One of the Girls

Eleanor is in the kitchen again, preparing blood oranges and watermelon for breakfast, slicing into the fruit and watching the blood-red juice run out as if she were attacking a body. Bella appears, and they eye one another suspiciously. When Bella starts taking food, Eleanor slaps her hand away, and Bella walks off in a huff.

Bella walks away disturbed by Eleanor’s behavior and angry at almost everyone. She decides that instead of confronting Fen about leaving without her last night, she will join Fen for a swim instead. Bella gets changed and looks at herself in the mirror, seeing a darkness in herself that won’t go away. Thinking back to the day she was discovered in the hospital after accidentally causing Sam’s death, she cries.

Fen is swimming in the sea, both hurt from the night before but also carrying a newfound sense of strength. Bella approaches just as Fen is getting out, and as Fen walks away, she knows deep down that her relationship with Bella is coming to an end.

Everyone sits down for breakfast except Ana, who apparently went to call her son. Robyn can sense that something is off or that others know something she doesn’t, but she has no idea what it might be. Bella asks Lexi who’s watching Luca while Ana is gone, mentioning his father, and Lexi casually answers that Luca’s father isn’t around. Everyone looks forward to the beach fire later that evening.

Lexi finds Eleanor after breakfast and invites her out on the rowboat, just the two of them, in an effort to spend time with her before the trip is over. Eleanor refuses at first, but Lexi insists, and when Ana returns, it’s clear she’s nervous about the idea of Lexi and Eleanor going off alone together.

The rowboat began as a symbol of a perfect holiday but turned into a symbol of tears, panic, and danger instead.

Eleanor and Lexi push the boat onto the water and head out with Lexi doing the rowing and Eleanor unsure what to say or how to act. Lexi mentions a memory in which she went rowing with Bella and Robyn as teenagers, often for the sake of sneaking off to smoke and drink. Eleanor tries to pay attention to Lexi’s story, but suddenly blurts out a question: “Why did you invite me on this hen weekend?” (269). Lexi doesn’t understand the sudden inquisition, but she explains that she wanted to get to know her future sister-in-law. This answer satisfies Eleanor for now. Later on, Lexi asks Eleanor about Ed and whether she thinks Ed will be happy as a father and husband. Eleanor believes that Ed genuinely will be, but she admits that he didn’t get along well with Sam. Eleanor thinks back to the day Sam died, and how she held his hand one last time in the morgue. She doesn’t say any of this aloud, because she feels like discussing death is pointless.

Bella finds Fen reading on the bed. She tries to keep the conversation light, but it inevitably leads into a conversation about the night before. Fen admits that she ran into a man she had bad memories with, but she doesn’t explain any further. Bella tries to reach for Fen’s hand, but she pulls away, and Bella can tell that Fen is drifting away. She asks if Fen is breaking up with her, and Fen admits that she is; Bella sobs and runs from the room, sure that it’s her fault the relationship is ending.

Robyn feels great as she goes for a hike on her own. She gets a call from home, and when she answers, she hears Jack on the other line. He tells her about his treasure hunt and finding chocolate treasure, and Robyn realizes how much she misses him. When Robyn’s mother picks up the phone, she sounds curt and challenges Robyn’s decision to get a divorce. Robyn doesn’t want to discuss it and insists outright that she never loved her husband, and her mother tries to argue that as well. She also demands that Robyn thank her for watching Jack and lectures her when Robyn tries to say that she wants more adventure in her life. When Robyn’s mother asks her if she hit her head, it brings Robyn back to a memory from when she was eighteen. Robyn’s mother saw her lying in bed with Bella, and because Robyn had been injured the night before, her mother blamed what she saw on brain trauma. Robyn swears at her mother and hangs up.

Lexi finds Robyn crying, and Robyn reveals that she just swore at her mother. Lexi commends Robyn for standing up for herself, and Robyn admits she wants more adventure and friendship in her life. Lexi affirms Robyn’s need for more time to herself and explains that she started yoga because it was all about focusing on self-care. Lexi adds that performing for others is overrated, and that satisfying one’s own needs and standards is all that really matters. When Bella joins moments later, Lexi thinks about why she never told Bella that the chaotic life they lived didn’t make her happy. She worries about Bella. Bella admits that she and Fen broke up, but doesn’t want to discuss it, instead putting her attention on making the last night special. Bella goes for a swim, but not before commenting on how “creepy” she finds Eleanor.

The last night at the beach fire had some wonderful moments, but these were overshadowed by conflict, pain, and a dire emergency.