Title: The Changing
Words: 8,388
Rating: T
Warnings: Um, Tara's slight phobia? Oh and language
Summary: It's Kendall's fifteenth birthday. What better way to celebrate than a party at Mako Island?
"Do you ever wonder about… life?"
Ruby turned her head towards Kendall, a lock of loose blonde hair from her messy bun falling into the water. "What?"
"You know." Kendall adjusted her John Lennon sunglasses. The floaty she was lying on bobbed up and down. "Where we're going, what we'll be doing. And not just ourselves, but the whole of humanity in general?"
"What are you even talking about?" Tara sighed. Her fingers flipped to the next page of the book she was reading, sitting atop a lawn chair spread out near the shore. The tide barely lapped over the chair's feet.
"Kendall, you're too young to have an existential crisis," said Ruby. "You're only fourteen."
"Fifteen," Kendall corrected. "Excuse you, I am fifteen years old."
"Right," Tara laughed. She looked up from her book. "Happy birthday… again."
"So, continuing on with life and the trajectory of human evolution…" Ruby rolled her eyes at Kendall's words. "…Do you both ever think, 'Hey, in five million years, when the trees have all died and oxygen becomes scarce from deforestation, and the water's all gone from draining all our groundwater wells and polluting what's left after that, what will happen to humanity?'" She turned towards her friends. "Will we all just die?"
"You're so depressing," Ruby mumbled. "And stop trying to sound so smart…"
"Well, first of all," started Tara. "I don't think we'll be alive by then. Unless cryogenic freezing becomes the new thing." She squinted into the sun. "And secondly, the human race is pretty damn adaptable. We'll probably evolve into people with super-lungs that sift through pollution and invent some technology that makes life possible. Or maybe we'll go to a different planet." She shrugged. "Or we'll all just die. That's a possibility."
"That'd be cool. If we evolved, that is. Not the… other parts." Tara nodded in agreement and tilted her sun hat farther over her eyes.
"No, I'm pretty sure you're both just weirdos," Ruby said. "I'd rather stay a normal human, thank you very much."
"If you think about it, it would be normal by that time period," Tara pointed out. Ruby glared at her, then looked towards Kendall.
"I hope you know that the only reason I'm tolerating this insanity is because it's your birthday party," Ruby reminded her. She swung her legs off the side of the floaty she was lying on and landed in water up to her waist. Kendall laughed and followed suit.
Dragging the flotation devices behind them, Kendall and Ruby made it back to shore, where Tara was setting aside her book and folding up the lawn chair. "So what are we going to do now?" she asked. She and Ruby looked towards Kendall. It was her day, after all.
"Um… I don't know. I guess wait for everyone else?"
"But we've been doing that for ages," Ruby complained. Tara nudged her with the corner of her book, which read Pride and Prejudice along the side.
"Wimp. It's only been a few hours."
"Yeah, but it feels like ages." Ruby picked up her towel she had set on some rocks and started drying off her body and pink swim suit. When she was done, she wrapped it around her body.
Kendall was raising her cell phone into the air, trying to get a good signal. "Damn phone…" she cursed under her breath. While Ruby and Tara shot retorts at each other, she started walking farther into the forests of Mako Island.
"Woah!" said Ruby when she noticed what Kendall was doing. "Where are you going?"
"I'm trying to get a signal here!" She was tapping her phone like crazy. "Mum said she would call when the boat was leaving."
"She also told us not to leave the shore," Ruby reminded her. "Kendall, Mako's a dangerous place. It's a shark breeding ground, for Heaven's sake."
"The sharks don't breed on the actual island, dummy," Tara chuckled. Ruby sent her a look.
"Can you guys help me out?" Kendall asked. Ruby ran back to get her own cell phone and sighed.
"Sorry, mine's dead."
"How is that possible?"
"I was on We Heart It, okay?"
Tara rolled her eyes. "Well, I actually have a legitimate excuse. I'm grounded from my cell phone, so, its back home."
"Great," mumbled Ruby. "Just great."
Kendall continued her ascent up the hill she was on.
"Sorry guys, but I'm not coming with." Ruby sat back on the rock and watched Tara join Kendall. "If we go stop and get our clothes first, I might, though."
"But that's, like, all the way back at the Zodiac," Tara pointed out. "And you can stay if you want. We won't be long. We're just going to look for a signal and need to get to higher ground."
"That's easy for you to say," Ruby pointed out. "You're wearing actual clothes. Kendall and I only have on swim suits." Tara was wearing short blue board shorts and a loose black t-shirt over her bikini top.
"Kendall doesn't care." Kendall nodded her agreement, despite the fact all she had on was a daisy-printed midkini.
"Yeah, well, that's because she's 'one with nature' and whatnot." Kendall smiled smugly and continued walking. Tara only gazed at Ruby meaningfully.
"Come on. I was just kidding. I know you'll whine about it if we leave you behind."
Ruby's eyes flicked between the inflatable boat they drove over to Mako, far away from where they were along the shoreline, and her friends. In the end, she sighed, and made sure her towel was tightened before following the two.
"Wait up!"
The trio walked over various vines spread out across the ground, and almost tripped over logs a few times. There was a lot of beautiful scenery that Kendall pointed out.
