Re: Lower Manhattan - Beach

[Guest]

"They're all incredibly lucky, I'll give them that. But one day their luck is gonna run out." Lola said as the reached the smoothie stand.

[Tiger-Lily]

Evelyn bought a mango-kiwi smoothie. "What do you want?"

One of the dudes working the counter intervened, flashing them a grin that Evelyn suspected was to hide the fact that he'd just checked them out. "You guys should try the pine-apple. Came in recently and it's a hit," he remarked.

[Guest]

Lola smiled politely at the guy even though she knew he had give him and Evelyn a once over. "Uh thanks, but I'm not crazy about pineapple, can I have a strawberry-banana smoothie, and also could you get me a cup of ice or a bag if you can?" She asked him.

[Tiger-Lily]

The guy looked confused and paused his scoping to shoot Lola a funny look. "Ice...? Okay, uh, hang on..."

Evelyn stifled a laugh, relieved. "This is why I envy girls with males tagging along. It's either that, or you have to punch out random dudes in the street."

The guy came back with their smoothies and a bag of ice. Evelyn passed over a five dollar bill and he hand her the change. She attempted to pull her hand back before he touched it any longer than necessary and when he looked away, she pulled a face at Lola.

[Guest]

Lola covered her mouth with her hand to hide a laugh, and as the guy returned she handed him the ten that Evelyn had given her. "I know huh? Its one of the perks of traveling with our own circus I guess." She said grabbing her smoothie and the ice in one hand.

[Tiger-Lily]

They began walking back down the boardwalk. Evelyn nodded. "Honestly, though, it's a much better alternative to have guy friends around than a boyfriend," she commented absently, sipping her smoothie. "There's way less drama. Friends trumps boyfriend every time."

[Guest]

Lola nodded sipping on her smoothie. "You're right they are good to have around." Although she couldn't help feeling that Evelyn had motive saying this in trying to reassure herself that Jake and her were only friends. "So besides the lovely joke you played on Jake today, everything good between you two. Sorry if I'm being blunt or nosy but you know just wondering?" Lola asked Evelyn.

[Tiger-Lily]

"Well considering we're currently not attempting to kill each other, I'd say we're pretty good," Evelyn said with a slight smile. "Don't know how long that'll last if he beats the shit out of any more of my dates."

[Guest]

"He beat the shit out of your date?" Lola asked, to her this was all news.

[Tiger-Lily]

"After nearly dropping a horse on us, yes," Evelyn replied, no longer smiling. She kicked sand along with her bare feet as they walked. "We were in Central Park, me and Carrie, with these two dudes, one of which she was trying to set me up with. And I was a bit buzzed 'cause we had drinks before this, but I do recall Jake running up on one of those police horses and leaping over the bench we were all sitting on and falling off the horse mid-leap - on my date. After that, he proceeded to kick both the guys' asses even though I'll admit they may have provoked him." She frowned, looking at the water. "But he could have walked away. He didn't."

[Guest]

"Trust me it takes a lot for Jake to walk away from a fight, also if he's provoked forget about it those two dudes were as good as dead." Lola spoke from experience being around Jake and watching him fight a lot of people. "But stealing a police horse? That sounds like him alright, but good to know you two are working things out I guess." Lola gave Evelyn a small smile.

[Tiger-Lily]

Evelyn looked down at Lola and hesitated. "Working things out" wasn't what she'd call the situation. When you worked things out, there were no awkward pauses and non-platonic implications behind words. If they'd been working things out, Jake wouldn't keep flirting like the idiot he was.

"Yeah," she said slowly, swallowing. She slurped at her smoothie as they reached their towels to find only Carrie, who was now reading Evelyn's abandoned book.

"Where'd everyone go - oh," Evelyn recalled, after a moment, that the twins were swimming, Seth had gone to buy a drink and Jake - was what?

She frowned as she recalled his words. Diving off the dock? Evelyn stepped around the towels and headed in the direction she'd seen him go, curious.

[Guest]

Lola sat down on her towel, setting the bag of ice down. "By the time he gets out of the water this ice will be water." Lola snickered laying down and just soaking in whatever was left of the sun.

***

Jacob had been watching a few guys dive off the pier into the grayish looking water below it was about a good forty feet, which Jake didn't really mind. If there was one thing that didn't bother him, it was heights. After they all jumped a few times, they sort of went their own way. Leaving Jake alone, which that didn't bug him because whenever more than one or two people jumped at the same time it always made him kind of paranoid.

