Chapter Text
Heidi was Jaida's best friend. She was her ride or die; the Bonnie to her Clyde and every other iconic duo you could think of as well. They were inseparable; always have been. Ever since Jaida spilled her apple juice on the boy making fun of Heidi in first grade, they pretty much did everything together. Almost all of their firsts were done together, including the time Jaida had to convince Heidi that the roller coaster wouldn't be scary just for Jaida to be the one leaving the ride in tears. When they went on vacation, it was always with each other; no matter if it was to Jamaica or just for a weekend at Jaida's beach house. The only time they really weren't together was when they were asleep, which wasn't always the case either since they also loved sleepovers. The two were inseparable, and that's the way they liked it.
"Heids!" Jaida exclaimed, pulling the remote from her friend’s hand, as well as the bowl of popcorn that sat between the two of them on the floor. Heidi fought back, latching her body onto Jaida’s, her hands reaching around her large afro in an attempt to win the remote back. They’d been doing this for about 15 minutes now while deciding on what movie they would watch. It was their first day of their month-long vacation at Jaida’s beach house, the only difference to this vacation was that it was their first time without any sort of parental supervision. It was senior week, their first opportunity at freedom, and their idea of that was being obnoxiously loud while fighting over the tv remote.
“You literally just told me I could choose the movie, bitch!” Heidi yelled, very close to hysterics at this point. She could barely keep herself upright on Jaida’s back; she was laughing so hard. Jaida was too busy stuffing the remote down her bra where she thought Heidi couldn’t find it, but she ended up forgetting it was Heidi we were talking about, and she didn’t care where the remote was as long as it was in grabbing distance. As soon as Jaida had moved her hand away from her chest, the remote had already been snatched up by Heidi’s sneaky fingers.
“It isn’t fair that my boobs aren’t big enough to conceal that thing!” Jaida complained, rolling over to throw her friend off her back. Heidi only laughed at her in response and began scrolling through Hulu again. They would be using Netflix if Heidi could remember her dad’s password, so this was the next best thing. They really weren’t sure why they were even putting on a movie, it wasn’t like they were going to watch it anyway. They would end up making stupid comments that turn into nonesense conversations like they always do, and it would end with one of them realizing the end credits were rolling. Despite them knowing the outcome, they still took forever to pick the right one. Heidi called it high quality background noise ™ (and yes, she does say the ™ with it).
“Girl, you’re a full cup size bigger than me, don’t complain.” Heidi said, pushing up one of her B cups before flipping Jaida off. Jaida rolled her eyes and rolled over a little more until her head rested on the other girl’s thighs, resting with a content sigh. She stared at the screen while Heidi flicked through movie after movie until they landed on one named Booksmart.
“What’s that one?” Jaida questioned, pointing to the screen. Heidi clicked on it, knowing Jaida well enough that when she asked about a movie, that was going to be the one they “watch”.
“I guess we’ll see.” Heidi shrugged, reaching down to pop some popcorn into her mouth.
___
Jaida woke up the next morning with the thwap of a pillow smacking across her face. She could feel Heidi’s body weight pressing down on her torso, which is where her hands naturally gravitated to land on her waist once once her body had calmed from the slap. She greets her friend with a tired grunt and her nails digging into her side to express her displeasure in being woken up. “What do you want?” Jaida grumbled, moving one of her arms up to cover her eyes from the blinding sunlight light that filled the room. Heidi scoffed and grabbed her arm, yanking it from her face and pinning it above her head. The action took the slender girl by surprise; yelping as she locked eyes with her best friend. She had a devious smile on her face, which usually meant that there was something she wanted from Jaida.
“I wanna go to the beach! I promise we can get ice cream later!” Jaida huffed, pushing the girl off her lap and sitting up in bed. Even with the whole house to themselves, she guessed that they’d forgotten they didn’t have to share Jaida’s queen anymore. She could see Heidi’s belongings strung out across the floor as well as the evidence of Heidi’s body imprint on the other side of the bed. Old habits die hard, she guessed.