"Look at that tree formation," she said, awestruck. "If land developers got what they wanted and cut down all this for tourists, think of how much natural beauty they'd be destroying!"
"Yes, it's gorgeous. Can we hurry up now?" asked Ruby. "We don't want to get back and find out everyone's there already."
"Hang on, I'm checking…" Kendall looked back at her phone. She sighed. "Still nothing."
"Maybe Ruby's right," Tara admitted. She swatted a bug that was buzzing near her ebony hair out of the way. "We should just go back and wait for them."
"No! What if it got cancelled?"
"Why would the party be cancelled?" Ruby asked. "I'm sure it's something stupid, like the cake wasn't ready or… whatever. I still can't believe you're having this party. Have I ever told you that your parents go too far with everything?"
"Don't you mean, have you told me in the last ten minutes?"
Ruby rolled her eyes.
They kept walking until they reached the top of a small hill made of rock. To get to the other side, they needed to jump across the small rivulet underneath them. Tara eyed the situation warily.
"Dude, I bet at least one of us will slip and hit our heads if we try jumping over that."
Kendall ignored Tara's words, being too busy watching her cell phone signal. "Come on… almost there…" She took one, maybe two, steps forward, but that was enough.
With a short scream, she slipped on the wet rock, and started tumbling down the stream. Luckily, Ruby was close enough to grab Kendall's arm.
"Woah!" Ruby exclaimed. She grunted as she tried to hoist her friend up. "Um, Tara? A little help here?"
"Quick, grab my phone!" She handed the cell to Tara, who slipped it into the waistband of her shorts and grabbed Kendall's other hand.
The two pulled at once, heaving their friend back up onto safety. When Kendall could regain their footing, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was close," remarked Ruby.
"Yeah…" Tara looked at where Kendall had almost fallen. "Hey, what's down there?" She ducked and tried looking into an odd crevice in the rock.
"Don't slip," Ruby threatened. "I'm not catching anyone else today."
"Seriously, what's in there?" The opening looked steep and slippery, and as if it could fit at least one person in there, maybe two. Tara wondered where it led.
"Who cares?" said Ruby. She turned to Kendall, who was still catching her breath. "Kendall? Are we leaving now or what?"
"Shh!" Kendall said. Her eyes were wide. "I'm reveling in the moment."
"What moment?"
"My near-death experience."
"I'd hardly call it 'near-death'… the worst that could have happened was a concussion…"
Tara was still staring at the hole. She didn't notice that Kendall was calling to her.
"Tara!" she finally heard. The girl turned around. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just… looking at this…" Her eyes returned to the hole.
"Well, good news is, during my fall I got signal, and my mum sent a text five minutes ago saying she was on her way."
"Ugh, thank God." Ruby reached over to grab Tara's hand. Tara grasped it and was pulled up. "Finally, we can get this party started!"
"Come on," Kendall said. "Let's head back." Tara nodded and, with one last glance towards the tunnel, followed her friends back towards the beach.
When they arrived, there were at least ten people setting up picnic blankets, tables with food, stereo systems, and leaving to set up the fireworks for later. The rest of the populous were students from Kendall's school.
One of the students walked up to her. She had short red hair and a toothy grin.
"Hey Kendall," said Gwen. She saw Tara and Ruby and added on, "Ruby. Taralyn." Tara scowled at her full name. "This looks like it's gonna be an awesome party!" She turned towards Kendall and gave her a hug. "And happy fifteenth!"
"Thanks, Gwen." Kendall smiled warmly. "Yeah, I hope everything works out okay."
Gwen nodded and looked towards Ruby. She winked. "Hey. I heard Colin's coming tonight. And, fortunately, bringing some friends."
"Really?" Tara raised her eyebrows. "I didn't think we had any of his friends on the list."
"Tara," said Kendall. "I don't think that half of the people here were on the list."
"Yeah, well, it's the first party ever at Mako, so, a lot of people came," Gwen explained. She looked around and pulled a strap of her ruffled tank top up. "I've gotta say, it's impressive." With one last smile, she turned and walked towards the snack table.
"Wow. Never knew we were so popular," Tara commented. Kendall scoffed.
"Please. This is hardly popularity. Alright, sure, we've caught our peer's attentions, but this party will be the thing that lives on in their minds, not who it was about. I bet they'll forget it was even my birthday by next week."
"Wow. You really suck the life out of everything, don't ya?"
"I sure hope not. I'm starting volunteer work at the Animal Shelter next week, and I can't be killing all the animals I'm supposed to take care of." She took off her glasses, since the sun was beginning to set, and hung them on Tara's shirt. While at it, she tipped Tara's sunhat higher up so she could see better.
"You start that next week? That's exciting."
"Yeah."
"Well, I wouldn't worry. If you aren't killing off the dolphins you've been feeding, then I'm sure the puppies and kitties will be fine," Tara said. "By the way, how's your job at the Marine Park? Anything… new going on?"
"You're trying to ask if there's a job opening, aren't you?"
"You know me so well."
"Well, there is, actually. One of our old tour guides just quit to go off to college, so…"
"Yes! Yes I'll take it!" Tara yelled gratefully. A few bystanders gave her weird looks.
"Hold up, I can't just give you the job. You need to fill out a proper resume, and…"
"Yeah, yeah. I took Economics. I just need to get a job there to get my mum off my back." Kendall gave Tara a look of sympathy.
