you try to be everything to everyone {closed

[Rainbow]

Naya gingerly slid her sunglasses off of her face and set them on top of her shoes, pulling onto her back on her towel. She knew she wouldn't tan because of her skin, but it didn't hurt to just lay in the sun. Well, it could...but that was beside the point. She ran her fingers through her hair, which had been let loose of its ponytail about an hour ago, when classes were over. Away from school, she didn't need to be in HBIC mode. Here, with two of her friends on either side of her, she could be her usual fun-loving self. Fortunately, these two friends were able to put up with her bitchy Queen Bee self in school. One more so than the other, because Austin was actually in a different clique and may or may not be murdered for hanging around her.

"The sun is nice, Jo. You should wear a bikini and tan a bit. You're really pale," Austin observed from Naya's left, looking over at the other blonde on Naya's right. Of course, both blondes were fully clothed, leaving Naya the only one in a bikini, and she couldn't even tan. "You look like you have a great body!"

"Thanks, Austin. I prefer having a bit more reserve than that, though. I find wearing a bikini to be uncomfortable. Why aren't you?" Joey looked at Austin, but the blonde just looked away awkwardly and didn't answer. She frowned a bit with curiosity, but was soon distracted by Naya sighing unhappily. This resulted in Joey and Austin slowly laying down on their own towels, no longer blocking the sun from Naya.

This was nice. Two friends, the sun, her face not stretched by a tight ponytail...at that thought, Naya unhappily ran her fingers through her long black hair again. Perhaps two more open friends would have been a better idea to bring to the beach. These two never seemed too willing to show off their bodies. Naya got up slowly, sliding her sunglasses back down over her eyes. "I'm going to get us some drinks. Be back in a bit," she informed them before making her way across the beach, making a bit of a face at the sand that went between her toes. Such a weird feeling.

At school, it was common knowledge that Naya was an unbearable bitch to everyone and anyone. That's what she needed to do to stay at the top, though. Walk on anyone that got in her way. It was rare that people ran into her outside of school and when they did, she was unusually nice and happy. Naya never did like being mean to people and yes, it did kill her on the inside when she was a bitch. But she needed popularity. She thrived off of it.

[Myranda]

Jeremy, admittedly, felt quite studly. He was wearing his red, white, and blue (very patriotic) swim trunks with a simple white t-shirt on top. It was about his first month or to into the school year, and so far he ha only made a couple of friends. But he knew this was all about to change. People liked him, he was a people pleaser, and people enjoyed his company. How much more qualified can you get to make friends? He was the package.

He sat at the tiki bar by the beach, overlooking the bright sand and soft waves. After school was the best time to come down here. He knew the weather here wouldn't stay hot for too much longer, so he tried to beach it up as often as possible. But, you can't make friends without making an effort, right? Jeremy wasn't a very 'effort-y' guy. He much preferred to people-, no, girl-watch at the beach. Girls were such interesting people. He couldn't figure them out. Sometimes, he'd catch a girl looking at him, and for a moment he'd have the courage to go talk to her. But unfailingly, every time she gets up and walks towards him, she walks straight into the arms of another man.

But, no matter. He was perfectly content with where he was at. Which right now was at the tiki bar, ordering a virgin piña colada. He cocked his eyebrow at the female waitress upon saying the word 'virgin', but immediately felt very stupid for saying so. He may as well announce to the world that he's under twenty one and still a virgin. He turn around in his stool and waited for his drink, noticing a remarkably tan young beach girl heading his way. He hid his glances at her with his sunglasses, but duely noted that the seat next to his was the only one open. He did a mental fist pump, and turned back to the bar. Girls were awesome.

[Rainbow]

Naya clicked her teeth together thoughtfully, wondering what her girls back at their spot on the beach wanted. Racking her brain for any sort of idea, she paused when she noticed how filled the tiki bar was. Then again, it was fairly warm out. Not noticing the glances she was receiving from the boy she was about to sit next to, Naya slid into the only open seat and waited patiently for one of the people that were working there to notice that she was waiting to be served. It didn't hurt to chat someone up a bit while she was waiting. Given the fact that the person on one side of her was a middle-aged man with an unnervingly hairy chest, she spun slightly in her seat to look at the boy that seemed about her age.

