Beautiful Mess

Beautiful Mess


Jennifer Preston


Chapter 1




“So this is Venice Beach?” Carly squinted over the top of her designer knock-off sunglasses, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

“What?” Ambria asked, her eyes sweeping the boardwalk. “Not everything you expected it to be?”

“Well,” Carly replied, “I just thought it’d be a little more glamorous, like in the movies and stuff.”

Ambria laughed. “Carly, everything is more glamorous in the movies. We don’t have to stay. I’m sure we could find something else to do.”

“Bri, don’t be such a downer,” Carly scolded. “We’re not leaving. We’re going to have fun, get some killer deals, and hopefully see someone famous. Although,” she gave the boardwalk a disapproving glare, “I highly doubt anyone famous would hang out here. Now come on. I don’t want you ruining my day.” Carly sauntered off towards the shops.

Bri couldn’t help her eye roll. Spending the day shopping with her cousin, alone, was not what she would consider even remotely fun. It wasn’t that she hated Carly, but the girl grated on Bri’s nerves to no end. Carly was spoiled, selfish, judgmental, and only ever talked about herself. How great she was at this, or how wonderfully she did that; how everyone loved her and based all their decisions and opinions on her own. Bri had learned early on that you couldn’t believe most of what came spewing out of Carly’s mouth. The girl was completely fake, from her bleached blonde hair, to her spray tanned toes. Nothing about her was genuine, including her personality.

“Any day now, Bri,” Carly huffed impatiently, waiting outside the first shop.

Resigning herself to her fate, Bri let out a huge sigh and followed her cousin into the store. She was used to sacrificing her own wishes for Carly’s, and she rarely opposed Carly in anything. In the interest of familial harmony, Bri was expected to placate her cousin, and not do anything to rile her up or upset her. It wasn’t an ideal arrangement, but Bri was used to it. And she knew it was better than dealing with Carly’s temper. The girl could throw a fit that would put a two year old to shame.

So Bri spent the next couple of hours following Carly down the boardwalk. Carly kept up a constant stream of chatter as she wove in and out of the shops, bragging about all her outrageous schemes, demeaning the merchandise, and complaining about the lack of cute guys around. As they entered a swimwear shop, Bri could feel a headache coming on.

“What do you think, Bri? Wouldn’t this be perfect with my red bikini?” Carly was holding up a sarong in a swirling pattern of pinks and reds.

“Yeah, Car, it’d look great,” Bri replied, rubbing her temples, willing away the oncoming pain. She’d kill for a few minutes of peace and quiet.

“OMG! Did I ever tell you about the first day I wore that bikini?” Bri tried to answer and deflect Carly’s sure to be enthralling story, but Carly plunged ahead before she could get a word out.

“My friend Gabby had invited me over to her house to go swimming. Her house is ginormous and they have their own private pool in the backyard. I’m not sure what her dad does, but they are like, totally loaded.”

Bri wanted to point out that it was Phoenix. A lot of people had a pool, which didn’t make her friend loaded by any means. But deciding to avoid an argument, she let Carly continue.

“So, I get over there, looking all hot in my new bikini, and the pool people are there cleaning the pool! Can you believe it! We like, totally had to wait for them to finish so we could swim. I was so pissed! Anyway, after what had to be an hour, I started getting really bored. That’s when I got this like, totally brilliant idea! So I turned to Gabby, and I totally dared her to go get the pool boy to make out with her!” Carly squealed with vicious delight. “And guess what she did?”

“What?” Bri sighed when it became apparent Carly wasn’t continuing without an answer.

“She went out there, stripped down to her bikini, and like, totally started flirting with him! Then, two seconds later, they were like, totally kissing! Can you believe it?” Carly could barely contain her devious excitement. “Isn’t that the grossest thing ever? I mean, really, the pool boy? I so couldn’t believe Gabby would degrade herself like that? What was she thinking?”

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Bri murmured. She’d had enough of Carly’s stories. She had to get out of there before she let Carly have it, or her head exploded. “There’s a jewelry shop we passed that I’m going to go look at. Why don’t you find you a top to go with this,” she indicated the forgotten sarong in Carly’s hands, “which you should totally get, and I’ll meet you outside when you’re done, okay?” She turned and left before Carly could object.