"Is she still hanging onto that phobia thing?"
Tara sighed. "Yeah. She's totally convinced it'll help me get over my fear of water."
"You swim, though. And take showers… or so I hope." Tara shrugged.
"It's not a constant thing. Like, most of the time I'm fine, and then I'll be swimming and a current goes by, or I stumble or something, and suddenly I just… lose it. And it's like it's happening all over again." Her eyes had become distant. Kendall put an arm around her friend's shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I know it's tough."
Tara was silent for a moment before clearing her throat. In a strained sort of voice, she said, "Ruby, you know this is the perfect moment to try to bring the subject back to yourself. You're missing out."
"Yeah, I haven't heard you complain at all within the last two minutes. I think this is a new record." Ruby, who was staring at the ground like she was thinking, still didn't respond. "Uh, hello?"
"Anyone there?" asked Tara. She nudged her shoulder. Ruby turned to them, blinking wildly.
"Huh?"
"Finally. I thought you were actually thinking about something there for a second," said Tara sarcastically. Kendall giggled while Ruby rolled her eyes. They hooked arms and started walking towards the throng of teenagers.
"Shut up. I was just spacing out, alright?"
"Is this about Colin?" Kendall asked. "I thought you guys were doing well." Colin Grace was Ruby's boyfriend, the one she talked about almost constantly.
"Yeah… well… we kinda had a fight."
"What?" said Tara. "Why didn't we hear about this?"
Ruby shrugged. "It's no big deal. I'm sure we'll get over it."
"What was it about?" Kendall asked.
"Nothing."
"Nothing means something, you know." Ruby glared at Tara.
"It's no biggie, seriously. Just him being a stupid boy." Both Tara and Kendall raised their eyebrows.
"Well, it must be a 'biggie' if you're calling him a 'stupid boy'," Tara remarked. "It's always, 'Colin, the hottie', or, 'Colin, the perfect human being', or, 'Colin, the best kisser on the planet'…"
"He just doesn't think I'm interested in him anymore," Ruby sighed. She was looking around at the students who were grabbing fruit punch, as if searching for someone.
"Are you?" Ruby shrugged at Kendall's comment.
"I don't know."
Tara decided that this conversation was only bringing the mood towards darker territories, so decided to brighten it up. "Hey, let's go see how many people brought presents." Kendall smiled.
"Aw, sweet. Even though I know that probably none of them used recyclable wrapping paper, I'm gonna get so much stuff!" She let go of their arms and grabbed their hands, pulling them towards the boat.
"Hey Mum," Kendall said brightly when she saw her mother moving a box on the deck of the boat. The older woman stood up and pushed her dark hair out of her eyes. When she smiled, wrinkles appeared in the corners of her mouth and eyes. Surprisingly, they flattered the artist.
"Hey, hun." Clarice walked up to her daughter and gave her a big hug. Kendall stepped back and laughed.
"You got paint on me," she noted. There was a smudge of yellow smack dap in the middle of her stomach.
"Oh!" Her mom kneeled down and licked her finger, rubbing the spot.
"Mum!" Kendall blushed with embarrassment, turning her dark cheeks a deep rose color. "My friends are here!"
"Oh, they don't care," she said, waving her off. Clarice stood back up and smiled at Tara and Ruby. "Hey girls! Sorry it took so long… there was an issue with the cake…"
Ruby stared pointedly at Kendall.
"…But everything's fine now." Her gaze flickered to the back of the boat. "My goodness, though, I had no idea you invited so many people!"
"Me neither…" Kendall mumbled.
"… I just hope there's enough food…"
"Mom!" Kendall grabbed Clarice's face in her hands. "It'll be fine. You and Dad did a great job." She pecked her on the cheek. "Now, please excuse me while I go guess what all my gifts are!"
Clarice laughed and patted Kendall on the bum when she walked by her. "Okay, girls. I'll be helping with the fireworks. See you when it's time to blow the candles!"
Ruby and Tara followed Kendall further into the boat.
"You're mum is so cool," Ruby whined. "I wish my mum was like that. Instead of being hip and trendy, and an artist, she had to be the most boring real estate agent on the face of the Earth." She exhaled. "Why me?"
Tara and Kendall smiled. Ruby was- however temporarily- out of her funk.
They walked to the back of the boat and turned around the corner. With an almost simultaneous gasp between them, they looked at the giant pile of presents, all for Kendall.
"It's all… mine…" groaned Kendall, wrapping her arms around the stack. Ruby could only whimper. Tara stared.
"I'm so glad we're popular," Ruby sighed contentedly.
Kendall gave her a look. "How many times do I have to-"
"Shh," Tara said softly. Her eyes hadn't moved. "Let's just… take a moment. To take this all in."
They stood there silently for a few minutes. Then, Ruby yawned.
"Alright. Fascination over. Can we go hit the mini-bar?"
"We don't have a mini-bar," Kendall added.
Ruby's pink lips tilted into a cute scowl. "Damn."
Kendall picked up a small box, wrapped in birthday cake wrapping paper. "What do you think is in here?"
Tara took it from her hands and shook it lightly. "Huh. Sounds kinda… hollow." She looked at her friends. "You don't think they just gave you empty boxes, did you?"
