Aja rose from bed on the first official day of summer, content and still blushing from the night before. She got up and showered, going downstairs for breakfast in her dressing gown. She'd already decided she was going to have a lazy day. She ate some cornflakes and went back upstairs to get dressed.
No sooner had she changed into a pleated skirt and white tank top than her cell phone rang. She picked it up.
"Hello."
"This is your morning wake-up call." Came Rowan's voice from the other end. Aja smiled. Already, her day brightened.
"Good morning, new boyfriend." She said, twirling her wet, dark hair.
"Hey." Rowan said. "What are you doing right now?"
"I just got dressed. Why?" she asked.
"Damn." Rowan responded. Aja laughed. "Want to go down to the beach café and get a bite to eat?" Already the cornflakes in her stomach felt like thin air. Aja looked out at the sky.
"Sure." She said.
"Good. I'm outside now." Rowan hung up. Aja smiled, putting the phone in her bag with some money. She slid into a pair of sandals and skipped down the stairs. It didn't phase her that on the first day of their relationship, they were acting like a long-term couple. She'd known Rowan as long as she'd known Kayli, and that was for forever. He'd been a long-term crush, and they'd hooked up once or twice before, but nothing serious ever came of it.
She opened the door and went out. Rowan was standing, checking his phone for messages, his back to her. She went up and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Anything interesting?" she asked.
"Just Angelina Burns." He said, referencing Micheline's older sister. Aja grabbed the phone.
"What'd she say?" she asked, reading off the text message. "CN U SND KAY OVA. MICK LOST PHONE. Well, that's precise." Rowan turned to look at her.
"Were you jealous?" he teased, dialing his sister's phone number.
"No." Aja said. Rowan put the phone to his ear.
"Don't be." He said, kissing her just as Kayli picked up her phone. Rowan gave her the message and then took Aja by the hand.
"How was the rest of your night?" she asked him as they headed to the beach.
"Weird." Rowan asked. "The hot water stopped and Jason walked Kayli home."
"In that order?" Aja asked. Rowan smiled, but otherwise ignored her question.
"I think they were having a heart to heart." He shrugged.
"Those two just confuse me. I mean, Jason's all sensitive playboy style and Kayli's too sweet to know better. She'll eat out of the palm of his hand if he comes back to her." Aja sighed.
"I know." Rowan said. Their feet touched soft sand and the café came into view. "He's my best friend, but he knows if he ever did anything to hurt her, I'd never speak to him again. It'd be weird, if they went out now. With us like this." Aja laughed.
"We could never double date. It be too… Freudian." She smiled. They reached the door of the café. Rowan held it open for her and they went in.
Kai was running the cashier that morning and his son Adam, Dixie's brother, was waitering. The two of them ordered food and a milkshake to split and found a seat at a table. The water outside was turquoise and warm looking. The door opened just as Adam put their food down. He turned to see who it was.
"Hey Alex," he said.
"Hi Ad. Long time no see." The redhead grinned. Someone was with her, both Aja and Rowan observed. Sam Jackson.
"Hey Sam!" Rowan stuck his hand up in a wave. Sam saw him and responded with the same cheery casualness. Alex talked to Adam for a moment and then the two sat down in the table opposite Aja and Rowan.
"Do you guys want to push two together?" Aja asked suddenly. Her happiness was rubbing off. "No harm in socializing?" Alex gave Sam an astonished look.
"Sure, that'd be great." She smiled. Adam came over and helped them. Then he took Alex and Sam's order, placed it and drew up a chair. The five of them settled into a comfortable conversation. Aja and Rowan played footsie under the table.
"When'd you two pair up?" Adam asked. He and Rowan knew each other well from Mineral Town's informal volleyball team. He'd been in Aja's English class two years earlier. She'd always regarded him with a defiance because of his sister, but today she was too happy. She was even laughing alongside Alex.
"Yesterday." They said together, and laughed.
"It's about time." Sam said. Aja looked surprised. She barely knew Sam.
"I had no idea my social life was so public." She smiled.
"Kayli's been publishing a magazine." Rowan admitted, which earning him a kick under the table. "Ow." He said, turning quickly back to Sam and Alex. "What about the two of you?"
"Oh." Sam said. "We're not…"
"We're not dating." Alex stuttered. "We're just friends."
"For now." Sam slipped in. Alex shot him a look and smiled.
"Nice try." She smirked. Adam went and got their food and they shared fries and chatted about the dance. Aja's cell phone buzzed. She pulled it out and checked the text message.
"It's Kayli." She told Rowan.
"What's she want?" he asked of his sister.
"To know where I am." Aja smiled. She set to work texting her best friend back. "Eating with the enemy." She said with a sideways smile at Alex, who mirrored it.
"Where's she?" Adam asked.
"The bakery. Mickey and she are doing something." Aja pressed send.
