TAYA's POV :- - - - - THREE WEEKS LATER - - - - -I hadn't been this nervous since the time I stood on a stage for the play. And here I was again, standing in front of hundreds and hundreds of my family and friends on a makeshift stage in the middle of the football field.I knocked the microphone in front of me a few times and coughed to loosen up my throat. The feedback rang and I stopped the knocking immediately."Teachers and faculty, family and friends, and our fellow graduating seniors, first of all, I'd like to say congratulations to us all, we've made it," I said as I took in a deep breath, staring out into the sea of faces in front of me."I'm standing here today as your senior class representative, and I'm supposed to give you a speech, to reflect back on our high school days and to motivate you all for the upcoming future. But let's be honest, that's a load of crap," short laughs echoed through the air and I sighed a breath of relief."Honestly, I don't even know how I got
TAYA’s POV :We had some time to kill before the graduation party, so Gabe, Hallee, Judah, and I piled into Jesse’s truck and we headed to the beach. Still wearing our bright blue caps and gowns, we were standing in the back of the truck with the wind blowing against us. We were laughing, cheering, and hollering at the sky. And I was laughing so much, my cheeks were hurting.A lot of things would change after this summer, so the four of us were to determined to make our remaining days count. In just a couple of days, Hallee would be leaving on a cross-country road trip with Jesse to the east coast. Gabe would be staying in Hawaii until August, and then he’d move to Nashville. Meanwhile, Judah and I were staying for a few more weeks before leaving for California.I was super excited, but also kind of sad. I was feeling hopeful, but also a little scared. It was a strange mix of emotions, and I wasn’t the only one feeling it. I knew my friends were going through the same thing, which was
JUDAH's POV :"If you just want some cake, you could've just told me. Don't have to kidnap me all the way to the other side of town," I said playfully as I followed her deeper into the woods."Ha-ha, very funny," she ignored me and just kept on walking."Seriously, what the hell are we doing here?"After a good mile or so, we finally arrived at the waterfall. The same one that we went to after the homecoming dance. We got a little drunk and she and I went skinny dipping. That was one hell of a night.Maybe she's taking me here to finish what we started before...?"Well, we're gonna be leaving Kauai in just a few weeks. But there are still a few things I wanna do before I go, so..." she started."You wanna do it with me in the waterfall?" I blurted."Judah! No!" she gaped."Honestly, I wouldn't mind," I smirked and she rolled her eyes at me."Keep rolling those pretty eyes, and I'mma show you something that'll roll your eyes so far back...""Judah!" she pleaded for me to stop, and of c
JUDAH’s POV :"There's something I've been meaning to tell you, and it's been a long time coming..." I paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “And since we’re defying our fears today…”"Judah, what is it?" Blondie gave me a puzzled look as I stretched out my right hand to her."Hi... my name is Jaden... well, it's Judah now, but that's beside the point..." I started rambling."Judah, what are you doing?" she narrowed her eyes at me, but she took my hand anyway."I wanna thank you for sharing your lunch with me. And for the Band-Aids too. And I just wanna say, you're the coolest girl in this entire playground and you have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen..."Those were the exact words that little seven year old me wanted to tell her all those years ago. I had practiced that line so many times in front of my bathroom mirror. Corny maybe, but for a seven year old, I thought that wasn't so bad."I've waited years to tell you that. I've wanted to tell you since the first day we met at
TAYA's POV :“10 dollars each for an entrance ticket? That’s a total rip-off,” Judah scoffed as we made our way into the Kilauea Lighthouse.“I know,” I sighed in agreement. “But hey, they go towards protecting the birds, so I guess it’s a good cause?”Today was the first official day of summer and we kicked things off by checking another thing off my bucket list. I never did anything touristy on this island because I never imagined leaving the place. But now, doing touristy things made up about half the things on my list.The Kilauea Lighthouse was this cute little lighthouse located on a rocky peninsula with fantastic views along the coast. It was also a wildlife refuge and you could see many seabirds flying by, and even whales in the wintertime. Or, at least that was what the brochure read.Unfortunately, when we got up there, the sky looked gloomy like it was about to rain, and there were no birds in sight. And we couldn’t get inside the lighthouse, so we just walked around it. Ju
JUDAH’s POV :“One, two, and kick!” I said as I moved my feet. Blondie and I were standing in her backyard on a Sunday afternoon and I was showing her how to do a proper kick. She looked at me for a moment before attempting her own.“Like this?” her feet were wobbly, which meant she had to work on her posture.“Try bringing your right foot higher, and bend your left knee a little,”If you were wondering why we were doing this on a Sunday, well, this was another thing on Blondie’s bucket list. She wanted to learn self defense, and all that knowledge I accumulated from the fighting ring finally could do something good.“Like this?” she asked as she fixed her posture.“No, it’s more like… this,” I said as I held her foot up higher. When I was doing this, I ended up standing a bit too close to her. Our faces were a mere inch away, and I could only gulp like an idiot.“Judah…” she said.“Yeah?”“You can let go of my leg now,” She was blushing a little, and she motioned for her dad and Ka