“We can’t go to the beach now, we are going to a beach party tonight. We’ll be beached out!” Jaida said taking her own pride in being the logical one of the two. Heidi groaned, pushing her face into the pillow. She still had her bonet on from last night, which was currently slipping off, which Jaida took it upon herself to adjust. She reached over, tugging the front forward onto the girl’s forehead, then doing the same to the bottom side. Heidi mumbled a soft “thank you” through the pillows, still not moving her head in pure brattiness for being told no.
“Get up, bitch! We can do legitimately anything else today.” Heidi’s head snaps up, a testing look on her face. Jaida prepared herself for a smart remark.
“Fine, lets go to the bay.” Jaida rolled her eyes.
“That’s still a beach, Heids.” She stated as she got up from the bed. Hedi fully sat up, crawling on the bed and pointing a finger towards her friend.
“But it’s a beach we aren’t going to tonight!” Heidi rebutted, causing Jaida to roll her eyes once more. She crosses her arms over her chest as she looks down at her friend who adorned a sly smirk on her lips. She couldn’t help but agree.
“Fine but you’re paying for both our ice creams.” Jaida said as she turned around, heading into the bathroom the room was connected to. Heidi did a little victory dance on the bed before jumping up from it and shimmying her way over to her still unpacked suitcase. Her body filled with the renewed energy of getting her way and she was happy with it. She even picked out a yellow and white sundress to match her mood.
Once the two girl’s had gotten ready, they headed downstairs just to be greeted with the mess they made last night in the living room. From the fort made of cushions in the corner to the now cushionless couches that were covered in loose popcorn, the whole room was a mess and neither girl wanted to have to deal with it. They both simultaneously give each other a look, before they both turn back to the mess with matching groans.
“I told you to clean up last night!” Jaida complained, leaning over to pick up two empty bottles of root beer off the floor, willfully deciding to be ignorant of the small stain the soda left on the carpet. Heidi decided she would take initiative by dismantling the fort, balancing two large cushions under each of her arms, which proved to be way too small for the job. She ended up dropping a few in her mission to return them to the couch, Jaida vacuuming the popcorn before the other girl placed each one. They worked well as a team, and everything was cleaned up within thirty minutes, but that was still too long for Heidi’s impatience to find the beach.
“Hurry up, J!” Heidi exclaimed impatiently from the doorway while Jaida looked all over for her car keys. Jaida scoffed from the dining room, still frantically looking for her keys.
“It would go quicker if you helped!” Jaida retorted with a little bit of humor dripping in her words. Heidi sighed as she stomped around and began to look. Her patience was growing thinner and thinner the more time passed but she didn’t want to be too obvious to Jaida because it wasn’t her fault that all this was happening nor was it Jaida’s responsibility to take care of Heidi’s emotions. She just silently looked until she heard the jangling of the keys sounding off in the other room. “Got em!” Jaida shouted from the living room, causing Heidi to sigh once more, this time in gratefulness.
They stroll outside with their arms linked. Heidi was to no surprise dragging her friend to the car, ignoring the complaint of the heat by Jaida. The sun boiled down on them in the heat of the southern june. It was something they were pretty used to, but Jaida was never someone who liked summer all that much anyway. She always preferred the chill of fall where she could cozy up in a nice hoodie and not have to worry about it being too cold. She was never one to dabble in extremes, which summer was. Heidi on the other hand couldn’t get enough of summer. She loved the beach and the boardwalk and just about everything that came with summer. The heat was never something that had her too bothered, she was too busy living in the moment to worry about it, something Jaida envied more than she would ever admit.
“You’re the one with the driver’s license so hurry!” Heidi whined as she waited by the passengers side of the vehicle. Jaida looked at her friend, admiring how desperate she was to spend the day with her. Heidi was really cute when she got restless, Jaida thought. She unlocked the car as she rounded the corner to the driver’s side, slipping into her seat with Heidi grabbing her bag from her arms purely out of habit. They worked as a unit and without asking; another one of their little things that added to their very special bond. Jaida slipped the key into the ignition, turning it a few times until it finally turned on. She hated her old car, but her dad insisted that if it wasn’t broken, why replace it. Jaida argued that anything that was made in the nineties was broken by now.
