Alex Danvers was woken up by her alarm (as she always tends to oversleep) on a crisp Saturday morning. After lazily hitting the snooze button, she began to roll over back into bed to go back to sleep, when a sudden look of realization spread eagerly across her face.

It was time to pack.

For the past 8 years, Alex, her mother & her adoptive sister Kara took a family vacation to Martha's Vineyard every summer, for which they would spend two months soaking up the sun and spending time doing various activities. Due to it being an annual visit, Alex and Kara had gradually made friends with fellow vacationers on the island who she always enjoyed reuniting with every summer. Not that Eliza, their mother, minded of course, because she got to spend every day with her girls, and although they didn't spend much time together in Martha's Vineyard, she could see how much the trip meant for her daughters. Kara & Alex also promised to themselves to spend as much time with Eliza as they could, as they loved their mother and hated the thought of them abandoning her on what began as a family holiday. Although, recently Eliza had managed to befriend the parents of her daughters' friends, & found herself to be spending more and more time with them than at home alone, which assured the girls to not feel guilty when spending a day out.

Once packed & ready to go, the Danvers family began their journey to the island, which usually took the day (it was almost always dusk by the time they had unpacked & settled in) but they did not complain - although Kara & Alex bickered like any sisters do, the family harmoniously got along and loved each other's company. Alex was so excited. She had turned 18 this year &, being the second to youngest (the youngest being Kara) of the friend group, her friends had promised to throw a party to celebrate her becoming an adult.

'Where do you think they'll throw the party?' Kara asked, as though the expression of excitement on Alex's face revealed exactly what she was thinking. 'I dunno, but I hope it's at James' house, it's the biggest and his family are always out at some fancy restaurant or something.' Alex replied, imagining how cool it would be to have the house to themselves for the night. Alex wasn't much of a partier, but she enjoyed a celebration when the occasion called for it.

'I'm excited!' Kara said enthusiastically. Kara wasn't the party type either; she enjoyed her own company and spent most of her Friday nights curled up on her sofa eating potstickers and binge watching any show she could get her hands on. She had a good group of friends at school, but their idea of a party was collectively eating junk food in front of the TV as well, so Kara fit in perfectly. 'Me too' Alex replied, 'I'm gonna teach you how to play beer pong.'

Alex heard a small chuckle from the drivers seat where her mother was driving. 'Corrupting Kara at a young age, I see.' Eliza said humorously. 'She's only a year younger than me mom, besides…learning beer pong is essential for senior year, so she might as well learn from the best.' Alex sarcastically replied, earning another chuckle from her mother.

—

Arriving early at their holiday home, the girls unpacked & settled in before it started getting dark. Situated in an ideal spot, their house overlooked one of the island's many ponds, which was inhabited by ducks, swans & islands of reeds. Their sun deck was the most popular place of the house; deck chairs and hammocks were laid out ready for the girls to use to soak up the sun the following day. Alex enjoyed spending her nights in her hammock occasionally, falling asleep under the stars and waking up to the sound of water and the sunlight. It was her favorite place in the world, a home if she ever knew one, and a safe place for her to unwind and completely relax.

She gazed out onto the pond & saw a family of ducks glide past happily. She sighed contently; oh how she had missed this place. Alex's eyes moved to the pond once more. Directly in her line of sight, her favorite beach was just visible. The best part about the house they lived in was the fact that the pond was the only obstacle between the house & a private beach for the family to enjoy. It was used occasionally by locals & neighbors but it was predominantly a place for her friends to go to for a campfire every year. Her friends arrived the long way, driving to the beach itself through the island, but all Kara & Alex had to do was hop in their canoes and traverse the pond to get to there. Alex had the strong urge to go there now, but she was interrupted by the sound of gliding doors & Kara stepping out onto the deck.

'Lucy has just texted me, they're all hanging out at the Crab Shack down the road. Wanna go and say hi before we call it a day?' Kara asked cheerfully. Alex felt a rush of excitement. Their friends usually arrived a couple of days before her and Kara did, not that they minded of course, it made their arrival more exciting knowing they were going to be greeted by everybody.

'Great! Let's go. We won't be long, but it'll be nice to see them all again.' Alex exclaimed excitedly before informing Eliza about their plans. By the time Eliza had replied 'Have fun!', the girls were already out the door.

The Crab Shack was a renowned place for people to hang out. It was a nautical themed (as most of the places in Martha's Vineyard were) café with a porch at the back - where the sisters' friends usually sat and drank lemonade on a hot day. Greeted by the usual owner, the girls raced to the porch to find their friends chatting about their plans for the next day. Once spotted, Kara and Alex received a round of cheers and welcomes from the friend group.

'I've missed my annual dose of Danvers.' Lucy Lane, a beautiful and kind hearted girl exclaimed whilst pulling Alex & Kara into a hug.

'We've missed you too, Luce.' Kara said sweetly, moving away to greet the rest of the group. Alex's eyes scanned the group; Lucy, James, Winn, Lena, & Mike all smiled enthusiastically as Alex greeted them all. However her eyes darted to an unfamiliar face who was talking to Winn. She was a short, dark haired girl, with olive colored skin & big brown eyes. Alex felt a small pang of anger - who was she and why had she been invited into this tightly knitted friend group? The look of confusion on her face was easily recognized by James who walked up to Alex, snapping her out of her daze.

'She's pretty, isn't she?' He asked, rhetorically. Alex huffed with slight frustration.

'Why is she here?'

'We invited her. She arrived a couple of days ago with her family & she hung out with us, everyone likes her…she's pretty badass if you ask me. She's super funny and she's really nice too. I think Winn has a crush on her, which is completely understandable seeming as he falls in love with anyone who looks at him…" his voice began to trail off in Alex's head because her thoughts were getting too loud. She didn't even know who this girl was and she already disliked her. As every friend group does, there was a leader. And it was undoubtedly Alex. She got along with everybody the most, she was the most approachable and she was like the glue which kept everyone together and happy. She was always asked the questions, and her opinion was the one people tended to listen to the most, so when someone new had arrived without her approval, she couldn't help but feel angry that she wasn't notified in any way.

Alex scowled at herself for thinking this. The group loved Alex and she loved them, but she knew she was the one in charge and felt knocked aside by this new arrival. She glanced over at the girl once more, only to find her walking over to Alex with a smile on her face. Alex straightened herself up & took a deep breath.

'Hey, I'm Alex.' she said in a monotone voice. Alex couldn't understand why she didn't like this girl. She hadn't done anything wrong. Yet, she felt a slight anger boil up inside of her when she saw the cocky smile spread across the dark haired girl's lips. There was a pause before the girl replied in a sarcastic tone: 'Yeah, I figured.' Alex didn't understand.

'What do you mean?' Alex had asked in a defensive tone.

'They told me about you, you're the "tall one who bosses people around and always wears dark colours"' the girl continued, glancing briefly at the black t-shirt and dark grey shorts Alex was wearing. Alex didn't know what to say to this, and merely stared back at the girl with a blank expression on her face waiting for her to speak. The new girl chuckled at Alex's reaction and finally held out her hand.

'I'm Maggie, by the way. Nice to meet you.'