed a little too standard, and I'm not a big fan of using full names."

"Chloe is shorter than Gingersnap."

"If you let yourself get hung up on things like that, you'll never get anywhere in this life," Heather breathed out the last bit with a feigned dramatic flourish, followed by a disarming smile. On the one hand, Chloe was glad she wasn't alone for the moment. On the other, the sight of Heather striking a model-esque pose with her frankly fantastic rack, flowing, dark brown hair, and glistening just out of the water caused ... mixed feelings. "How you doing? You seem a little ... off over here. Did Kurt do something? I can drown him if you want."

"No, nothing like that, though it's a good offer and I'd give you an alibi." Heather nodded appreciatively. "I just ... how do you do it? I know it's a me thing, I know that how you do it isn't how I will, but I just want to get over this fucking hump. I'm so tired of being stuck on this side."

"Hump?" Heather tilted her head as Chloe gestured to the cover and her frankly profuse sweating. "OH. Yeah, no, that one. Not even at the lake?" Chloe's eyes darted down at the comment, causing Heather to rush to correct herself. "Not judging! Not judging. People suck, and we all have different damage. I just ... I dunno', I remembered it when I invited everyone up here, I just sort of hoped somewhere with just friends would be fine for you. I'm really sorry if it's not."

"Besides Kurt?"

"Besides Kurt."

"You'd tell us if he were a mad strangler, right? Because that's kind of what you make him sound like."

"He's a perv, he's not a criminal. Well, none of the ones were someone else gets hurt. He can just be ... careless."

"But seriously."

"I actually really don't know," Heather offered an apologetic shrug. "I was the kid who ran around naked all the time when I was little-little, and I just sort of only grew out of it as much as I had to. Then puberty happened, and it just seemed easier to have the means to my ends at-hand, y'know? Some guys are all into mystery, and I could absolutely not give a shit about that noise. I want forward, I want direct. So it's just kind of ... me. Which is totally useless, I know."

"It's not!" Chloe gasped out, falling back onto the sand built up near the water. "It's really not. I was just hoping to make some Chloe sense out of your Heather sense, and it's just not happening. I'm not exactly fucking shy in most ways, and I'm not trying to be ladylike with it or anything, God knows that's not my priority." Chloe looked up to see Heather, not even looking at her, extending her fist. Chloe grinned and bumped it with her own, the gesture incredibly lame, but affectionately so. "I'm just tired of being the one sweating her ass off in a beach ... I don't know, snuggie? Is this a snuggie?"

"It's basically a snuggie. Look, I'm about to go bug Ash and Mads. You know they won't give you shit. Just walk around to the dock, maybe it'll help you feel more relaxed? No pressure from me, I just want to make sure everyone has a good time."

"That's actually very sweet, Heather."

"Oh, that's only half. The other half is so everyone else is jealous of what a kickass Spring Break I throw my friends."

"You're all heart." Heather grinned back at Chloe, then ran back into the water, diving completely under on her way across the lake. Chloe sat up, briefly considered running inside while she was unobserved, but still cast an eye towards Madison and Ashley, sunglasses on and looking like nothing so much as majestic trophy wives in their natural habitat.