What Remains of White Sands

Chapter Three

"Thank you, Bienna," I said with a smile, taking a mug of chai from the manager of the cafe. Her name meant, "good," and this was true of the delicacies she carefully prepared for Whole Foods.

After sipping some foam from the top to prevent spilling, I shuffled toward the back door of the cafe. The door lead to a walled-in courtyard behind the building, decorated with bushes and flowers. My friends had claimed a table and were laughing as I approached. Karida noticed my chai.

"Why would you get a hot drink on a sweltering day like today?" she questioned. "It's over eighty degrees out! Why are we even sitting outside?"

"It's yummy," I said. "And it's nice out. It can't be that hot."

"It must be," Tadi moaned, fanning herself as she picked up her iced latte. Before she sipped it, she said, "It's worth it as long as I get a tan."

"But you freckle," Nari pointed out.

Tadi grimaced as she swallowed. "Don't remind me."

"So do I," Penelope said, going cross-eyed as she attempted to look at her freckled snub nose. I giggled at her attempt and she smiled at me.

"I don't do either," Hetal complained. "I glob on bottles of sunscreen and burn anyway. I hate it."

"Same!" I complained. "But you knew that."

Temira said something rude about the sun and Zahina snorted into her hot chocolate. I rolled my eyes as I sat down on one of the wrought-iron chairs. I jumped back up and nearly spilled my chai, crying, "It's so hot!"

Zahina raised an eyebrow. "Ide? Are you okay?"

I frowned at my friend, the Indian one with the two long black braids and the all-knowing brown eyes, the only one who had noticed something odd. The others continued to complain about the heat.

"I don't know ..." I said slowly. "That was so weird. I don't usually feel pain."

"I know that," Zahina replied. "So why ...?"

Hesitantly I perched on the edge of the chair. After a moment, I said, "I'm fine now."

There was a lull in the conversation, and I turned from Zahina to the group as a whole, seizing my chance for the proposal on which Konner and I had agreed. "Okay guys. I have to talk to you."

"We're listening," said Tadi, crossing her legs and draping her arm over Nari's shoulders. Nari glanced sideways at her as she sipped her iced mocha.

"Okay," I repeated unsure of where to start. Then I remembered Konner's hook and decided to modify it. "So we're going into high school. And that means this has to be the best summer ever. And after how many here in Naturalleies, it's not going to happen here. So what if we went somewhere this year?"

Such a great and confusing choice threw my friends into a frenzy. After a long moment of chatter, Temira decided to clarify.

"What do you mean, 'went somewhere'?"

"Well ... there's this beach. And it's kinda close. And it looks really nice. It's called Seraveho and I think our whole class should go there this summer."

This made my friends even more confused.

"Our whole class?" Hetal echoed. "What are you talking about? Are you insane?"

"Um ... no," I offered weakly.

"But, like, we all go together? Like Konner and Yi Min and Robert and ... us?" Hetal sounded outraged. "This will never work."

"But don't you want to go to the beach?" I asked, desperate to get this plan to work and ignoring the mention of its creator's name.

"Well ... it's probably too hot," Karida pointed out.