Have you ever thought about what your favorite season was?

When I was a kid, I always loved the summer, with the sun blazing in the bright blue sky as crowds cheered me on. Something about that made me feel so alive. It lit up that competitive fire inside me, that brought out the best in my abilities.

Even now, the same emotions rush through me every time I go surfing: that mixture of ecstasy and disbelief that happens each time I manage to get up, a wave stays with me to this day.

Of course, today wasn't a summer day; it was still early June, and the Shonan had yet to reach the crowded state it starts moving towards in July and August. That wouldn't normally stop me, though; I've even surfed in the winter before, albeit with a wetsuit on. Sometimes, I've found the chill of the air and water of the beach at this particular time of year helps me calm down. It's neither too hot nor too cold.

And yet today, something was keeping me from taking to the waves crashing and roaring on the shore. Perhaps the heavy feeling in my head, the weight of anxiety and worry that I'd finally noticed hanging over for me, had something to do with it. My head was buzzing as I laid down on the towel I'd set up next to my bag and surfboard.

What am I even going to say to everyone when I see them again? There'll be a lot of people I want to see again, especially my old friends, but…

What if going tonight only drives home the fact that I really am that alone?

I let my mind linger on that idea, wondering if there was really anyone I could confide in.

These stupid anxieties of mine…

Stop thinking about them. Rest, let your mind focus on the crashing of the waves.

Don't let things keep getting you down like this.

Right, just keep moving forward. One step at a time. Got it.

I can't just let get the better of me everytime.

That isn't what I'm supposed to be like.

I closed my eyes and laid further back on my towel, letting the roar of the waves wash over me, but the thoughts remained in the back of my mind, lingering there as my mind wandered to darker places.

There's no one I could really confide in, right?

Mom and Dad? Not really, they'd just brush me off, knowing them.

Airi? I doubt I'd be able to reach her, given how busy she is with work. Given how the last time I tried talking to her went, maybe that's a bad idea anyway.

Karin? She's got enough troubles from college already, I don't want to put even more on her mind. I'm a shitty enough big sister as it is.

It's not like my life is going too badly, right? Things are going just fine, just some growing pains with all those new sponsorship deals I'm getting. The money'll start coming in any day now.

There's so many places I can go from here, and yet…

The sudden ringing of my cell phone interrupted my thoughts. Rummaging through my bag for it, I dumped out the extra outfit I'd prepared for the reunion on the towel. Not paying it any mind for the moment, I reached my cell phone and grabbed it, not even noting the name before pressing the green answer button on the screen.

The exact voice I expected rang out from the phone. "Namika, you there? We've got an hour and forty-five minutes until the reunion. It'll take an hour and fifteen minutes to get there from the beach. You mentioned you wanted to get there early, right?"

Getting up and looking through my things, I said, "Yeah, I did. You're on your way then?"

"Yes, " she replied.

Glancing back at the clothes I'd tossed out of my bag and onto the towel, I told her, "I'll be ready in a few minutes. I just have to grab my clothes for the reunion and change, I know a place a few minutes from here. I'll meet you at the parking lot. You know the one?"

My question was quickly answered. "Yeah, yeah. I know the one. This is your favorite beach."

I looked back over the beach, taking in all the waves crashing around me. Apart from that noise, it was an unusually quiet day. "Yeah. I didn't get much out of today, though. Just some rest."

Mae reassured me. "That's still good! Listen, I'm pulled over and have to keep driving, so we'll talk more once I get there. You good?"

"Yeah. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Mae lingered for a moment. "Take care, Namika."

Thinking for a moment, I answered, "I will."

I tapped on the red button on the touch screen, hanging up my phone. Shoving it back into my tote bag, I looked back over to my towel, to the outfit I'd prepared for tonight. To be honest, I probably went too casual, but I couldn't really be bothered for once. The organizers hadn't instituted a dress code, for whatever reason, so I just went with my usual: a blue and green plaid button up, a white tank top, and jean shorts.

Grabbing the pile of clothes, I shoved them under my left arm, then rolled up my towel with the other arm and shoved it into my bag. Then, I transferred the clothes to my right hand and shoved those in as well. Throwing the bag onto my right shoulder, that left one thing to take care of.

My surfboard.

That was going to be annoying to carry around, but there no I was leaving it; I've had the Blue Bullet since Hope's Peak and there's no way I'd even consider leaving it behind.

Bending down, I picked the board down off the ground where I'd left it, carefully adjusting it so I had a proper grip on it under my other arm, so the nose or tail wouldn't hit the ground. The wax side was facing away from me, as I'd positioned it.

With that taken care of, I started lugging my things away, hoping I'd be back and changed in time to meet with Mae. She'd wait, but, given the traffic, getting to Hope's Peak on time would be tough, even if we set out early. Hope's Peak was in Yokohama; it'd take at least an hour, likely more, to get there.

We had plenty of time, but we were in for a long and bumpy ride to Hope's Peak.

