Intermission - The two scary ones.

Who in their right mind would willingly get out of bed at 7:30 am while out on vacation? No one, which is exactly why Fernanda did just that while setting aside the implication that this meant she wasn’t right in the head.

Her own parents weren’t even up yet, but Fernanda got dressed, putting on a light jacket because it was a bit chilly in the mountains this early morning, and walked out of the hotel room. There were people up, but all of them were hotel workers. People setting up the dining hall for breakfast, receptionist already sorting through reservations, staff cleaning the hallways… Everyone was working hard.

Fernanda went out with sketchbook in hand. All these gorgeous landscapes had her itching to draw, and while she’d been taking pictures for reference, she couldn’t miss the chance to draw some of them in person. There was something in particular she wanted to do, so she headed out of the hotel and followed a long path that went down a light slope and led to the river bank.

Fernanda smiled and took a deep breath of the fresh, cool air as she marveled at the sight before her. Here, the river was quiet and had a very slow current. It was wide, too, with at least 20 meters from one side to the other. The river bank was green with neatly trimmed grass and some few thick trees along it.

It was at the base of one of these trees that Fernanda sat down. She leaned back, raised her knees and set her sketchbook against them, opening it to a blank page. She grabbed her charcoal pencil and got to work.

The mountain in the distance, the trees, the river, the reflection in the slow-moving water, the bushes… The birds were harder to draw because they moved a lot, so Fernanda grabbed her phone, took a picture of one that was fairly close and used that as reference to draw a low-detail sketch of a few in the background. Always putting in more work than she should. Always. But hey, that picture would be useful later.

She didn’t even notice how long it had been since she got there, but at one point she heard voices. Voices vaguely recognizable some good 10 meters to her left. Two girls, one a busty brunette, the other an athletic-looking blonde. Two of Oliver’s girlfriends. That was already enough to make Fernanda tense up, but to make things worse, it had to be the two that scared her the most.

Those two reminded Fernanda of classmates she had, not in looks but in personality. The kind of outgoing go-getters who don’t really care about what others think. Fernanda had butted heads with girls like that in school, and from what little she’d heard them speak at the coffee shop, these two gave off very similar vibes.

“So this is the spot?” the brunette asked, glancing at the ground around her.

“Yeah. Later in the day a lifeguard comes and this place is open to swimming,” the blonde said. “My mom told me there’s a gate further down the river, which is why the current is a lot slower here. There’s also a net just over there, see?”

Fernanda followed the blonde’s finger and saw pillars at both ends of the river. The top of a net with holes big enough to let practically anything but a person through could be seen.

“The current looks safe enough, but I suppose they’re obligated to take precautions like that,” the brunette said.

“Noelle and I looked around yesterday. We asked and got confirmation that people come here in the afternoon. They set towels on the grass, sunbathe, swim… It’s like a beach, except it’s a river.”

The brunette nodded. “So you’re saying we can set it up here, let Oliver work his magic and…”

“Yep. So? What do you say? You’re cordially invited to join me.”

“Alright, I’m in. We’ll need to get here early to make sure no one steals this spot.”

“I mean, it doesn’t have to be THIS precise spot. There are plenty of other good places…” As the blonde looked around, her eyes met Fernanda’s, leaving the Brazilian girl paralyzed like a deer before headlight.

Fernanda turned away, focusing back on her sketch. After all, just because their eyes met didn’t mean they had to talk, right? So then why did she see them walking up to her when she turned to look again!?

Was it because they caught her overhearing their conversation? Fernanda didn’t even know what they meant by all that!

“Hey, are you drawing something? Can I see?” the brunette asked, kneeling very close to her.

“I… Um…! Y-Yes…” She was caught off guard, and not knowing how to react, Fernanda simply offered her sketchbook to the busty brunette.

“Oh, holy crap.” She raised her eyes and compared the view before them to the half-finished sketch on the page. “You’re drawing the scenery here? This is amazing.”

“T-Thank you.

“You’re Fernanda, right? You’re working with Oliver,” The blonde said.

“Ah. Y-Yes. I’ve been working with him.”

“He’s not being rude, I hope?” The blonde walked over to her right and sat down next to her, with just enough distance between them to not invade in personal space.

Fernanda shook her head. “Not at all. He’s helped me a lot.”

“I’m Grace, by the way,” The brunette to her left said. “That’s Sarah. We’re Oliver’s girlfriends.”

Grace and Sarah. Grace and Sarah. Grace and Sarah. Might as well commit the names to memory.

Fernanda felt tense, her heart beating painfully quickly. One scary girl on both sides. They were younger than her, for God’s sake! Why was she scared!?

“Say… Um…” The blonde girl, Sarah, suddenly groaned and rubbed the back of her neck. She clicked her tongue and rubbed her eyes with one hand. “No, it’s nothing. Sorry.”

“Um… O-Okay?”

“Hey, do you only draw landscapes?” The brunette, Grace, asked as she flipped through the pages of her sketchbook. “Not that these aren’t spectacular, but do you draw other things?”

Fernanda nodded stiffly. “I have another sketchbook where I draw people, but… I’m better at landscapes.”

“Do you draw comics and stuff?”

Fernanda winced, her chest tightening. “I… I don’t. I’m not good enough.”

“What do you mean? I think this is pretty good.”

“That’s not what I… Uh… I meant I’m not good with stories.”

“Ah. I see.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

A sudden, very awkward silence filled only with the flipping of pages and the faint flow of the river.

“Sorry to bother you,” Sarah said, standing and dusting herself up. “I wanted to tell you something, but it’s not really my place. Really, I’m sorry we came up to you all of a sudden. Come on, Grace.”

Grace left the sketchbook open on the page Fernanda was working and gently handed it back. “Thank you for letting me see. It’s beautiful.”

“...” Fernanda took her sketchbook back, but quickly turned to the blonde again. “What… What did you want to tell me?”

“...” Sarah stopped, rubbed her forearm and let out a sigh.

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