They got a taxi over late morning and it was chaos from the moment they stepped out, but in the best way… the alive, buzzing, everyone's-here-for-a-good-time kind that was impossible not to get swept up in.
The beach was packed. Not just busy but dense, a solid mass of humanity on white sand, the spectrum running from groups of frat boys playing beer pong on folding tables, to packs of women in matching bikinis taking photos of each other, to couples lying on towels pretending they couldn't hear the DJ playing at a volume that suggested he might be trying to communicate with another dimension.
Ellie and Becca laid their towels down in a spot near the water that required some friendly negotiation with a group of guys from Georgia Tech who'd built a sand fort that was encroaching on several neighbouring territories. Negotiation was probably overstating it though, considering that it took the form of Becca stood asking nicely in her string bikini and the Georgia Tech guys falling over themselves to make room, because Becca in a sexy bikini asking nicely was a force that Ellie reckoned most men couldn't resist. Probably most women too.
"They're sweet," Becca said, lying down and pulling her sunglasses on.
"They're nineteen. They reckon they’ve died and gone to heaven because two actual women in bikinis have come to lie down next to them.”
"Don't be mean. I, for one, think that their fort is impressive." It was, Ellie had to admit to herself, a pretty good fort. “Plus,”Becca lowered her voice conspiratorially, leaning closer, “they’ll definitely give us as much beer as we want.”
The day was, Ellie found, simple, pure, genuine unironic fun. They swam in the Gulf along with what felt like half the college aged population of the US, and Ellie found her and Becca laughing at the absurdity of it: a girl on an inflatable unicorn drifting past, a group of guys trying to do more and more ridiculous dives off a pier in the distance, some women trying to do synchronised dance moves for their social media in the shallows to a song that Ellie didn’t know but it felt like everyone else did.
They realised early that the best way to enjoy the day was to go with the flow and let themselves get pulled into whatever was happening. The Georgia Tech guys wanted to know where they were from, what they did, whether they wanted to join their beer pong tournament (they did, and were terrible at it, but at least it was in a hilarious way). A group of nursing students from Alabama shared their cooler and their gossip about a party they'd been at the night before that had ended with someone's ex showing up uninvited. Two very tanned men in their thirties who were clearly not college students (not that Ellie and Becca could exactly complain) tried to hit on them, realised they were a couple, and pivoted seamlessly into friendly conversation about the best bars in PCB. Whether that was progressive of them or simply them trying to play the long game in the hope that they’d recant their sexuality neither could quite decide, but either way it was fun.
Becca was radiant, genuinely enjoying herself. She was laughing, talking, being the open, magnetically charming person she was without any agenda beneath it. Ellie watched her chat to all thesestrangers, half-expecting the familiar loop to fire up but it never materialised because, Ellie realised, there was no threat here, no one Becca was going to leave with, just the pleasure of watching her wife be happy.
"I love this," Becca said at one point, lying on her stomach, chin propped on her hands, watching the beach spectacle. "I can't believe we've never done this."
"We were too busy being serious."
“And in love… don’t forget the in love bit.” She leaned over and kissed Ellie. “I’m glad we came.”
"Me too."
***
As the sun started to set the energy changed. The music got louder and the beach started to thin as people migrated towards the bars and clubs along the beachfront. Ellie and Becca stayed for a while though, not ready to leave, enjoying watching the sunset across the water, pleasantly buzzed from an afternoon of social beers and sunshine.
When it was time they ended up at a beachfront bar that seemed to be the natural destination for everyone from their part of the beach: open-sided, a large outdoor terrace, a band playing something loud and vaguely recognisable. The crowd was still in swimwear and they fit right in as they found stools at a high table, settling in to people watch for a bit.
“Those guys will die, surely, if they drink all of that?” Becca said, nodding towards a vast array of shots that seemed to be for six guys to share between them. “Should we be the grownups and, you know, intervene or something?”
"Absolutely not. This is natural selection in action."
"I’m more worried about everyone else. Imagine them on the dance floor after all of that.”
"Don’t worry. Everyone here has survival instincts.” Ellie paused and grinned. “Except for them maybe.”
As the evening went on the bar filled up and the music got louder. Ellie felt the mood change from daytime fun to night-time possibility, even though everyone still seemed to be in their beachwear. Her and Becca were themselves still in their bikinis with shorts pulled on over the bottoms, still sandy, still tasting of salt and sunscreen, but so was everyone else, and there was something democratising about it: everyone at the same level, no one dressed up, no one trying too hard.
One of the nursing students from the Alabama group appeared at their table slightly worse for wear but grinning widely.
"Hey! Bikini ladies! You're still here!"
"Still here," Becca confirmed, smiling.
"Come dance! We found the DJ and he's actually good now, he was terrible earlier but either he got better or we got drunker. Probably drunker. Come dance!"
They went, because why not? One day of spring break in their whole lives, why not make the most of it? The music was actually pretty good, and the crowd on the dance floor was a swirl of tanned bodies, cheap cocktails, and unbridled joy.
Ellie danced with Becca and with the nursing students. At one point one of the guys with the shots danced with her, surprisingly steady on his feet still although his conversation was terrible, while Becca danced with everyone, utterly unconcerned by whether she was dancing well or not (she was) or who she was dancing with (anyone).
It was while they were queuing at the bar a little later that Becca asked. She leaned in close, quite drunk by that stage just like Ellie, and half-shouted over the music, “So how married are we feeling tonight?”
Ellie felt that familiar stab of jealousy but smiled, knowing what followed. “Pretty married. Why? You found someone?”
Becca waggled her head from side-to-side. “Not a plausible girlfriend situation, but some of our nursing student friends are cute and I’ve noticed a couple of them looking at me like… you know.”
