"C'mon, Charlene!" Mackenzie begged a girl named Charlene. "Come to Honi Beach with us!"
"Alright, fine!" Charlene said and went off.
"That makes 17 of us!" Mackenzie proudly muttered to herself, "Oh, hey Emmie."
I noticed everyone was talking about this Honi Beach. What was so popular about it?
"What's up with this Honi beach thing?" I asked curiously.
Mackenzie giggled. "It's the latest trend in hang-out places. I hear there's some really nice forests to hike on.There's like 20 of us going. Wanna come?" she asked.
"I'll think about, 'kay?" I told her. She nodded.
"See ya!" Mackenzie waved as she trotted away.
"Alright, bye Macke-oof!" I dropped my books as someone bumped into me.
"Looks like it's part of our daily routine now, hehe." the boy with the jet-black hair chuckled.
"Hey, Cay!" I greeted him. He smelled good today. Wait, why was I smelling him?
"Hey, Emmie! Have you heard about the Honi beach get-together? Everyone's going!" Caleb pointed out. I wondered if he was going."Are you-er-going?"
"I was just about to ask you that same question, but, um, my best friend told me about it, but I didn't know if 17 people were actually going..." I choked.
"Well, my friend Lars and I are pretty much going." he stated, "Everyone's trying to get as many people to go, the more the merrier, heh." He scratched the back of his neck.
"It sounds like it'd be really fun." my mind was scrambling for words, "Yup."
"So, yep." he murmured as I rocked back and forth. It was quiet for a minute. Then he said quickly, "Do you want to go?"
I stopped rocking and suddenly realized what was happening. What he asking me out? Or was he just inviting me as a friend? Urrrrr, what was happening?
"What do you mean, like... go with you? Like, together?" I had mixed feelings. Ecstatic-ness and confusion.
He scratched his head again. "Not like a date or anything-"
"No, no, of course not! Hehe." I said, "But, sure I'd love to go with you. With 20 other people."
His nervous state turned to relief. "Oh, um, good."
"So when is this thing anyway?" I asked him.
He thought for a minute. "It's, er, tomorrow after school, we're all going straight to Honi beach. Well, you don't have to, I mean, we can go later..."
"We can go right after school. I don't ever have anything to do after school anyway, heh. Yup." I muttered. The school bell rang.
"Oh, well, I'll see you later, then." Caleb waved. I waved back. We walked in different directions.
Off to English class...wait, I have it with Caleb, duh! I strolled next to Caleb.
"Hey! You're back!" Caleb said.
"Yeah, I just realized we have English together so you know..." I laughed voluntarily.
"Yeah." Caleb nodded. Then he half-smiled. I sighed.
~~~~~~
We then got home.
"Wow, you're dating him already?" Mackenzie noted, shocked.
"I'm not dating him. I'm just going somewhere with him. And 20 other people. Wait, how did you know?" I asked. Mackenzie moved her tall self to my bed where I was sitting.
"I have my ways." She grinned.
"You were eavesdropping on us? Why would you do that?" I furiously screeched.
"First off, I'm your best friend, I'm supposed to know. Second, you're in love with him so why wouldn't I check and see for when you lovebirds take it to the next level!" Mackenzie said.
"Like, what level?" I curiously asked. She made kissie faces. "Ok, I get it." I told her.
"I don't really do all that," I stated.
"But you have, right?"Mackenzie squished next to me.
I shook my head. "Well, I guess it's your decision. If you don't want to I guess I have to respect that. As a bestie."
"Thanks." I grinned, "Oh, and by the way, I am going to Honi- you already know. Oh, Kenzie."
"Ooh, you should walk with Caleb, side-by-side." Mackenzie dramatically fantasized.
"Oh, stop it." I demanded, "Speaking of that, I should go ask my dad." I zoomed down the stairs and went to ask my dad for permission. Forgot to do that, hehe.
"Dad?" I called.
"Yes?" he called back from the kitchen.
"Could I go with Mackenzie to the beach after school tomorrow?" I asked nicely.
He took his food out of the oven. "Any boys going to be there?"
"Dad, there are 20 people going." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, then yeah, sure. But be careful on your way there. Which beach is it anyway?" Dad asked.
"It's Honi beach." I told him then headed back up the stairs.
"Hmm. Never heard of it." He muttered to himself.
~~~~~
As soon as school finished the next day, 20-something high schoolers all went to Honi beach.
Mackenzie was with me, and I was looking for Caleb.
