It was a Friday. The Friday. The forecast was sunny, not too hot or too cold. The small seaside city of Moray Gulf was, as far as cities in the south went these days, quite the ordinary place. Trend culture was rampant, as well as graffiti culture; the nearby beach brought in tourists in the summer and warmth in the winter; and the school days were short, so the town's youth were often left to their own devices. They'd adopted the same obsession with fashion and pop culture that their generation had elsewhere. The citizens may have been drifting away from tradition a bit fast, but to be fair, so had everywhere else. The atmosphere was slow and relaxed… except, of course, today.
It was the last day of school, and young inklings everywhere were excited for not only summer break, but the fact that recently the construction on a brand new train track had been finished- ran straight through their town, and all the way up north to Inkopolis. Inkopolis! The biggest city known to squid-kind, the hub of fashion and music and whatever else you could imagine. Before, the two cities had only been linked by a particularly twisty national highway- separated by sea thanks to the bay between the peninsula area Moray Gulf was located in and the coast where Inkopolis had been built, and the national forest that they couldn't build roads through separating them by land. However, since Submarine Direct had decided to be a bit adventurous- taking the risk and actually building a bridge over the bay- the time between the cities had been cut from about a day to less than an hour! The younger generation, of course, took this as an invitation to visit whenever they wanted, and since there was one day left before summer vacation, they were going to do just that. On top of that, the large construction area that had consumed the center of Inkopolis for 'renovations', even restricting access to the famed Inkopolis Tower, had been noticeably quieter recently- at least according to a few reputable bloggers who lived nearby- and rumors had been flying that it was going to reopen soon. It was a futile coincidence to hope for, of course, but people couldn't help but hope that maybe- just maybe- the intimidating white tarps would be gone when they finally set foot in Inkopolis.
Finley's alarm radio went off at 7 am, just like every day, and she woke up almost instantly to the tune of the Squid Squad's latest single, just like every morning since it had come out. (She didn't know how many times she'd listened to 'Splattack' so far. She didn't know what the title meant. She did know every word. She did not think she'd ever get tired of this song.) It had taken her just over an hour last night to pick her outfit- all the while on YouFace with her two best friends in similar situations- and, admittedly, she was still second-guessing her own choices, but she didn't have enough time to make any changes, if they were staying on track with her meticulously planned schedule, so she quickly put it on and admired her own stylistic choices in the mirror: her favorite gray sweatshirt with a logo on the front made of what she reckoned was the comfiest fabric in the entire world; orange plaid skirt (she had one in every color to be prepared, she'd just woken up orange today); her brand new sea-horses that changed color (innovative!); and her pride and joy- a replica Special Forces beret. She'd bought it in a museum forever ago, and it had not failed her yet. It changed color, the emblem was perfectly accurate, it had held up for years... God, she just loved this hat.
As she walked towards her door, she took one last look at the stack of papers on the table by the door. For weeks, she'd been planning for today- spending hours on the internet, nose-deep in guide books, all to make sure the visit to Inkopolis was perfect. Of course, she knew there'd be many more trips- every day, if she could- but this afternoon, she would be going with her two best friends in the entire world- Umi and Mari. Umi would be going to lots of camps this summer, so Fin wouldn't be seeing much of her- the longest being a two-week camp starting in two days. She'd only really get today to properly hang out with her for a while, so it needed to be special. As for Mari... she'd be able to visit more often, true, but her gang of brothers were rather... protective. Plus, travel wasn't her thing, and she did have a volunteer gig at the local library to stay on top of. Finley felt like the only one who really had the summer to herself... that's why, she reminded herself as she carefully slid the schedule into a brand-new bright orange folder and laid it down next to her bag, she had to make today perfect.
She nearly fell down the stairs as she rushed out of her bedroom, eager to just get the day started already, and actually did trip over Persimmon- her little sister. The two fell to the ground with a thump.
"Gah! Sis, you gotta stay out of the way..." They picked themselves up, looking the other girl up and down. (She'd always been critical of her little sister's fashion sense- it was purely out of good intentions, like she always told her, but the girl never really listened. Speaking of which…) "Are you really wearing your Squid Girl dress to school?" It was a bold move to so much as own the thing, never mind wearing it out in public- and at her age! Finley'd be embarrassed to be seen with her on the street, let alone at school. (Miracle this hadn't happened already.) "Don't you think that cartoon's... a bit young for you now?"