Jake took a few steps back, he took a deep breath and took off running leaping off the edge of the pier he soared through the air flipping a couple of times, before stretching out his body and diving straight into the water.

[Tiger-Lily]

Seth returned shortly after. He stumbled a bit as he walked and nearly spilled his soda onto Lola and Carrie. Stepping over them, he sat down on his towel, swigging his soda. "Where's Jake?" he asked. "Still diving?"

He could see Ashton and Antonio swimming about like identical brown dolphins.

***

Evelyn reached the dock with the high diving range just in time to see a familiar figure flip off it. For a second, she panicked and then realized this was Jake so she should just get used to finding him while he was throwing himself off things.

She walked forward toward the edge of the dock but didn't dare go further, instead holding onto one of the support pillars as her eyes scanned the water below. Her head began to feel dizzy almost instantly. How high up was she?

She could see water rippling where Jake had fallen in and her stomach clenched in automatic nervousness. How did people do this?

[Guest]

Lola nodded. "I think so, that or he probably drown or something." Lola said coolly sipping on her smoothie.

***

Jacob's swam up to the surface, shaking his head so his hair flopped down on his forehead, he swam back towards shore, walking out towards the stairs climbing up the high pier, as he neared the diving spot though he saw a familiar bronze head up there holding onto dear life on one of the pillars.

Out of all the places to be why the hell did Evelyn decide to come to place about forty feet off solid ground? Jake looked up at Evelyn. "So what brings you up here? You gonna dive?" He asked.

[Tiger-Lily]

Seth took this as a cue to lie down across four towels and close his eyes, using the nearest bag - which happened to be Lola's to cushion his head.

***

Evelyn drew back slightly, feeling sicker when she met Jake's eyes. "Hell no! I'm fine on solid ground. I cam to pay your funeral respects." The wind was stronger here and it whipped her wet ponytail onto her cheek. She shivered in her shorts and figured she should take the wet bathing suit off before she caught the damned swine flu.

[Guest]

Lola picked up her sandal and promptly smacked Seth's head with it. "Get your ugliness off my bag."

***

Jake grinned. "Oh come on my funeral respects? This is like forty feet, trust me I'll be fine."

[Tiger-Lily]

"Owww!" Seth yelped, like she'd stabbed with with a stiletto heel instead of a flat sandal. He rolled off the bag, clutching his head. "You killed me! You killed my brain! I could get brain damage!"

Carrie stifled a snicker behind her book. "Congrats, Lola, ou just won a community service award."

***

Evelyn frowned, examining the water again and closing her eyes as she turned away hastily. "You shouldn't test Fate. She already hates you," she replied.

[Guest]

"All in a days work, anything to keep the city of Manhattan safer." Lola said smugly, pulling a face at Seth.

***

"I've only got one life, and I'd rather go out with a bang instead of a fizzle Red!" Jake called back to Evelyn as he thought about his next stunt.

[Tiger-Lily]

Evelyn felt dizzy again so she hastily turned and walked back down the dock to lower ground, rubbing her hands over her face, feeling her cheeks warm in mild exertion. As she neared Jake, she glared. "The bang would probably hurt a lot more, troll-boy."

***

Seth retaliated by standing and yanking Lola's towel hard so it slipped from beneath her. He grinned and waved it in her face. "Toro!"

[Guest]

Lola fell off her towel into the sand she quickly got to her feet and went to tackle Seth.

***

Jake just pulled a face at Evelyn and said as he walked by her. "If I remember troll dolls had wild hair and my hair is looking pretty tame compared to yours right now, Mufasa."

[Tiger-Lily]

Seth laughed and simply waved the towel aside, dodging Lola. "Good bull," he remarked. He waved the towel again and Carrie paused reading, watching in amusement.

"Torro! Torro!" Seth challenged Lola again, smirking.

***

Evelyn stopped and turned around, reaching up to grab the chicken hairs at the back of Jake's neck. They were wet and nearly slipped from her grasp but she held on, twisting them. "Oh?"

[Guest]

Lola instead of charging this time walked calmly up to Seth and yanked his hair.

***

"Owowowow!" Jake howled, flailing his arms in attempt to smack Evelyn away.

[Tiger-Lily]

Seth yanked his head away. "Oww! What is with you women and dirty tricks?!"

***

Evelyn smirked and let go. "Aw, did wittle Jakey lose a hair?"

[Guest]

Jacob rubbed the back of his head and glared at Evelyn. He went to pick up Evelyn and started walking over towards the ledge. "You look hot Red, I think we should go for a dip and cool off."

***

"What is it with boys and being idiots?" Lola asked Seth.

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