TAYA’s POV :“I can’t believe I’m leaving Hawaii tomorrow!” Hallee screeched as soon as we sat down at our usual booth in Zippy’s. It was her last night here, so Judah, Gabe, Jesse, her, and I decided to have our last supper together at her favorite loco moco place.“How are you feeling?” I asked her.“I feel like I’m going crazy! I keep packing and unpacking my bags, making sure I got everything ready. I got everything with me, but I feel like I’m missing something, you know?”Judah and I exchanged a look and we grinned sheepishly at her.“Wow, that sounds crazy,” he commented.“Anyway, I’m glad we’re meeting here and not in my house. It’s a total titanic situation in there,” she sighed as she waved the waiter over to us. “Hey, six orders of the usual please,”“Sure, coming right up,” the waiter nodded and left.“Six orders?” I asked her and motioned between the five of us.“I know, but I’m stressed, so I’m binging,” she said simply.“How are your parents doing?” Gabe asked.“My mom’
TAYA’s POV :- - - - - One Week Later - - - - -“Taya, honey,”This morning, I woke up to my mom’s voice calling after me. I felt the bed dip and I stirred and groaned. I slept pretty late last night because I was binge watching Stranger Things on Netflix.And since I’m not a high school student anymore, aren’t we done with this? “Wake up, sweetie,” she said again when I refused to open my eyes.“Mom, what is it?” I sighed dramatically. “It’s Saturday morning… and I’m not in school anymore!”“I know, but you have company downstairs,” she said.Out of curiosity, I peered my eyes open. “Who?”“Who else,” she smiled knowingly. She leaned down and kissed my forehead, saying, “Oh, and happy birthday, sweetie,”That’s right! It’s my birthday today!Mom didn’t say anything else and she walked out of my room with a naughty smile playing on her face. My body jerked up instinctively. There could only be one person crazy enough to show up unannounced and wake me up at eight in the morning on a
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *NEW YORK CITYFOUR YEARS LATER* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *TAYA's POV :"Well?" Hallee came right in, bombarding my personal space as soon as I stepped out of the auditorium lobby.Her eyes were wide, full of hope and expectancy. I gave her a small, sad smile and sighed, "I didn't get in,""Aw, man! Are you serious? I really thought you had it in the bag. I mean, the Juilliard admission was all over you, flying you out to New York City for a damn audition too,""Meh, it's okay. I'll get it next time,"It really was nice of the Juilliard Academy to fly me all the way over here for an audition into their selective conservatory program. A representative of the school saw my graduation piece at UCLA and she loved it so much, she came to me after the show to talk about the possibility of me having a future in New York City — Broadway and all that jazz.I never even thought that something like this would be an option. So of course, I took
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *LOS ANGELES, CASIX MONTHS LATER* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *JUDAH’s POV :Christmas used to mean nothing to me.My mom and I were too busy being in survival mode to care about stupid holidays like that. Plus, we didn't have any money for gifts or holidays. Usually, she’d work through Christmas, and I’d get high and pass it by.But not this year.This year would be our first Christmas together, Blondie and I. We went back to Hawaii for Thanksgiving, as we promised our friends, but we were staying in California for Christmas. Plane tickets were expensive and Blondie wanted to stay here and rehearse anyway. That’s right, my very own Blondie was chosen as the lead role for UCLA’s upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet. That's fucking sick. I'm hella proud of her. The play would open in January, and Blondie would rather spend Christmas break practicing than anything else. Even though the school and the production were on break
GABE’s POV :It all started because of one stupid promise.I promised my friends that I would speak to Maddie before I leave for college. I had a crush on this girl since freshman year of high school, though the number of conversations we had could be counted with one hand.Though my friends had already left for college and I was the last one to go, I couldn’t leave without keeping that promise. But the problem was that Maddie didn't even know I exist. I couldn’t just go to her house and declare my undying love for her. I had to meet her somewhere and I don't know, maybe strike a conversation first?So when I got word that there was gonna be a party at a yacht thrown by Ryder Jake Williams and that Maddie would be there, I thought this must be a sign. Maybe this was the universe’s way of giving me a chance to speak to her.Ryder Jake Williams was actually Taya’s cousin. He was quite well known in this town. He was this surfer hero that all the guys wished they could be and all the gir
