"Hayner, come on!"

Hayner could tell that his friend was beginning to get angry. He studied her face intently as she stood in front of him, arms crossed and lips pouted. God, she looked so damn cute when she gave him that face.

"I said I'll start the homework tomorrow… promise!" Hayner pleaded, laughing a bit.

"But Pence already left for vacation today!" Olette protested. "He'll be gone for a week, and since we're one person short we have to work extra hard to make up for him not being here!"

Hayner again couldn't help but laugh. "Geez, you're sounding more and more like my mom every day."

"Well, maybe that's a good thing!" Olette huffed as she turned her back on Hayner, refusing to look at him any longer.

A small frown tugged at the edges of Hayner's lips. His tone and facial expression changed completely. "I'm serious. We'll work on it tomorrow, I promise."

Olette hesitantly turned around to look at Hayner. He was trying his best to put on a you-can't-stay-mad-at-me-because-I'm-cute-and-you-know-it face. Apparently it had worked, because Hayner saw Olette's eyes soften and her arms uncross.

"Oh, fine." She said, unable to suppress that cute smile of hers. "What do you want to do today?"

"Hmm…" Hayner thought for a moment. "How about the beach? We haven't been there in awhile."

"Sounds great!" Olette said. Her eyes seemed to light up. "I just have to go change into my suit. Meet you at the Station Plaza?"

"Roger that," Hayner said.

Olette left Hayner standing in the usual spot with only his thoughts for company. His mind began to rattle off things that it had suppressed when Olette was around. The beach, Olette, sea salt ice cream, Olette, wondering when Pence would be back, Olette. He'd always liked Olette, but lately he'd been thinking a lot about her.

Hayner shook his head. If I just stand here I'll be late! He left his thoughts behind in the usual spot and quickly headed to his house. He was greeted with a loud, high-pitched voice when he walked through the front door.

"HAYNER!"

The hair on the back of Hayner's neck stood straight up. "…Yeah, mom?" He sure was in for it this time. For months his mother had been badgering him to clean up his room. The last time he'd neglected to listen to her she'd made him sleep outside when it had been raining.

"DON'T THINK YOU'RE GOING ANYWHERE…"

Hayner winced.

"…without some sun block."

A huge sigh rushed out of Hayner's mouth. He smiled, relieved.

"Oh, and when you get home you're doing all of the dishes."

"DAMN IT!"

Hayner stomped up the stairs to his bedroom, trying his best to tune out his mother's annoying voice. She wasn't very old, only forty-two, but boy could she scare anyone. Hayner recalled one unforgettable night he had brought a girl he'd liked over for dinner. The poor girl was bombarded with questions like, "Do you think you're pretty enough for my son?", "Would you be able to support yourself if my son ever couldn't?", and "What are you going to do with your life?". Needless to say, the girl had never spoken to Hayner again.

Shaking the bone-chilling memory of that night, Hayner looked through three unorganized drawers in search of his swim trunks. He turned and looked around his room, beginning to get aggravated, but then spotted them on his bed. He quickly slipped off his shorts and boxers and grabbed the swim trunks. His door was beginning to open and his mother's voice slithered through the small crack in the door.

"Oh, and you're also going to—"

"MOM, I'M NAKED!" Hayner yelled as he dove at the door, slamming it shut and locking it.

He was now rushed and almost fell over as he tried to pull his gray swim trunks on. He grabbed a pair of sunglasses and the bottle of sun block (only so the demon woman had one less thing to yell at him about) and flung the door open, breezing down the stairs and out the door.

Reaching the Station Plaza, Hayner was relieved to see that Olette was still there. Of course, she'd never leave without him though. But there she was, standing at the steps with a large bag (which Hayner could only guess held towels) and a smile on her face. She was wearing a pair of flip-flops, a creamy knee-length skirt that billowed gracefully in the small breeze, and—Hayner's eyes had stopped midway on their journey up to Olette's face—a somewhat revealing orange tank top.

Hayner's face got hot: he only prayed that it didn't show. Olette didn't seem to notice though, as she just smiled and opened the door to the station. Hayner paid for two tickets and they boarded the train. The train was oddly and coincidentally empty today. Hayner rolled this thought over in his head as he and Olette sat down and the train gently rumbled on its tracks.

The young boy's eyes fell to his lap. Olette occupied herself by staring out the window. Slowly, Hayner's round brown eyes made their way to Olette's chest once again. He quickly glanced away, hoping the pink in his cheeks wouldn't catch the girl's eye.

Get your mind out of the gutter, you sicko! A part of him shouted. Geez, you're going to be the future sexual predator of Twilight Town.

