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Sunscreen Fixin'


Jules squirted some sunscreen onto her palms before massaging it into her shoulders and the hard to reach blades of her back.  As the thick, white lotion spread, its scent drifted through the salty ocean air and I recognized it immediately.  Bonne Bell cotton candy lip balm.  I wore it religiously throughout seventh grade, convinced that icy pink was a good look for me.  It was the kind of silvery shade that older, high school girls were wearing.  I had a sparkly pink mini-skirt to match—one that received loads of compliments.  I do not miss the goopy feeling of synthetic gloss smacked across my lips, but the smell, oh God is it delicious!  It’s sinfully sweet, even better than real cotton candy, with an aftertaste of some inscrutable, tingling mint.  After all this time, more than a decade, the scent still moves me and I have to control the urge to reach over and smear Jules’ Ocean Potion’s SPF 30 all over my lips, just for old time’s sake.

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