Kiera PoV
Today was the last day of the summer holiday, the day before school and all its craziness resumed and I and my best friend, Emily Grayson were honouring a tradition we'd had since we were kids by going to the beach.
The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the sea, the sand and even us where we sat. Moments later, it had completely disappeared into the sea and I was left staring wistfully at the now dark sky as the cold beach air brushed against my skin causing a shiver to run down my spine.
"I still can't believe summer is over," I mumbled, flexing my toes in the sand.
"Yeah. Tomorrow, we become juniors. I can't wait!" Emily exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air excitedly. I rolled my eyes at her. "I thought you'd be less eager to go back to school."
"Meh, not this year. I mean, we're gonna be juniors in high school. One more year after this then it's bye-bye, high school. Hello college AKA freedom!"
"You make it sound so easy. What about SATs, college applications, essays, finals, midterms, projects...? You know, all the things to come before 'freedom'," I quoted her.
"Ugh! Why do you have to be such a spoilsport? I survived this long. What's two more years? Speaking of which, you still remember the pact, right?" She looked at me more seriously now.
"How could I forget? You never shut up about it this entire holiday!" I groaned, massaging my temples as I did. When I opened my eyes though, Emily was pouting and tracing her hand in the sand.
Unable to handle seeing her sad, I wrapped my arm around her and said, "You don't have to worry your little head. I still remember the pact and I have no intention of breaking it, okay? You can trust me on that."
Her pout was then replaced with a smile and she let her head rest on my shoulder.
"You're the bestest best friend ever, Kierra," she uttered softly. I smiled and squeezed her shoulder. I stared back at the sea as my mind wandered and I thought back to the origin of the pact.
Ten years ago, when Emily and I were ages eight and six respectively, we made a pact. Actually it was more like Emily made me promise her. Anyway, the pact was that neither of us would ever date the sibling of the other person or as she put it, "Your best friend's siblings are off limits."
For the most part, the pact only affected me because Emily was the only one who had a sibling. That was her twin brother, Ethan Christopher Grayson AKA the dreamiest guy alive.
I wasn't allowed to think that though. If Emily found out that I thought her twin brother was dreamy, she would be so heartbroken. She would accuse me of breaking the pact and the last thing I wanted was to hurt my best friend.
But it couldn't be helped. Ethan was a drop dead gorgeous hunk with the body of a Greek god. He was captain of the football team at school and he was smart too. Like crazy smart. He was basically perfection in human body and despite the fact that he was taken, girls were still head over heels for him and I was no exception.
Compared to most of his admirers at school, I was lucky. While they could only ogle him from afar, I at least had the pleasure of ogling him from a much closer distance. He was also aware of my existence, even if it was just as his sister's little friend. He also had a nickname for me. Key, short for Kierra.
He was the only one who called me that. Of course, I couldn't let Emily know I liked the nickname so I always frowned at it but deep inside, just hearing him call me Key caused butterflies to erupt in the pit of my stomach.
But the nickname was also a reminder that nothing could ever happen between Ethan and I. Even if the pact wasn't in the picture, he was the school's golden boy and I was just his sister's nerdy bestie. He was way out of my league but that was okay because one day, my crush would die down but until then, I was going to honor the pact.
At that moment, Emily's phone buzzed and she sat up as she withdrew her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen.
"My brother just texted me to say that he's here. We should go," she mentioned, already on her feet and dusting her shorts.
"Yeah. We should," I mumbled, standing and doing the same. I glanced up at the sky and caught sight of the moon which had just started to appear and then at the dark blue murky sea, at the waves that crashed at the shore...
Something about being at the beach and watching the water had always had a calming effect over me. Whenever I felt troubled or needed to think, the beach was always the place for me. I had practically lived at the beach during the summer holiday.
I would really miss coming to it everyday.
"Before we leave, let's pinky swear to seal our pact," Emily was saying, drawing my attention back to her. I extended my balled fist with my pinky out as did she and we completed yet another tradition before slowly making our way off the beach.