"No," said Kendall. "Some of our classmates are dicks, but they aren't the kind of dicks to take the time to prepare something like that." She looked at the box with curiosity. "Nah, they'll probably just give a shitty gift or something."
"Well, my gift at least won't be shitty," grinned Tara. "You can count on that."
"Same here."
Kendall smirked. "Any chance I could get you guys to tell me what you got me?"
"Are you that impatient?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow. "We'll probably be opening gifts in an a few hours!"
"You're right," she sighed. "I'm just so excited!"
"How about we go back to the party?" Tara suggested. "You know, actually hang out with the people who showed up."
"But human contact though…" Kendall said sarcastically, imitating Tara. "I'm surprised you want to go."
Tara smiled. "Hey, it's your birthday. I wouldn't miss that for the world."
"Me neither!" piped up Ruby.
"And here comes Ruby, interjecting herself into every conversation not about her," Tara laughed. Ruby nudged her playfully.
"You're right. We should go." Kendall set her gift down and left the boat.
"On the way we can look for the mini-bar."
"There is no mini-bar!"
"We'll see about that…"
"… How did you manage to get a mini-bar into my party?" Kendall asked with incredulity three hours later. She looked at Ruby. "Without me knowing?!"
"I have my ways," the girl said mysteriously, sitting down at one of the stools in front of the wooden counter. There were coolers filled with drinks- some, even, alcoholic- behind the bar. A guy Kendall had never met before with a greasy pre-pubescent mustache was handling the drinks.
"And who are you?" she asked. The boy laughed nervously.
"Um, Nate… Ruby, uh, paid me to bring drinks and work here tonight…" Tara couldn't help but laugh at Kendall's expression.
Ruby was positively beaming. "Happy Birthday, Kendall!" She wrapped her arms around her friend.
"This is my birthday present?" she asked. That shocked look still hadn't left her face.
"Um, yes! Free drinks!" Ruby gestured towards the bar. "How is that not amazing?!"
"How is that not illegal?" Kendall hissed.
Ruby waved her off. "Oh, come off it. Your mum agreed to the whole thing."
"But my mum's… well, my mum!"
"Yes, fortunately for you!" Ruby slung one arm over Kendall's shoulders and the other over Tara's, who was still amused by the whole exchange. Kendall shrugged her off.
Kendall sighed in resignation. "Alright. Fine. You can have your little… bar, or, whatever."
"But it's for you." Ruby pointed at a cooler, and Nate grabbed a bottle out of it. "So you must partake." She held the bottle out.
"I think this is peer pressure." Kendall eyed the bottle warily. Ruby nudged her.
"And I think you should stop being such a worrywart." She took Kendall's hand and wrapped it around the neck of the bottle. "Come on. You deserve it. You've been doing amazing at your job, school's about to start, you've got your new volunteer thing coming up, and it's your goddamn birthday. Now, enjoy." Ruby grabbed another bottle for herself, and one for Tara, who opened it with a practiced ease and took a swig.
"Tara!" said Kendall, shocked. Tara shrugged.
"Beginner's luck?"
Kendall glared at her with disapproval and attempted to open hers. When she couldn't, Ruby did. Kendall shook her head.
"I am so disappointed in both of you."
Tara and Ruby laughed.
The three of them walked back towards the party, where it was getting dark out. The lights were shining down, and almost everyone had something from the bar. Kendall withheld her groan.
Clarice then came out into the middle of the crowd, holding up a mega phone.
"Alright everybody!" she announced. "It's the time you've all been waiting for- opening presents!" She paused. "And cake!"
There was a cheer throughout the crowd. Tara mumbled to Ruby, "What do you think they're cheering about? The presents or free food?"
Ruby could only shrug. Her eyes were now scanning the crowd again nervously. Tara wondered what her deal was, and if it had something to do with Colin. Kendall was too busy flushing with embarrassment over her mom's antics to notice.
As if Kendall wasn't embarrassed enough, Gwen walked up to her and stuck a large Happy Birthday hat on top of her head as her mom rolled in a giant birthday cake, at least two feet tall.
"Oh my God!" shouted Kendall. She wasn't sure whether it was from excitement, gratitude, embarrassment, or a twisted combination of them all.
The music around them silenced as the crowd stilled. Then, they began singing…
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…"
Kendall blushed fiercely along with the song, and when they finally shouted "Happy Birthday!" one last time, she ran up to the giant cake and tried to blow out all the candles. Key word being "tried". There were so many of them, at least half were still lit when she exhaled.
"Whew!" Tara shouted. "Someone's gonna be getting around!" A few people laughed at her comment. Kendall only rolled her eyes.
"I get the first piece, right?" she asked her mom eagerly. With a laugh, Clarice took out her cake knife and sliced a large piece. She set it on a paper- recycled, of course- plate and handed it to Kendall.
"Of course!"
Someone in the crowd blew one of those birthday whistles, and the rest followed. Kendall laughed and took a bite.
"Yum!" She walked over to her friends as her mom started serving up everyone else's cake. Tara and Ruby were handed the second and third pieces.
While the guests started eating their cake, another familiar face rolled in a stack of presents.
"Dad!" Kendall ran up to Mark and gave him a big hug. He laughed and returned it.
"Hey sweetie!" She let go and looked at him, beaming.
