December 14th | Seventeen Days Until NYE 

I wasn't in the best mood and no amount of acting was hiding it from my perceptive friends. Leah and Benji were packing up their beach bags, Benji shoving more sunscreen inside and left over cookies for them to eat on the sand, while I was watching Leah run around searching for her sunnies.

I was leaning against the wall, messaging mum to let her know of the plan for the day, but I gripped my phone tight, a large part of me wanted to volley it through the nearest window.

I had planned to sneak out in the night and run down to Whale Beach, following the cliff side to Siren Bay in the dark, but the three of us hadn't stopped chatting until 3am and we'd all had a lazy morning.

The desperation to get to Siren Bay was starting to itch under my skin. I shuffled my weight on my sandal-covered feet, the frayed shorts gently brushing my muscled thighs, grateful for dressing in loose clothes. It made the itch a little easier to deal with but it didn't eradicate the feeling of time running out.

I heard the mean clobber of Leah's boots on her feet, running between the living room and Benji's kitchen for her sunnies, but to me it was a rapid stopwatch ringing in my ears.

"Are we ready?" I asked, Benji adjusted his sunglasses and giving me a once-over, focusing on my phone I'd put back into my beach bag.

"Almost, just waiting for Leah." Benji waved to her. "What'd your parents think of your first day of summer?"

I shrugged, some of my ringlets brushing my shoulders as I did so. My ponytail wavered with my step, unable to look Benji in the eye. "They seemed alright with it, just reminding me of the golden rule."

"No going in the ocean?"

"Nope."

Benji stood up. We were almost the same height, my friend just slightly taller than me, and he looked at me closely. His soft eyes roamed over my skin, my sharp eyes, and the raised brows - I couldn't lift just one. When he lifted one of his own, I scowled. "All because you didn't tell them where you were on your birthday?"

"Don't lift your eyebrow at me."

"What, because you can't do it?" Benji smirked, before raising the other one. "Fine, I won't raise that one."

"Don't be a dick, Benj', that's Leah's job."

Benji crossed his arms in an attempt to be intimidating, but I knew he couldn't scare a possum from his back garden, let alone something human. Maureen Smith could chase anything away with a single glare but Benji didn't have a violent bone in his body. "You're still avoiding my question Syl' - I thought you were done with secrets?"

My mouth opened, I didn't know what to say to him, but Leah rounded the corner before I could with her black shades in hand. "I found them!" She cheered, sliding them up her small nose. "I can now plan my world domination."

"What do you mean 'plan'?" I laughed. "I'm sure you have it underway already!"

Leah smirked and I just caught her wink in the lenses. Benji grabbed his bag, looking to Leah as she heaved hers off the floor - she was bringing two books with her. "Let me guess, through destroying technology or poisoning the planet?" He clicked his fingers. "Ooh! Are you going to unleash some dark magic and rule us all?"

"All of the above," Leah joked, waving at Benji to start moving. "Come on! We've wasted a lot of the afternoon already!"

"Whose fault was that?" I pondered, tapping my chin. "Benji, do you have any idea?"

"No idea at all! You and I were right at the door so it couldn't have been us..."

"You're both assholes," Leah shook her head. "You're no longer surviving my world domination."

"Will you be running late for that too?" Benji chimed, leaping out the door with a shriek when Leah grabbed her book and smacked him with it. "Ow! Is that thing made out of cement?!"

"This masterpiece is made from the knowledge that I can inflict harm with it." Leah kissed her book gingerly before placing it back in her bag. Benji rolled his eyes, shouting a quick goodbye to his grandma, who was watching a re-run of reality TV and just waved in response. Leah followed Benji to his front gate, rolling her eyes as he waved to all the spiders hanging in giant webs above the path.

I gently shut the door behind us and followed them to the road, walking past a rickety bike with a frayed basket and some broken garden gnomes. I frowned at the abandoned bike, probably Maureen's that she didn't use anymore, and an idea flashed in my mind.

While trailing behind Leah and Benji's rant on what was the most mundane thing to harm someone with - Benji was arguing a rolling pin to Leah's book - I began to memorise the route we were taking. My legs burned as we walked down the steep decline to the beach, the sharp bends in the road forcing traffic to widely bank and avoid other cars like we were in real-life Dodgems.

I flicked my hair out of my eyes as I followed my friends down to Whale Beach and wondered how best I was going to betray their trust.

I had to get to Siren Bay. I had to. After the events of my eighteenth, I had a debt to repay. The itch beneath my skin laced my palms and I furiously wiped them on my shorts as the road levelled into a round-a-bout.