"Oh." Said Adam.
"I tell you," Aja tutted, "Your sister has too much time on her hands, I need to find her a boyfriend." Rowan rolled her eyes.
"She's fine." He groaned. "I personally prefer her single. There's much less for me to worry about." He smiled, their feet entwined beneath the table. Aja smiled, but was interrupted by her phone announcing another message.
"She wants to meet up with us." She said to the group. Alex shrugged her opinion.
"Does she want someone to walk her? I'll go get her." Adam offered quickly. A bemused expression crossed Aja's face.
"Well… I think she and Mickey are coming together." She explained. "You could go meet them if you want." She suggested, glancing to Rowan.
"No, it's fine." Adam said, shaking his head. Her phone rang suddenly and she picked it up. The others went back to their chips and banter while listening to her on the phone.
"Yeah, I guess," Aja said, biting her thumb nail. "Okay, why? No, that sounds good. How are we going to get ours? Oh, sweet, yeah okay. Cool. See you soon. Remember my towel. Bye." She put the phone down.
"What was all that about?" Alex asked.
"Mickey and Kayli are bringing their swim stuff. They said they'd stop by everyone's house and pick up there's too." Aja smiled. "They figured it was a nice day, and since it's summer they wanted to take a swim."
"Sweet." Adam said. "I get off work at twelve, mind if I call a couple people?"
Aja grinned.
"Sure. Might as well make it a big thing." She shrugged.
"Cool." Adam smiled. "I'll see you guys later." A few more customers had entered the café. They said goodbye to him and finished their plates.
"So, beach party?" Rowan asked.
"Seems that way." Aja said. "Hey, Alex, Sam, why don't you invite your friends, it'll be fun. Bonding time, you know."
"Well, I don't want to encroach on your space…" Sam began.
"Oh hush." Alex chided. "I'm calling my friends, why don't we just hang out together?"
"Well, if you want to?" Sam said, bashfully. Rowan punched him on the arm.
"C'mon Sam. It'll be fun." He jostled. Alex smiled, dialed her phone and kicked Sam playfully under the table.
An hour later almost half of Mineral Town had showed up on the beach. It was a classical Californian day with a blue-turquoise sea and soft, yellow sand. As per usual, the teenagers of the island sprawled on colorful towels beneath the awnings of the town's long, spacious pier. Eighteen years before, the pier had been a splintery fishing wharf. Ten years earlier, the county had torn it down and replaced it with a safer, more commercial one. It had been an eyesore for a while, but years of teenage boredom had shaped it into a piece of the beach now.
Aja walked up the beach, holding a tray of plastic cups with straws and little umbrellas. She came from the direction of the beach café, where Kai stood watching her go. She turned and waved,
"Thanks again!" she shouted. He nodded and went back inside. Aja tiptoed in between the legs and towels of the lazy teenagers and announced, "Who wants a drink? Peach daiquiris on the house!" Immediately the tray was almost empty. Aja smiled and replaced her sunglasses, taking the last one from the tray and sipping it. Nearby, Kayli voiced her thoughts exactly.
"Sweet virgin goodness." She laughed, remembering the wine from the two nights earlier.
"I'll say." Adam said behind her, toweling off his legs and watching figure with his eyes. Aja and Rowan, sitting at her feet, shared a tired look. Kayli turned to look at him.
"You don't even have a drink." She smiled.
"I know." Adam grinned. "Come on, you're not even wet yet." He said.
"Don't throw me in!" Kayli warned, already backing away. "I swear I'll kill you." She said, but her smile gave her away and she put her cup down near her brother's foot just in case.
"I guess you'll have to then." Adam said, sweeping her up and pushing her into the deep water below, taking himself with her. Kayli screamed and laughed and they splashed in the blue depths. Aja took a seat between Rowan's legs and leant against him. Across from them Jason was drinking a beer and looking disgruntled.
"What are those two doing? Going out now?" he asked.
"Jealous are we?" Rowan asked.
"No." Jason replied, stubbornly. "I mean, it's just so corny. Sweet virgin goodness, my ass."
"Watch it." Rowan said stiffly. "That is my sister, even if it is corny."
"I think it's sweet." Aja said, providing the reverse idea, "It's about time Kayli had some fun." Jason shot her a look. "What?" she asked in defense, "Not everyone's as pessimistic as you are all the time."
"I'm not pessimistic." He grumbled. At that moment, Dixie came over, dripping wet from the water, dressing a small yellow bikini.
"Can I have my towel, sweetie?" she asked him, dripping cold water on him and the book he was reading. Jason shook the water from it and dropped the book, looking up at her.
"I don't have it." He said flatly. Dixie pouted.
"I guess I gave it to Alex then." She sighed and walked away.
