A summer in Hawaii

Chapter 9

The girls woke up late the next day. They didn't have anything specific planned.

"What do we want to do today?" Soph asked. Anna and Ag both looked at each other, they knew what they wanted but didn't want all of them to just do what they wanted. 

"The beach?" Emmi suggested.
"I'd be down for that." Avery said and Soph agreed.
"Me too." Anna said.
"Me three." Ag added. "What beach?" They all shrugged; they didn't know any of them. 

"We could ask." Anna smiled. She didn't say who, but they all knew.
"You ask." Soph chuckled. Anna found her phone and called Aj, but no answer.
"She's not picking up." Anna said. "Maybe she's busy." 

"I can try Emily?" Ag asked. Anna just nodded. Ag found her contact and pressed the call button. Emily picked up at the second ring and Ag put her on speaker. 

"Hey." Emily said.
"Hi. You're on speaker." Ag said. "We want to go to the beach but don't know any. We could use some help."

"Lauren and I are actually just going to Kaalawai beach." Emily said. "You can join us if you want to?" Ag looked at all the girls and they nodded.
"Sure. Can we catch a ride with you?" Ag asked.
"Of course. We should be there in about 15 minutes, is that okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. We'll be ready."

Ag hung up with Emily and the girls got ready and went downstairs to wait for the two girls. When they got there, they all piled into the car. Soph sat on Avery's lap and Anna on Ag's as they were 7 girls. 

"Are the others coming?" Anna asked, most interested in one of them.
"Will, Eric and Carson should already be there, but the twins won't come until later." Lauren said. 

"Did they have plans?" Anna asked. Lauren and Emily looked at each other before answering.
"Today is the 17th. It's the anniversary of their grandfather's murder." Emily said and looked back and the girls. "They make it a family day and do some of the things their grandfather loved the most. They always leave their phones at home."

"That sounds like a good way to remember him." Soph said. The other girls agreed. No one said more about the subject.

10 minutes later they pulled up to the beach. They jumped out and found the boys and Carson on the beach. 

"Hey guys." Eric said.
"Hi." Emily said, the same did the rest of the girls. The rest of the day went by pretty quick. They just had a quiet day at the beach, nothing major happened. They just enjoined the beach, the sun and each other's company. Eric spent time with Emmi, getting to know her even more. He really liked her and enjoyed all the things they had in common. Ag and Emily did the same thing, just talking about everything. 

Will and Lauren also talked a lot; but none of them had the guts to say what they were really feeling. Anna, Carson, Soph and Avery were swapping stories, all from most embarrassing moment to moments they would love to experience again. 

It was about 4 in the afternoon when they decided to go to the diner for an early dinner since they skipped lunch.

"Hey guys." Tracy said as they walked in. They said hi and went to sit in the booth at the end. Tracy walked to them to take their order. 

"You look like you have been at the beach all day." Tracy chuckled, some very red from the sun. "Diamond head or Kaalawai beach?"
"Kaalawai." Will said. "Have you seen the twins yet?" Tracy nodded.
"They are in the office with David and Luke." Tracy said. "They should be out soon." The group nodded. 

"And how are they doing?" Lauren asked.
"The same as last year." Tracy shrugged. "All in pain but acting tough."
"Classic Delgado." Eric said. Tracy nodded and walked away, they wanted to wait with ordering till the twins got there.

The twins walked out of the office with their father and uncle. David and Luke left, and the twins walked to their friends. 

"Hey guys." Alex said and sat down next to Ag. Aj sat next to Anna and gave her a side hug.
"How are you?" Emily asked. She knew the answer but wanted to make sure. 

"Fine." Aj said and Alex nodded in agreement. The whole group could feel the tension and knew they weren't okay, but no one commented more on it.

"So what did you do today?" Alex asked as they eat their food.
"We just spend the day at the beach." Ag said. Alex nodded at the comment but didn't add to it. 

"The bonfire is tonight, isn't it?" Lauren asked.
"Yeah." Will said and looked at his phone. "It should start in a few hours."
"Bonfire?" Emmi asked. 

"Yes, Santa often arrange a bonfire at the beach." Aj said. "He says it's a way for him to sell more taco's, but everyone knows it's mostly just for the company." 

The kids ate the rest of their food before jumping into the cars and going to the bonfire. There were already a lot of people there, mostly families with kids but also a few groups of teenagers.

"Emily told us about today." Anna said. "I'm so sorry." Aj looked at her and smiled. They had found a spot in the sand away from the rest.
"It's okay." Aj said. "We didn't get to meet him, but with everything my dad had told us; it really feels like we knew him." 

"How about your father and uncle?" Anna asked.
"They are okay now. I mean they blamed themselves the first few years, but it has gotten easier with time." Aj said and laid back in the sand to look up at the sky. Anna did the same. They didn't talk, they didn't need to. They just laid there and looked at the sky. Aj found Anna's hand and intertwined their fingers.

"How do Friday sound?" Aj spoke after a few minutes of silence.
"What?" Anna asked confused.
"Our date?" Aj said, suddenly concerned that Anna had changed her mind about their date. "Unless you changed your..." Anna cut her off. 

"No no, of course not." Anna smiled. "Friday sounds great." Aj couldn't contain her smile, she couldn't wait to take Anna out and was overjoyed that she hadn't changed her mind.

"Anna!" Emmi yelled from the bonfire. Aj stood up and pulled Anna up by her hand. She let go, not sure if Anna wanted the other ones to see. But Anna quickly grabbed Aj's hand again as they walked back to the group. 

"Soph isn't feeling well and we are getting tired." Emmi said. "We were gonna go back to the hotel." Anna nodded and said okay. The group hugged and the girls walked to their car to go home. Aj kissed Anna on the cheek before she left.