The Bucket List

t w e n t y - t h r e e

"Ellie, wake up," I heard ten minutes later. Not again.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Daniel grinning at me. I swear one of these days, I was going to slap that grin off his face, not caring if he was my close friend or not.

"Come sit over here with me," he told me.

I groaned and stood up, moving to where he sat. I couldn't comprehend how he was in such a happy mood at this hour. There was a little bit of light now, but it was still dark and there was still no light. I faced the direction Daniel stared at and just found myself looking at a purple sky.

"What are we doing here, Daniel?"

"Shh."

I complied with a pout and continued looking at the horizon. Then finally, I saw a small speck of orange light appearing out from the horizon and it immediately dawns on me what we were doing here. We were watching the sunrise. We were watching the sunrise over the sea, like I wanted in my bucket list. With a small smile, I leaned my head against Daniel's shoulder, feeling my eyes still heavy. But this time, I refused to let them close.

We stayed in silence for a few minutes, just watching. The sunrise was beautiful. The sun was a dim orange while the sky reflected its colours. The blue of the water became more visible, shining at the surface and the world around us stained by the orange light. Sure, I hated that Daniel woke me up this early in the morning, but honestly speaking, it was worth it. Seeing this was beautiful and I was glad it happened.

When the sun was higher in the sky, Daniel got up and rummaged through the bags. He pulled out a blanket from one of them and placed it on the floor of the bed before pulling out another and placing it on top. He then went under the blanket and told me to join him.

I looked at him warily as he closed his eyes and started to try fall asleep. Was this even legal? In a matter of seconds, he opened his eyes.

"Why aren't you coming?"

I rubbed my arm uncomfortably. Sleeping on the same—bed type of thing—with him didn't seem right.

"Oh, Ellie. Just sleep. I promise I won't do anything." He snickered amusedly.

I hesitantly laid beside him. I swear he knows that today was my yes day. He wouldn't torture me like this otherwise. This wasn't even part of the bucket list. I turned my back towards Daniel and closed my eyes, trying to sleep and pretend that he wasn't just laying right behind me.

I woke up smelling food. I sat up and saw Daniel pulling out food from a basket that he apparently also brought. I was beginning to wonder what he didn't bring for this trip.

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn.

"Almost eleven," he replied.

My eyes widened with shock. I jumped up to stand and felt the boat rock with it. I grabbed onto the side of the boat and balanced myself.

"Everyone must be wondering where we are! We should go back."

"Who cares? Have some breakfast."

I was going to protest but stopped myself. The food smelled good and I was surprisingly already hungry. It wasn't like I couldn't just call Mia and tell her I was out. Besides, as if she was still awake. So, I sat beside Daniel and we both ate in silence while watching the water.

It was nice. He had the boat anchored near an island that was beside a place called the Spit, where we had seen the sunrise. After breakfast, he gave me coffee. It was coffee with milk, surprisingly. He hated coffee with milk. We just sat and talked for an hour. Just about random things and it was pleasant until he asked the question I was hoping he'd never ask.