“Do you got the directions to the bay?” Jaida asked as she fastened her seatbelt. Heidi nods, pulling her phone out of her bra and opening google maps. Soon enough, they had her phone propped up on the stereo and they were on their way.
___
The two girls walk down the length of the beach, their arms linked together while their other hands were too busy with their ice cream cones. It was noon, so the sun was even more relentless on their skin than ever before. Jaida had to fight back the urge to climb into her car and put the AC on blast for the sake of her summer loving companion. Heidi didn’t seem to notice her discomfort, mainly because she had her eye on a girl walking in a handstand in front of them. She looked on at her with pure fascination for the stranger. I mean it wasn’t everyday you see someone doing that, especially not on something as unstable as sand. She decided it was easier to blame her infatuation on the strangeness of the situation than to think too much into it. The closer and closer they got to said handstanding girl, the more Heidi’s ice cream melted.
“What are you looking at?” Jaida questioned, not having noticed the girl at all. She was too focused on the creamy goodness in her hand to be looking around at too much. Heidi’s eyes snap away from the stranger and land on Jaida right before she feels freezing ice cream drip down onto her chest and dress. Before she had time to react to either, yet another thing catched her attention, and that thing sends her falling down into the sand, along with her cone. Somewhere in the background she hears Jaida yelp and mutter something that she couldn’t make out due to the volume of the shoreline.
“Are you okay?” A woman’s voice calls out before a face appears in front of her. It was the girl who was just walking around in a handstand. Her pink hair falling onto Heidi’s face from the sudden close proximity. Heidi felt like the air was knocked from her lungs just looking at her. She was stunning, and she was touching her. The perfect recipe to make even someone like Heidi a stuttering mess.
“Y-Yeah, I’m cool.” She nodded, allowing the girl to help her to her feet. Once up on her feet, Heidi felt Jaida’s hands on her, pulling Heidi into her arms instead. She groaned at the now lack of contact from the pretty gymnast, but didn’t fight Jaida’s hold away.
“I’m really sorry for kicking you down. I didn’t exactly see you there.” The girl laughed, scratching the back of her neck nervously, which made Heidi swoon. She wasn’t one to believe in love at first sight, but what's the harm in a crush, right? Jaida scoffs silently as she takes another lick of her ice cream, still holding her friend protectively under her arm. ‘Then you shouldn’t be walking like that!’ She complained internally despite keeping a smile on her exterior.
“It’s no problem! We all accidentally kick people down, it's alright!” Heidi said chipperly, confusing Jaida with her tone. Heidi was not one to take an apology so easily, and Jaida knew that. The fact that she wasn’t even a little bit upset right now was concerning to her, but she decided to brush it off. All she wanted to do right now was get away from this girl so she could keep on enjoying her friend’s company alone. She didn’t appreciate the interruption in the slightest; especially in the fashion it arrived.
“I can buy you a new ice cream cone if you want.” The girl pointed down to the cone which was now mostly submerged into the white sand. Heidi adamantly nodded while Jaida shook her head at the idea. What Heidi needed right now was to get away from the klutz, not to take her on a date! At least that’s what Jaida thought. On the other hand, Heidi wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to spend more time with the girl. She seemed so sweet on top of being extraordinarily attractive. She didn't think she could say no even if she wanted to.
“Great! I’ll go grab my wallet.” The girl nodded at Heidi, completely ignoring Jaida’s opposition which made the girl’s blood boil. Now she had even more reason not to like her. She was already a klutz that could have severely hurt Heidi, but now she was that on top of being someone who was probably only acting like this to get into her friend’s pants. Who the hell did she think she was to not even look at her this entire conversation even with Heidi literally hanging off her. It wasn’t like she was making herself invisible, this chick was just an asshole.
“Oh I’m Rock by the way!” She noted before she walked away, making Jaida change her internal statement. Rock was just an asshole.
