Siren Bay

III

December 14th | Seventeen Days Until NYE 

I wasn't in the best mood and no amount of acting was hiding it from my perceptive friends. Leah and Benji were packing up their beach bags, Benji shoving more sunscreen inside and left over cookies for them to eat on the sand, while I was watching Leah run around searching for her sunnies.

I was leaning against the wall, messaging mum to let her know of the plan for the day, but I gripped my phone tight, a large part of me wanted to volley it through the nearest window.

I had planned to sneak out in the night and run down to Whale Beach, following the cliff side to Siren Bay in the dark, but the three of us hadn't stopped chatting until 3am and we'd all had a lazy morning.

The desperation to get to Siren Bay was starting to itch under my skin. I shuffled my weight on my sandal-covered feet, the frayed shorts gently brushing my muscled thighs, grateful for dressing in loose clothes. It made the itch a little easier to deal with but it didn't eradicate the feeling of time running out.

I heard the mean clobber of Leah's boots on her feet, running between the living room and Benji's kitchen for her sunnies, but to me it was a rapid stopwatch ringing in my ears.

"Are we ready?" I asked, Benji adjusted his sunglasses and giving me a once-over, focusing on my phone I'd put back into my beach bag.

"Almost, just waiting for Leah." Benji waved to her. "What'd your parents think of your first day of summer?"

I shrugged, some of my ringlets brushing my shoulders as I did so. My ponytail wavered with my step, unable to look Benji in the eye. "They seemed alright with it, just reminding me of the golden rule."

"No going in the ocean?"

"Nope."

Benji stood up. We were almost the same height, my friend just slightly taller than me, and he looked at me closely. His soft eyes roamed over my skin, my sharp eyes, and the raised brows - I couldn't lift just one. When he lifted one of his own, I scowled. "All because you didn't tell them where you were on your birthday?"

"Don't lift your eyebrow at me."

"What, because you can't do it?" Benji smirked, before raising the other one. "Fine, I won't raise that one."

"Don't be a dick, Benj', that's Leah's job."

Benji crossed his arms in an attempt to be intimidating, but I knew he couldn't scare a possum from his back garden, let alone something human. Maureen Smith could chase anything away with a single glare but Benji didn't have a violent bone in his body. "You're still avoiding my question Syl' - I thought you were done with secrets?"

My mouth opened, I didn't know what to say to him, but Leah rounded the corner before I could with her black shades in hand. "I found them!" She cheered, sliding them up her small nose. "I can now plan my world domination."

"What do you mean 'plan'?" I laughed. "I'm sure you have it underway already!"

Leah smirked and I just caught her wink in the lenses. Benji grabbed his bag, looking to Leah as she heaved hers off the floor - she was bringing two books with her. "Let me guess, through destroying technology or poisoning the planet?" He clicked his fingers. "Ooh! Are you going to unleash some dark magic and rule us all?"

"All of the above," Leah joked, waving at Benji to start moving. "Come on! We've wasted a lot of the afternoon already!"

"Whose fault was that?" I pondered, tapping my chin. "Benji, do you have any idea?"