One of the Girls

Lexi leads the rest of the women down the steps to the beach cove, wearing a crown of sunflowers and carrying a lantern. The women laugh and holler as they go. Drinks are opened, music is started, and Ana starts to wish she were anywhere else. Lexi sits down beside her, and Ana notices a bug in her crown. She flicks it away, and in doing so, knocks off several of the petals. Lexi looks confused but then manages to move on from the strange moment.

Bella dances around the fire, and soon Robyn is doing the same. She knows she’s had a lot to drink, but she’s glad to be letting loose one last night before going home. Bella heads toward the water, stripping naked, and invites Robyn to join, but Robyn declines. She thinks about how close they used to be, and all the little moments along the way that damaged their friendship. One of the most profound of these happened after Robyn’s brother died. Robyn’s brother had a crush on Lexi, but Bella seemed to just act as though none of that history existed. One day in the pool, she urged Lexi to climb on a friend’s shoulders to play a game of chicken. Robyn climbed on Bella’s shoulders but couldn’t help thinking that her brother should have been there that day. When Bella pushed the boy, Robyn slipped and hit her head on the concrete. In the present, Robyn looks out into the water, searching for Bella, but cannot see her.

Bella swims out into the water, hoping for some sort of revelation or release. She puts her head under and screams, but it only makes her feel worse. Soon, Bella starts to feel scared and realizes she’s far from shore. The water is deep below her, and because she’s been drinking, she doesn’t have much energy left. Bella starts to panic, but nobody seems to notice her.

Robyn looks out into the sea and can’t see Bella anywhere. She tells herself it isn’t her responsibility to watch out for her anymore but then starts to panic and decides to alert the others. As she moves to do so, Bella appears, startling Robyn. Bella asks Robyn if they’re ever going to talk about “that night,” and Robyn resists. She thinks back to coming home from the hospital with Bella and curling up in her bed together. Robyn and Bella ended up kissing and becoming intimate.

The next morning, Robyn acted as though nothing had happened and refused to even look at Bella. Bella left feeling hurt and humiliated. Standing in front of Robyn now, she isn’t sure what she wants from her, aside from perhaps the acknowledgement that it happened. Robyn tells Bella she’s sorry and leaves.

While the women laugh around the fire, Eleanor gets into the rowboat with a bottle of vodka and sets off unnoticed. She lies down on the boat and lets it drift as she watches the stars and lets them remind her of how small she is. Eleanor feels that the only thing that could make her happy again is Sam; she feels like she is always one step away from attempting suicide. Eleanor thinks of all the memories she and Sam shared together. She smiles to herself, remembering his quirks.

Bella grabs another drink, which she doesn’t need, and starts ranting about Robyn having left and Lexi being dull. Lexi defends herself, insisting she’s matured while Bella has not, and Bella tries to insist she’s happy for Lexi’s new life. When she sees Ana rolling her eyes, she snaps at her. Lexi tries to defend Ana, but this only fuels Bella’s rage, and she is finally brazen enough to reveal Ana’s secret.

In shock, Lexi looks at Ana, hoping it’s not true. Ana admits that she does in fact know Ed and has a child with him, and Lexi doesn’t know what to do with this information. She feels confused as she tries to figure out Ana’s motivation, and Ana begs Lexi to let her explain, but Lexi refuses. When Bella tries to step in, Lexi pushes her away.

Robyn hikes up the path, out of patience with herself and the others. She’s met by Fen, who expresses concern over Robyn’s emotional state. When Fen asks Robyn why she and her husband are getting divorced, Robyn admits to Fen that she never really loved her husband. She adds that she feels guilty for snapping at her own mother, because the death of her brother as a teenager made life hard for her parents. Fen and Robyn slowly draw closer to one another, and Fen puts her hand on Robyn’s. She asks Robyn what she wants, and inside, Robyn knows that she wants Fen. They stare at one another and kiss, and it’s “the warmest, deepest pleasure Robyn had known” (332).

Eleanor lies in the boat thinking about Sam, believing that her life ended when his did. She recalls how he died by an accidental dose of penicillin, to which he was allergic. After his death, she went to the hospital to talk to that nurse who had administered the fatal dose, but the nurse had already found another job. Months later, Eleanor received an email from that same nurse inviting her to a hen weekend, and the nurse was Bella.

With a bottle of alcohol in her hand, Bella makes her way up the cliffside, nearly falling as she goes. She thinks about Sam, blaming herself for his death. She kept this a secret from everyone because she couldn’t face it. Now, she stumbles upon Fen and Robyn and notices how close they are. Bella stands in the shadows and watches as they kiss.

Robyn is in a state of euphoria when she sees Bella. Bella confronts Robyn and Fen, asking how they could both do this to her. She tells Fen about the history she had with Robyn, and how she was in love with her. Robyn never knew the extent of Bella’s feelings and starts to feel guilty. Bella stands close to the edge of the cliff, and while Robyn tries to urge her away, Bella looks sullen and desperate. Just as she turns around, she slips and falls into the water below.