"I thought you were gonna be busy at the boats tonight?"
"And miss my little girl's birthday?" Mark rubbed her head, causing her thick braid to loosen. "I wouldn't dream of it."
He clapped his hands. "Now, come on, it's time to open gifts!"
Tara sighed and looked at Ruby. "I'm so jealous."
"Me too."
It was completely dark out now. The lights had all been turned off, and everyone was lying in the sand on beach towels, waiting. Kendall was lying next to her two best friends, enjoying the cool breeze and playing with the silver charm bracelet Tara had bought her.
"I love you guys, you know that, right?"
"Well, duh. I love you too, you idiot."
"Thanks, Ruby."
"You're welcome."
"You're pretty cool. I guess I could say that I love you too."
"Thanks, Tara."
"Yep."
The three stared up into the starry night. Any moment now, it would light up with bright colors.
"Hey," Ruby said, breaking the silence. "There's something I should probably tell you guys."
"What is it?" Tara asked.
Ruby sighed. "Colin and I… kinda… broke up."
Kendall sat up, some sand that had stuck to her hair falling onto the blanket. "Broke up? When was this?"
"A few days ago. I didn't tell you guys because… well, I just didn't want you to be disappointed, or get the wrong idea or anything…"
"Whatdya mean? What happened"
"Well… at first, we were just hanging out at my place, you know? Kissing, cuddling…"
"No need to get into details," Tara mumbled.
"… and then, suddenly, he just… stops. He started talking about how I wasn't 'into it' or something. And how I must not like him anymore." She sniffled. "Which is super dumb. I mean, of course I like him. We were dating after all."
"Do you though?"
"Hmm?"
"Still like him," Tara said.
Ruby didn't say anything for a moment. Then, she made a sort of non committal shrug. "Maybe. I don't know. It's all just been really confusing for me lately."
"Why haven't you talked to us about this?" Kendall asked. "We could have helped."
"It's kind of a personal thing, if you know what I mean."
Tara nodded. "Yeah. I do."
Ruby started to say something, then paused. She tried again, and made a kind of sigh. On her third try, she got words out. "And… you'll never believe what he accused me of."
"Accused you?"
"Yeah… he thought… well…"
"What did he think?" Kendall asked almost angrily. Both Ruby and Tara knew that Kendall was a total sweetheart, but if her friends were hurt, could get real nasty.
"He… accused me of being a lesbian."
Silence met her words. "Are you?" Tara asked hesitantly. Ruby immediately looked at her with fury.
"How could you ask that?! Of course I'm not! I like guys!"
"Jeez, calm down," said Kendall. "Ruby, you know she's only trying to help. And you know we wouldn't judge you if you were."
"I'm not, though! I swear! I'm perfectly normal!"
"Being lesbian isn't abnormal," Kendall protested. "It's only someone's sexual orientation."
Ruby sighed. "Kendall, I really don't need to hear any more of your equality speeches right now. Just… tell me I'm straight and that Colin's a douche and that you'll give me all the leftovers of your cake, okay?"
Kendall laughed. "Okay… you're my cake, Colin's straight, and I'll give you the leftovers of my douche."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "You guys are so unhelpful."
Tara and Kendall laughed again.
The three of them sat back down and waited. And waited. And waited. After a few more minutes, Tara stood up.
"What are you doing?" Kendall asked.
"I have an idea," she said in a hushed whisper.
Ruby groaned. "An idea? That can't be good."
"You, shush, now." She grabbed her friend's hands and lifted them up. "Come on."
It was dark enough out so that nobody saw them leave. Everyone was too busy focusing their attentions on the darkened sky anyways, and the gorgeous full moon above, to pay much attention to three girls walking past them.
There was approximately three minutes between Ruby getting off the ground and Ruby realizing where Tara was leading them.
"No!" she protested, pulling her hand away. She was also whispering, so as to not disturb any of the bystanders. "I'm not going back in the forest!"
"Ruby, come on! It'll be fun." Tara pointed towards the section of the woods she was guessing they found that one cave. "Remember how high up that rock-thing we found earlier was?"
"Yeah?" said Kendall.
"Well, I was thinking we could go up there to get a better view of the fireworks. It'll be really secluded and away from everyone else here that we've already established we don't like-" Kendall grinned sheepishly, "-and won't be hard to find our way back, since we've done it before."
"Yeah, but, that was in the daytime." Ruby gestured towards the air around her. "In case you haven't noticed, its pitch black out now!"
"Come on," pleaded Tara. "I hate to spring this one on ya, but I feel that seeing Colin or something during the fireworks will really ruin this good night we've been having."
Kendall, who, of course, was already on board with the idea since before it even was an idea, turned towards Ruby. "Come on, Rubes! Pretty please?" She pouted her lower lip out. "For my birthday?"
Ruby looked at her two friends and sighed. "Alright, you bastards." She pulled her thin grey sweatshirt tighter around her. "But I do hope you know I'll leave you behind if you're both eaten by wild animals."
Tara almost squealed with delight. With her friends in two, she headed back into the wild, following the path she had before to get to the stream in the rock.
It took them at least half an hour to get there with their only source of light being the bright moon, and still there was no sign of the fireworks when they reached the area. Kendall wondered briefly if there was some sort of complication, and if people were getting angry about it, but then decided she didn't really care. After all, this party was for her, and since she was the one having a good time, what else really mattered?
