*~*Zacky's POV*~*

I stopped dead at what she said. Kelly clamped a hand over her mouth in shock. Brian stopped and looked at me wide eyed too. Jimmy, Matt, and Val were also all staring at us.

"Uh. I...I...I meant Zacky..." she said ashamed at her mistake.

"Oh boy..." Brian muttered.

She pushed my hands off her legs and fell off backwards from my shoulders. She swam back to the shore and got out. I stood in the water for a minute or two, still in a daze of what she had said. Brian and Kelly went back to shore and I decided to just float for a minute or two to gather my thoughts.

She just called me babe. I liked the way that sounded but it was a mistake. She has a boyfriend. She has a boyfriend...

I came back to shore just as Kamalei got a phone call. She didn't look happy to take the call, but got up and walked down the beach some.

"What an ass. He calls her now after almost a week of her being gone. God I fucking hate that guy..." Kelly was saying as I sat down on my towel, reaching into the cooler for a beer.

"No Micah! I came to find my brother and my father! Why do you have to be this way? Why can't you be happy for me? I found my family. That's the whole point of me coming all this way!...... No... No I haven't been going out... Only with my brother and his friends... No I'm not fucking anyone! I'm with my fucking brother!...Of course we go out! He's a fucking rock star you idiot!...No I haven't been doing that either. Yes I understand that they probably do blow off of a whore's ass but I haven't....Why should I come home?... You can't do that?!...MICAH! I SWEAR TO GOD!..." She was screaming thru the phone as she paced a faraway section of the beach.

I tried to look away as she came back tears in her eyes. She walked over to the cooler and grabbed a beer out, popping the top and chugging half of it.

"Sis.....You alright?" Matt carefully asked.

"Yeah. Fucking great. Leave it to Micah to fuck up my day..." she trailed off, chugging the other half of her beer. "Kelly he wants us to come home tomorrow."

"TOMORROW!? But we're having such a good time here!" Kelly whined.

"I know. He said if we don't come home, he won't pick us up and he'll throw me out. He thinks I'm here to just whore it up or some bullshit..." She said with angry tears in her eyes.

"Fuck. I fucking hate him Lei. Why don't you just leave his ass?" Kelly said.

"I just can't Kelly. You know I can't." She said grabbing another beer and sitting on the towel between me and Kelly.

"I want to stay Lei." Kelly said after a few minutes of silence.

"Well, stay then. Maybe it’s better you aren't there when I go back." Kamalei snapped back at her.

"I'd like it if you'd stay..." Brian said to Kelly.

"I want you to stay too my Lei-Lei..." Jimmy said walking over and hugging her.

"I wish you would reconsider going home so soon Lei. We really love having you here with us." Val spoke up.

Kamalei just shook her head, "No. I'm sorry. I have to go. I don't have a choice."

"Please Kamalei. Please stay. I just got you. I don't want you to be ripped from me so soon..." Matt said.

"I'm only a phone call away. We can keep in touch. Plus you said you would come to visit me." she replied unable to look at him. "It's not until tomorrow so let's just have a good day. I don't want to think about it."

I sat there at a loss for words. I didn't want her to leave. I wanted her to stay. I wanted her to stay with me. I got up off my towel and stormed off towards street. I couldn't sit there anymore without going insane thinking of her leaving tomorrow. I heard her call out for me to come back, but I couldn't face her now. I needed to cool off. I heard footsteps running on the sidewalk and turned around to see Brian.

"Leave me alone."

"No way bro. Not leaving you hanging. Not like this." He replied walking next to me.

"Why does she have to go Brian? Why can't she just stay? Why can't she just stay with us here in Huntington? Why can't she just stay here with ME?!" I yelled angry, tears threatening to fall.

"I don't really know man. She says she has to go. We don't know the whole story. She can't stay here with you because Zack, you aren't her boyfriend!" he reasoned with me, shaking my shoulders. “Did you even tell the girl how you feel? That you like ‘like’ her?”

“No. I didn’t.” I said looking down at my feet.

“Well, what the hell do you expect?” He said back to me putting an arm around my shoulders, “Look bro, she doesn’t know how you feel and it doesn’t seem like you want to tell her. Maybe you need to just let her go and I don’t know… just talk to her. Be her friend, you never know what could happen.”

“I don’t know if I can just be her friend Syn…” I replied.

“Well, you better figure something out Zee, she’s leaving tomorrow.” He advised as we walked back to the beach.

Kamalei was sitting on her towel again, hovering over her phone when I walked up to her.

She looked up at the shadow standing over her and flashed me a pained smile. I could tell she didn’t want to go.

“Zacky, help me please?” She asked me leaning over to show me her phone, “I need to book this flight home but I don’t know where to go from…”

I helped her pick the correct airport and flight information, “Here you go.” I said sadly.

“Awww Zacky. Are you going to miss me?” She asked playfully.