"It's nice out," Naya hummed with approval, casting a glance up at him before sliding her sunglasses off the bridge of her nose and up to the top of her head. She glanced out towards the water and gingerly adjusted her bikini top. Upon further inspection, she realized that this guy was familiar. Perhaps he did go to Rose Wood. Or maybe she had just seen him around? "Perfect for tanning. I can't really tan, though," she blinked slowly and regarded her darker skin for a moment. "I'm Naya, by the way."

[Myranda]

Jeremy held his breath for a moment- he was never any good at talking to girls. But, he would have felt bad if he just let her sit there and aimlessly talk to nobody. He couldn't let her chat buddy be a patch of raunchy chest hair. He looked over at her, lips pursed and nodded. "Very nice." He paused. "The day, I mean. Is nice. I'm Jeremy." He smiled shyly and gave a little wave. He took in a breath, about to say something more, but was saved by the bartender passing him his virgin drink. He nodded in thanks, and took a sip. "Mm!" He said, cheerfully.

He looked back over his shoulder at the direction the girl had come in. There were two other girls over there, blondes, but he wasn't sure that they were with Naya. In an attempt to keep a girl sitting next to him, he looked over at her and said, "I've seen you around. You go to the boarding school too, right?" He hoped she wasn't entirely freaked out by him. He was naturally a dork, but mentally a complete stud. He flashed her an extra smile- as if smiling would make her less freaked out.

[Rainbow]

Naya narrowed her eyes with delight at the answer she got. Already, she was mentally noticing the cuteness that this guy seemed to possess. She caught the attention of another bartender and ordered a lemonade and, after a moment of intense thought, a bottle of water and a bottle of apple juice. The water was for Austin (since she seemed like a health freak), and the apple juice for Joey because, well...Joey was a bit childish, and so was apple juice in her opinion. She turned her attention back to Jeremy, flashing a smile.

"Yeah, I do," Naya laughed slightly, assuming that he too went to the boarding school, given the fact that he had asked if she went to the boarding school 'too'. "It's actually my first year here. I'd say I'm doing pretty good," she looked towards the bartender that was going about getting her drinks, hopefully. She was successfully ruling her own clique and held her place near the top of the high school food chain. She was doing better than pretty good.

[Myranda]

Jeremy raised his eyebrows and slammed his drink down. "What?" He said, in a high pitched squeaky voice. "No way! It's my first year, too!" He said, enthusiastically. "Wow, this is great. I was all worried I wouldn't make any friends. Kinda." He leaned in to grasp the straw of his drink with his mouth, but kept missing and had to roll the straw around a little before he finally managed to take a sip. He let out an 'ahh' at the end of the sip and leaned back on his stool, managing not to fall off. This in itself was a feat, because falling off of things was Jeremy's specialty. He was six foot four and a walking liability waiver.

Jeremy realized pretty quickly that California girls were not at all like Oregon girls. Oregon girls were pale, shy, and theirnskin was always damp. California girls were the exact opposite; tan, confident, and though he had yet to touch the skin of one he imagined it would be smooth, not damp and sticky. He drummed his fingers nervously upon the counter and racked his brain for ways to make himself not sound entirely boring. So, naturally, he came up with the world's lamest conversation starter in the history of conversation starters. "So, come here often?"

[Rainbow]

Naya laughed immediately at his reaction, nodding gratefully at the bartender when her three drinks were slid across the countertop to her. "You're certainly something," she chuckled a bit. It was a good thing, of course. She hadn't decided how she'd treat him in school, though. He seemed like a dork, but look like a jock. Would she get away with being a bit less of a bitch to him? Maybe.

Deciding that her girls could wait a bit longer for drinks, Naya regarded Jeremy with an amused smile. Did he seriously just ask her that? When he didn't immediately take it back, she cleared her throat to hide an amused snort. "Sometimes. I like the park a lot better, though. My girls over there wanted to go to the beach though, so...who am I to deny them?" She couldn't help but mentally roll her eyes at how she was making herself sound. She wasn't usually so selfless. "Would you care to meet them? I need to take their drinks to them. Then maybe we can talk a walk along the beach?" She quirked an eyebrow, like she was daring him to say no.

