Ao'nung glanced over his shoulder. Neteyam was folding his printed schedule as he walked, nearly running into a group of girls. He watched as they all watched them pass with wide eyes, before turning to each other and whispering. Ao'nung rolled his eyes. "Keep up, new kid," he called, stopping and waiting for him to catch up. "Sorry," he mumbled, pushing his braids away from his face with a grin. Ao'nung scoffed, gesturing to their table with his chin. Neteyam's eyes landed on his siblings, both sitting with their backs to them. He quickly walked over to them, putting his hands on their shoulders. They both jumped in their seats, looking up at him with annoyed expressions while he laughed. Ao'nung sat across from them, next to his sister. She cleared her throat, pointing to his phone. Ao'nung opened his chats, seeing she had sent him at least 20 messages. "What the hell?" he asked, grinning. "Shut up," she whispered, looking to see if the new kids had heard. "They're not even looking," Ao'nung hissed. It was true; the girl was eating pretzels out of a ziploc bag and talking to Neteyam, and the younger boy was on his phone, looking bored.
Ao'nung read the messages she had sent him, scoffing in disbelief.
7:41 a.m.: did you recognize those kids ???? 7:52 a.m.: omg isnt that the boy from the lot ? i knew they must be new i didn't recognize them 7:55 a.m.: talk to him. 7:56 a.m.: invite him to sit with us. 7:56 a.m.: i can see u on ur phone i know u are reading this. 7:57 a.m.: oh come on ao he looks so lonely 7:59 a.m.: i'm inviting him over be nice. 8:00 a.m.: ask him what his brothers name is pls 8:00 a. m.: please
8:04 a.m.: why did u shake his hand u r 17 years old. 8:05 a.m.: ty for being nice tho :D 8:05 a.m.: loak 8:05 a.m.: is that spelled lo'ak ? or loak ? will you ask him ?
10:16 am: i have 2nd with their sister !!! 10:17 am: her name is kiri and she is very pretty. she must be adopted tho she looks nothing like them 10:17 am: she's white 10:17 am: LOL
10:32 am: i invited her and her brothers to sit with us is that ok 10:32 am: ao 10:33 am: is that ok
11:15 am: the bell just rang if you see any of them help them pls !!!
"Jesus christ, Reya, how do you even have your phone out this much in class?" Ao'nung asked, laughing at her. She flushed. Rotxo sat down next to Ao'nung then, pulling his lunch bag out of his backpack. Ao'nung remembered he had his own lunch, and reached around in his bag for it. Tsireya pulled a pink box with carrots and dressing out, setting it neatly in front of her. Ao'nung looked over at the newcomers. The girl, Kiri, was eating her pretzels. Lo'ak was eating something out of a thermos. Neteyam was staring off into space, playing absentmindedly with the rings that adorned his fingers. "Where's your food?" Ao'nung asked him, jolting him out of his daze. "I forgot to pack it," he said, smiling softly. "You did? Why?" Kiri asked, a look of concern on his face. "I think I gave my lunch to Tuk," he responded. "Tuk is our baby sister," he explained to the rest of the group. "Aw!" Tsireya said, smiling her bubbly smile. Ao'nung side-eyed her. He looked through his lunch bag, pulling out one of the many protein shakes he kept on hand. "Here," he called, tossing it across the table. Neteyam caught it, quickly reading the label. "Hey, thanks, man," he said, smiling broadly. Ao'nung noticed that his teeth were slightly crooked. "Mhm," Ao'nung mumbled.
"Wait," Rotxo said suddenly. "Who are these people?" he said, gesturing to Neteyam and his siblings. "Oh, I forgot, you haven't met any of them!" Tsireya said, leaning over Ao'nung's shoulder. "Bro, I sit next to you in first period," Lo'ak called, grinning. Rotxo laughed. "My bad. I was kinda..." "Yeah, I could smell it," Lo'ak whispered, leaning in to the conversation. "Seriously?" Rotxo asked, lifting his own arm up and sniffing it. "This is Kiri, Neteyam, and Lo'ak Sully," Tsireya said, squinting disapprovingly at her friend. Rotxo's head turned at the mention of Kiri's name, locking eyes with her. Ao'nung saw his friend's smile widen. "Hey," he breathed, looking at only her. Her eyes flicked to her brothers, a small smile on her lips. "Hi. Tsireya, who's this?" She asked, turning her whole body away from Rotxo to face her. Ao'nung snorted and nudged his friend. "My name is Rotxo Waititi," he called, trying to put himself in her line of sight. She did not react. Neteyam sniggered and turned Kiri back to face Rotxo, putting his hands on her shoulders. Neteyam was clearly the oldest son. He seemed to have an almost parental friendship with his siblings. "You can call me Ro," he offered, grinning at her. She pursed her lips and looked at him with doubtful eyes. "Alright!" she said in a sarcastic voice, returning to her pretzels.