“Yeah. I think we all are.” I said looking at everyone shaking their heads.

“Well you all have my phone number, so you can always text or call me. Plus you guys better come to see me at home! You promised Matt!” she yelled over to him.

Matt had a scowl on his face that didn’t seem to go away. He wasn’t liking this situation at all. I know he wanted her to stay and he was mad that some guy was telling her to come home.

“I know. We will be visiting. It’s a good excuse for a vacation.” He replied before sipping his beer.

“How long are you going to stay Kelly?” she turned and asked.

“I don’t know maybe another week?” she said looking at Brian.

He shook his head, “Maybe 2?”

“Okay… let me know when you are coming home and I’ll come get you…” she replied hesitantly.

“Enough of this sadness. Let’s have a good day!” Jimmy jumped up out of his chair grabbing Lei and tossing her over his shoulder and running to the water.

“No JIMMY AHHHHHH!” She screamed out as he tossed her out into the water.

We all laughed as Jimmy came back to shore and grabbed Kelly and did the same thing to her. We enjoyed the rest of the day at the beach, eating, drinking, and sharing with the girls about our younger years on this beach. I hadn’t realized how many things in our lives revolved around these Huntington beaches. The sun started to go down and instead of packing up we decided to end the night with a bonfire party. Matt and Johnny went off to a store close by and grabbed s’mores supplies and we all sat around roasting marshmallows as we watched the sunset.

*~*Kamalei’s POV*~*

We sat around the fire roasting marshmallows at the beach and I was reminded of home again.

His messy black hair and his tribal tattoos all over his arms instantly drew me to him. His shirtless body was toned and sculpted as it glistened in the fire. It was a cold night for our usual party spot on a roadside beach we called ‘14’. We stood around the fire making sure that it wouldn’t be too large for the police to be called. We all had our beers, 95% of us all underage, and someone had their truck blasting music. I stood there talking to Kelly when he walked up to me introducing himself with a wide smile.

“I’m Micah. Where are you from?” he asked me.

“Upcountry. I’m Kamalei…” I had replied before we had talked more about music and school.
He had gone to a different high school than me and was older. He was nice and kind to me. He was very charming with his big smile. We had stood by the fire and talked for hours, until the police pulled up surrounding the area. I had lost Kelly in the mad dash to run, and Micah had pulled me with him to his truck. We jumped in and sped off, along with most of the party, to the usual 76 station in town. We pulled into the gas station with a few other cars behind us, parking in the stall, he leaned over and kissed me deeply.
Pulling away, “Sorry. I just couldn’t help it. You’re just beautiful.” He had said caressing my cheek.
“That’s alright. I liked it.” I said kissing him back.

He was so charming and kind. He had me entranced by his every word. He made me fall in love with him at a bonfire.

“Lei!” Kelly called out from next to me, “Your marshmallow is burnt to hell and back.”

“Oh. Shit.” I said tossing it down into the sand.

“You alright?” she asked me as we looked around and saw everyone enjoying their conversations.

“Yeah, just remembering when I met Micah. It was like this. Do you remember?”

“Yeah I remember. I remember running from the cops and I couldn’t find you. I almost got arrested that night.” She replied.

“What happened to me? Why has Micah changed so much?” I asked her.

“It isn’t you babes. It’s him. I wish you would just stay here with your brother. You’re so much happier here with all of these guys.” She said spinning her new marshmallow in the fire.

“I have to go back. I have to deal with him.” I said putting another marshmallow on my stick.

“You don’t. You could stay here with your brother or Zacky. He seems like he wouldn’t mind you staying with him…” she smirked.

“What are you getting at?” I asked her quietly looking over at Zacky.

“You know that he’s totally digging you right?” she said following my eyes to him.

“Not even. He’s just being nice to me. It’s not like that Kelly… He could have any girl he wants. He doesn’t want me. He’s a rockstar.” I told her as he looked up and met my gaze with a small smirk.

“Yeah and I think he wants you missy...” She replied.

“No. I can’t stay anyway. I have to go and deal with Micah.” I said looking away from Zacky.

“Promise me you’ll call me when you get home.” She said.

“I promise.” I told her.

I never wanted this to end. I could sit on this California beach forever. I loved Maui but this was so different. I could stay trapped in this moment, surrounded by people I loved and that loved me. I barely knew most of them, but I loved them still, and for some reason they loved me.

Tears welled in my eyes at the thought of having to go back tomorrow. My ticket had been bought and I couldn’t change it now. I had met my father, sister, step-mother, and my brother. I had met his friends, which just so happened to be one of my favorite bands. I was the luckiest girl in the world. So why was I crying about tomorrow?

Notes

Ok my little minions... sorry for the long weekend delay. Here is the next chapter. I would like to say a big mahalo for everyone's comments. They inspire me to keep going ;) Keep reading and keep writing!! :) <3