Bastion Misawa stretched on his ladder eating chocolate pocky, his mechanical pencil squeaking along as it enscribed mathematical formulas upon his roof. He wobbled on his ladder, afraid to lose balance if someone knocked on the door, sending the room into a series of vibrations that would inevitably knock him over. Obviously, he didn't want that. Too bad for him. Suddenly, a knock shattered Bastion's concentration, and he fell off the ladder into a pile of books that his roomate Cami had thrown at him earlier to try and shut him up, or worse, cease his advances. It worked. The knock persisted.

"WHO IS IT?" Bastion screamed.

"It's me, Syrus," came a meek-sounding voice from the opposite side of the door. "Jaden's gone again, I can't find him!"

"You're such a drama queen, Syrus. Jaden goes missing all the time."

Syrus ignored the insult, and continued into the room. "I looked in all of the usual spots, from the girl's bathrooms to the cafeteria! Nothing."

Bastion blinked, thinking this over. He held out the box he was holding. "Pocky?"

"Sure," Syrus said, sitting down on the bed with the Ra Yellow student. It was time to play Dr. Phil again, Bastion mused.

Just as they got comfortable, with Syrus lying on the bed and Bastion sitting on the floor with a notebook and pen ready for action, Chazz burst in the door- wearing lacy pink undergarments monogrammed with the name "Alexis".

Bastion tried to keep a straight face as Syrus queried, "And why are you on steroids, Chazz?" He succeeded to some degree, and with a slightly smug grin, he extended the box to Chazz as well. "Pocky?"

"Want to play Therapist with us?" Syrus asked innocently.

"No way!" Chazz shreiked, aggressively grabbing a piece of pocky and chomping on it vehemently.

Bastion continued on as if Chazz had agreed to play with great enthusiasm. "So, is it true your parents own Princeton University?"

Chazz took another bite of pocky. "Yeah," he droned. "It's in the middle of scenic nowhere."

The door swung open and a voice was heard. "Has anyone seen my cheese cactus?" A tall, blonde surfer boy with glasses and lots of freckles wondered. "I can't find it and the Science Fair's tomorrow!" Then he left without another word, shutting the door gently behind him.

"Who was that geeky kid?" Chazz questioned.

"His name's Grislet Tintagel. He got a world record for burping 289 bubbles in one minute, and he's not that geeky," Bastion said defensively.

"He has a cactus made of cheese..." Chazz pressed.

"And he's landed more girls than you've had in your dreams," Bastion explained. "He's a surfer."

As if that explained it all, Chazz nodded and went "Oh... like Atticus?"

Syrus made a perplexed face. "Atticus lands girls? I thought he was-" Bastion slapped a hand over Syrus' mouth.

Just then the door burst open again. Jaden reeled in, obviously drunk.

"Where were you?" asked Syrus.

"Fun party in hot spring... coconuts... bikinis..."

"And beer, apparently," Bastion added, sniffing Jaden's breath and scribbling something on his notepad. Syrus arose from the bed.

"Sit down, boy. We're not done with you yet." Bastion grinned, skimming his notes. "Syrus, we're going to have to monitor your urination."

Jaden assumed a cheerleader-like pose. "Urinate, Syrus, Urinate!"

"You're next," Bastion told the drunken duelist. Jaden subserviently sat down on the bed.

Bastion smiled. "Alright now Jaden. Tell me ten facts about yourself."

Jaden took a look at Chazz, still clothed in Alexis' lacy undergarments. With a straight face, he said, "Well, I don't shop at Victoria's Secret."

"Yes, yes." The excited Ra student urged. "Go on."

"Believe it or not," Jaden went on in the best seductive voice he could procure, "everything on my body is real."

"Mm-hmm." Bastion continued writing.

"My middle name is Petunia."

"I have been ice skating on the Oasis."

"I do not have a daughter, and I do not know a girl named Melody, if anyone asks!"

"Alright, I think we've got enough," Bastion said, finishing his sentence with a flourish.

"Hey, Lexi! I got some pictures of the party for you!" Jasmine ran over, holding an envelope.

Alexis smiled, stuffing her duffel bag in the trunk of her brother's car. "Thanks, you shouldn't have."

Jasmine gave her a pointed look. "How are you going to survive without me until June otherwise?"

Alexis laughed. "Aww, Jazz. I'm going to miss you. Good thing we have that beach trip planned."

"I'll miss you, too." Jasmine hugged her friend. "I'll call you soon!"

