After breakfast, I decided to call Lilo to see what time we could meet. "I have hula class today," she said, "but I get out at noon."

"My home school session ends at noon, too," I replied. "What will be doing today?"

"How about the beach?" Lilo suggested. Hallelujah! I thought no one would mention it.

"Sounds great!" I said. "Meet you there at twelve!" Then we hung up. My first ever home schooled subject was...algebra. Lovely. (NOT!) But it's a good thing I already knew something about variables on both sides of inequalities, or I probably wouldn't have focused. Why? My mind was too pumped up for noon, of course! At 11:58, the last problem looked like this: 11v + 9 5v - 2 I thought carefully, my eyes casually glancing at the clock in between. I added the two to both sides, and got 11v + 11 5v. To isolate the variable, I subtracted 11v on both sides, receiving 11-6v. All I had to do was divide -6 on both sides and flip the inequality sign, since I'm diving by a negative number. My final answer was negative 11 over 6 is less than v. I got it right, and in the nick of time. I pulled on my one-piece and piled a notebook, pencil, pencil sharpener, and sunblock into a small bag. I put on my sunglasses and told Mom where I was going.

It was a perfect day to go to the beach. That's kind of stupid for me to say, since Hawaii is sunny and hot 95% of the time, but Lilo told me that some days are too hot to go to the beach, so we were lucky today. Needless to say, the beach was crowded. Natives and tourists were sunbathing, surfing, playing volleyball, dropping ice cream (A/N: I'm sure you know who that was. XD), and some even playing music. It was like a human jungle, and I was afraid I would never find Lilo, when all of a sudden I heard someone shout, "Jessica!" I turned, and sure enough, Lilo was standing there with Stitch at her side, waving and smiling. I waved back and joined them.

"Hey, Lilo! How was school?" I hated to sound like a mother, but I was just wanting to know, especially after the run in with Myrtle yesterday.

"It was swell!" said Lilo. She grinned and added, "Myrtle, Elena, Yuki, and Teresa haven't been picking on me after they saw you yesterday. They must have the heebie jeebies!" I assumed Elena, Yuki, and Teresa were Myrtle's posse, and though I wasn't sure if anyone used the term "heebie jeebies" anymore, I was glad Lilo wasn't being teased.

We sat on the beach blanket and built a sandcastle. "Do you always come to the beach with just Stitch?" I inquired.

"Stitch loves the beach," explained Lilo, "but he's not crazy about the ocean except when we surf." A surfing dog. MAN, this girl was cool!

"Well, I mean do you come by yourself all the time?"

"Oh, that. I'm just waiting for my aunt and uncle. They'll be here soon. It takes us a while to go anywhere because Aunt Pleakley takes forever to get ready." I laughed. It didn't come to any surprise to me. Suddenly a matter from yesterday popped up in my mind randomly: Shark Man.

"Lilo, do you remember yesterday after your scrapbook thing that ugly dude that popped out?" Lilo's eyes went wide. Then she smiled, like an idea had just come to her.

"Oh, that's Gantu. He's from..Samoa! And he's...a dog catcher! Yeah, and Stitch forgot to wear his collar yesterday." I nodded. That explained everything. I had heard about people getting rickets, which made them really small because it stops their bodies from growing regularly. I guess for Samoans it has the exact opposite effect.

"Isn't the gun a little much, though?" I asked.

Lilo hesitated for a contemplative moment, then replied, "He uses that thing for emphasis. In my opinion, though, he's just a big dummy." We both laughed at that one. Then when Aunt Pleakley and Uncle Jumba showed up, I thought I would laugh again. Aunt Pleakley was wearing a short, clumpy swimming suit that looked like something women wore in the 1900's with a matching bathing cap, and she made Uncle Jumba wear one of those one-piece, red and white striped bathing suits and square straw hats from the same century. They stuck out like sore thumbs amongst the swimming trunks and bikinis as other beachgoers were wearing.

"Lilo, did you remember to put on sunscreen?" Aunt Pleakley asked, toting around a small parasol.

"Oops. No," Lilo answered.

"I brought some!" I offered, and pulled the bottle from my bag. In a minute, Lilo and I were UV-protected. After we finished our sandcastle, Lilo got an idea.

"Do you want to try surfing?" she asked. Oh no. I hadn't thought of her asking me that. I really didn't want to disappoint her, but I was a bit doubtful of trying it. Luckily, Aunt Pleakley saved my hide.

"Now Lilo, dear, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. If Jessica doesn't want to, she doesn't have to." I breathed a sigh of relief; it was like Aunt Pleakley read my mind.

Lilo pulled a few dollars out of her bag Nani had given her that morning, and she turned to me. "Want to get a shaved ice?" Considering the intense heat, I thought it was the best idea I had heard all day.

"Sure!" I said. We went to the nearest shaved ice shack, but I noticed the most peculiar looking person in there. But they weren't really a person, appearance wise. It was a small, blue creature who appeared to be made of ice. It had beady little eyes, a koala-like nose, and couldn't have been over a foot and a half tall. I ordered a lemon ice, and Lilo ordered what she called a Lilo Experiment: pink, blue, and black.

"They're Elvis's favorite colors," she explained. She threw the money on the counter and said, "Thanks, Slushy!" Slushy? Not only did he look like ice, his name reminded you of ice. Maybe he was locked in a freezer and stayed like that. Who knows? But I didn't let it ruin my day at the beach with Lilo and her family. It got wild, though, when Stitch tried to eat a seagull. I guess it didn't taste like chicken, because he spit out. THAT had to be the highlight of my day, because that was the funniest thing ever! As we were about to leave the beach, Lilo asked me, "Hey Jessica, do you think your mother would let you sleep over at my house tonight?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I could ask her, though." I went to a pay phone and put in our new phone number. Then I remembered to deposit a quarter. The phone rang twice, then my mom picked up (Dad was working). "Hey Mom, it's me," I said. "Lilo wants to know if I can spend the night with her."

"As long as it's okay with her parents," she replied.

I hadn't told Mom about the whole parents-killed-in-car-crash story, so I just winced and said, "She's going to ask them." "Well, then we'll see later when we get an answer." "Okay, Mom. Bye." Lilo was waiting eagerly.

"Did she say yes? Did she say yes?" she asked.

"As long as Nani okays it, then we're good," I replied. Luckily, Nani was working at the rental shack, so we decided now would be a good time to ask. Nani wasn't particularly busy at this time, and was talking to a tan, good-looking surfer.

"That's her boyfriend, David," Lilo whispered. "She likes his butt and fancy hair. Believe me. I read her diary." I was a bit concerned with the invasion of privacy thing, but I didn't let it get to me. Nani said yes! So it was settled. At six o'clock I'd join them for dinner, and since it was Friday, Lilo could stay up until eleven. This was going to be great! Little did I know, however, that tonight would reveal more about Lilo than I ever thought possible.

From Author: Sorry for the math lesson, but instead of just saying I solved it, I wanted to put it in detail. Besides, you might have to know it one day. lol :D