I grumbled and huffed, placing my chin into my palm which rested on the cool counter. The surfboards stacked precariously against the wall taunted me with their pristine condition and shiny new colors. Though I wore a bathing suit under my usual sundress cover-up, I was confined to the shop per usual. Every other day, except Saturdays and Thursdays, I worked at my dad's dumb surf shop, consulting tourists on what board is the best, what aloe to get for their sunburn, or which postcard their boyfriend would like best. In case you were wondering, its always the one with the sunset. Or the turtles.

Salem jumped up on the counter beside me, yowling for attention as he worked to push off anything he could reach the counter. I was quick to reach forward and pull things away from him before they would plunge to their untimely death on the sandy hard wood floor. The shop was packed to the brim with anything and everything you could imagine in a surf shop. Bikinis, trunks, paddle boards, surf boards, boogie boards, heck, even skate boards. Sand toys and buckets, fake sea shells and real sand dollars, hermit crabs in the back. A really ugly sea shell lamp next to the giant display of post cards. Of course, due to my working here, I had to be a master of each and everything stocked in the store. Not just where things went, mind you, but the master of "do these bottoms bring out my eyes?" or "what color boogie board?" or heaven forbid, "mommy, I want a hermit crab!"

Suckers. They fell for it every single time.

Beside me, Salem flopped down on his side, exposing his fluffy stomach as prime real estate for rubbing. Salem was the only cat I had ever met that wouldn't chew your face off for touching his stomach. Or him in general. The poor little guy had shown up one day, out back rifling through out massive dumpster we shared with our next door neighbor, The Tortuga. Tortuga was a highly coveted restaurant with locals and tourists alike flooding in weeks ahead for a spot to sit just for some decent food. Their main attraction was in the name itself: they had turtles in a giant tank which covered almost half of the restaurant's walls. Timmy was the biggest turtle they had, the largest in our side of Ninjago actually. The crazy environmentalists love it. Eat it up. I had been throwing out the trash bag from my dad's office and from the rooms above the shops which just so happened to be where we all resided. A scuffling had caught my attention and my eyes found a scrawny black cat with a giant piece of what had been jerk chicken. Poor sap had been lugging it across the alley, away from a hoard of ants that threatened his sweet catch. I had run upstairs to grab our soggy deli ham and offered it as a sacrifice to the little cat. He ate it up. Literally.

Ever since then, Salem doesn't go anywhere. He roams around the shop and shoppers get a kick out of the little guy. Now on the other hand, we have Mavis. A smug old man cat with a little too much attitude. He usually just lounges by the door to swipe at people's feet as they come in. It's very entertaining, actually.

I snapped back to the present as those stupid bells chimed, announcing the arrival of customers. Wonderful. Only 9 am and I was already on the clock. I was quick to slap on a fake facade for the group of rowdy teenage boys and their single lady friend. One meandered over to ogle Salem, cooing wide eyed at the black cat. His actions made me laugh, and from the expressions of his friends, this was something that he pulled often.

"If you are wondering, hes not for sale." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest and raising my eyebrows. "Though I'm sure with a little ham, you could get him to do anything."

Blue eyes met mine and his smile fell. "Told you guys we should have brought the ham!" He whined and poked his bottom lip out like a child. Chuckles from the rest of the group ensued and I recognized a long bond between the boys and their lady friend.

"Need help with anything?" I questioned, moving over to the side and around the counter and into the main floor of the shop. "We got a killer sale on our boards."

One met my gaze and smirked, amber eyes lighting with something I couldn't read. His hair was spiked and he donned a deep cut tank top and flaming red trunks. "You read my mind, sweetheart." He winked and I flinched, feeling my ears burning. "How much?" He turned to thumb through our selection of surf boards, eyeing any that had the most exciting designs on them. He was one for looks, I noted and pulled out a long skinny board, dotted with globs of color.

"How's this one, long and easier to handle for newbies." I shrugged, handing him the board. "But also works well for those who have already dipped their toes into the sport." My attention turned to the ginger who had gone bananas over Salem who, this time, had turned his focus onto our enclosure of hermit crabs.

"These are for sale, right?" He asked, wide eyed and giddy. He was like a child. Any second now, he would turn to the mom, or in this case, the responsible one of the friend group, and ask if he could get one. I waited and...