"Sweetie?" Rowan asked in disbelief as she disappeared. Jason glared at him warningly and shook his head. Aja picked up his book.
"Love in the Time of Cholera." She read, flipping it over to read the summary, "While delivering a message to her father, Florentino Ariza spots the barely pubescent Fermina Daza and immediately falls in love. Hmm… this sounds familiar." She teased.
"Don't." Jason said, trying to take it lightly. He took the book back. "It's required for my Lit. class next year." He explained. He opened it and began to read again as Adam and Kayli walked up.
"I'm getting you back for that." Kayli warned Adam.
"I'm sorry, really. It was an accident." He said. Kayli didn't believe him, evidently. She bent down and picked up her daiquiri again, sipping it peacefully. Adam lent on one of the pier's columns behind her.
"Want your towel?" he asked. She shook her head and put the daiquiri down.
"No, I'm going in again." She said, kicking Aja with her toe. "Wanna come?" she asked.
"No." Aja said with disgust. Kayli laughed.
"Fine," she said.
"I'll come." Jason said, standing up quickly. Kayli's face grew rigid.
"That's okay. You should read your book." She advised quickly.
"It's cool," Jason grinned, "I'm getting hot anyway. Mind if I steal her for a bit, Ad?" he asked. Adam shook his head.
"Not mine to steal." He said, politely, though a little disappointed.
"Come on." Jason said reassuringly. Kayli cast her eyes on him. She didn't know what the outcome of this outing would be. She put a smile on her face.
"Sure, let's go." She agreed. "I'll race you!" she said, running towards the end of the pier. Jason caught up quickly and they both landed in the water at the same time. Kayli opened her eyes under the surface and saw the little silver fish swim about around her. She surfaced and breathed.
"Whoo." Jason said beside her. "I really missed doing that." He laughed.
"I definitely won." Kayli grinned.
"No way." Jason smiled. "You're slow. Always have been." Kayli laughed.
"Race you to there." She said, pointing beneath the pier to one of the central support columns. "Ready-set-go!" she said, swimming off before he had a moment to think. She reached the column easily. Jason splashed in behind her.
"Okay, you won that one." He admitted.
"Thank you." She smiled happily, swimming to shore and standing on the sand beneath the pier, listening to the music and conversation above. Jason followed and looked at her, then he put his fingers to her cheek, caressing her face. Kayli couldn't stop him. They kissed and she tasted the salt on his lips.
"Jason…" she started, "I…"
"Right." He said, dropping his hand, "You can't." Kayli frowned.
"That's not fair. Don't blame this on me." She said. "We can't. It's frankly redundant." She folded her arms and leaned away from him. Jason rested on another of the columns, looking somewhat pissed off.
"Redundant?" he asked. "It's that what this is?" Kayli rolled her eyes and didn't say anything. "And no," Jason said, answering himself, "It is your fault."
"What?" Kayli gasped, growing angrier by the moment.
"Your parents have some against me, you're the one who thinks this is 'redundant'. You're scared." Jason said, gesturing. Kayli bit down on her tongue.
"Like you know." She spat. "You've just had too much for a good thing. You're too horny to see straight." She turned and walked out from under the pier.
"It's not like I can't get it anywhere else!" Jason shouted after her. Kayli turned on her heel and glared at him.
"You're so full of yourself!" she cried. "I'm glad you're leaving. Good riddance, I say." Jason followed her out from under the pier, but she stood her ground.
"Well I'm glad I'm getting out of this place too." He shouted at her. "That way I don't have to deal with stuck up little farm girls who can't think for themselves anymore."
"Like I haven't heard that one before." Kayli hissed, dropping her voice, realizing that they were in earshot of the majority of Mineral Town's gossip gleaners. Her face changed from a scowl to a smile suddenly and she twirled a piece of wet hair around her fingers. "From what I remember, you used to like that about me."
"Maybe that's why it didn't last long, you were too busy trying to pass yourself off as some kind of badass." Jason said, spitefully. Kayli scowled again, but someone's voice from above, thankfully, interrupted her thoughts.
"Who's that?" Rachel Hannigan called from up on the pier. The two of them looked up, seeing her pointing out towards the entrance of town. Everyone's heads turned. Two figures were making their way up the beach towards them. One was a young man, easily seventeen or older. A few feet behind him, lagged a petite girl with pale-blonde hair, carrying a pair of towels. She was frowning. The boy with her carried a surfboard under one arm.
"Fresh-meat." Jason said from behind her. "Maybe that's a new one for you to suck the life out of." Kayli looked over her shoulder at him.
"Jealous are we?" she asked.
"Me?" Jason scoffed, "No. Adam might be." With a final malevolent grin he walked up the beach back to the pier. Kayli looked up, seeing Adam standing with her brother and Aja, looking at the arriving duo. She sighed and followed Jason's footsteps up to the dock.
