Page 90 of The Plan

“Fuck!” August falls to his knees, cupping himself.

“Guess you still need to work on that aim.” I tap his shoulder twice, and Hazel comes rushing to his side.

“At least now he can’t have those kids you hate.”

“Shut up, you dick.”

“I’m a dick, and his doesn’t work anymore, thanks to you.” She flips me off but has a rare smile on her face and is obviously trying not to laugh. I chuckle in response and walk back to the blankets. Sage is tanning and taking pictures of herself; her dark skin shines with how much tanning oil she lathered herself in.

When I reached our area, Vid wasn’t there anymore. I look toward the water, and she’s making her way out.

“Why do you have a bucket of water?”

“I want to build a sandcastle.” I feel a warm smile growing on my face, but it washes away when she dumps the entire bucket on me. I gasp at the cool feeling of it on my hot skin, and just as I open my eyes, I shut them again because I see her scooping sand, which she throws on me next.

“You little shit.” I wipe my hands over my eyes, and when I open them, she has the biggest smile on her face, like she was proud of that. I see a camera flash in the corner of my eye, andwhen I turn, a girl hides her camera shyly like she didn’t mean for the flash to be on.

For her sake, I pretend I didn’t notice and take Vidia's hands in mine. This time, when the girl beside us sneaks a picture, Vid leans into me. Maybe I’m imagining it, but it’s almost like she melts into me naturally.

“Awe, thanks, Traitor.” I giveHazel a small smile while shaking my head. She walks over to her fridge, saying she’s going to use the gift I got her right now.

Everyone knows how obsessed she is with smoothies, and I’m surprised she didn’t already have one of these fancy blenders.

“Okay, can you open all of these now?” Sage looks around the table full of gifts like they’re hers, but I know she’s just excited to see everything Hazel got.

“I want to wait until August is out here. He got me those, and I like seeing his reaction when I open them.” She has a small smile on her face, but it’s quickly gone, and her normal bored expression is back as she tries to put the mini blender together.

“He got youallof these?” We all look around the table, and it’s definitely a lot of shit, but if you know August, this all makes sense. He loves buying gifts, especially for Hazel.

Vid and I turn our heads toward their bathroom when we hear a loud thud, and Sage jumps up from her seat in concern. We look at each other and then back at Hazel, waiting for her to react, but she just waves it off like this is a normal occurrence.

“August doesn’t like the new shower rug I got, so he takes it off when it’s his turn to shower but always slips. He’s fine. He just has to learn the hard way.” She goes back to adding fruit into herblender while Vid and I start laughing. My brother is a fucking idiot.

“Are you sure he’s okay?!” Sage asks, and Hazel responds with a nod, but Sage doesn't look convinced. She walks over to the bathroom and knocks on the door before putting her ear to it.

“August?” When she doesn’t get a response, she closes her eyes and opens the door. “August, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” She nods and goes to close the door but stops when he speaks up again. “Wait, why were you the only one who came to check on me?” Sage looks over at us and shakes her head before responding.

“I’m the only one who cares about you, Twin.” She says it so dramatically and hopelessly, like they’re the last two people on the fucking planet. I roll my eyes at her, and she closes the door.

“Okay, we’re out of here. We also need to shower.” I still somehow have sand everywhere. I walk over to the door, waiting for Vid.

She’s only been staying with us for about a few weeks and kind of alternates between whose couch she stays on. She’s still against staying in my bed but usually just sleeps at whoever's house she’s at the latest, so I’ve been making sure it’s mine, which means she’s also been showering over at my place lately.

Hazel side-eyes me, and then we stick out our tongue at the same time. Okay, this is weird.

“Get out of my head and my apartment.”

I roll my eyes at her, and when Sage goes to hug Vidia, Vid kisses her cheek.

“We need to hang out again. I’ve missed you,” Sage says, and Vid replies saying they will, but Sage pulls her in for another hug before we walk next door.

“You can shower first.” She takes way longer, but I like how the entire bathroom smells like her vanilla soap after she showers.

“Duh, why would I let you go first?” Maybe because it’s my apartment? I don’t say that, though, since I like how comfortable she’s getting here. I heard her telling Hazel she was looking at apartments, but when she brings it up to me, I’ll convince her to stay with me longer.

As we walk in, she turns her head back, and I flip her off. She turns back around, but I don’t miss the smirk that grows on her face. I swear she bothers me on purpose.

---