Minutes later, the train screeched to a halt. The doors opened and the two teens stepped out. They made their way to the beach quietly and found a nice spot in the sun. Olette set her bag down in the warm sand and pulled a blanket out of it and laid it down gently. She took out two towels (Hayner had always forgotten to bring one) and placed them in one corner of the blanket. Hayner tossed the sun block onto the blanket and started for the water.

"Hayner, wait!"

Hayner turned to see Olette holding the bottle of sun block in her hands.

Oh, great.

"I'll put some on you first," Olette offered.

Hayner didn't protest one bit as he lifted his shirt off and tossed it onto the blanket. He was glad that he'd been able to tone his body over the past few months. Pence was his friend and all, but Hayner didn't want to end up like him.

Olette squirted a bit of the sun block in her hands, rubbed them together, and proceeded to apply it to Hayner's skin. She started with his shoulders and moved slowly down his back. Maybe it was Hayner's imagination—or fantasy, rather—but Olette seemed to pushing down a little harder as she rubbed sun block on him, almost like a massage. Hayner's stomach did a flip as imaginary butterflies had a part in his tummy when suddenly she stopped.

"You can get the front, right?"

"U-uh, yeah." Hayner said, taking the bottle of sun block from Olette.

Hayner turned so his back was facing Olette and grumbled to himself. To be completely honest, he had thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of having her rub him and didn't want her to stop. He slapped some sun screen onto his chest and stomach and rubbed it in.

The boy turned around and offered the bottle back to Olette. Her tank top and skirt were now lying on top of Hayner's previously removed shirt. She was wearing a string bikini (orange in color, not surprisingly) and it really did do her justice. Her body looked a lot more tan since the last time he'd seen her in a suit. Hayner bit his bottom lip and she handed the bottle back to him.

Squirting some sun block into his palm, Hayner rubbed his hands together and slowly placed them on Olette's shoulders. He had to resist groping the girl. Hayner's face was red by now as his hands moved down to her back and back up to her shoulders again. She suddenly turned.

"Thanks!" Olette chirped, rubbing some sun block on her chest and tummy. "Now let's go in the water!"

Hayner smiled at her as they headed into the water. It was a little cold at first, but he got used to it. Olette didn't seem to want to go in very far for some reason, though.

"C'mon, the water's fine once you get used to it!" Hayner tried luring her in, but nothing worked.

Finally, he waded over to shallow waters where Olette stood and began splashing her. She laughed and kept repeating for him to stop, trying to protect herself with her arms. Hayner laughed and took a step towards her. He caught a hold of her forearm and tugged gently.

Apparently, Olette didn't have the best balance. She came smashing into Hayner's body and they both fell slightly underwater. Hayner was flat on his butt and Olette was right on top of him. They paused and stared at each other for a minute before laughing nervously and getting up.

After that the two had just laid on the blanket and talked about things. Very… random things, Hayner thought. Olette was one of the weirdest girls he'd ever met. He loved that.

"It's getting late," Olette said as she said up.

"Yeah…"

Hayner helped her put the blanket and towels back into Olette's bag. They walked quietly back to the station, rode the train home, and were now on the steps at the Station Plaza. They stood facing each other.

Now's your chance, hotshot.

"So, uhm—" Hayner wasn't quite sure of what he wanted to say.

Olette quickly cured him of that dilemma. "Yeah, I'd better get home. See you tomorrow!"

With that, the girl ran off, down the steps, and out of sight. Hayner watched her leave then sat down on the steps.

Idiot, idiot, idiot! Was the only thing that came to mind. I guess I'm not making it obvious enough to her.

Hayner headed home and went straight to sleep, ignoring his mother's commands to do the dishes. He didn't even bother changing out of his swim trunks and collapsed onto his beds. He was asleep within seconds.

The young boy woke up the next morning with a terrible headache. He groaned as he rolled out of bed and staggered out of his room and down the hall to the bathroom. Sighing heavily, Hayner turned the water and the showerhead on and locked the bathroom door. He pulled his swim trunks down and stepped into the shower, still half asleep. The warm water did nothing to wake him up, but only made him want to go back to sleep.

After washing himself, Hayner stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He rubbed his wild wet hair as he made his way back to his room, shutting the door behind him. Today he had to meet Olette to start on the summer assignment. There was no way he could get out of this because he'd promised the girl he'd do it. Hayner had never broken a promise, and he wasn't about to start now.

Hayner quickly dressed himself and headed over to the usual spot. He expected Olette to be there, already waiting to bug him about being late. But when he pulled back the curtain he was surprised. No Olette.