"I don't care." She pouted, smoothing out her dress. "I'm wearin' my nice dress for when we go to the city."
"'We'? Um, no way." Nope. Nooooooope. Nuh-uh. No way. No. Not in a million years. Eeever.
"Yes way! Momma said I was going with you." She stuck her tongue out.
"Mom..." She turned to her mother in the kitchen out of desperation, but she only nodded.
"Persimmon is certainly old enough to go to Inkopolis with you and your girls today." She said, rolling her eyes. "As long as she and her friends stay with you..."
"Her friends?" HECK to the no. "Mom, I can't believe you're making me take the baby bunch with me. This was supposed to be special!"
"And it will be, for you and Persimmon. I am not letting you two leave for such a big city all on your own, regardless of how remarkably grown-up you two are, and your friend's parents agree. You and Persimmon, your friends Umi and Mari, as well as Mari's brothers, a friend of one of Mari's brothers, and Persimmon's five best friends are all going to be going together." She put breakfast on plates, and put it on the kitchen table. "We had a mom meeting and decided on it, and it's final."
"Are you serious?!" This was, in a word, devastating. She'd been planning this trip for how long? She couldn't even remember. And now, instead of three people, they were a troupe of... like. Twelve. (She could never remember just how many brothers Mari had...)
"Yes. Now, both of you, come eat."
"I don't wanna go with Finley. She and her friends are mean." Persimmon said from the hallway- no doubt fixing that ridiculous hairdo of hers. It looked like she'd tried to put her dark-pink tentacles in a bun, but given up halfway through, resulting in a pile of tentacles pointing every which way on top of her head. All her friends seemed to like it, at least, but Finley couldn't help but find it so dreadfully out of style. It made her look like an old lady. Or a teen from a decade ago. Fin couldn't decide which. "They're just gonna run off and leave us alone."
"Oh, you can all take care of yourself." Finley scoffed, taking a bite and continuing with her mouth full. "If you're old enough to swim, you're old enough to walk around a city for an afternoon." (Hopefully she'd be there just one afternoon.)
"Nuh-uh! I'm awful at swimming!" Not in water, of course- the ink inside them weighed them down, so Inklings would drown in any water that was taller than they was. Swimming in ink, however- being able to take a full squid form as well as a kid form- was seen as a sign of maturity, of coolness. Kennith at school'd gotten a pair of real ink guns one christmas- okay, toy ink guns, but they still worked well enough- and it had become a popular pastime to go to the QK Mart after school and spray ink in the parking lot (the owner didn't mind, as long as they bought something and stayed out of the way of the gas station part) to have swimming contests and do little painting contests and just have a good time. Besides, they didn't cause any trouble. Mostly. "An' it's gonna be so crowded, an' loud, an' scary…"
"Can't you just find someone else to-"
"Girls. That is enough." Their mom intervened. "Persimmon, come eat breakfast. Finley, go get your bag. Either you two are going to Inkopolis together with the group, or you're not going."
"...fine." They sighed in unison. Persimmon came to the table and Finley went towards the stairs- not without shooting each other a look as they passed, of course.
Finley had been ecstatic last night to take out all the heavy books and crumpled papers from her backpack and replace them with everything she'd need for today- sunblock, cellphone, camera, snacks for the train, money, backup camera, fold-up raincoat and pocket umbrella (the forecast was sunny, but just in case), change of clothes, music player, and what little homework she had left to turn in before she was finally free. She took a moment to pull her orange tentacles back into a ponytail, making sure it wouldn't fall out, and put her brush and a couple of extra hair ties in her bag for good measure. She turned off her alarm clock (finally), popped in her earbuds (never a moment without music, please) and carefully slid the precious orange folder into its bag before she recklessly bolted back downstairs- only to end up waiting at the door.
"Hurry up, Persi..." She complained, watching her sister throwing random things in her bag painfully slowly. "Why didn't you pack yesterday?"
"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" She stuck her tongue out, putting her backpack on. "Waaaiiit."
"Fin, you have your phone, right? And your pocket money? Raincoat? Sunscreen?" Her mother looked in her backpack.
"Yes, Mom. I'm not an idiot. I know how to be prepared."
"Of course you're not, you're just going off so far on your own... I'm your mom, remember. It's my job to worry about you two." She laughed, opening the door. "Now both of you, remember! Be good, have fun, and stay together!" She waved as the two sisters raced out the door, for once exited to get to school.