RYDER’s POV :“Hey, Ryyy!” Taya screeched as soon as I picked up her Facetime call.“Hey, T, what’s up?” I chuckled.From where I was standing, my cousin sister looked alright. Her skin was glowing and her hair was neatly tied up. Several days had passed since she left Hawaii and I was glad to see her alive and doing well.“Ry, we just saw the article online, congrats on winning the Hawaii Pro. We’re so proud of you!”“Thanks,” I said. “Who’s we?”“Judah and me, of course,” she chirped. She then turned the camera slightly and showed Judah sitting next to her on the couch.“Right,” I snorted. “How are you doing out there? Is everything good? Is he being nice to you? You tell me if he’s doing something sh—”“Everything is great and he is perfect, Ryder,” she cut me off sternly. “We just moved in to our apartment and got our first couch today. Everything’s great here, so don’t you worry about us,”“Geez, stop referring to yourself as we and us. It’s creepy,” I rolled my eyes.“Oh, Ryder,
BLAKE’s POV :“Blake, no!” My mom said rather sternly. She was blocking the door to my dad’s office with her body. “Your father’s not in a good mood right now,” she hissed.“This can’t wait,” I said simply and pushed past inside.“Blake!” she called after me, but I only shut the door behind her.My dad finally came back from his business trip to Nevada. He was gone for weeks. When I heard that he was back tonight, I left the prom right away and went home. I was still in my prom attire as I walked into his office. I yanked my tie open and stepped inside. He was alone, sitting at his desk, and a glass of bourbon was by his side. You could tell a lot about my dad’s condition by his choice of drink. Scotch meant that he was happy, and bourbon meant that he just had a bad deal. He mustn’t be in a good mood right now.“Dad, I have to talk to you,” I said once I stood in front of his desk.“Not now son,” he sighed and tipped his head back. “It’s been a long day,”“It can’t wait, dad,”I had
TAYA’s POV :“Make sure you’ll call right after you land,” Mom said.“And call us when you get to the apartment,” Jenny added.“Don’t sign anything if you’re not ready to sign,” Mom continued.“And call us if they try to—““Ma, stop,” Judah groaned.“We got this, mom,” I said to my mom as well.My mom and Jenny were standing with us in front of the departure gate at the airport. Finally, it was time for Judah and me to leave for California. We got our two big suitcases with us and we were ready to go. Except, mom and Jenny kept trying to hold us from leaving, giving us advice after advice.The two of them exchanged a look and a smile. They had been giving us the same advice over and over again the past week. But like Jesse said, moms will be moms.“You’re right,” mom sighed finally. “I know you two will be fine,”“But please, call us anyway,” Jenny added.“We will,” Judah said as he hugged his mom. “I’ll miss you ma,”“I’ll miss you too, sweetheart,” Jenny started crying as she leaned
TAYA’s POV :We were sitting under a bed full of stars. And they were shining so bring, they looked like diamonds scattered across the Milky Way. I had never seen anything more magical than this. I was completely in awe, but Judah didn’t look so impressed.“What?” I asked him. “You know a better spot than this in Hawaii?”“Of course,” he said.“Where?”He put a hand on the side of my cheek, tilting my face towards his. And with that sexy smile on his face, he aimed for my lips and said, “Right… here,”Oh, that was so smooth.His lips landed on top of mine gently and I tilted my face to the side, allowing for more access. Tightening his grip on my face, Judah deepened the kiss and I kissed him back with the same hunger and passion. Though it was cold out here, my body was burning up. Soft moans escaped my lips and Judah’s tongue slid his way into my mouth. Our tongues met and they tangled breathlessly as warmth and desire overtook our bodies.Pulling away slightly, Judah threw the blan
JUDAH’s POV :* HONK! * HONK! *“Come on, Judah! Rise and shine!”Parked right outside my house, Blondie was beaming and honking the car. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a simple tank top, and jeans. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and there were two large cups of iced coffees in the cup holders. This could only mean one thing, she meant business.“Blondie… the sun’s not even out yet!” I protested as I neared the car.Ignoring me, she simply asked, “Did you bring a change of clothes like I told you?”I lifted the duffel bag in my hand. “Yeah, and what are we doing exactly?”“You ask too many questions, Judah,” she rolled her eyes and pushed the car door open, gesturing for me to get in. “Come on, chop-chop, we got places to be!”* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *The next thing I knew, Ed Sheeran was blasting on the radio as Blondie drove us to the highway. The cool breeze was blowing in our hair and the sun was just rising. I was a
TAYA’s POV :- - - - - One Week Later - - - - -“Taya, honey,”This morning, I woke up to my mom’s voice calling after me. I felt the bed dip and I stirred and groaned. I slept pretty late last night because I was binge watching Stranger Things on Netflix.And since I’m not a high school student anymore, aren’t we done with this? “Wake up, sweetie,” she said again when I refused to open my eyes.“Mom, what is it?” I sighed dramatically. “It’s Saturday morning… and I’m not in school anymore!”“I know, but you have company downstairs,” she said.Out of curiosity, I peered my eyes open. “Who?”“Who else,” she smiled knowingly. She leaned down and kissed my forehead, saying, “Oh, and happy birthday, sweetie,”That’s right! It’s my birthday today!Mom didn’t say anything else and she walked out of my room with a naughty smile playing on her face. My body jerked up instinctively. There could only be one person crazy enough to show up unannounced and wake me up at eight in the morning on a