Tara situated herself on the highest peak of the large stone. Her butt sat right on the edge of it, so that if she tilted back even a little, she'd most likely fall backwards into the stream and be pulled into the crevice in the rock. More than once her eyes flickered towards there, despite how she couldn't really see it in the dark. Her friends sat next to her, and altogether they looked up for the display.
Five minutes later, there was a loud boom. It shook the girls to the core, and they gasped in excitement when something whistled sharply. A thin white arrow shot towards the sky, and exploded with a deafening pop. Sparks of all different colors cascaded down, and as line after line of them blew up in synchronized order, all that could be seen in the girls' reflections were expressions of pure awe.
The fireworks, the secluded area, the moon, the three best friends, the content feeling buzzing through the air… it was almost magical.
The trio weren't sure how many more fireworks there were to go, but they decided that, despite this being the best possible point to watch the show on the entire island, they should head back before anyone noticed they were missing.
Ruby stood up first, then Kendall, and then Tara. Tara, unfortunately, was the one closest to the edge, and when Kendall pulled her up, Tara's flip flop skidded on the slippery rock. With a short scream, she tumbled backwards into the tunnel.
"Tara!" Ruby and Kendall shouted, panic etched onto their faces. They crouched down near the hole, desperate to hear their friend's voice.
Tara was falling headfirst. It was dark, and she was frightened. The rock she was tumbling down was smooth, too smooth to climb back up, she knew. When her head hit the sandy bottom and her body followed, she moaned in pain.
"Tara!" She heard her friends calling out for her.
"I'm… I'm okay!" It wasn't true, but she couldn't let her feelings get the best of her. She took deep breaths, ignoring the blackness that consumed the space around her. She could barely see her fingers. "I'm fine!"
Tara heard a sigh of relief from above her.
"Oh thank God…" Ruby mumbled. Kendall then cried out, "Try to get back up! Here, I'll stick my hand in!"
"No! Don't! I don't want you falling in too!"
Too late. Kendall shrieked, and soon enough she was falling towards the ground. Tara tried to catch her to ease the fall, but her friend still looked hurt.
"Are you okay?" she asked Kendall. The girl nodded.
"Yeah… I think…"
Ruby was outright panicking by then. "Holy shit, fuck, fuck, shit, fuck… holy-"
"Ruby!" Kendall shouted. "Don't lean over the edge!"
"Trust me, I'm not!" she said in a shrill tone of voice. Tara and Kendall could both imagine Ruby's face as she stood ten feet away from the hole, pacing back and forth and trying not to lose it.
"Let's try to climb back up," Tara suggested. "Before Ruby goes insane." Kendall nodded.
She let Tara go first. The girl crawled back into the tunnel, but saw that the smooth stone wouldn't give her any purchase, just like she had thought. With a grunt, she fell back on the sand.
"I don't think that's going to work." Panic was evident in all three of them by this point.
"Okay… okay… how are we going to do this…" Kendall thought about it for a moment before calling out for Ruby. "Ruby! Get closer to the hole!"
"But not too close!" Tara reminded her.
Ruby did as asked. The two could barely see her trembling legs at the entrance of the cave. "Now, try to find a rope or something…"
"A rope?!" Ruby shrieked. "Where am I going to find a fucking rope on a tropical island?!"
"Go back to the party, dumbass!" Tara shouted.
Ruby was fuming. "There is NO need to be so RUDE!" She stomped her foot down, and when she did, it slipped. Another scream was heard from above. Both of them groaned, knowing what was coming next.
"Ahh!" Ruby landed on the soft ground.
"Great…" Tara mumbled. She turned to Kendall and pointed towards something in front of her. "You see that? You know what it is?"
"Um…"
"It's our chances of getting out of here alive."
Kendall frowned. "I don't see anything."
Tara slumped. "Exactly." It seemed as if this was when reality finally hit Ruby.
"Oh no…" She shook her head, standing up. "No, no, no, no! I'm not going to die in here!"
"Shh, Ruby, calm down…" Kendall said softly.
"Yeah," Tara retorted. "Really, if anyone should be freaking out, it should be me. Hello? PTSD or whatever over here?"
Kendall ignored her making jokes out of a very serious mental disorder since they were quite possibly near the verge of death, or something equally as bad.
"This is all. Your. Fault!" Ruby fumed, poking Tara.
"My fault?"
"Yes! Yours! You're the one who couldn't just sit at the beach and watch the fireworks like a normal person!" She shook her head. "And we all know the real reason we came back here was because you wanted to see this dumb cave thing again."
Tara blushed, but it wasn't visible in the darkness. "You guys noticed that?"
"Yeah," Kendall admitted.
A sigh emitted from Tara. "Alright, I suppose that's fair. I'm sorry I was interested, okay? It just looked a little fishy to me…"
"It's just a cave, Tara!" Ruby shouted. As she did this, Kendall spotted something blue up ahead. Curious, she walked past Ruby and Tara towards it. "Nothing special about it. Look around you!" She felt around the wall next to her and found a loose chunk of stone, holding it out for Tara to see in the dim lighting. "Rocks, rocks, and more rocks! What else were you expecting?"