The sea was initially a place of beauty but became a place of danger instead.

Fen looks over the cliff, and Robyn starts screaming Bella’s name. Bella cannot be seen, and Robyn panics, telling Fen they need to call for help. Fen stares into the water in shock and tells Robyn to take the rowboat out and look for Bella. Meanwhile, Fen starts heading down the cliff by the wading pool, planning to swim into the cove.

Eleanor is floating in the rowboat when she hears a voice and the sound of someone splashing. She wonders if she’s dreaming when she realizes it’s Bella, grappling for air and screaming for help. Eleanor wonders for a moment if she should help, thinking of Sam and wondering if he gasped for breath; but then starts rowing toward Bella after hearing Sam’s voice tell her to save her. Eleanor pulls Bella into the boat, knowing that letting her die would solve nothing. She wraps a blanket around Bella, who is shaking and in shock.

Bella is grateful and thanks Eleanor for saving her, but then Eleanor reveals that she’s the fiancée of the man Bella killed. Bella realizes she has no choice but to answer Eleanor’s questions, and she tells Eleanor everything she remembers about that day. She remembers being tired from a late night out the night before, and she recalls how she and Sam joked around together. Sam also told Bella he was lucky to have Eleanor as his fiancée. Bella remembers administering Sam’s medication (he was in the hospital after an accident) and mistakenly giving him penicillin. Ten minutes later, alarms sounded, and the staff tried unsuccessfully to revive Sam. Bella was told she could no longer work as a nurse, so she left medicine for retail. Bella expects Eleanor to be angry with her, but instead, Eleanor simply thanks her for telling her the truth.

Lexi walks away in shock that Ana was lying to her. She hears shouting in the distance but is distracted by the sight of a taxi. Ed gets out of the car and approaches Lexi, looking severe and forlorn. He insists they need to talk, and Lexi, surprised to see Ed in Greece, suggests using the terrace.

Robyn sees that Bella is safe and reacts with extreme relief, but Bella is curt and still unsure how Robyn feels about her. Robyn helps Bella out of the boat and tells her how glad she is that Bella is safe. The women hear shouting in the distance, first from Lexi, and then from Ed.

Ed urges Lexi to sit down, looking at the bronze statue of her likeness. She admits she already knows about Ed’s son, and he tries to excuse himself by saying he was young and ashamed, and nowhere near ready to be a father. Lexi reveals that she’s pregnant, and Ed seems thrilled, but Lexi can’t shake the feeling that something about him isn’t right. She pushes Ed about Ana and Luca, implying that he is not a decent man for abandoning them. When Ed tries to say that Ana might be dangerous, Ana appears before him.

It has been years since Ana has seen Ed, and being this close to him brings up old feelings of fear, discomfort, and anger. To Lexi’s horror, Ana retells the story of the night she became pregnant with Luca. Looking right at Ed, who denies all of it, Ana explains that he encouraged her to drink, pressured her to perform oral sex (which she refused) and then pushed her onto the bed and raped her. Ed’s eyes begin to turn to panic, but he cannot bring himself to admit that Ana is telling the truth. Ana accuses Ed of paying her off and admits that she felt like a “whore” (372) for years as a result.

Lexi knows Ana can lie, and when Ed insists the night was consensual, Lexi doesn’t know what’s true. Ed demands to know why Ana would let Lexi go this long without knowing his character if her accusations are true, and Lexi wants to know the same.

Ana admits she let Lexi down, but she was in denial about what happened to her. She couldn’t believe Ed was getting married and needed to see who he was marrying. Ana ended up liking Lexi. She hoped Lexi would leave Ed so they could be friends. It took time for Ana to see that Ed wore a mask most of the time. Ed claims everything Ana says is false, and he turns to his sister for support.

Eleanor feels pressure rising inside of her, and stares at Ed, knowing he can be both loving and cruel. Ed urges Eleanor to defend his character, but all she can think about is how he bullied her continuously as a child, making her feel like less than human.

Bella watches Ana and Eleanor and decides it’s time to speak up for them. She accuses Ed of instilling terror in her friends She announces that she was the one who killed Sam, removing his power over her. When Bella reveals that Ed was responsible for the accident that led to Sam’s hospitalization, she realizes Eleanor was never told the truth.

Lexi wants to disappear or run away, but she’s glued to the scene as Ed desperately tries to recover his character. Bella accuses Ed of blindfolding Sam at his stag party and then leading him to an area with stairs, where Ed then let Sam fall. Ed refuses to admit doing so, stating repeatedly that it was an accident. Eleanor stares at Ed, frozen, with memories of his callous and abusive behavior running through her mind. Eleanor then tells Ed that Sam was worried about him and saw dark tendencies in him. This pushes Ed to his breaking point, and he takes the sculpture and throws it over the cliff, nearly hitting Eleanor in the head.