Whale Beach roared before them. A tall fence of pine trees stood between the dense, warm sand and my debt. The cafe on her left was a ruckus of people and the addictive smell of chips wafted to my nose.

Benji and Leah stood either side of me. "Damn," Leah said as Benji squinted against the glowing sea. "There's a lot of people here."

I nodded slowly. "Let's try walking down the beach to find a spot?"

"That's an idea," Benji grinned. "There's a lot of hot people though, I might have to abandon you on my quest for summer love."

"No." Leah smacked his shoulder. "If you go on another stupid quest you're gonna end up having to be carried home again!"

I laughed. "I ain't carrying you again Benji, that night haunts me."

"Come on!" Benji stretched his arms out in invitation as he walked beyond the pines and onto the sand. "It was an adventure!"

Leah leaned up to my ear. "$10 says he gets drunk again and you have to carry him home?"

"Make it $20."

"Deal."

I laughed and stepped beyond the pines and onto the sand, the shaded soft beach enveloping my shoes. This was the first time I'd been on the sand since my eighteenth. My hands were shaking. I was so close, so close to the water. Maybe just one foot in the surf...

Leah slipped her hand in mine, her dark eyes sharp. "Big day," Leah whispered, "but let's go and find Benji." Her eyes narrowed when she saw my jaw clench at her subtle order. "I know that look on your face, Syl."

"No water, I know." I said begrudgingly, reminding myself. "Let's find a spot and sit down before Benji eats all the food."

Leah let go of my arm and I jumped down the beach, laughing at the glare on Leah's face. "Kidding!" I laughed, climbing away from the ocean roaring at me to return to its depths.

I wouldn't be able to tread close with Leah and Benji with me, but maybe I could glimpse Siren Bay, at least. Benji had begun walking south, away from the cafe, and to my luck, towards the place I was desperate to return to.

I jogged 'til I was walking alongside him, slipping out of my shoes so I could feel the sand roughen the soles of my feet. The heat was a searing comfort guiding me quickly to the end of the beach, where the rocks flanked the sand and soared to the sky in a sheer cliff.

"Hey," I turned to my friends. "Shall we check out our spot?"

Benji lifted a finger. "Uh, that's in the water, Syl."

"I know, but we could have a look, at least?" I looked to Leah, who had her arms crossed again. "For old times sake?"

I could feel Leah's glare burning into my face, her sunglasses doing nothing to hide the disapproval. "The rocks are too wet and we're not in good shoes, Sylvia. We're meant to be on the sand soaking up the sun."

"I have an hour until I need to reapply my sunscreen, too." Benji grasped my hand and guided me away from the rocks.

I hesitated, my feet dragging through the sand as my friend pulled me away. I could see the glistening water from the ocean pool, the trench beyond that separated the rocky outcropping and the ocean slapping the land in rage at my departure. Just beyond that turn, the other side of the cliff, was another trench I, Benji, and Leah called Siren Bay.

The three of us found each other on our first day of Year 7, when the teachers were gently introducing students and making sure no one was left alone. I'd been a bright-eyed yet wary girl and everyone seemed to take an interest in me - most of them were complimenting my combination of brown skin and blue eyes - but I found Leah and Benji in the corner of the room.

Benji had snuck in a whole packet of gummy bears in his pocket. Leah had caught him, and then I caught them both with their mouths full. Our fast friendship formed on the base of secrecy; I could have some gummy bears if I didn't tell on them.

Our escape from school was heading to Whale Beach and climbing around the cliff to the second trench in the rocks; a large strip of sand flanked by boulders, with a small opening where the ocean rolled in. We would sit on the sand with our feet being tickled by smooth waves, and sing to the stars like sirens.

Siren Bay was our sanctuary. I discovered a few months ago it was something much more than that. It was also a home for something else - an ethereal mystery she was barely beginning to unravel.

I let Benji pull me away from the rocks, away from the mystery I itched to discover, and between ignoring Leah's curious glances and enjoying Benji's commentary on the fellow sunbathers, I made a final decision.

When Leah and Benji were asleep tonight, I was sneaking out. I was running out of time, I knew it.

I wouldn't fail to repay the debt I owed.

~

To lift you all up, here's a new update, and I have a joke for you; 

Why do cows have hooves instead of feet? 
...Because they LACK-TOES! 

You're welcome. I'm hilarious. Wishing you all good health, fortune, and safety. 

Libby x