#bergen_county

"Well, I'm glad you came back, at least for the summer. You are here for the whole summer, right?"

"I suppose" She says a bit ..jadedly "Besides my parents I really don't have much here waiting for me."

SHe looks around "I mean, Sam and Lupe aren't even here. I didn't have many other friends. No offense"

"Well, I totally know Sam's going to show up. She's probably just helping out with her little brother, but she'll be here." Don't make a liar out of me, Dagmar. "And Lupe said she'd be here. You know them. Fashionably late, right? Or just too-many-things-need-doing late. They'll be here." A glance to the water. "Hey, how 'bout a good old fashioned swimming race. You and me, out to the buoy and back?"

A chuckle "A lot of terms i'd use for Lupe and Sam, but Fashionable is not one of them. " For a moment a fond smile "Heck, we were the she-jocks, the amazons, we kind of took pride in being above that. Reverse snobbery I suppose. " But then she sighs "Those were... well, pleasant days. Guess we grew up. Everyone has to." And the smile is gone

While not banal to the point of danger, the once glimmering dreamer seems a bit more gray

"Ah, screw growing up! For today, anyway. Come on, she-jock! To the buoy and back!" She pulls off her oversized shirt, wearing a bikini that's not too skimpy to be functional. "Or are you chicken?" she adds with a grin.

"Lupe and Sam were the competitive ones" but she smiles a bit

Sam's bike rumbles as she pulls up.

"Bwok-bwok-bwok-bwoooooook!"

At that SOUND, May turns "I... oh. She came."

"Toldja she would!" Sylvi says lightly, concealing the tension about Sam and May talking.

"Well, I hope she's doing okay. I'll leave her be." A turn "A swim eh?" NOW suddenly seeing it not as a challenge but a way to give Sam distance

Oh, we can't have that. "Hey, Sam!" Sylvi calls out, seemingly distracted from the swimming challenge and going to meet her.

She lifts a hand in greeting before pulling off her helmet and stashing it in the sidecar. Sam, unsurprisingly, is dressed modestly enough for the lake - a long-sleeved rashguard and man's swim trunks.

May meanders over to the 'buffet' so to speak

Sam's gaze latches on to the tall girl, her shoulders starting to curl in as the dreamer ignores her.

Ignore? No... these chilli dogs are just so delightful

"Hey." Sylvi comes up and glances over at May. "Quick take? She was upset that you and Lupe weren't here, said she really doesn't have many other friends...which means she still thinks of you as a friend. And she grinned about you guys all being she-jocks. She's still in there. But it's gonna take work. You ready?"

All said very quickly and quietly, and then she's back to Cheerleader Sylvi.

Sam bites her lip.

"Not really? But I'm here."

"You rock," Sylvi encourages. "C'mon." She leads the way to the gathering.

She grabs a manilla envelope from the saddlebag, and follows.

The chilli dog is now in May's hand and she's giving a test

"Hey, good idea," she says in May's general direction. "Food first. Then hang out. Then swimming."

The party around them is picking up

A chili dog does look good.

May looks over, sees Sam, and then answers Sylvi "It's a good chilli dog. Not sure who made it but it tastes delicious." A breath "Hello, Samantha"

"Excellent!" Sylvi says, loading up her own chili dog...and getting out from between May and Sam.

"When did I become that?" A little brow furrow. "Please call me Sam."

"As you like, Sam" Said without snideness or malice, but almost boring practicality

A small frown, and she tightens her grip on the envelope.

"Um."

"Here." She shoves it towards May, white-knuckled.

From behind May's back, Sylvi mouths, Be strong, Amazon.

Then she moves away to mingle.

MAY takes it, confused "What's this?"

"The Amazon script."

"I.. I wrote notes?"

"You caught the plot hole, of course, but there's other stuff, and lots of good stuff, and..."

"You..." A confused but hopeful look "You read it??"

"I read all of them. This one's my favorite."

"I.... haven't finished notes on the others, not yet."

"Your.. your favorite " Yes, like a cloud broken up by sunlight, she starts to smile "I thought you.. I thought you hated it. You never wrote back. You didn't even TEXT back about your thoughts"

She looks down, cheeks flushed.

"I was... I... I was a bad friend."

May looks at her feet "I thought you were DONE With oour friendship, to be honest. Wouldn't be the first time the weird tall girl got ghosted"

"And you'e right. I ghosted you, which was cruel and unfair. I...I.. it was stupid. I... you were off in California, and meeting all these new people and when people go away, they don't..."

"Things change, and it was going to hurt that you left me, and then it turns out I left you when you kept writing, but I... I don't have a good reason..."