Setting: Port St. Lucie, Summer.

Her chipped nails were the only part of her body that was in motion; everything was simply frozen over with anxiety. The clock must have felt her cold gaze because every second felt like 5, and every minute felt like an hour. It was almost tortures to have every student wait hours at a time while the last few minutes of their high school year comes to an end while they are forced in their seats frozen by wait. And clock was no one’s friend as the last minute of Kaia’s junior year finally hit home streak and shriveled into the final 60 seconds. Whispers and hollers spred throughout the room as the red hand became dangerously close to the giant three.

“C’mon, C’mon!” She franticly whispered under her breath. She shifted in her seat as the final second hit and she let out a whimper of happiness. 10…9..8..7.654321! And then the sweetest noise that she has ever heard rang for 4000 students to hear, the final bell. She sprang from her seat and collected her things in flimsy arms and ran out of the classroom into the theoretical sea of busy bodies. High school was an ocean and we were the marine life, Jocks being the sharks and the popular girls being the dolphins; if that even made sense why, but she liked to think of herself as the algae, blending in with the other trillion of her kind flowing with the waves. Walking down the hall her mind was elsewhere at sea, barely functioning to move her feet. Someone linked their arms through hers; Stacie. Her deep hair and light freckles light up at the sight of her, She was her secret sister and she couldn’t imagine a world without Stacie.

“Hello dear!” She chirped, her beige blouse swayed with her body.

“Hi!” Someone ran into her shoulder. Hard. She winced. Relief flooded her body as outside light showed through the glass doors showing freedom. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” She smiled and skipped to the door ignoring the looks. She pushed on the cold glass to open to warm sunshine and a faint smell of sunscreen. Stacie tugged on her arm forcing her to follow. The parking lot was buzzing with music and surf boards. We walked a fair distance to my car, the crimson 93’ wrangler; my baby, with 3 surfboards tasseled to the open top and a few bag piled in the back it just screamed get in. Stacie took off running as Her Boy toy Cooper stood rested against the passenger door.

“Hey J******, off my car!” I yelled waving at him, Stacie was already tackling him.

“Whoa Sorry