The Day Before High School

-Val's House, 2016-

"What's taking her so long? Argh come on, I can't wait to hit the waves!" Caleb nags with impatience on his tone.

"Relax, we'll still get there in time, she's probably doing some makeup or something," Joanne calms him down.

"Should I go check on her?" Kai volunteers to check up on his best friend.

"I'll check up on her," Beca answers with a smile on her face, "now, control your patience, Farrell!" she yells to Caleb Farrell, her twin brother. Felix who saw the twins nagging at each other just smiles with a little bit of laughter on his face.

Val's Bedroom,

"Honey, are you done yet? What's takin' you so long?" Beca asks loudly because she talks before reaching Val's room.

"I'm almost done! Just get in!" Val shouts to reach her. She tops all of her makeup with a lip tint. She grabs a bag and her white polaroid camera, and Beca already opened the door.

"Looking good... Who are you meeting? Some hot surfers hanging around the beach?" Beca teased her while leaning on the door.

"Ugh, it's not like that! I just wanna look nice and beachy, okay..." Val smiles, but with a disagreement on her face.

"Oh, you did your hair too! The braid is very pretty! You should teach me how to do braids! Or... you can just do it for me! Never mind. Don't teach me, just do it for me!" Beca teased her while grabbing Val's hand and dragged her down to the living room.

Val's Living Room,

"There she is!" Felix shouts and points at her.

"Now come on, we're going to the beach baby!" Caleb shouts while raising his fist to express his excitement.

"Now, let's not get too washed up okay... Tomorrow's our first day of high school!" Joanne kind of shouts to remind everybody to not go all out on their surfin' times.

"Did I take that much of a long time to go down?" Val asks Kai while walking outside of her own house with the others.

"No, not that long... It's fine, let's go..." Kai says softly while grabbing her shoulder.

-Tortoise Point, a beach in Shueset-

"Whoooo! The waves and the wind! Now, let's get some surfboards, baby!" Caleb screams with a tone full of enthusiasm.

"Try yelling 'Baby!' one more time and I'll kick you in the ass, Caleb," Val says to him while sarcastically raising her fist to his face.

"No way, baby! Whooo I'm so excited" Caleb roars again and ran away from Val who might be running after him and trying to kick him in the ass for shouting "Baby!" for the second time.

Beca, who's also thrilled, runs toward the sea too, followed by Joanne from behind her.

Felix was about to join them, but he hesitated after seeing Kai's expression. "Aren't you going to join the others and hit the waves too...?" Felix carefully asks him.

Kai stays silent for a while then starts to get back to his sense and smiles again. "Never mind, let's hit the waves, Baaaabyyy!!!" Kai shouts and runs toward the others.

Felix just stares at him and smiles, "He always has a lot on his mind, huh..." he then follows him and the others while screaming, "whooo!!!!"

They all rent surfboards according to their preferences. They start to hit the waves and have some fun with each other.

"We're gonna be in high school!!!!" Val roars with excitement in her tone.

"I'm so excited to meet a bunch of cuties, but I hate studying!!!!" Beca shouts while kicking the seawater that accidentally gets into Kai's face.

"Oops...." Beca says while smiling to control Kai's patience.

"It's alrig-" Kai is about to finish his sentence and suddenly some water splashes him big this time.

It was Caleb, indeed.

Caleb looks at him with a smile and splashes him again. "Oh, you are a dead-meat Farrell, bring it on!" Kai shouts and starts to splash water on Caleb.

Their splashing fight, of course, splashes the others too. Then they all start to splash the others.

"Let's all team up and splash Caleb together!!!" Val roars with a high and funny tone.

"Yaaaassss!!! Splash my twin brother y'all!" Beca answers her. "Whoooo!!!" Joanne adds.

They team up and makes Caleb as their main and only target. "H-hey! Come on! Ain't fair, I said, ain't fair!!!" Caleb screams while defending himself from the water.

Caleb starts to run away and they all chase after him while still splashing water with kicks and stuff.

"Whoo, I'm beat!" Caleb calls while dropping and laying on the sand.

"You ran way too fast, dude!" Val complains.

"You just aren't athletic enough, Val," Beca teased her.

Well, out of the 6 of them, Val is indeed the least athletic. Unlike the others who took karate lessons until middle school, Val quit in 5th grade. Knowing that Beca's words were right, she just laughs.

