"Dove! Hurry up, we're burning daylight!" Mason yells from the car and I playfully flip him off. I make sure everything is packed securely in the trunk before closing it. This is it. Summer vacation is finally here. After painful exams, and training with Sym wearing me down to the bone, we finally get to relax. Rose was a genius for mentioning going to the pack beach house for vacation this summer.

"It's sad Trinidee and Jaxon can't come with." Sym says while I climb in the car.

"Yeah. Trinidee has summer school and Jaxon went to go visit his brother overseas." Mason explains and she pouts.

"Well, we're gonna be there for two weeks. Hopefully Trin can make it for at least a night or two." I can barely hear Sym over the purr of the engine as it starts up, the seats vibrating underneath me.

"That'd be nice." Rose says from the front, putting her sunglasses on top of her head.

"Daniel and Andrew are meeting us there, yeah?" I ask and Sym nods.

"Calum and the boys too. They're coming over straight from the airport so they'll meet us day after tomorrow." We start flying down the road and I can't help but bounce in my seat from excitement. Two weeks with some of my closest friends at the beach. No school, no Blake, no stress. This is going to be by far the best summer vacation I've ever had. The five hour car ride is filled with so much singing and laughing that by the time we arrive, we can hardly keep our eyes open. We quietly unload the car and plop it all onto the living room floor with dragging feet. Sym flops onto the couch, falling asleep on impact. If I wasnt drained of all pf my energy, I wouldve laughed at how silly she fell.

I trudge myself up the stairs with my bag, not having enough energy to look around. Nap first, then explore. I stumble into a room with my name on the door and throw myself onto the bed, my bag skittering and sliding into the closet door across the room.

*The Beach Boys playing intermission music in the background*

I wake up several hours later, or, I'm assume it's that much later because the sun is setting through the huge window leading to a balcony across the room. I hear music and laughter down my face and peel my face from my bed sheet, rubbing the 'good nap' lines it leaves on my face. I walk down stairs, feeling rather refreshed after my nap but I also have a strong feeling I won't be sleeping much tonight.

Everyone is gathered around the couch, except for Daniel. Making a mental note to find him later, I approach the group and pretty quickly figure out what the excited chatter and giggling is about. They're stacking mini red solo cups on Daniels forehead, seeing how high they can stack them. I fight back some giggling of my own as he goes to itch his face and knocks over the four cup high pyramid.

"What the hell...?" Daniel grumbles and everyone laughs.

"Rise and shine, Danny-boy!" Sym teases, lightly shaking his leg. He throws one of the cups at her, a groggy smile crossing his face.

"C'mon, we're gonna go make a bonfire down by the beach and we know you love to be Fire Master." Rose messes up Daniels hair as he sits up.

"Why are all of my friends such assholes?" He asks playfully, shaking his hair back into place and Andrew sits next to him, slinging his arm around Daniels' shoulder.

"Hey man, takes one to know one." Andrew laughs and I'm sure if anyone around looked at me right now, they would think I'm a complete weirdo because of how wide my smile is. This truly is my family, and no one can tell me otherwise. Sure, we may not be blood, but I don't think that matters. I would trust any of them with my life before I even think of my blood family. I wish I could freeze this moment.

"Alright, we gonna go or what?" Mason asks, slipping on his sandals. We all throw on some shoes and head out the back door. Now that I'm not dying, I realize how gorgeous it is here. The house is a large two-story birch wood beach house on stilts. It has huge windows facing the back and is really nicely furnished, and not to mention the view. We're up on a rocky hill with stairs heading down to the beach, which is a beautiful red-sanded beach with gorgeous clear water. I remember my suit is upstairs and rush back inside. I practically run up the stairs and get changed into the bathing suit Sym helped me pick out a few weeks ago. It's got a white top covered in dark red roses, with a red bottom piece that matches the roses. I like that the borderline 1-piece suit doesn't show much skin while still being a two-piece; finding a one-piece that fits both up top and on bottom makes finding a needle in a haystack look easy. That is a down side of being pear shaped, but my butt and thighs are to die for, so I'm not mad at it.

"Having fun?" I hear Mason from the doorway and I jump.

"You bet. Gotta remember to appreciate yourself from time to time." I stick my tongue out at him and he grins.

"You're damn right about that. I'm so proud of you." I turn to face him.

"Proud? Why?"

"Well look at you six months ago; you were apologizing for everything, even when nothing was wrong, and you had me take down all the mirrors in your room. But now, you're sticking up for yourself, and not only are you looking in the mirror but you're appreciating your body too."

"It's all thanks to all of you though. I never would have loved myself if you didn't show me why I should. And though I have my bad days where I can't stand myself, it's getting easier. Thank you, Mason." I wrap the large boy in a hug and he rests his cheek on my head in a comforting fashion.

"You're welcome Dove, now, let's go join everyone, yeah?"

We pad downstairs, the laughter getting closer with every step. I'm so glad everyone's having a good time, especially Andrew. I was worried there would be left over hostility after what happened, but he's meshed with everyone really well these past few weeks, even going as far as coming to work out with me and Symali, though for obvious reasons we go easy those days. He tried testing Sym, doubting her sparring skills because 'how could such a cinnamon roll be good at fighting'. So watching her put him on the mat over and over was both satisfying and amusing.

"Are you slow pokes finally ready?" Andrew asks when we get back to the group and I roll my eyes, nodding.

