The smell of the salty air filled her lungs as she lay on the beach, soaking in the sun's warm rays. Upon opening her eyes, all she saw was the cloudless blue sky, and nothing more. The only sounds she could hear were the waves crashing on the nearby rocks.
"Yla?"
She smiled at the voice, but did not respond. And as punishment for that, she received a soft kick in her side.
"Hey, Yla! Get up!"
"Fine." She grumbled, sitting up and brushing the sand out of her long, black hair. "What is it now, Riku?"
The boy sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, I was looking for you. We were going to go finish the raft."
"Okay, I'll come help." She leaned against his shoulder and sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, for a while now, Sora has been ignoring me." She looked down at her hands. "He and Kairi have taken over the raft practically. And even though it was my idea… I feel forgotten."
"Hey, it's okay." Riku told her. "He wouldn't forget about you!"
"You sure?"
"Of course!" He laughed and stood up. "And I'd never forget you either. Come on, let's go!" He helped her up.
"Sister! Where are you going?" A young boy poked his head out of a nearby doorway.
Yla laughed. "Sam, stay home this time, okay?"
"But I wanna come…"
"I'll be back soon, okay hun?"
"Okay…" He pouted and went back inside.
"Come on." Riku nudged her slightly and then ran off, her following fast behind.
Yla slammed the door shut behind her when she got home. She didn't even smile at her brother when he ran up and hugged her legs. "Hi Sam."
"Hi sister!" He looked up at her. "You okay?"
"Not really…"
"What's wrong?"
Yla smiled a bit at his concern for her. "I'll tell you later, okay?"
"Okay." He grinned and grabbed her hand. "Come on! I wanna play a game with you!"
"Okay." She started to follow her brother, but it was at this moment her mother and father stepped into the room. She gave them as good a smile as she could, but they didn't smile back.
"Yla, can we talk to you for a moment?" Her mother's tone was serious, which worried her. She was usually so light hearted that you knew it was bad if she didn't laugh at all. So Yla dropped her brother's hand and went to talk to them.
"What's up?"
"Honey, we don't want you hanging out with those kids anymore." Her father said solemnly.
"What?"
"Those kids are a bad influence!" Her mother told her. "We heard about your little raft. We don't want you to get killed out on the water, like everyone else."
"But-"
Her father interrupted her again. "No."
Yla sighed and went up to her room, leaving her brother behind. She shut the door and sat down on the bed, unsure of what to do.
"Sister?" Sam opened the door and slipped in. "Don't you want to play with me?"
"Yeah, I do…"
"What's wrong then?" He came over and sat on her bed. "Why were you sad when you came home?"
"Sora. He is such a jerk!" Yla fell over backwards. "All I said was I wanted to bring you along, and he launched into explaining how my designs barely would fit all four of us!"
"So what happened?"
"I snapped and walked off. And now with mom and dad telling me not to go…" She curled up on the bed. "If mom calls me down for dinner, tell her I'm asleep, k?"
"Okay. Try to rest, sister." He gave her a hug and ran out.
I'll try… She closed her eyes and slowly drifted away.