Uncharted Waters

"But Daddy, I didn't know she was allergic to shellfish."

Gigi clasped her hands behind her back and widened her baby blue eyes innocently as her father folded his arms and looked at her sternly.

"Gigi, regardless of whether you knew she was allergic or not, why did you feel it necessary to throw a lobster tail at Eunice Van Woosen in the first place?"

"I was trying to put it on my plate and it slipped because of all the butter."

"Really? It slipped all the way down the buffet table?"

"It was really slippery, Daddy! It was positively swimming in butter."

Behind her, Gigi could hear her friend Madeline Tully smothering a snicker and Gigi stepped lightly on her foot to signal her to be quiet. Ben Griffith arched an eyebrow and stared at his daughter while she kept up her angelic expression.

"Anyway, Eunice is fine," Gigi went on. "She's just a bit...puffy."

Madi couldn't contain her giggles anymore and clapped her hands over her face.

"Benji is waiting for us, Daddy. I'll see you later, love you!" Gigi bounced up on her tiptoes to kiss her father's cheek before grabbing Madi's arm and dragging her away.

"Shut up!" Gigi hissed, but she dissolved into laughter too as they hurried away through the crowded ballroom.

"Puffy!" Madi repeated, her own blue eyes dancing with wicked mirth. "More like puffier than usual. That stuck up blowfish deserved it."

They both started laughing again and escaped outside into the warm evening air. They linked arms as they strolled down to the beach. Gigi's dark brown curls were already trying to come undone from the elaborate bun she had pinned it into, but Madi's sleek wave of dark red hair stayed obediently in its chignon. They shimmered in the dusky light in their sapphire blue and pale gold silk gowns.

"Oh, there's Benji!" Madi pointed to where her twin brother was crouched in the sand, his brow furrowed and his russet hair mussed from the sea breeze as he sketched a hermit crab that was burrowing in the sand.

"Benji, you realize it's your birthday, right?" Gigi laughed. "You should be inside, where the party is, accepting praise and gifts. Patience Albright is here, you know. She's probably in need of a dance partner."

"You know I have two left feet," Benji replied, not even looking up from his new crabby friend.

"But you missed Gigi throwing lobster at Eunice Van Woosen and making her face swell up."

That caught Benji's interest and he looked up with a chuckle. "Really? What did she do to invoke the wrath of Gigi Griffith?"

"Being horrid, like usual." Gigi shrugged. "She was making fun of you, so I threw a lobster tail at her stupid face and apparently she's allergic to shellfish."

"It was a thing of beauty, Benji, you should have been there," Madi said. "Now come on, there's cake to be eaten."

They both seized one of Benji's arms and hauled him to his feet. They walked on either side of him, tugging him back up the beach to the house. They ignored his protests, forcing him into the ballroom and making him dance with them. Like Benji had said, he had two left feet and had never mastered the art of dancing quite as well as his light footed sister and friend. Gigi took his hands and spin him crazily around the dance floor, nearly ramming into several other couples.

"Sorry!" she called breezily. She finally relinquished a red-faced Benji to his sister and sagged against the wall, out of breath from laughing and twirling. A hand tapped her shoulder and she looked up to see Simon Tully; Madi and Benji's father.

"Nice work with Eunice," he said conspiratorially. "I saw the whole thing and nearly choked on my champagne. Ben may act like a stern disciplinarian, but he's no stranger to pranks himself. Would you care to dance, Gigi?"

"Of course. At least you're a little bit better at it than Benji."

Simon scoffed as he waltzed her in circles. "Excuse me? A little better? I love my son, but so help me god, he can't keep rhythm to save his life."

Gigi kept dancing with Simon in hopes that her father wouldn't find her and keep lecturing her about throwing seafood at people, but she had no such luck.

"May I cut in?" Ben asked. Simon shot her a wink and an apologetic smile as he relinquished her to her father.

"I really didn't know Eunice was allergic to shellfish," she said automatically. Ben rolled his eyes but cracked a small smile.

"You have your mother's temper and propensity for violence," he said with a chuckle. "Ah, speaking of your mother, there she is now."

Scarlett Griffith strode through the crowd of dancers like she was royalty, her golden blond curls bouncing around her face and attracting the eye of everyone in the room.

"There you are," she said to Ben. "You left me alone with Evelyn, and she was jabbering on about some nonsensical thing like she always does."

"Well while you were off making girl talk with Evelyn, your daughter was hurling crustaceans at unsuspecting party guests."

Gigi smiled innocently but Scarlett just laughed. "Oh I'm sorry I missed that."

Ben sighed. "The two of you. Queens of chaos." He wrapped an arm around both of them and gave Gigi a quick kiss on the top of her head.

"Go find Madi and Benji and try to stay out of trouble," he instructed.

"I'll try but I can't make any promises. Trouble loves me." Gigi blew her parents a kiss and ran off into the crowd in search of her friends. She found Benji hiding in the corner while Madi talked to pretty Patience Albright.

"Stop lurking like a little bat," Gigi laughed, tugging him forward. "Just talk to her."

"No," Benji hissed. Madi flounced over and poked her brother in the stomach.

"Don't be such a wuss," she said.

"I'll talk to her later," Benji mumbled.

"Well in that case..." Gigi grabbed both their hands and tugged them back toward the sprawling buffet table. "Let's go eat some cake!"