This was weird.

Here he was within ten feet of her, and they had barely said two words to each other. Actually, it had only been one word.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied.

Awkward. And it didn't help that Selena and Kathy were hovering over her like Secret Service agents. The two of them probably wouldn't have let them say anything else to each other anyway.

The three of them headed to the shore. The ocean was still, almost as if it were sleeping after a tumultuous day of raging and roaring. The breeze teased the hem of her dress and twirled through her hair. She found it sad that mother nature was flirting with her more than her own boyfriend. She tried to focus on having fun, but she couldn't shake the thought that something was seriously wrong here. But what did she expect? For rose petals to fall out of the sky while they shared a kiss on the shore? Maybe not. She knew things were going to be different for awhile. But she wondered if the damage was irreversible.

Akari nibbled on her juicy cheeseburger, piled with pickles, coleslaw, cheddar cheese, ketchup and mustard. The sauce dribbled down her chin with each bite, threatening to stain her dress. Luckily, her reflexes were faster. The bread was lightly toasted with a buttery taste to it. Whoever had prepared this food had done an incredible job. She would have went up for seconds, if she wasn't already so full.

Swoosh! Akari found herself hacking up salt water. Oh man, was the burning intense; she felt like someone had shoved two spoonfuls of wasabi down her throat. She clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the stinging to pass. A male voice laughed in the background.

Akari blinked her eyes several times before focusing on the person next to her. It was Owen. She felt her stomach lurch, with relief or resignation, she didn't know. She did know one thing; she was mad about getting splashed with water. She was getting sick and the last thing she needed was to get wet.

He sat down next to her and offered her his jacket. He draped it over her tiny shoulders. She inhaled the smell, relishing in the earthly scent. She muttered a thanks. The two of them watched Kathy and Selena a couple yards away, screaming and laughing as they splashed each other with the cold water. In the old days, it would have been Akari and Owen out there, but now they were here, fidgeting in the sand, unsure of what to say to the other.

Fortunately Luke spared them from the uncomfortable silence. "Hey, you two!" He shouted. He was jogging toward them, his arm reached high above his head. Akari thought he was waving, but as she looked up, she saw an orange Frisbee wobbling through the air. He jumped up and caught it against his chest. Impressive. It must have hurt a little, because he bent over.

"No fair!" She heard Bo shout from his place at the bonfire.

Luke ignored him. He let the Frisbee fall from his hand and continued walking toward Akari and Owen. She smiled. Luke was the first person she had met on the island. He would spend the afternoons with her on the farm, rolled over on his stomach with his elbows in the grass, talking about whatever popped up in that overactive brain of his. The visits became less frequent when she started dating Owen, and now she barely saw him at all. It made her wonder if he had a little crush on her.

"You need to cut loose, my friends," he said in a mock meaningful tone. It's difficult to hear anything truly meaningful from someone with blue hair and amber cat-like eyes. "I mean, who comes to a party just to sit there and look around?"

Owen glared at him. "Go work your magic somewhere else," he snapped. Luke just laughed.

"Fine. You two are no fun, and together, even less. I'm going back to where the party is. Later."

Akari wished he hadn't left. Listening to him drone on and on about nothing had to be better than this. She could have left, too. Luke was right. She was here to have fun. Instead, she felt obligated to stay with Owen. She wracked her brain for something to say, anything to make this whole ordeal more bearable.

"So," she began.

"So," he repeated.

Now she was feeling irritated. This was such a waste of time. Why couldn't he think of anything to say?

"Well, this is awkward," she admitted.

He chuckled. "It doesn't have to be."

She turned to him, curious. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "We can forget everything that's happened and go back to how things used to be."

She frowned. After all the pain he caused her, how could he ask her to forget? Still, if it meant she wouldn't have to feel so conflicted and confused, she would give it a try. I mean, how hard could it really be? She wanted normalcy as much as he did. After a few more good memories with him, each one would completely override every bad one. She was sure of it. Akari reached for his hand. It felt wrong. So very wrong.

She remembered Chase's warning, and to her surprise, she wondered what he would say to her right now. Why did she care about what some grumpy, antisocial cook had to say about her relationship? And why did he care so much about it to give her advice?

Akari tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in the back of her mind, fighting for her attention. She knew if she gave into it, that would be the end of her and Owen. And she wasn't going to let that happen.

He squeezed her hand and grinned. So what did this all mean? That today, yesterday and the day before that never happened? Okay. Akari took a deep breath. She could do this. She had never been slapped. The bruise on her cheek was from something else. She hadn't spent the past few days crying in her room, embarrassed, hurt and all alone.

Kathy and Selena emerged from the water. They had only planned to go knee-deep into the water, but somehow they had managed to get completely drenched. Akari laughed. She felt high. She felt excited.

"So how's it going, lovebirds?" Kathy said, pushing her wet bangs upwards. "I'm guessing everything's all good on the Homefront?"

Selena gave them this sideways, skeptical look as she raked through her tangled hair. Forever the pessimist. But maybe this time she had the right to be.

Owen nodded. "We worked things out. Right, Akari?"

He had this strange look in his eye. This look that said, "You better agree or we're going to have problems." No way. That couldn't be it. Selena had distracted her.

"Right," she agreed.

They ended up parting ways early, because Luke had twisted his ankle and needed Owen to carry him home. Kathy decided to spend the night with Akari but wanted to pick up a few things from her room first. Selena walked with them to the bar and then sauntered into her own room for the night. Hayden had closed the bar early, since he expected Kathy, Selena and Chase to be at the party. Come to think of it, Akari didn't remember seeing Chase there at all. But she saw him now. He was sitting on a stool adjacent to Hayden, laughing while tracing his finger over the rim of a wine glass.

Seeing him made her mad. She didn't know why. Their last encounter, while not pleasant, wasn't exactly unpleasant either. But she was still upset about the whole "I guess I overestimated you" comment. So she decided to address it now.

She slid into the chair next to him. "Hey."

With the wine glass against his lips, he nodded a greeting. Hayden left them to their conversation.

"You were wrong," she said simply.

He raised an eyebrow. "About what exactly?"

"About me and Owen. We worked things out."

Chase rolled his eyes. "What makes you think I care?" He scoffed.

She was stunned by the harshness of his words, although she should have expected it. Chase was a very tactless person. "You seemed to care a whole lot this afternoon," she challenged hotly.

He pushed the wine glass to the side. "Look, Akari. Don't get it twisted. The only reason I came to talk to you is because Kathy was going to blackmail me if I didn't. So don't think you can start confiding in me."

Ouch. If Akari lived a hundred years, she would never meet someone so blatantly honest. What was wrong with this guy anyway? What made him think he could talk to her like that?

"You have your little boyfriend now," he continued. "So my job here is done."

Akari really needed to get her head checked. She had gone from depressed to ecstatic to furious all in a matter of two hours. Was this the beginning of insanity? She opened her mouth to argue with Chase, but before she could speak, he interrupted her with, "Hey, Hayden. Thanks for the drinks. I'm about to get going."

"No problem, buddy," Hayden called out from somewhere in the back. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Chase felt Akari shooting daggers at his face. He turned to look at her. "What?"

She opted not to say anything, lest she look like an angry gaping fish. Chase just shrugged and pulled on his jacket. When Kathy appeared with a suitcase in tow, he waved goodbye to her and left the bar.

"Ready to go?" Kathy asked. She had changed into a T-shirt and pajama bottoms. And Akari just couldn't stop staring at the door. She felt like she had a few days ago when Owen slapped her. Humiliated. She couldn't help but remember, even when she promised herself she wouldn't.

"Yeah," she said. "And remind me to never come here again."