Maybe she just overslept. Hayner thought. He didn't want to worry himself out. But then again, Olette never oversleeps. Ever.

Still tossing this thought around in his mind, Hayner didn't realize that Olette had just arrived. He looked up at her, but her head was down. Confused, Hayner spoke.

"Hey, Olette! Ready to work on that assignment?" Even though the cheerfulness was somewhat forced, he thought it might help.

"…Sure."

Olette took out two notebooks and two sets of papers stapled together. She handed a notebook and set of papers to Hayner, along with a pen. They took out a small fold-out table and sat down and began to work. Hayner couldn't help but look at Olette. She didn't say anything. She didn't ask if he had any questions, didn't offer her help. Nothing.

Hayner frowned. He could never recall seeing Olette like this. "Uhm, is everything okay, Olette?"

Olette's hand stopped and the pen suddenly fell out of it, rolling off the table and onto the floor. She stared down at her paper and Hayner saw tears fall from her eyes. She shook her head.

"No," she said, her voice barely audible. "Everything's not okay."

The boy stood and went over to Olette. He just stood there, staring down at her. She looked at him as he dropped to his knees and pulled the girl into a hug. This made her sob even more. She cried and cried into Hayner's shoulder while he gently rubbed her back.

"Thanks, Hayner." Olette said as she hugged him tighter. "You're a really great friend."

Friend. That word was like a knife being shoved into Hayner's gut. "It's no problem."

Hayner later found out that Olette's dog had died that day. To be completely honest, he hadn't really seen it as that big of a deal. But he'd never had a dog and had it die before, so of course he wouldn't know how Olette felt. She was sensitive about animals to begin with.

The next day came. Olette and Hayner had met up at the usual spot and actually did a good amount of the summer assignment. As usual, Olette asked Hayner if he needed help on anything and, as usual, he did.

"I think that's enough for today," Hayner said after awhile, tucking his stapled papers neatly into the notebook before shutting it.

"Yeah," Olette said as she did the same. "Let's get some ice cream."

Minutes later, the two teens found themselves walking through a deserted Twilight Town. It was sort of late, which was why no one else was out. All was quiet except for tiny birds singing their usual joyful song. Hayner and Olette just walked and talked for what seemed like hours before winding up back at the usual spot.

"Forgot my notebook," Olette said with a small laugh.

"Yeah…" Hayner replied. This is your chance, Prince Charming. Tell her!

Olette was about to leave.

"H-hey, Olette?"

She stopped. "Yeah?"

Just say it!

"I, uh…"

Olette looked confused. "You what?"

Hayner swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't think it would be this hard to tell a girl you liked her. He could only imagine how red his face was right now. The boy opened his mouth but no words came out. Olette was beginning to look worried.

"Hayner, are you okay?" she stepped toward him cautiously.

He walked towards her slowly and she began stepping back. Hayner tried to say the words, but they refused to jump out from the bottom of his throat. Frustrated, he slammed his hands against the concrete wall which practically pinned Olette and made her jump. He looked down at the girl, and she gazed up at him. She looked shocked. Scared.

"I…"

Damn it. Why can't I say anything?!

Olette continued to stare at Hayner. Her eyes shouted many feelings; fear, confusion, anxiety. Hayner sighed heavily, and a smile danced across his lips as he entertained a new thought in his mind.

Actions speak louder than words, huh? Better be true.

Still smiling, Hayner closed his eyes. He leaned his head forward and gently pressed his lips against Olette's. The girl's eyes widened for only a moment before they fluttered closed. Her cheeks turned warm and pink. She slowly raised her arms and wrapped them around Hayner's neck, gently pulling him closer to her.

Heaven. Hayner was one hundred percent sure he'd just experienced heaven on earth. His eyes kept closed, he continued to kiss the girl. He gently ran his fingers through her hair; it was especially soft today.

After a few minutes of kissing, Hayner pulled away and opened his eyes. Sure enough, Olette was extremely pink in the face… but she was smiling. She was happy. He had made her happy. She giggled a little bit as she took Hayner's hand and pulled him out the small doorway. She was running towards the Station Plaza and dragged him onto the train. They ran to the steep hill and sat down. The sky bled beautiful shades of pink, red, and orange. Even though it was always twilight, the sky looked especially breathtaking today.

Olette looked so happy as she gazed into the sky. Hayner put his arm around her.

"So, still feel like working on the summer assignment?" he asked playfully as he kissed Olette's soft cheek.

"Nahh," Olette laughed. "I'll do it tomorrow…promise."

The End