A/N: So sorry for the absence.

Later that Friday night Anika messaged Vanitas, even in her state of unrest she was excited to surf, "what time should I be ready tomorrow?"

He replied quickly, "uh, does seven a.m. sound okay?"

"Yep, Cya then." After that she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

By morning, she actually woke up late, And Vanitas had been let in by Kairi who was on her way out to head to work.

He looked at Kairi wide eyed, "Why are you awake so early?"

Kairi gave him a small smile" I'm opening shop today, so I've got an early shift. I could also ask you the same question."

"Oh, uh, Anika and I are surfing as a congratulations."

"Oh good! Well, I'll see you guys later then, have fun. And you're gonna have to wake her up." And with that, Kairi left him standing at the threshold, dumbfounded and utterly confused.

He looked into the house, *she's still asleep? Is this Kairi's way of saying I can go in? Oh God, what if she calls the cops on me or something. Dammit. Girls are complicated. *

Vanitas slowly made his way to Anika's room, which he knew only because her door was open, and he was hanging halfway off her bed. "Oi, Anika," he whispered, and gradually spoke up, "Anika."

She didn't move.

"Anika, we still going to surf or are you gonna sleep all day?" He stomped into her room and poked her shoulder.

She turned around groggily, stared at him with her eyes half closed and then gasped and widened her eyes, "Shit! Vanitas! Wha- doing- what?"

Anika was hardly capable of forming coherent sentences, so he spoke for her.

"You're gon' get ready so we can surf. Come on."

She nodded and stood up and slowly (although she thought she was doing it quickly) shoved a new set of clothes into a bag, and a towel. Then she was about to change into her swim suit when she realized Vanitas was still in the room.

Anika glared at him, past her wild purple strands framing her face.

He looked at her clueless, "what?"

"I'm gonna change, or are you seriously just gonna watch?"

"Oh! Geeze, sorry, yeah, uh ill be uhm," he pointed towards the hallway and started walking backwards, "I'll be in the living room, waiting."

She just laughed, doofus.

Her suit this time was a black bikini top with coral and light blue straps that crisscrossed in the back, along with black swim shorts. On top, she put on her black short sleeves rash guard. Once done, she went to Vanitas, "Hey, I'm ready now, did you by chance bring a board I could borrow?"

He got up from the couch faster than she's ever seen him move, "Yeah, I brought the grey one you used last time."

Anika laughed, "Relax, geez. I was teasing you earlier, man, thank for the board, I really like that one."

"Yeah, sure." He moved towards the door and opened it for her.

She looked at him quizzically and spoke sarcastically, "Really?"

Vanitas shrugged, "Let's just go already. I'm not waiting until Christmas."

Anika chuckled and got into the passenger seat of his quicksilver PT.

He paused awhile and managed to figure out how to lock her front door and then they drove to a large expanse of public beach with an average wave height of five feet.

"I love this spot!" Anika exclaimed.

"You love every spot you can surf, Anika. As long as there's water, you're happy. That reminds me, why were you never in the swim club these past four years?"

"Oh, haha, that's because I hate having to be timed in the water. I want to have my own rules. I mean surf competitions may be timed, but those are much longer than lap competitions at school."

"Ah, that makes sense." He parked in the parking lot right next to the beach, and he tossed in a bunch of quarters into the meter. The city had yet to update this parking area to automated license plate charging kiosks.

She hopped out merrily, "So how long do you wanna be here today, Hamasaki?"

"Does five hours sound okay?"

"Sound like plenty of time, I mean, finals are coming up this week and all and then we're out of high school forever!"

He chortled, "Yeah, you've been really studious lately."

"I have, but that's only because I'm actually doing it for myself, my family wants straight As, which I know I won't get, but I couldn't care less about what they think. Sure, they used to be why I tried, but they don't deserve the right to stress me out."

They unwrapped the boards as she spoke and headed to the churning sea in the misty, overcast morning.

"I understand what you feel. My dad has always expected so much out of me, but when he saw i wasn't interested in running schools, he looked to Sora. Sora doesn't deserve all that pressure though, so we'll see what happens."

"You care for Sora a lot, that's cool, you guys have a good family."

"Dad tries, but we all have our flaws, right?"

She looked away from him sadly, "Yeah, I suppose. Some have more flaws than others."

His shoulders slumped, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset."

"Oh no, it's fine, it's my problem." She paused on the sand and put towels down and her bag, "you know what, ill tell you." Anika then ran towards the sea.

He tilted his head bewildered and called out to her as he followed, "Tell me what?"

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled while she entered the water.

He hit water and struggled to keep up with her, *did she mean her family?! A confession or something, oh my God she is so confusing.*

Once they passed the outside, Anika sat up on her board and waited for him. "My Dad is remarried with a woman who already has two children, and my mom is somewhat of a gold digger, she dates people here and there and is never really happy. And my dad runs his own business that I really don't want to enter, and so he always says I need to be wealthy and never work for anybody." She took a breath, "He's very big on my working alone."

He sat there breathing hard from paddling and struggling to prices all the information she laid out for him. "So what you're saying is, both parents expect great thins from you and you feel smothered by that and their lack of attention towards the real you?"

"Wow, in a nutshell, yes. I mean my mom says she tries to understand me, but she really doesn't. She wants me to be successful, rather than happy, it seems."

"What does she do for a living?"

"She is a clerical worker for payroll at a company who sells medical supplies."

"Oh, wow, that's a hectic job. And your dad's business is what?"

"Tch, they had her as a temp worker for a year before they actually hired her, and my dad owns a struggling oil company off the mainland. "

"Whew, that's another stressful job."

Anika shrugged, "they may live difficult lives but they don't need to push their failures onto me by trying to make me do what they weren't able to do."

Vanitas nodded, "I agree, because you should accomplish what you want. Speaking of which, what are you gonna do after high school?"

"Well, since I got hired at Paopu Inc. I'll work there for awhile, and then I'll probably go to community college here, and as far as a major goes, I was thinking biology."

"Wow, you've sure got it planned out, don't ya? I remember when I met you a month ago, and you were pretty lost."

She laughed aloud, "Oh God, between then and now, you've helped me mature so much, I mean, you encouraged me to get a better job, and you've really been awesome."

He smiled, "well, it's good we'll be working together this summer, or else I'd totally miss a cool gal like yourself."

"Yep! Now, enough talk, those waves are calling my name!" She paddled closer to the backside if waves, getting set to drop in.

A/N: I have the next chapter done I just need to edit it. I've been very busy with school but I was very excited and since I had time tonight to update, I decided t follow through. Love Nano1012