Fen finally reaches the bay and notices the rowboat is ashore. Relieved, she heads up the cliff, where she sees two people standing dangerously close to the edge. Fen watches as the sculpture falls down the cliff and shatters against the rock.

Although hurt, Eleanor isn’t surprised that Ed destroyed the statue. She feels disappointed in herself for believing Ed could change, and she thinks about all the pain he has caused her friends. The women come together around Eleanor as Ed berates her, and Eleanor realizes she isn’t alone after all. When Ed insults Sam, Ana loses her patience and defends Eleanor; Ed slaps her, and she falls to the ground.

Fen runs up the steep steps to the top of the cliff, and as she ascends, she sees a figure fall off the side and down onto the rocks. Then, she hears a scream.

Lexi cannot bear the sound of Ed screaming as he falls. Nobody moves, and while Lexi mentions an ambulance, everyone is already sure Ed is dead.

Ana stares over the side of the cliff in shock. She thinks back to a few seconds ago, when after Ed slapped her, Eleanor ran toward him, pushing him over the edge.

Hearing Ed insult Sam was the final straw for Eleanor, who once believed Ed was only cruel to her. She charged toward him at full speed, and though Ed tried to grasp her for help, the other women grabbed onto Eleanor, pulling her backward as Ed fell. Eleanor tells herself that she would have saved her brother if she could, but she isn’t so sure.

Barely able to breathe or move, Lexi walks over to the edge and stares down into the darkness. She can’t see Ed anywhere, until she notices his white shirt and blood on the rocks. Bella puts her hand on Lexi’s shoulder, trying to help her calm down. As Lexi stares down at Ed, she has no choice but to accept that he is dead.

Bella sits beside Lexi, comforting her and letting her know that Ed is dead. Robyn starts yelling that someone needs to call the police. Thinking about how Eleanor saved her, Bella insists that they all tell the police that Ed’s death was an accident.

Robyn has always followed the rules and believes they should tell the truth, but then she considers how Eleanor feels, and how the other women feel. Grabbing the phone, Robyn begins to dial.

Robyn walks away to get reception, with nobody telling her to call or not call, tell the truth or tell a lie. Lexi looks around, considering everything she has seen and learned. She looks at Eleanor, who grew up with years of bullying, and cannot picture her in a courtroom or prison. Lexi decides to tell everyone that they must stick with the story that Ed’s fall was an accident.

The women come up with a cover story in which Ed placed the statue on the wall and accidentally knocked it over, at which point he reached for it and fell. Everyone agrees that the truth will never be told.

Lexi sits near the aisle waiting for Fen and Robyn’s wedding to begin. She imagines her own wedding, had it occurred, and wonders when she would have realized the flaw in Ed’s character. Grieving Ed’s death and the life she thought she would have is an ongoing process, but she has her daughter, Wren, to love and to bring light to her life.

Ana sits at the same wedding beside her son, who after Ed’s death was angry for a long time. Their relationship is still mending, but Luca’s bond with his sister Wren has brought them together and has kept Ana connected to Lexi. The two women share an understanding and remain friends.

Eleanor doesn’t like weddings, but she wanted to show up for her friends, and it gave her an excuse to get a new haircut, which she showed off to Sam’s ashes before leaving. Eleanor is seeing a therapist and learning to be grateful for what she has rather than focus on what she doesn’t have; she knows she has a solid group of friends and a niece and nephew to care for, and for now, that’s enough. Though she and Lexi didn’t speak for several months after Ed’s death, Wren’s birth brought them together, and Eleanor now often visits with food.

Robyn stands at the end of the aisle, waiting to walk toward Fen and feeling grateful. After the hen weekend, Eleanor and Fen didn’t see each other for months, instead only keeping in touch by mail. Eventually, they reconnected, and their love blossomed into the meaningful bond that it is today. Robyn takes her son’s hand and they proceed.

Fen stands waiting for Robyn, smiling proudly and admiring Robyn’s luminous beauty. Robyn lets go of Jack’s hand and approaches Fen. After the vows, they kiss.

Bella is still adjusting to all the changes, but she does feel happy for her friends as she sits and watches their wedding proceed. Bella quit the jewelry store and found work at a care home for seniors, which brings her meaning and joy she didn’t have for a long time. Eleanor even volunteers there occasionally, giving them time to reconnect. Bella squeezes Lexi’s hand, proud of her best friend for all she’s endured. Bella can’t believe how quickly and deeply she grew to love Wren, and she has been Lexi’s closest support during motherhood. Lexi even asked Bella to be Wren’s godmother, telling Bella that Bella’s strength was exactly how she hoped her own daughter would become. Bella has also been working on her friendship with Robyn and even made a joke about organizing her and Fen’s hen weekend.