The walk from the beach to the ice cream parlor was a long one for Jaida. Not only was the sun boiling her alive at this point, but Heidi and this Rock chick seemed to be enjoying leaving Jaida out of their conversation. To be fair, it was a stupid one. Jaida listened on to the nonsense, waiting for one of them to say anything that Jaida could possibly respond to so she could insert herself into the conversation, but the more the ice cream shop came into focus, the less hope she had on that opportunity coming. All she learned for the walk was that Rock was actually short for Roxanne, and that her cheerleading team back home started calling her that initially. Besides that, it was all talk of the things Heidi and Rock ended up both liking, which left Jaida out of the conversation. Despite being best friends, Heidi and Jaida never had the same idea of what was entertaining. While Jaida could spend hours watching reality tv, Heidi preferred to play video games and watch youtube to pass her time; something her and Rock were now bonding over. Jaida never minded their difference in interests before, but now she wished that she knew what Overwatch was and what it meant to “main” something.
“We’re here, lovers!” Jaida said in the most condescending voice she could, but Heidi didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. She laughs at the comment in fact, leading to Rock doing the same. Walking into the parlor was refreshing. It was ice cold and dark besides the light pouring in through the windows. It was just what Jaida needed right now. She walks right up to the counter, being greeted by an annoyingly chipper looking employee. The girl greets her with a “how are you” and a wave, which looking back at her friend who was giving her dust in the attention department, made Jaida feel better than it normally would have. Jaida gives her a bright smile and a nod, muttering a “good” to her as she pulls her debt card out of her phone case. She puts in an order for Heidi’s previous cone and watches as the brunette scoops out the ice cream. It was just easier for her to watch her instead of looking back at Heidi at the moment. Normally, that wouldn’t be an issue considering that in a room of a hundred people, Jaida’s eyes always found Heidi, but seeing her be so close with a stranger made her stomach turn in ways that made her extremely uncomfortable and she couldn’t explain why.
The cashier rings her up and hands her the cone, giving her an empathetic smile after glancing over at Heidi, who sat in the corner chatting up a storm. Jaida notices the smile and gives a saddened one back. “I see you’ve lost your friend to Rock.” The brunette huffed, leaning over the counter.
“How do you know her?” Jaida questioned, poking a hip out. The cashier chuckled and looked over to the couple in the corner before turning her eyes back to Jaida.
“I was her fling last year. She has a thing for summer romance and she doesn’t care about you once fall rolls around.” Jaida could see the girl’s teeth grit as she spoke, almost as if she was reliving the heartbreak as they spoke. Jaida finally felt like her standoffish feeling surrounding Rock was validated, and she almost wanted to hug the girl right now. Maybe she would if she didn’t have a huge ice cream cone in her hand right now.
“Well, I guess I’ll have to warn her about that.” Jaida half laughed. “ Thanks for letting me know, uh,” Jaida looked down at the girl’s name tag. “Jackie.” She smiled as she spoke her name, making Jackie smile back.
“No problem. If you need to talk about anything else this summer,” Jackie started, pulling out her order sheets from her bra as well as a pen from the cup of them sitting in front of the cash register. She scribbled something down onto the paper before handing it back to Jaida. “You can just let me know.” Jaida looked down at the paper, seeing her number written on it in big writing. Jaida nods, flashing her a quick smile before turning away and walking back over to Heidi, who was currently laughing at something Rock had said.
“Here.” Jaida said, unceremoniously shoving the cone in front of Heidi’s face. The girl jerks back, giving Jaida a strange look before taking the cone on her hands.
“Did you pay for this?” Heidi asked, knowing it wasn’t like Jaida to buy anything without her. To be honest, Heidi hadn’t even noticed Jaida go up to the counter in the first place.
“Yeah, I did, now eat it.” Jaida said, not bothering to hide her impatience. Heidi could tell something was off with her friend, but didn’t want to bring it up right now. Not with an audience. So she just nods and eats what Jaida provided, continuing her conversation like nothing ever happened.
