Song of the Sea

Ch. 20

Once again, it was the first day of school. And it was senior year. Genesis was excited to see Zach and he felt the same. They were excited to finally spend time together as boyfriend and girlfriend. Although, in the back of their minds, they wondered if it would be the same. They wondered if they would have the same feelings for each other after barely talking for two months. Of course, it was only their intrusive thoughts. Their feelings for each other were as strong as ever. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Genesis and Zach were going to meet up in the chorus room. Zach had the idea to meet again at the place they first met. He made it to the room first and waited for her anxiously. When she opened the door, his ocean blue eyes met her chestnut brown eyes, and they smiled so wide that their eyes smiled too. She ran up to him and he welcomed her with open arms. They were held comfortably in each other's embraces and welcomed the familiar tingling that followed their touch. Zach lifted her and spun her around happily. Neither of them wanted to let go.

Though, after a few minutes, Zach's arms were getting tired. He was forced to put her down, but he looked on the bright side: now he could see her face. He admired every aspect of her, as did she. He saw that her hair had grown slightly and that her freckles were less prominent on her face. She noticed that his hair had also grown out and that he even seemed a bit taller. As they memorized each other's features, they noticed that they were getting ever so slightly closer. When they finally noticed what their bodies were doing, they helped the action along and closed the rest of the space between them, coming together with a kiss.

"I'm so happy to have you back." Zach spoke after they pulled away from the kiss. Genesis' heart fluttered to hear his voice in person again. It never quite sounded the same over the phone.

"Same here." She replied. She wanted the quickest response so that she could kiss him again sooner.

When Zach and Genesis left the room, they walked together hand in hand. Neither of them wanted quite yet to let go of the other. They walked into the courtyard and found the rest of their friend group. Jackie and Eric were cuddled together in a seat, having just entered a relationship themselves. Kayla sat next to them, reading a book. "Look at you two! You're practically glowing!" Jackie called out, acknowledging the bright smiles on their faces.

"Good for you. You both have relationships." Kayla said in a monotone voice.

"Kayla, I'm sure you'll find someone someday." Jackie said encouragingly.

"I don't need a relationship. I don't seek the affirmation of others. My plants and pets are companions enough for me."

"Right on." Genesis agreed as a joke.

"Hey." Zach spoke up and nudged her.

"I'm just kidding." She assured him.

~

Zach's first period was AP marine biology. He's found a passion for helping his environment. To do so, he wanted to find out what exactly what humans know and how he can use that to help the oceans. "Okay class, welcome to your first day of AP marine biology." The teacher, Mrs. Santos, announced. "Now, I know that there are students from each grade in here so, let me make this clear- seniors, this is for you." She spoke seriously and Zach prepared himself for what she had to say. "This is your last year of high school; you're the top dog, the big man on campus. This is your year! Your year to have fun, party, make friends." She began saying which made the seniors in the class excited. "But, once you walk across that stage and walk out those doors for the last time, the real world starts." She continued seriously. "There is much more stress than figuring out what you're going to wear. You will be faced with many challenges." The moods of every senior plummeted. "This class will prepare you for some of them. But I can only take you so far. In the end, you will be in control of your own lives. The real world is coming sooner than you think. You better start preparing for it now." She concluded and let her statement hang in the air. All the seniors, even some other students, were brought to attention of how little time they had left as kids.

"Okay then, let's go over the syllabus." She changed direction and the students followed. "First thing, at the top, bold letters- who wants to read it for me?" She asked. Instantly, someone's hand shot up from the front row. Zach recognized her immediately as Debbie Cooper- the teacher's pet. She always sat as close as possible to the teacher as she can and will attempt to answer every question. "Okay, Debby, go ahead." Mrs. Santos allowed.

"Thank you, Mrs. Santos." Debbie flashed a winning smile. "'Why are you here?'." She read aloud.

"Why are you here? Why did you pick this class?" She asked openly to the whole class. Debbie's hand shot up instantly. "Let's let a different student answer this time, Debbie." Mrs. Santos replied which surprised many of the students. Zach has never known a teacher to dismiss Debbie. Debbie's hand came down slowly and other students raised their hands, including Zach. "Yes, miss. What is your name?" Mrs. Santos called on a sophomore.

"Rosa." She replied. "I picked this class because, like, we live in Hawaii. There's fish and water everywhere."

"Okay, then." Mrs. Santos commented, not satisfied with her answer. "Who else?" She asked. "You, sir. What about you?"

"I'm Sam and I'm here 'cause I like to surf." The boy spoke. Mrs. Santos pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Who else?" She asked, though she didn't want to hear anybody else's responses. Debbie shot her hand up, but Mrs. Santos dismissed it. "You, sir. What's your name?" She asked, pointing to Zach.

Everyone looked to Zach, but he was used to it. As swim captain, he assumed everyone knew him. It was true, Mrs. Santos did know him, but she treated everyone as an equal in her class. "Zach Kai, miss." He replied.

"Why are you here, mister Kai?" She asked.

"To make a difference." He responded immediately. "For marine animals and the oceans."

She was pleased with his answer, and even almost smiled. "Well said." She congratulated him. "Would you like to read the topics we will be covering this year?" She offered.

Then Debby's hand shot up. "But miss, I wanted to read that part." She spoke out.

"You had your turn miss Cooper. Now it's time to let someone else have a turn." Mrs. Santos replied which disappointed Debbie- something she wasn't used to from a teacher. "Mister Kai, go ahead." She turned to Zach and said.

~

After school, Genesis and Zach met up, walking home together. "So, how was your first day?" Genesis asked, holding his hand.

"It was good. My classes seem fun, especially marine science." He replied half-heartedly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." He insisted. "How was your day?"

"Don't change the subject. I know there's something wrong."

"It's just, now that we're seniors... we're expected to figure our whole lives out before we graduate." He admitted. "We have to know what college we want to go to, what kind of job we want, how we're going to make money- it's all so much, so fast." He opened his heart to her. She stopped him from walking and faced him.

"We don't have to figure everything out right now. We don't even have to figure everything out once we graduate. There is always time to figure out your future." She assured him. "And you can't figure it all out at once, no one can. You just have to figure it out one step at a time." She explained. "I don't have it all figured out either." She told him, to make him feel better. And it worked a bit, but the thought still lingered in the back of his mind.