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Hattie always enjoyed spending time with her best friend and now that they'd gotten a house with a floo connection, Jazzy and Hattie could hang out whenever! It had been a real miracle what Vikram's mum had done for Jazzy and their whole family. This time it was Hattie's turn to host and she'd invited Jazzy for a sleep over and a beach day! Helmsdale's beach wasn't a super popular tourist destination, but it was enjoyed by all the village's residents and in the summer heat, it was a great way to cool off. Hattie's mum had offered to bring the friends down, but Hattie had insisted that they get to wander around alone. After all, they were both fourteen now, and it wasn't like anything bad was going to happen to them. Practically everyone in the village knew Hattie and if she got hurt, she had a medical kit in her beach bag. Besides, they wanted to wander the village and be teens before they went down to the beach. Did Mum really want to wander around the shops while the two talked about boys and school and stuff? They'd both be home for dinner and then they were going to cozy up on the living room floor and watch old movies together. Mum could make them fancy popcorn for that.

Once they were finally free of the house, Hattie was excited to wander her village with Jazzy. She'd already shown her best friend around the village before, but now that they were old enough to wander on their own, there was a lot more that she could show to Jazzy. "Ah’m well excited tae be gaun tae the beach an’ havin’ a right good time in the watter. Ye said ye’ve no been tae the beach before, eh?" Hattie asked, looking over to her friend. She knew that Jazzy was nonbinary and that they didn't really like appearing feminine, which was becoming harder as they got older. Hopefully she wasn't putting too much pressure on her best friend by taking them to the beach with her. But the thought of never having been to a beach was wild for Hattie who'd grown up next to the water her whole life. The beach was literally only a ten minute walk away, and since it was twenty degrees today, it would be a perfect day for a beach trip. "Aye, ah kinny love headin' tae the beach, especially when it gets this steamin'!" she said, an idle smile on her face.

Brown eyes made larger by her glasses looked over at her friend as the two of them traipsed through the town, heading lazily towards the beach. Hooking her thumbs into the loops of her overalls, she listened as Jazzy said they'd never been to the beach before and that they'd never even gone swimming before. Hattie couldn't imagine summers without swimming at the beach. Then again, she grew up a stone's throw away from the beach and Jazzy grew up in the middle of London. You really didn't want to swim in the Thames anyway. "Aye, ah reckon that's a right shame. Ah've been swimming every summer since ah was a wee bairn. Ah absolutely love swimming, ken? But ah'm dead pleased yer first time in the water is wi' me! Ah'll make sure ye're awright." The teen smiled over at her best friend, happy to share her experiences at the beach with them. The momentary distraction did cause Hattie to trip over her feet, but she quickly regained her balance. “Whoa, that wis a near thing! But aye, the beach is proper fun. An’ we kin even muck about in the sand. Ooh! We’re definitely gaun tae build a sand castle!” There were so many fun things that they could do! Oh man, Hattie wanted to go to the beach right now and abandon their window shopping tour of the town.