The S.T.F. Files, Book 1: S.T.F.

Leaving The Islands

Aly's P.O.V.

"Riza!" I call, running towards her and Alagretto. Alagretto was helping her out of the water. "Oh my gosh!"

"Why do you look like that?" Riza asks.

"Look like what?" I furrow my brow. Cleo holds up a mirror. I looked like...crap! My hair was this way and that, my pajamas were crooked... I looked like I had just stepped out of a tornado.

"Enough about me," I push the mirror away.

"Cleo won't allow you to treat shwiney stuff like that," Cleo cries.

"Whatever," I give Cleo a cold stare. I look at Riza. "What happened?"

"Well...to be truthful, I don't know," Riza looks at her hands. I stare at her. How do you not know? It's you!

"What's going on?" Damien and Dimitri run out.

"Ya'll are late," I mutter.

"Well, we would've been here earlier, but someone had to stop and get some food," Dimitri looks at Damien.

"I was hungry!" Damien defends.

"Moron," Cleo mumbles.

"We are leaving Hawaii. I don't want to be here anymore," Riza looks at the sand now. I couldn't see her eyes at all.

"What? I wanted to surf some more!" Damien cries.

"Look Damien!" Cleo says. She holds up a waking stick (you know, the insect that looks like a stick with legs... yea).

"Get it away from me!" Damien rushes back to the house.

"If you wanna leave, we can leave," I say. Riza looks up.

"Ok then, it's settled!" Dimitri confirms. We start to walk back to the house.

"Aly! Can I...talk to you for a sec?" Riza stops me. Dimitri looks and nods his head. I smile.

"Sure," I say as soon as everyone else was out of ear shot.

"About what I said about leaving..." Riza starts.

"If you wanna go, I will go too," I look at the ocean. The sea breeze feels nice against my skin. The calm waves make all at peace here.

"Hmph. I thought you would be the first person to oppose me," Riza looks at me.

"Sure..." I laugh, then it gets quiet again.

"Hey. You don't think that..." Riza says, but I reach out and hug her. I hold her tight against me like if I let go, I'll never see her again. I let go of the hug, but keep my hands on her shoulders.

"What was that for?" Riza asks.

"You know, I would never stay in a place if it hurts you like this. In any way," I say seriously. Tears fall down her face. She smiles and we hug again. After we let go, Riza looks me in the face.

"What?" I say, wiping my face. She wipes hers too.

"If you tell anyone about me crying, I will tie you to the side of the plane while we are flying," Riza tells me.

"Roger that, General," I say saluting. We both laugh. I think that was the best friend-to-friend moment we have had since we were kids.

LATER THAT NIGHT...

This time, it was me to stand at the balcony. I think everyone has had their moments at this balcony. I loo at the moon The moon always gave me answers, but this time I had none. The ocean air... I took in a deep breath. It would be a while before I could smell it again.

I lean against the rail. Riza... I wondered what was really going on in Riza's mind. The blood, the ocean... what was too much for her? I was such an idiot, not to think about Riza's feeling as she would cover them up. Just for our sake ~ Damien, Alagretto, Cleo, Dimitri, and I ~ just for us, she would cover up her feelings to a be a leader. I didn't think I could ever pull it off.

"Riza, what really happened?" I whisper.

"Why are you up so late?" a voice says. I turn around, it's Alagretto.

"The sea is beautiful, isn't it," I sigh.

"Yeah, it is," Alagretto stands beside me and looks out.

"I think so too," I stare at the moon. I still had no answers. But then I didn't think of my question to actually have an answer.

"Were you thinking about Riza?" Alagretto asks. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine."

"I'm worried about her," I take a breath of air in. "I'm worried about her past clouding up her mind."

"Well, you know Riza. She practically overcomes any problems," Alagretto smiles.

"That's true...most of the time," I say. We both stare at the ocean.

"Well, I think we should get some sleep now," Alagretto walks to his room and shuts the door.

"Sure," I say. I look at the sea, then I walk to my room. Lying on my bed, I still don't have an answer. Something wasn't right. With that, I fell asleep.