“I should probably get back to my friends,” Juliet said, after swigging down some of her water in an attempt to calm herself down; it was not often that random hot guys sat down with her. Let alone bought her a water. Let alone opened said water before giving it to her. And it had never occurred that she should be saved from a stampeding mob by one, either.

“You’re sure your foot’s up to it?” He asked, laughing a little.

“Yeah,” Juliet blushed slightly. “Sorry I snapped at you before. It’s just---”

“It’s okay,” he said, nodding to prove his point. “I would have snapped at me too. I ruined your good toe. You need it for balance.”

Juliet tossed her head back and laughed. “You need your PINKY toe for balance.”

“But shouldn’t you have the other one too?”

“I suppose so, yes.”

He looked proud of himself as he chugged down the remainder of his water.

“Okay, so….” she stood up and gestured with her bottle. “Thanks again.”

“Don’t I even get your name? I mean, I did save you, after nearly killing you. It’s the least you can do.”

Juliet grinned, looking down at him; he was squinting up at her and for some reason he looked even cuter squinting than he did normally. Which isn’t to say he wasn’t cute normally, because Juliet thought he was.

“It’s Juliet,” she said after a moment, smiling and turning around to walk away.

Expecting the many lines thrown at her after she divulged this information, she was so shocked when he didn’t call out, “Well, you can call me Romeo!” or something equally cheesy that she spun around to look at him.

He grinned at her. “Forget something?”

“You didn’t tell me your name,” she stated, slipping her water bottle into the pocket of her jeans and waiting expectantly.

“You didn’t ask.”

“I just did,” she pointed out, taking another step closer to him.

He smiled, standing up and closing the distance between them in a quick stride. “Aaron.”

“Aaron,” she replied, trying the name out. “It was nice to meet you.”

And with that, she slipped away into the crowd.

*

“What took you so long?” Ella asked, shielding her eyes as Juliet took her seat. “We were starting to get worried that you’d been kidnapped by some hot Greek guy.”

Ava laughed. “Or some other nationality, since there are so many congregated here.”

Juliet shrugged and took a long drink from her bottle.

“Did you see the last swim? Michael Phelps totally kicked everyone’s asses,” Ava informed her, grinning happily.

“I missed it,” Juliet answered, capping her water. “Damn.”

Ella raised an eyebrow. “That’s convincing Miss I Don’t Talk About Anyone Else.”

“She met a guy,” Ava said knowingly. “That’s the only possible explanation for her sudden change in mood.”

“Or PMS,” Ella suggested. “She’s also not used to this much sun. Could be dehydration.”

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Please. I’m fine. Also, Ella? In case you forgot, we live in California? It’s hot there, too, you know. Year round.”

Ella sighed. “I was just trying to help.”

“I’m sorry,” Juliet mumbled, slopping some water down her shirt and then cursing under her breath as Ava (always prepared) dug some tissue out of her bag.

“We’re thinking about going out after this,” Ava informed her, attempting to change the subject before some sort of verbal brawl broke out. “To that bar we saw last night.”

“It looked kind of seedy,” Ella added, looking a bit nervous.

“You were okay with it before,” Ava said, glancing at her quickly.

Ella just nodded and went back to looking at the swimmers stretching below them.

Juliet, hesitantly, said, “I’m not really up for bar hoping tonight, Av.”

Ava clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “You never are. That is why you’re friends with me, so you can be dragged out against your will.”

Ella forced a yawn. “I’m not up for it either, tonight,” she announced, looking at Juliet for support. When Ava got in her “We’re going out or else” mood, Juliet and Ella had to ban together and put their feet down…otherwise Ava dragged them kicking and screaming saying it was good for them to get out. Which it was, but the bars Ava frequented were not really Juliet and Ella’s scene. In fact, most bars weren’t their scene. Juliet preferred to drink wine with dinner and leave it at that; Ella, on the other hand, rarely drank after one episode when she was sixteen and had gotten so drunk she couldn’t see straight. (Police had been involved and she’d been grounded for several years - more or less - not to mention the fact that she’d puked her guts up for 24 hours.)

Ava said this was character building (Ava didn’t often get drunk, and when she did it was responsibly so she was often being hypocritical) but Ella disagreed.

Ava sighed sulkily. “Alright. Fine. But tomorrow, okay?”

“We’ll see,” Ella said quickly, avoiding Ava’s piercing gaze.

Juliet sighed, leaning her elbow on her leg and cupping her chin in her hand. “I’m kind of tired of that scene, to be honest.”

“That scene?” Ava repeated, looking at her blankly.

“The bar scene,” Juliet elaborated, “I’ve never been into it, frankly, and it’s all the same night after night.”

“Back home, yes,” Ava conceded. “But not here. It’s different here. We should experience the night life in other cultures.”

Ella shook her head. “I have. It’s all the same.”

“Come on, El. Live a little,” Ava knocked her shoulder into her friend’s. “If you don’t like it, we can leave. That’s always the case, you know? Ever since we were old enough to go out.”

Juliet nodded. “She’s right, Ella. We could give it a try.”

“For a few minutes,” Ava prodded, grinning. “Remember the ‘Get me out of here’ signal?”

Ella smirked slightly, easing up. “Yes.”

Juliet started laughing. “Oh, my God, we haven’t used that in years.”

Ava looked very pleased. “There, that settles it. Bar tonight, half hour unless the signal is uttered. Deal?”

The other two exchanged glances. “Deal.”

After a few moments (and lots of screaming from the Australians, who were seated near them) Ella decided to breach the subject her friend didn’t seem keen on discussing.

“What happened while you were getting a drink?” She asked pointedly, as Ava screamed bloody murder about how hot Ian Thorpe was (gathering odd looks from some of the Americans near them).

“Nearly got trampled,” Juliet answered simply, her eyes on the pool.

“You were rather flushed,” Ella continued, and Juliet frowned, wishing she’d stop asking questions.

“I’ve noticed that happens when people nearly die.”

Ava was clapping as she spoke over the loud cheers around them. “Did you see that curly haired blond down there? He had a nice bum.”

“Oh, Ava,” Ella muttered, rolling her eyes and choosing to lean back in her seat to get out of the conversation.

“Curly haired blond?” Juliet repeated, her voice choked. “No. I don’t think….no.”

Ava sighed. “Pitty. I wouldn’t mind having a condom shortage with him.”

“AVA,” Ella admonished. “We’re in public! In broad daylight! There’s a six year old boy in the row in front of us!”

Another eye roll. “Ella. He’s gone deaf.”

Ella glanced at the boy and saw that he was covering his ears with his hands and making a very odd face as his father cheered the loudest beside him.

“Still,” Ella replied prudishly. “You shouldn’t discuss that sort of thing in public.”