"Definitely!" Alexis yelled, waving, as Atticus drove away with the top down.

Melody's phone buzzed. She answered it.

"Melody?"

"Cami? What's going on?"

"Are you going to the beach this summer? Apparently, everyone is going. It won't be the same without you."

"The beach? With my friends? Heck yeah, I'll be there!" Melody almost yelled, happily. "Packing my suitcase now."

"The trip isn't for two more weeks."

"Never hurts to be prepared," Melody responded.

Jasmine called about once every two days. Each girl was excited about the trip. On a three-way call with Mindy, Alexis confessed something. "This has been on my mind for a while. I know the standard teen thing to do on a beach trip is have fun with guys, but that's so much drama. I don't want this to be any old beach trip. I want it to be a nice, relaxing week with no boys."

"I don't think that's gonna happen, Lex," Jasmine pointed out. "Because your brother's going to be there, too. And you know how he is. Besides, it'll be fun. You'll see."

Why do I let them push me into these situations? Alexis thought, rolling her eyes. Only for you, girls. And Atticus, she added immediately after.

"What?" Mindy shrieked. "But that's the point of a beach trip! Showing skin, getting sun, getting wet!"

Alexis glared at her through the phone. She knew Mindy couldn't see it, but by her silence, she seemed to get the hint anyway.

"That's not what I meant," Mindy said. Then she grinned. "But if it gets the boys thinking..."

"We have enough boys at school," Alexis said.

"Yeah, but they're all immature."

"Truth," Jasmine noted.

A few weeks later, the day of the trip finally arrived! The three girls rode with Atticus driving, and pulled up to the resort lobby to check in. While Atticus went inside to take care of everything, the girls hung out in the lobby. They had been talking in the car, and continued their conversation up until this point.

Alexis grinned at the two girls flanking her. "You two are so crazy." The three stopped at the door, which boasted full length windows. Alexis stared in disbelief through them. "Is that… Jaden?"

"Yes," said Mindy. "Yes, it is." She opened the door and they went outside to investigate further.

Jaden was hanging by his underwear from the flagpole. "Hey, girls. I didn't know you were coming to the resort, too! This is awesome! Hey, have you three seen my deck box?"

Alexis sweatdropped.

"No boys, huh?" Mindy grinned.

"Shut up, Mindy." Alexis hung her head.

A tanned teenage guy holding a surfboard passed them. "Oh, hello, girls. Welcome to the resort. I hope you enjoy your stay!"

"Oh…." Mindy and Jasmine swooned. "He's gorgeous…"

Alexis rolled her eyes, but being the only one not out of commission to speak, thanked him like a decent human being.

Syrus looked out at the sea. It would be nice if he could get a girl on this trip. Maybe Jaden could help, if he thought about girls every once in a while. But no, he was currently hanging from a flagpole, thanks to Chazz Princeton and a bottle of vodka. He didn't mention that the bottle had been pilfered by himself from Zane's suitcase. He looked over at his older brother, who was just standing in the sand next to the shore, his teal hair flowing in the breeze. He didn't have to do anything to get girls to flock to him. He couldn't have any problems at all…

Syrus' thoughts were interrupted by a group of his friends thundering down the sand to greet him. Jaden blew past him, distracted. "Ooh, a beach wedding!" He cried. "How fun!"

"Jaden, no!" Cami cried. "You're drunk!"

Chazz rushed after him, shirtless and shoeless.

Syrus facepalmed. "My best friend… is an idiot."

"Wait," Bastion stopped him. "You just figured that out?"

"He's a loveable idiot, though." Melody smiled.

Chazz jumped onto the dance floor. "I'm ready to party! Turn it up, DJ!" The song just happened to be "I'm Too Sexy for My Shirt." The DJ thought Chazz was another drunk wedding guest, and turned the music up.

Cami found Zane out on the seaside, now sitting on the sand with his feet in the water. The tide slowly washed the sand from his feet away, and then washed it back. "Hey."

"How have you been?" Zane asked.

"I've been fine. I'm worried about you."

Zane looked at her, then back at the sea. "There's no reason to worry about me. I'm fine. You should probably be worrying about yourself."

"What do you mean?"

Zane sighed. "Look out at the sea. See how it gleams and sparkles. You need to shine like that from the inside, not from without. Without self-confidence, you'll never like me as a person, only as an idea."

"But I do like you as a person," Cami said.

Zane grew silent and the two enjoyed each other's company, watching the sea glitter.

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