"Hey, Emmie!" I heard Caleb call. I smiled at Mackenzie.
"Go!" Mackenzie shooed me. I ran to Caleb and saw him with one of his friends.
"Hey, Emmie. This is Lars." Caleb introduced.
"Hey." I greeted him, "I'm Emilie. Or Emmie. Whatever."
"I'm Lars." he said, "Are you and Caleb-"
"No!" Caleb and I yelled in unison. We looked at each other awkwardly.
"Rrrrright." Lars said.
"So, are we almost there?" I asked Caleb.
"Yeah." Caleb answered, "This must be weird, just seeing a couple dozen teenagers all walking in the same direction."
"Yeah, now that you mention it, yeah." I agreed. Then Caleb and I spent the next few minutes discussing how funny it would be and other scenarios, and laughing randomly.
After a while, Lars spoke up. "Man, you guys aren't even talking to me! You suck!" and walked away.
We stared for a minute, then just started laughing again.
Good times, good times.
~~~~~~
We arrived at Honi beach finally, and some kids made a campfire and others played in the water. There were a couple kids' moms there, and they were making burgers and hot dogs.
"I didn't bring a bathing suit, did you?" Caleb asked.
"No. I hate salt water." I muttered. Caleb and I walked to one of the campfires.
"Wanna sit?" Caleb offered.
"Sure." I nodded. So him and I shared a log. I texted my dad we won't be back until eleven.
Soon it got to be seven. But this was a dark seven o'clock evening.
"Okay, dudes, time for scary stories!" one kid announced.
It got really cold. I started shivering.
Caleb noticed me. "Woah, you're freezing. Here, take my jacket." He put his thick jacket around me.
"Thank you." I smiled. His jacket was so warm.
"No prob." he half-smile. I melted inside.
"Alright, dudes, Lars here is gonna say the first spooky story, dudes." the kid from before said, "Give it up for Lars."
A few people clapped. "All right. There was this girl named Tina. She went into her closet. And then... a monster ate her. The end."
"Um, okay, dudes, that didn't count as a story because it sucked. Now who wants to say a spooky story?" the kid again spoke, "Alright, I, Lucas, pick...Charlene. You're up."
Charlene began her story. "One day, a girl named Luna was wondering around the forest. Her mother told her not go there, yet she did. Luna always loved to climb the trees. She fell every now and then and her mother told her not to climb the trees. Luna decided to play with deer, then. One day Luna did not come back from the forest. Her mother wasn't home either. The brother looked for both of them. He checked all over the forest... but didn't find the mother and daughter. But when he found the deer all alone and dead on the floor of the forest. All you would hear was... RAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"
As soon as she said "RAAAAAAAWR" the fire spit up, and I screamed until I began to cry. And I found myself clinging on to Caleb.
"Emmie? Are you okay?" Caleb worriedly asked as my face was stuffed in his shirt and I was sobbing. "It's okay, Emmie. Don't worry, I'm here."
I stopped sobbing. I still clung on to Caleb as I removed my face from his shirt. "Sorry," I sniffled, "about your shirt."
"It's fine." Caleb smiled, then turned angry, "What the heck with the fire?"
"Special effects, dude. Sorry about your girlfriend, though. Is she okay?" Lucas, the kid, asked.
"She's not my-" he sighed, "Are you okay, Emmie?"
I nodded."Yeah, I'm, I'm fine." I reassured him.
"I'm gonna get something for you to wipe your tears, okay?" Caleb told me as he rised from the log.
"No," I tugged on his shirt to pull him down, "No, stay."
"Okay." Caleb half-smiled.
~~~~~~
"Alright, dudes, it's almost, like, ten o'clock so if you wanna look at those sparkly stars, do it dudes, because I bet your parents don't want you out too late." Lucas announced.
"Want to?" Caleb asked me. I nodded as I -still- held on to him and we laid down onto the soft sand.
The stars were so pretty. We found the Big Dipper and the Orion's Belt. I swear I saw a shooting star. And there were absolutely no clouds to block the sky.
"I..." I was going to say something, but I didn't want to ruin this moment. I looked behind me to see Mackenzie. She noticed me and she gave me a thumbs up. I winked at her.
Caleb and I just stared... nothing more. No words, no drama, just gazing into the sky. And into each others eyes.
I felt something on my hand. I looked to my side to see two intertwined hands.
I looked and Caleb and he gazed back. His blue eyes twinkled liked the stars above us.
Nothing could make this moment more perfect. Nothing.