[Myranda]

That intimidating eyebrow of hers made him gulp, blink a few times, and then stutter as he agreed. "S-s-sure." He said, nodding. He shook his head a little. He wondered if she had meant those blonde girls he had noticed earlier. Jeremy always had a special place in his heart for blondes. He stood from his stool and gulped down the rest of his drink, which he now realized was kind of girly. "Can I help you with those at all?" He asked, nodding at the drinks she was carrying. He was nothing if not a good hearted gentleman; he showed that through his manner. Not to mention, he did enjoy impressing girls. This one in particular seemed to have a sort of control over him.

As he scanned the beach through his dark sunglasses, he noticed not a single girl over the age of five wore one piece bathingsuits. Not that he was disappointed. He could remember a time when girls wore one piece bathingsuits until they were thirteen. That was how they did it in Oregon. There wasn't much sun there anyway, it's not like the girls there had the opportunity to tan. California was looking better and better as the days passed by, honestly. Jeremy hadn't yet found a single flaw.

[Rainbow]

Naya smiled slightly, inwardly noting that it was certainly endearing that he was offering to take some of her drinks. "Mm, yes please," she nodded at him and grabbed her own lemonade, leaving the bottle of water and apple juice for him. She slid off of the stool, careful fixing her bikini bottoms with a bit of a tug on the side of them.

Naya walked through the sand again, wincing at the sand between her toes again, and grinned when she realized that both Joey and Austin were giving her questioning looks. Considering she had taken longer than usual to get some mere drinks, she could understand their curiosity. Waving them off, she glanced quickly over her shoulder at Jeremy before stopping in front of her friends, gesturing between them and over at Jeremy. "Guys, this is Jeremy. Jeremy, this is Austin and Joey." She held her hands out for the drinks.

Austin was a cheerleader and, quite frankly, she certainly had the look of a ditzy cheerleader. Her legs were obviously slightly muscled, though that was from her dancing classes. Otherwise, she was actualy fully clothed, unlike most of the girls that were there. She'd never share why she refused to go out in public in a bikini. Joey looked far more innocent than Austin and Naya. The fact that she was toying with a silver cross that hung around her neck didn't really help. Both of the girls nodded politely at Jeremy. "Hello," Joey greeted him nicely.

[Myranda]

Jeremy politely took the drinks for her and followed her down. She was, in fact, talking about the two blondes he had noticed earlier. He was a little excited, as excited as he could be at the moment, to be making new friends; all of them very attractive. When they reached the group, Jeremy could almost sense it- Naya was the queen bee. She was obviously the intimidating one and the center of attention. The two blondes looked alike, and were her minions. None of this was a bad thing, just a fact Jeremy had picked up on. As mentioned before, Jeremy found all of the girls to be very attractive. But one in particular he found a little more interesting than the other two; she looked like a china doll, twirling that necklace around her finger absent mindedly.

Jeremy snapped out of his half trance to hand the girls their drinks and say, "Oh, uhm, your drinks," rather timidly. "It's nice to meet you all," he added quickly. He didn't feel awkward, but he looked it. He stood above all the sitting girls making them look tiny and him look towering. Or, maybe the girls actually were tiny, and would look it against anyone. But, Jeremy had a special way of making people look small.

Joey and Austin, he thought, ensuring that he would not forget their names. Though, he didn't quite catch whose name was whose. He wasn't sure how he felt about boy names for girls, but when the china doll girl said 'hi' to him, he ultimately decided names didn't matter. Heck, kids used to call him 'Jermy' in elementary school, so he should not be judging.

[Rainbow]

"Thank you," Joey carefully smiled at him, accepting her apple juice with a polite nod. "It's nice to meet you too. You two know each other?" She looked curiously between Jeremy and Naya, releasing the cross around her neck in favor of cracking open her bottle of apple juice.

