Leilani had dragged her to.

It was a large group of teenagers, aged from 15-18, on a beach that only locals would know how to get to.

There was a fire in the middle, creating an orange glow on the crowd as they danced to the trap music coming out of the speakers sitting in the back of someone's white pick up truck.

Noelani was hanging on the side, sitting on a sand covered park bench.

From where she was sitting, she could spot Leilani dancing with a few girls from their old high school in the middle of the circle.

Noelani smiled, watching her cousin have fun then she tilted her head up to peer at the ocean in the background, lit up by the sunset.

The last time she had been at a party was when she had met Jalen.

And look at how that turned out.

"Noel?" A masculine voice called out to her.

When Noelani peered around, she found Alex making a beeline straight to her with a smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" She asked looking up at the boy.

"I was dragged here," He nodded towards a group of four boys who had joined the party, "You?"

Noelani pointed at her cousin, "Same."

"Can I sit?"

Noelani moved over a little and Alex sat next to her, "Not your scene, huh?"

Noelani shook her head, "Not in the slightest. Been there, done that with parties."

"I feel you. I would rather be surfing or something right now."

Noelani turned to face him, "You night surf?"

"Yeah. I know, crazy. My grandma tells me that all the time." Alex ran a hand through his hair then put his arm on the table behind Noelani.

"No, no, no. I was just saying I do it too. My mom calls me crazy for it too but being alone on the ocean is-."

"Peaceful." Alex interjected.

Noelani gave him an agreeing smile, "Exactly. You get it."

Alex folded his leg in to face her, "There's this beach near the city called Magic Island, we have to go sometime."

"We?" Noelani raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah. So I can beat you in a surfing contest."

Noelani giggled, stopped, covered her mouth then giggled a bit more, "It's funny that you think that you can beat me in a surfing contest. That's really adorable."

Alex kissed his teeth, "Please. I'd bet you on anything that I could beat you. Whoever wipes out first loses."

Noelani raised an eyebrow again, "What's up?"

"Okay, you know the shave ice place in Haleiwa?" Alex asked, his brown eyes on hers.

Noelani gave a silent gulp, "Yeah, what about it?"

"You win and I'll get you some. Any flavor, any size."

"And if you win?"

"You have to let me take you to this spot I found. It's really pretty, you would like it."

Noelani scoffed, "I'm pretty sure I would already know it. Where is it?"

"Lose and find out." Alex gave her a crooked grin, "Unless you're scared."

"You're the one who should be scared. I don't lose. Not in swimming and certainly not in surfing." Noelani leaned her elbows against the top of the table.

"You sure are talking a lot of shit. You wanna back it up?" Alex said.

At the challenge, Noelani stood, "Why wait? Let's go right now. My board is in the back of my car."

Alex gave her an amused look then pursed his lips, still smiling, "Bet. Lemme go tell my friends I'm leaving."

He stood and walked to where his friends were while Leilani emerged from the party.

She grabbed Noelani's arm, "Noel, dance with me."

"Can't. I'm about to leave."

Leilani pouted, "What? You ca-."

"Aye, you ready?" Alex called from the parking lot.

Leilani widened her eyes, "Never mind. Go, I'll have someone else give me a ride. He's cute. Go."

Noelani shook her head at her cousin's behavior then walked towards the parking lot to meet Alex.

About an hour later, the two were straddling their respective boards in the ocean, side by side.

The beach they had chosen was located in between both of their places of residence.

The moon was high in the sky now, with the stars twinkling like fairy lights.

"You sure about this?" Noelani asked teasingly, "It's not too late to back out. I surf forty foot waves for breakfast."

Alex grinned at her words, "Imma make you eat those words."

Noelani playfully rolled her eyes, then scanned the horizon for any incoming waves.

"The hardest part for me is going to be waiting." Noelani rolled her neck around.

After a few minutes, a thirty foot wave rose up and began to race towards the shore.

Noelani snatched off her scrunchie and threw it behind the boy's back so it would make a splash in the water.

Once Alex was distracted, Noelani laid on her stomach and began to paddle quickly towards the wave.

"Aye! Aye! No fair, you cheated!" Noelani sent Alex a mischievous grin as she stood up on her board.

Noelani surfed the wave with ease, flipping herself off the water, spinning her board a full three sixty degrees, then landing back in the water with a splash.

"Oh, so a cheater and a show off?" Alex asked teasingly, once Noelani had paddled back to where he was waiting.

Noelani shrugged with a grin, "I want that shave ice."

While the two continued to playfully bicker, on the beach rested Noelani's beach bag and towel.

Resting in the bag was her cell phone.

The screen lit up with a call with Jalen that went unanswered.

Another wave came up and Noelani gestured for Alex to take it.

While he padded out, the cell phone continued to ring with another phone call from Jalen, unheard by Noelani.

Alex was just as skillful as she was with a surfboard, doing a trick that was as difficult as her own.

"Beat that." Alex panted as he rejoined her.

"Okay, I will." Noelani paddled out to meet the next wave.

On the beach, her phone lit up with one more attempted call from Jalen then the screen completely faded to black.

The Alex in this story is Alex Aiono I just didn't feel like adding his picture to the intro

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