It took a while for them to finally leave the parlor, and most of that time was spent with Jaida looking at her fingernails, just waiting to be included in any sort of way, but that didn’t come around until Rock finally left and the two girl’s were finally on their own again. Today proved the point of why Jaida hated hanging around other people when she was with Heidi. Heidi was way too friendly, but she didn’t have much of an ability to multitask, which rendered it difficult to hold conversations with multiple people at once. Due to this and Jaida’s innate desire for her best friend’s attention, anyone that got in the way of that was usually labelled as a pest to Jaida, and guess who just got added to that list.
“Hey, J?” Heidi asked, her voice low and out of character. Jaida’s head snapped around to look at her. She seemed sheepish both in tone and body language, which confused Jaida considering how she was just chatting up a storm a few moments ago.
“Yeah?” Jaida asked back, slipping into the front seat of her car, while Heidi only opened the passenger’s door, not bothering to get into the seat.
“Are you okay?” The shorter girl asked, shuffling a little awkwardly on her feet.
“I’m fine, Heids. Now get in the car.” Jaida scoffed, brushing her off. All she wanted to do was go home right now and not have to deal with Heidi until tonight. She could really go for a nap right now to get her mind off the events of today. Or maybe she could text that Jackie girl from the parlor, maybe that would help her think about anything besides how much Rock made Heidi laugh and how much she knew that she was the only one that was supposed to be able to do that. Maybe it was just jealousy, but that last thing she wanted was to lose her best friend to someone who just wants to dump her by the end of summer.
“I got her number…”Heidi said, still sheepish as she climbed into the car. Jaida doesn’t bother looking at her as she pulls out of the driving spot.
“I know. I was right there.” Jaida said monotonously. Heidi turns her head to look at Jaida. She could tell something was bothering her, and it was so unusual for her to not open up easily to her. She couldn’t decipher why; but she was definitely trying. There was usually no reason that would ever render Jaida silent. She loved to talk, maybe even more than Heidi, and for her to be silent when so obviously upset was something of concern.
“What’s wrong? Don’t say nothing or I swear I will jump out of this car right now!” Heidi half yelled, fully turning her body to Jaida as the other girl kept her eyes glued to the rode despite them being at a stoplight. Jaida huffed, letting her head fall down onto the steering wheel for a moment before hearing a car honk behind her signaling it was a greenlight. She quickly drove off as fast as she could, only slowing by the next time she came across another traffic light. She had yet to even acknowledge Heidi, but it wasn’t on purpose, that honk kinda just made her forget about what Heidi said entirely. “Jaida!?” Heidi yelled, very impatient by this point.
“What?” Jaida yelled back as she pulled down their street.
“What’d I do that’s got your panties in a damn twist?” Heidi asked as they pulled into the driveway. Jaida shuts off the car as quick as she could and undid her buckle, before falling back into her seat with a deep sigh.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Heids. I just wish you bothered to say a word to me while you were hanging out with that girl you’re obviously so in love with.” Heidi shut her mouth the second Jaida stopped talking, but Jaida didn’t give her much room to respond. She just climbs out of the car as quickly as she could, leaving Hedi in there alone. Heidi clenched her jaw as she thought of what to do. She had never really seen Jaida so mad before, and over something so trivial and easily apologized for. Heidi just couldn’t see what the big deal was. Sure, she knew that she probably shouldn’t have done that, and yeah she should apologize, but it wasn’t enough to make Jaida this angry. Jaida never got angry; especially not with Heidi.
“Jaida!” Yelled once more as she struggled out of the car, grabbing the purse Jaida forgot in the car on her way out. She chased after her friend, nearly tripping on one of the decorative rocks on her way to the front door. “Look, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have done that!” She admitted, warranting Jaida to turn around from her attempt to unlock the door. Jaida looked her up and down, seeing her holding her purse, making her heart melt a bit seeing that even while yelling at her, she still was thoughtful enough to not let her leave that in the car. A small act of kindness, but one that reminded Jaida of how much Heidi actually cared for her. And with that, her annoyance melted away with a smile.
“Come on, bitch!” Jaida said, holding out an arm to invite Heidi into a hug, which the other girl happily took. Jaida pulled her into her side before leading the two of them inside, internally reminding herself that no one could ever take Heidi away from her, especially not some random girl from the beach.