"Not really," Naya sipped her lemonade quietly and smoothed her hair back, sliding her sunglasses off and tossed them onto her towel. "We're actually going to go for a walk. Unless you'd like to stay and chat a bit?" She looked at Jeremy again, this time trying not to look as intimidating as she had before, when she inquired about walking on the beach. She was truly willing to stick around if he wanted to speak to Austin and Joey. After all, if he was having trouble making friends, then she wouldn't mind helping him befriend Joey and/or Austin.

[Myranda]

Jeremy gave a small smile back at her. "Uh," he started, but Naya had already beat him to it with her 'not really'. He laughed nervously and looked down. He knew he should do something funny like crack a joke or something, but he was out of it right now. He was thinking about other things. He often had to snap himself out of it. What on earth was with him today? If only there was a way to show them that he was not usually this... Creepy. Normally he was comfortable and easy to be around, but that waitress must have slipped something in his ridiculously feminine drink. What was it that girls had again? Estrogen? He was suddenly stricken with internal fear. If she slipped estrogen in my drink... Does that mean I'll start getting a period?!

Jeremy was never considered intelligent. He was comedy-smart, he wasn't book smart. He had the tendency to say things that only made sense to him. It was his own fatal flaw, and had gotten him severely ridiculed in the past. The girls said something about a walk, and again he had to stop fearing he would get a period just because he's having an off day. "Oh," he said, remembering his goal to be less creepy. "Nah, that's fine. If you guys wanna go for a walk, go ahead. I'll, uh, watch your stuff so it doesn't get stolen." Here, in the richest part of Rosewood, he thought, Good one.

[Rainbow]

While Jeremy was panicking about estrogen and such, Naya had distractedly made her way over to Austin and was now oddly hugging her friend, her hand on the side of Austin's head. Since Austin was still sitting down, she was just sort of leaning against Naya's leg. Oh well, it was an affectionate hug. She knew that Joey would resist such a hug against Naya's bare leg, so she didn't even bother. With a laugh, Naya regarded Jeremy with amusement.

"I meant a walk with you, dork," Naya tried her best to make the name sound endearing, since that's the way she meant it. She distractedly ran her fingers through Austin's hair while the blonde purred happily and sipped away at her water. "Me and you go for a walk along the beach. My girls can handle themselves." With an affectionate pat to Austin's head, Naya broke away from the cheerleader and returned to Jeremy again. "I wanna hear all about where you came from. So, shall we?" She gestured down along the shore.

[Myranda]

Jeremy's eyebrows rose slightly again. "Oh, yeah! Sure. That would be cool." He nodded, noting once again that he needed to calm down a bit. She now admittedly thinks he's a dork! He stood back, waiting for Naya to take the lead (another thing Jeremy had never been very good at.) He gave another nervous, short laugh and waved 'bye' to the girls, attempting to make eye contact with the china doll once more. He started to shove his hand in the pockets of his swim shorts, but failed to remember that his shorts don't have pockets, and resorted to pretending to stretch a little and dropping his hands to the side.

As they began to walk along the beach, Jeremy was determined to make himself seem less awkward and more cool. "So, uh," he raised his eyebrow in an attempt to match her intimidating one. "What do you want to know about me?" He tried to talk smoothly and be somewhat intimidating, though he wasn't sure what the actual result was, so he just gulped and looked down at the waves crashing against his man-sandaled feet.

[Rainbow]

Naya chuckled and looked over her shoulder, slightly waving at Joey and Austin, before starting off down along the shore. She had her thumbs hooked into the sides of her bikini bottoms, if only for a place to put her hands. Behind her, Joey and Austin were probably chatting away about their first impression of Jeremy. Well, Austin would no doubt be doing most of the talking and Joey would just smile and nod every few seconds.

"Since this is your first year, I'm assuming you haven't lived here your whole life, so where are you from?" Naya asked. "I'm from LA," she admitted with a hum. She didn't know anything but California, really. She wouldn't last a day in freezing cold weather, she was very sure of that. The sun was just so nice. Being in a bikini was as natural to her as wearing normal clothes. If it wasn't so weird in the first place, she'd probably have no problem heading to school with one on.