The Little Lightning Girl

38- Homosexuality: The Foundation of Strong Friendships

I already had my swim suit on under my clothes the next morning, even as I woke up my friends. I was so excited to go surfing and to show my friends my home. Although I hadn't gotten anywhere near eight hours of sleep, something about the Hawaiian air must have refreshed me, because I didn't feel tired. Adrian and I had eventually wandered back to the house at around two in the morning, and for the first time in a while, it hadn't been all that difficult to fall asleep.

As always, Kaley was the easiest to wake up, I just shook her shoulder and that was it. Rose took a little more convincing. But she was fairly excited about learning to surf, and compared to some of the days at Hogwarts, waking her was very easy.

Soon enough, the five of us were walking towards the beach. Kai had borrowed a few boards from his job and managed to get mine from Stephanie's garage. And all of them were laid out on the sand when we arrived at the beach. I'd had to purchase another swimsuit, yet again, but had opted for an actual surf shirt and spandex shorts. It covered the most of my scars and therefore avoided the most questions. Maya and Adrian had similar swimsuits, for the same reason.

The moment we stepped foot on the sand, Adrian ran into the water with a grin on his face. He usually wasn't the grinning type, more solemn and stone-faced, but I loved seeing him so happy just because we were at the ocean. To my surprise, Kai followed him and challenged him to a contest. We never took contests that seriously, as we were mostly surfing just for fun. But Adrian immediately started paddling further out into the waves. I shouldn't have been shocked at how fast he made it out there, the boy could talk to fish, but when he and Kai popped up onto a wave at the same time, I laughed in joy.

I glanced behind me at the girls but before I could say anything, Rose rolled her eyes and Maya laughed, "You can go, I'll get them started."

I laughed again and turned to follow the boys out into the ocean. Eventually, I got out to where they were and managed to catch a wave pretty quickly. Once I stood up on the board, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the feeling of being home.

Adrian's POV

Gods, she may have been a daughter of the sky, but she was made for the ocean. Her long curly hair was loose and even though strands of brown and gold whipped around her face, it was her smile that made me want to watch her in awe. Wild and unleashed, the joy on her face mirrored my own as her strong limbs guided the surf board. I had to believe that my grandfather hadn't kicked her from the ocean long ago because he knew she loved it just as much as I did.

Kai had paddled up to sit on his board next to me, and we both watched her in silence for a long minute before she fell back into the water.

"She's always been like that," Kai said, making me look his way. His eyes were trained on her as she slid onto her board and began paddling towards us.

"Like what?"

"A free spirit. I'm not stupid, I know something happened to her because she's different than before, a little more restrained. That crap story about a car crash... I won't push it but I know there's more to the story. I've known Alana forever. She lives every day with a kind of... fierce passion. Everything she does, everything she feels, she does it with her whole heart. It's what first made me talk to her all those years ago, I looked at that determination, and passion, and I saw myself. She's like family to me."

I managed to smile at him, "I know exactly what you mean. I may not have known her for as long as you have, but she means so much to me, and to Maya."

Just before Alana was in earshot, Kai said with a smirk, "You should know, Adrian, I'm very homosexual, you don't need to worry about my relationship with Alana."

I hoped my blush wasn't visible but judging by his laugh, I definitely didn't hide it well. And as awful as it was for me to have felt jealous, I felt even more awful that I was glad Kai wasn't interested in Alana.

I was mesmerized by her smile as she sat up on her board next to me. That she could feel such joy after experiencing all of the pain that she'd told me about last night... it was a miracle. Most people would have long since given up on feeling happy, if they'd gone through what she had. But here she was, a grin on her face, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

Alana's POV

Both of the boys were staring at me when I reached them. I looked back at the beach and found that Maya was making Rose and Kaley lay on their boards on the sand and paddle. I knew Rose was pretty strong from our Quidditch workouts, but Kaley actually looked like she wasn't doing too badly.

The three of us in the water reached the beach in time to give them some tips, and soon enough, all five of us were out in the waves again. It took them a good while before either of them managed to stand up on their board, but I was surprised when Kaley beat Rose. Her body was stiff but she was standing and smiling as her board coasted through the waves. Twenty seconds later she fell in the water. Rose groaned and cursed at her as soon as she surfaced. Kaley just laughed. Rose stood on her next try.

We surfed for hours before Kai had to go to work. And at that point, we were tired enough that we figured we'd just lay on the beach. There was no one around, and us demigods were light sleepers so if we did fall asleep, the softest footstep would wake us up. We dozed on the sand for half an hour before I stood up and began to wander.

Maya joined me, and then Adrian, and then the three of us were walking along the beach. Side by side, we didn't say much, we just wandered. Until Maya broke the silence.

"Alana, there's something about this place. I don't know what it is, but I understand why you love it so much."

I smiled, "This is home. No matter how many miles away I am, this will always be home to me. I like New York, and I like London and Hogwarts, but Hawaii..."

I didn't need to finish my sentence, I knew they understood. However, I couldn't have finished my sentence even if I wanted to, because at that moment, somehow, between two large rocks, the sand dropped down and we fell into the cavern that it revealed.

Just as I was getting my bearings, I heard the sound of something like a whip, and something knocked me out.