"What are you doing after school today?" Tsireya asked him suddenly. He blinked, looking up from his meal. "Nalu. I missed dawn patrol." His sister nodded. "Dawn patrol?" Neteyam asked, looking at him intently. "Yeah. I like to surf," he explained awkwardly. A grin formed on Neteyam's face. "Are you good at it?" he asked, holding eye contact. "Uh, yeah, kinda," Ao'nung responded. Neteyam's eyes were a light brown, almost amber. "He's really good," Tsireya said, fishing her phone out of her pocket. "Here, I'll show you a video," Ao'nung blinked. "No, it's fine," he said, laughing nervously. "I'm sure they want to see," she said, looking up at him in confusion. "Please," Ao'nung whispered, brow furrowed. "Okay..?" She said, eyeing him. Ao'nung forced a weak laugh and turned back to face Neteyam.
"Um... I play lacrosse!" Neteyam quipped, eyes darting between Ao'nung and his sister. "Really?" Rotxo asked, eyeing him. "What's that supposed to mean?" Neteyam asked, smirking at the boy. "You're skinny," Rotxo stated plainly. Ao'nung snorted. "Rotxo! Ao'nung!" Tsireya scolded, swatting at her brother. "Hey! Why are you hitting me? He's the one that said it!" Ao'nung protested. Neteyam laughed. "No, he's right, I am, but I'm pretty fast," he said, adjusting his light green sweater over his shoulders. He turned to face his brother, who was staring at Tsireya with glazed over eyes. The beads in Neteyam's braids clinked as his head moved. "Lo'ak," he whispered. "Hmm? Oh. Yeah, he's skinny," he said, blinking hard. Neteyam scoffed and cuffed his brother gently on the back of the head. Ao'nung laughed as Lo'ak gasped at his brother, eyes wide with mock pain. "Lo'ak also thinks I am fast. He was just too distracted to realize what was being said,'' Neteyam joked. "Oh, is that- yeah, he's fast," Lo'ak laughed, rolling his eyes.
"You all should join swim team," Ao'nung offered, grinning at Rotxo. His friend nodded quickly. "We are co-captains," Rotxo said, eyes darting to Kiri to make sure she had heard him. Neteyam tilted his head at them. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense," he said, nodding. "What?" Rotxo asked, brow furrowed in confusion. "I mean, it fits you guys' personalities. I think." Rotxo grinned. "Well, I am a... pisces," he said, looking to Kiri for confirmation. She nodded, a small smile on her face. "We are fish!" Ao'nung's mouth gaped at his friend. "Zodiac signs, bro? Really?" he asked, keeping his voice low. "Whatever. You're just mad you're a..." He drifted off, thinking. "Wait, no, let me guess," Kiri said excitedly. "Scorpio?" Ao'nung blinked in surprise, nodding. "I knew it. Tsireya, you must be a cancer." She smiled mischievously, shaking her head. "Damn. Libra?" "Yes!" Reya responded, grinning. "Lo'ak is an aries. Tey is a Capricorn." 'Tey,' Ao'nung thought to himself, looking over at him. He was smiling at something on his phone, fingers flying rapidly across the screen. 'Who was he texting?' Ao'nung wondered. "I'm an-" "Aquarius!" Rotxo cut her off, smiling widely. "Uh... Yes, I am an Aquarius" she finished, side-eyeing the boy. Ao'nung could not believe his friend's behavior. This was out of character, even for him.
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so obv the reef kids are māori, i wanted to give them last names so i just googled māori last names. i also looked up "surfer slang" for ao'nung, as well as the hawaiian word for wave (nalu) bc i am neither māori, hawaiian, or a surfer!! if any of those are incorrect in any way pls pls lmk so i can fix it!!