They all smile warmly while lying on the sand and looking at the sky that's starting to turn orange.

Bbbrrrttttt, Caleb's phone vibrates.

It turns out that some relatives are visiting their houses. "We should be going, sis! Uncle Vernon and Aunt Theresa are here!" Caleb yells to her while cleaning his t-shirt from the sand.

Beca also stands up knowing that they have to go. "Sorry guys, we'll see you tomorrow!" Beca says while leaving with Caleb.

Then, Joanne's phone suddenly rings too.

"What is it, dad?" Joanne answered in half-Korean to her dad. "Sorry guys, they need me in the restaurant right now." She explains with a guilty voice.

"Should I help too? I'm craving Japanese food, suddenly." Felix volunteers to help her. "Sure, what about you two?" Joanne asks Val and Kai.

"Well... Just like Phoebe once said, I wish I could, but I don't want to..." Val answers sarcastically to tease her.

"it's fine, take your time. Just don't be out too late, okay?" Joanne says calmly as if she knows what Val meant. Joanne and Felix leave to help her family restaurant.

Only Val and Kai are left there.

Val turns her body to face Kai who is just smiling while looking at the beautiful sky. Val pulls out her polaroid camera and takes a sudden picture of Kai. The flash surprises him.

"Hey!" he complains while trying to get her camera to see it.

"Catch me, Jenkins!" Val stands up and runs from him toward the sea. Kai chases her while bursting out to laugh. He shouts her name with a squeaky tone, "Gimme that, Val!!!"

"Hey! I'm tired of running around all day!" Kai yawps while resting on his knee.

Val turns her body to look at him who is smiling under the sun that is starting to set. "Aren't you going to try for the basketball team tomorrow? I don't think they'll let you in with this kind of strength!" Val tries to annoy him to get his reaction.

"Oh, I'll get you, Gilbert!" Kai answers while shouting Val's surname and running toward her.

Kai easily grabs her hand and accidentally makes them fall onto each other.

"Ghahahahah, alright, I admit it. You'll make it to the team with that pace," Val surrendered in his arms. "Now, lemme see the photo!" Kai says while releasing her from his arms.

"It's pretty! Don't be such boo hoo!" Val makes fun of him again while showing the polaroid picture to him.

"Hey, it is good," Kai answers. He steals the photo and says, "well, I'm keepin' it!"

Val, surprised, gasps and complains, "What? No fair! I'm keeping it!"

Not that she is being petty, it's just that she treasures that photo or, more likely, him very much.

The wave suddenly hits them and makes the photo slip from Kai's hand to the ground. Val quickly grabs it.

"See? The ocean's on my side, Kai." Val teases him while patting his head roughly. They both lie on the ground while looking at the sky again.

"So, what are you worrying about?" Val asks while looking at him.

"W-what? What are you talkin' about!" Kai shrugs it off as if he doesn't know what Val was talking about.

"Give it up, Kai. Just say it, geez!" Val complains.

"How and since when did you notice that?" Kai startles. "Everybody noticed that, Kai," Val answered him softly while looking at the waves.

Everybody did notice him. Caleb, and Beca, texted her, on their way back home, telling Val to comfort Kai. Felix noticed too that's why he's offering to help Joanne. Joanne also noticed that is why she didn't complain when Val said she wouldn't help her. Everybody did notice that something is going on in Kai's head.

"So... What is it, pal? What are you worrying about?" Val asks him again.

"I'm just... worried about high school, about living up to my parents' expectations, being the perfect and good guy, being as good or half as good as my brother. I don't know if I can be like my brother, or not... It's not important, though..." Kai answers while looking away.

"Dude, that's normal to feel like that. There are no unimportant feelings, you know... Everything about us is important. That's what friends are for, right? You don't have to live your high school life just like your brother, Kai. Your worth isn't gonna decrease by living the life that you want." Val comforts him.

After hearing her words, Kai smiles. Val can always bring his smile back. Perhaps that's because Val just knows him too well or perhaps Val is everybody's safe place.

They just smile at each other without knowing what lies upon them, but it's okay.

Nobody knows what's the future about, but it's alright, at least for them, as long as they have each other's back.

By lying next to each other, they can see that the unknown days upon them will still be warm when they are together.