"Tonight's the night. Are you ready to tell everyone about your voice?" Mason links me as we walk down, my heart pattering nervously.

"Yeah. I'm excited but for some reason I'm nervous too. What if I go to talk and nothing comes out." I start chewing my thumb nail anxiously.

"It'll be okay. We'll split from the group and make sure you're ready before saying anything." Mason rubs my back and relieves some of my anxiety. We see Andrew stop and step aside in front of us.

"Everything okay Dove? Your hearts beating a lot faster than normal, which is already pretty fast." He asks as soon as we get to him, joining us in walking down. I wave my head dismissively with a smile I hope is convincing.

"Mason, tell him I'm okay please. I'm just nervous because I've never been to a beach before." I ask and he nods, quickly translating for me and Andrews eyes go wide.

"What?! I have to show you all the good things right away!" He grabs my hand and almost starts running down the stairs. After a few steps of me almost falling after him, he picks me up and bounds down the stairs two at a time; meanwhile I'm holding on for dear life and grinning so hard I feel like my face is gonna fall off. I thank my lucky stars when we reach the bottom safely. I expect for him to put me down right there but he takes off down the beach, still carrying me in his arms.

"Daniel my boy! Bring the towels!" Andrew shouts over his shoulder, and as I take a peek behind us I see Daniel and Sym on our heels, carrying a metric ton of towels. Andrew finally slows his pace as we approach a fire pit. Andrew starts barking orders and before I can say 'unneccesary' I'm sitting on a small throne of towels on top of one of the fire pit logs, complete with an umbrella and a ottoman made of sand. Everyone is looking at me with a satisfied look on their faces at what they've done.

"That really wasn't necessary!" I type through my voice app.

"Oh hush, yes it was. You've never been to a beach before, we have to make it special!" Rose teases as she sits down next to me. Mason starts passing out drinks as Daniel sets up the fire. I'm relieved to see that the drinks arent anything crazy, just hard lemonades and some wine coolers. I'm not looking to be dealing with a hangover our first real day here. Soon enough, Daniels got the fire blazing into the night, the crackling of the logs being enough to makes me wanna curl up right here for a nap.

"So, how did this ragtag group of friends come to be?" Drew asks omce we've all settled in, his voice pulling me from watching the fire tips bite into the night.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Me and Jaxon had been friends since we met in our class sophomore year, but I didn't start hanging out with any of these weirdos until... Well, until Dove, really." Sym finishes her drink before answering, already reaching for another. Wait, really?

"Yeah, it was mainly just me and Rosie until she came around. We all knew each other, of course, since we live together, but none of us really had anything to talk about till Dove." Mason cuts in, Rose nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, and I remember Daniel coming out of nowhere." Symali starts laughing as Daniels face turns pink. "He showed up as we are all getting ready to ditch school and hang out in the woods, saying he and Dove were childhood friends. Me and him had never really talked before, but I figured she could do with more people she was comfortable with other than just Mason." Confusion washes over me.

"Childhood friends?" The robotic voice asks for me.

"Yeah, you two were classmates, right?" Rose asks, her eyebrows cocking as she looks from me to Daniel. Were we? I can't remember. Why can't I remember? Daniel clears his throat.

"Yeah... I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Dove doesn't remember me, but that's okay. Please don't feel bad Dove!" Daniel scrambles, "I figured you didn't remember me so I just knew I'd have to work a little harder to be your friend again, even though I didn't feel like I deserved it. I was willing to do whatever it took, so, sorry for lying to you Sym but I couldn't figure out any other way to start a conversation, especially with my lack of social grace." He trails off, looking into his own drink before finishing his as well.

"Why wouldn't you have deserved it? You're a sweet guy and as far as I can remember, you've never done anything worth me disliking you." I try to cheer him up but my smile fades I see everyone look around uncomfortably, no one looking me in the eyes. Daniel opens his mouth to say something.

"Hey Dove, come help me get more firewood." Mason cuts in, grabbing my hand and pulling me away.

"Mason, what was that all about?" I ask out loud ones were out of earshot. My throat is tight and my voice came out super raspy, but no pain, which is good. I clear my throat and swallow, hoping that helps.

"Don't worry about that right now, how's your throat feeling? You didn't sound so bad for someone who hasn't talked in a year." He gives me a warm smile and I return it, deciding to drop the weird conversation for now.

"I've been practicing at home, but up until a few days ago I'd get tired out super quickly or it hurt. I sound a lot better now. Feels weird to hear myself again. I think I'll be fine, especially since it's working right now." I say, trying not to trip all over my words. English is hard.

"Thats great! Just make sure you dont push yourself too hard, okay? Hate for you to get hurt right after getting this back.

"Okay." I promise and he holds my hand as we walk back, giving it a squeeze before he lets go to get to his seat. It seems like the uncomfortable atmosphere has all but completely dissipated.

"Welcome back, wheres the firewood?" Sym greets us and Mason shrugs.

"Out on the beach, probably." He answers and Sym fake laughs while flipping him the bird.

"So, um, I have something to tell you guys." I say, standing in front of everyone, but I dont think they heard me over the laughing fit Sym and Mase caused.

"Would ya'll shut up and pay attention to Dove? She has a surprise for you." Mason shouts over the laughter and suddenly everyone is looking at me, and I take a second to soak in all of their happy faces. I flounder, not sure what to say now that they're all looking at me.

"Uhm, hi guys."