"I don't know…"
"Exactly." Ruby let the rock drop and walked back so her back hit the wall. She slid down it and brought her knees to her chest. "It's just a normal, godforsaken hunk of hollowed out rock."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," said an awestruck Kendall. Both Ruby and Tara looked towards where they heard the voice in confusion.
"Kendall?" Tara called out. "Where are you?"
Kendall peeked her head around the corner of the cave, a corner the other two hadn't even known existed. Rejoicing, Ruby sprang to her feet. "Guys," she said with a small smile. "You have got to see this."
Ruby exchanged looks with Tara and followed their friend. They turned the corner into a larger section of the cave, one bathed in a brilliant blue luminescence.
No one said anything for a moment as they took in the sight around them. There were glittering rocks surrounding the strange room, leading towards the sky where they tapered into the open cone of a volcano. Moonlight filtered in through there, washing over the room and mixing with the glittering blue… this all coincided in the center, the apex, of the cave. A clear blue pool of water sat in front of Tara, Kendall, and Ruby, like it was waiting. They were standing on sand currently, but the pool was surrounded by rocks, sloped as if to walk into it.
"This can't be real," Ruby whispered. It seemed almost disrespectful to say anything louder.
Tara swallowed, despite the fact her throat was dry. "Still think it's a normal cave?" she asked jokingly. Ruby didn't dignify that with a response.
Instead, she walked towards the pool and sat on the edge. Taking off her sandals, she dipped in her toes. The water was surprisingly warm.
Ruby's foot shook the water, causing ripples to spread out towards the borders of the pool. She looked up, right towards the dormant volcano's hollow crater.
"I know this is going to sound stupid, but… this isn't going to erupt or something, is it?"
Kendall almost laughed. "No, I think we're safe. It's been dormant for, like, 20,000 years or something."
There was a sigh of relief. "Well, that's one thing I've got going for me as of now. I won't die from a volcanic eruption."
Kendall remembered what dangers they were in, and how long they must have been gone for. She couldn't even hear the fireworks in the distance. "I wouldn't get your hopes up," she said to Ruby, joining her by the pool. "Dying is still an option unless we find a way out of here."
"Hmm. There you are. Depressing as always." Ruby turned towards Tara. "Hey, are you okay?"
Tara was staring at the water with a strange sort of fascination. Her friends didn't know what to make of her expression, and whether it was amazement or horror.
"Tara?"
She blinked and looked up. "What? Sorry… I kind of got lost there." Tara walked forward near her friends and sat down, but didn't put her feet in the water. Instead, she crossed her legs, almost protectively.
Nothing could be heard in the cave except for the trickling water. It should have been a panicked, or at least awkward, silence, but instead, after stepping into the room with the pool, it was anything but. Something in the atmosphere had changed. It was almost like everyone's worries trickled away with the flowing tide.
Ruby let go of her worries about Colin, about his comments and how she feared he was right, how there was something not right about her. And that's all she really wanted, really. To be normal.
Kendall thought of her parents, of the many college applications she was already going over when school hadn't even started yet, and how scared everyone must be above them, where the three main girls of the night had just disappeared, and let it go.
Tara remembered the Accident. The fishing trip, the cold water, even colder once her dad went under… they didn't find Tara screaming for help until it was too late. They didn't find his body for over a week.
She let go.
But reality catches up with you eventually. All three of them knew that. After their brief period of total freedom, there was a loud boom overhead. Fireworks, the three thought. There must have been a break, because they were going again. Loud booms in succession, shouts of drunken teenagers screaming into the night… it was enough to remind them where they were, and why they were there.
"I think," said Kendall. "That the only way out is through there." She pointed ahead of them. There was a small opening, where it looks like the water could have been connected to the sea.
"We're gonna have to swim?" Ruby sighed. What she didn't add was, "we're gonna have to leave?" She didn't need to. Her friends had the same thought drifting through their minds.
"Unless you want to make sure you never have to see Colin again," Tara said. It was only a half-hearted joke though. With that temporary moment in which she was completely separated from her fears gone, her memories were almost more painful than before. She didn't know if she could dip her toes in the water like Ruby and Kendall, let alone swim underneath a cavern and out into the water.
Kendall shuddered when her body dipped into the water. It almost tingled, although she was sure that was just her imagination. Ruby followed suit, looking disgusted the entire time.
The two floated towards the center of the pool and treaded water.
"I'll be right back," Kendall said before dipping under. Ruby floated near Tara while they waited.
"You alright?" Ruby asked. Her answer was a shrug.
"I don't know." Tara hesitantly reached for the water and skimmed the surface with her fingertips. It felt deliciously cool. She shuddered and pulled her hand back, almost afraid by how much she wanted to jump in. It was confusing. Half of her was afraid of distant memories, and the other half wanted to submerge herself in the ocean and lose herself in the waves. There was no compromise.
"Maybe Kendall and I could go," offered Ruby. "And then bring back people to rescue you."
Tara scoffed. "Please. I'm not that lame. I can swim to survive, alright?" It came out a bit harsh, but Ruby understood.
"I'm serious."
Tara breathed in deeply again. "Yeah. Me too."
They waited until Kendall returned, which took an agonizingly long time.
"I was right," Kendall said, taking quick breaths. "It's a twenty or thirty second swim to the other side. We could all go at once; it's a pretty big opening." Her eyes flickered towards Tara.