I was sitting in the passenger seat of Mae's car as we sped along the expressway, the traffic being better than we'd originally thought. As we went along, only a few cars entered my field of vision, giving me hope that I'd be able to get to the reunion even earlier than anticipated.

As she drove, Mae remarked, "Seems like we have extra time despite my delay."

I joked, "Hey, maybe I could have saved you some money by surfing to the reunion? That'd be cheap."

Mae sighed but chuckled at that line. "You're still on about that? Didn't we come to the agreement that the waves would be going against you part of the way and that you'd end up having to swim?"

"It'd make an impressive entrance, though," I said, chuckling to myself.

"But the logistics, Namika! How can we arrange for such a spectacular entrance just a few hours in advance? We don't even know where you'll land!" Mae said, smiling a bit.

"You know I'm not serious," I replied.

Mae laughed again and said, "Of course. I'm just going along with you."

The car went quiet again. The slight tension in the air still lingered; Mae always wanted to talk whenever we went driving anywhere. I just couldn't tell what she was looking to talk about.

It was then Mae decided to cut right to the chase, making my shoulders tense up a bit as she brought it up, although I suspect it came from a sense of care on her part.

"Hey, Namika… are you still stressed about last year's finances?"

I was hoping she wouldn't bring that up.

Trying my best to smile and dissuade her from delving much further, "It's my fault we didn't have any sponsorships that year anyway. I had some money saved up, so I was able to take those expenses like a champ. Prize money helped a lot too."

Mae paused, frowning, and told me, "The sponsor issue's on me, not you. I hadn't prepared adequately for the situation in which you lost your sponsor, and I took too long to find new ones."

"But wasn't I the reason the sponsor dropped us in the first place?"

Mae remarked, "I can't believe anyone would drop a girl like you over some unfounded rumors. You didn't do anything wrong."

Trying to bury those memories, I half halfheartedly told her, "I suppose you're right about that," not really taking the time to take in her words as I checked out of the conversation.

Mae broke the silence again. "Hope's Peak and Teijo Sports have both been working out really well for you, though; we're still making arrangements, but the contract looks really good. You shouldn't have to worry about money anymore."

Mae glanced at me again out of the corner of her eye, still trying to focus on the road ahead. "Sorry if I'm talking a lot. I guess we're both anxious about this year; guess we're both hoping our luck turns around. It seems like it."

"Yeah, the last few months have been really rough, but I'm starting to feel better, Mae. You don't need to worry. I'm better now!"

I'm not sure how much that statement reassured her, as she went quiet again, which nearly always meant she was taking her time to evaluate what someone was saying, but she didn't say anything further about the subject.

Mae smiled and said, "Well, it's good to see you back to your old self. You seem really well."

Something in her tone of voice sounded off, she was quieter than usual. It felt almost as if she was talking and trying to reassure herself, rather than just me.

A long silence started after that, only interrupted by Mae humming to herself as she drove along the expressway. We were in Kawasaki now, so I suspected that meant it would be only thirty more minutes until we reached Hope's Peak.

Mae broke the silence just before I did.

"Are you looking forward to tonight, Namika?"

The answer came to me naturally; I only had to think on it for a moment before I knew what I was going to say.

"Yeah, I really am. I'm a little anxious about tonight, but there's a lot of people I want to see and talk to again. It's been so long, you know?"

Mae nodded and said, "I get that. You haven't really been able to keep up with many of them, have you?"

I thought to myself and said, "A few, yeah. Mostly through letters, though. I haven't really been able to talk to anyone in person, though. I feel like some of my old classmates just disappeared off the face of the Earth once I graduated."

Mae asked, "Maybe it's because some are traveling a lot? I imagine some of them, including you, might be hard to find outside of certain circles."

"I guess so, " I said, thinking to myself, "I imagine we'll all have a lot of stories to tell tonight. Maybe I can tell them all about that one time I tried surfing on a dolphin? That one's funny."

Mae frowned. "In retrospect, I guess. Didn't you fall off and nearly drown though?"

"Nearly, Mae. Sometimes you need to risk life and limb to have fun."

Mae sighed and lectured, "Be careful tonight, Namika."

"I will, Mae," I assured her.

This is going to be a good night.

We didn't talk much after that, going on and off as we headed towards the reunion. I like to think that she'd understood what I was saying about this whole reunion, about everything that had been going on.

I just needed a night to get it away from it all, to return to the past for just one night and talk with everyone, just like old times. Maybe less flooding the school this time around, though.

If only I'd known just how impossible that was. Things change.

A/N: So, here's a second prologue chapter! I hope you're all enjoying this story so far, since I've been working on it. Most of the submissions so far have been really great, so I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.

I forgot to do this last chapter, but there's a few people I want to thank. First, thanks to irwegwert and zephryr for being the betas for the last chapter and to everyone that has submitted so far. Weg and liammarklh88 helped beta this chapter, so thanks to both of them for that as well!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!