"Okay," said Tara in a strained sort of voice. "Got it." She took off her own shoes and started slowly immersing herself in the water. Both Ruby and Kendall watched her carefully and nervously.
When she was fully submerged, she sighed out breath she didn't even know she was holding. "That wasn't so bad." Tara ignored the aching feeling in her veins that she didn't quite know what to identify as. Her top priority was getting out of this cave, and that was that.
All three of them grabbed their shoes and held onto them, ready to go under, when something… happened.
It was the moon. Its light poured out through the hole above them as a sliver came into view. All of their eyes went up towards the night sky to see what was happening.
"Pretty…" mumbled Ruby. Her admiring expression quickly changed to confusion when all around them, the water started bubbling. It wasn't even hot.
"What's going on?" Kendall asked. Tara had no words. The nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach only increased.
Something that looked like shining lights- similar to the glittering rocks- rose from the water. It extended towards the full moon above, as if beckoning for its embrace. Inside of all three girls, they felt something unexplained, a sort of ache. It grew strongest when the moon moved directly ahead of them, the entirety of the glowing white sphere shining onto the pool.
The moon continued its arc across the sky, eventually fading from the cone's view. When it disappeared, so did the rest of the oddities. The bubbles, gone. The lights, gone. The strange feeling… that lingered.
"Woah," Tara finally managed. "Just… woah."
No one said anything until, again, a firework exploded outside. This snapped them out of the moment.
"Come on," Ruby said, a little shakily. "We don't want to miss the rest of the show."
She glanced at her two best friends and dove under. They followed.
It was just like Kendall described. A large opening that led straight to the ocean. It couldn't have taken more than 30 seconds, but when they reached the surface, they all gasped for breath.
Tara turned her head, looking for the shore. When the next firework exploded overhead- this one was a giant smiley face- she saw it.
"Come on," she panted. The trio swam for the shore, ignoring the moon above that seemed to be taunting them.
When their feet finally met cool sand, it was like a breath of fresh air. Overhead, as if to celebrate their success, an especially large firework filled with the colors of the rainbow exploded. It fizzed and died, and Ruby, Tara, and Kendall ran to the area of the island where the party was.
They weren't as cold as they thought they'd be, nor as missed. It looked like no one had even noticed they had left.
"Hey," said Gwen, who was sitting in the sand below them. "Why are you guys all wet?"
The three friends met each other's gazes. Should they tell anybody about what happened? Something about the experience felt personal, like it was their secret.
"We… went for a swim," Ruby said. It wasn't a lie, at least.
Gwen laughed before she realized they were serious. "Oh." She adjusted her hair uncomfortably. "Um, can I ask why?"
Kendall then smiled and wrapped one soaking wet arm around Gwen's shoulder. The red head grimaced and tried to back away, but Kendall had her in her grasp.
"Because. It's my birthday!" She laughed loudly. Another firework exploded. It was blue.
Tara and Ruby's lips parted as well. Everything felt so funny, for some reason. Like it wasn't real.
The three stood there, laughing, until Gwen looked at them with a disturbed glance and rushed away. More fireworks boomed and fizzed, in all sorts of colors. They caused strange, distorted reflections on the ocean water. Something about that was funny as well.
A few beers were set on the sand, and despite being warm, the girls grabbed them and gulped them down. After those, they headed back over to see Nate, who also asked why they were wet. This only brought out more giggles.
"Do you got anything stronger than this?" Kendall asked, holding up the beer bottle. Nate nodded, somewhat fearfully, and took out a clear bottle from the coolers. Without asking what it was, Kendall took a swig. Nate's eyes widened.
"Well aren't you daring tonight, Kendall," Tara laughed. She took the bottle after Kendall was done and swallowed some down. Ruby had some too, and soon enough, it was empty.
Nate refused to serve them anymore in their state, but they shrugged it off. They ran away from the rest of the partygoers and finished watching the fireworks on the shore of the beach, where they had been earlier that day before the party started.
Their legs sat in the water, backs on the wet sand. Their eyes were trained on the moon, the stars, and the bursts of color above.
"Life is funny," Kendall mumbled. Ruby nodded her head.
"Yeah…"
They stayed in silence, even after the last of the fireworks blew up in one grand finale. Music was turned back on, and people were dancing again. The rest of the drinks were disposed of. People were having a great time.
All the while, the birthday girl and her friends lied back on the beach, not speaking, nor addressing the incident that had occurred in the strange pool. They were tired, drunk, and something else… something they didn't have a name for. Maybe it would be called a foreboding ache, like something was going to happen. None of them commented on it, however.
Some things were better left unsaid.
(A/N: Hope you enjoyed. If you didn't get the ending there, it was kind of like the girl were really overwhelmed by their experiences and got a little reckless. Sorry if this seems unrealistic for most fifteen-year-old's... Anyways, more chapters will be coming up soon as these characters shape themselves in my head. I know you haven't even met these three in my Girl in the Water fic, but you will I think in the next chapter. Please leave reviews, favorites, follows, or whatever. And always feel free to PM me anytime you've got something on your mind!
xoxo, SerenSplash989*)
*I seriously need to get a better username. Like, pronto. Read the end of my bio for what I'm kind of looking for if you want to send me any ideas.