"Nya, please?" He begged to the girl with short black hair pulled away from her face in a ponytail. Nya had had enough of his crap already, apparently, and yanked Ginger away from the tank. "Jay last time you came home with any sort of pet, it died within seconds."

"Rest in peace, Bubbles." The tall, burly dark haired boy commented and saluted, to which the blond and surf board guy followed with. I chuckled at their antics and shrugged to the ginger clad in blue.

"The jury has spoken, it seems." I scrunched up my nose and gave him an apologetic look. He frowned and his chin quivered as if he was on the verge of tears. I diverted my attention, gazing over the shoulder of the blond, who's green eyes could burn your retinas out with how they seemed to glow. He was hunched over the post card display, turning it every so often, the familiar squeal of the display reaching my ears. I winced slightly at the noise and forced myself to focus. "Who are you wanting to send one to?" I asked, tilting my head slightly.

He snapped straight as if he was unaware of my presence. "'Uh, no one actually. Its for me to keep. I've never been on vacation before."

"That should be a crime!" I protested, placing a hand over my heart in mock hurt. "Well, from someone who has lived here their entire life, welcome to Sharktooth Crest. Best beaches in all of Ninjago, or so I've heard." I leaned my weight up against the counter, scratching Salem behind his ear absentmindedly.

He nodded, a smile growing on his features. "I've heard that too. One of my friends grew up here! He always says wonderful things about his hometown, how nice the beaches are, the yummy food..."

"Oh really?" I cut in, standing up again as I was intrigued. "Who? I probably know them. Small beach town, every local knows every local. Who knows? We might have gone to school together!" I shoved my hands into the pockets of my sundress a gentle smile coming over my face as I looked over his friends again.

Green bean turned and did the same dance as me, looking at his friends and finding nothing. "Wait, he was just here! Where did he go?" He frowned and turned to Sir Burly and tilted his head. "Where did Zane go?"

I frowned, combing through my memory of someone with that name. Unfortunately, nothing stood out to me other than the friendless years. Eyes narrowed, I searched again, trying to find something that would help me remember. Nothing.

I was dragged back to reality by Sir Burly shrugging and shaking his head. "He came in with us, I don't know where he wandered off to. Isn't he supposed to be the responsible one?"

Ah, so Nya wasn't the mom of the group. I should have known better, she didn't strike me as the caring type. I rubbed my face quickly with a hand and sighed. "Well, thats alright. I don't have any crazy movie worthy revelations about his name at least though, so I may not have known him after all. Which is quite odd." I turned back to Green bean and smiled. "You guys staying at the Inn or a house?"

He met my gaze and the ginger bounded over, somehow having managed to pick up Mavis and convincing the poor cat to let him hold him. I was in awe of this guy's power. "We're staying in a house up not too far from here! We walked."

A smile and nod was all I responded with, half because I didn't want to sound like a creeper asking which house? and half because I was still amazed that he was holding Mavis. "You, sir, are a cat magician." I breathed and reached out to stroke the maine coon before retracting it as Mavis hissed. Rude.

I ushered myself back behind the counter, working to ring up the rowdy group. Green bean with at least 6 post cards, Burly getting a typical dude surfer necklace, and surf board guy getting just that: his surfboard. "Is that everything?" I asked when I had finished scanning every item. A glance at Nya and Ginger, the prior shaking her head and the latter saying his goodbyes to Mavis. "I'm sure Mavis wouldn't mind if you came back to visit him sometime. I've never seen that cat get along with anyone." I chuckled and worked on bagging the necklace and the stack of postcards as Burly patted down his cargo shorts, face falling.

"Zane has our money."

As yes. As all good stories go, this is of course how it happened. The new folks playing innocent and claiming they had left their wallet at home. Or with Zane. I frowned, wondering if Zane was even real. I hoped for the sake of Green bean he was, the poor sap was so excited to go on vacation with his friends. I stiffened. Maybe Zane was an imaginary friend.

Yet just then, as also happens in the best stories, the door opened with a jingle of the bell and Zane came in, imaginary or not. My blood seemed to freeze in my veins and the color leaked from my face. Well, I remembered the name Zane now.

He rushed in, seeming a bit discombobulated but still somehow remaining calm and peaceful all the same. He didn't seem to pay any attention to me, instead turning to Burly and showing him a leather wallet. Classy. "Apologies! I ran to get take out from the restaurant next door for dinner tonight."

Ginger whined. "Aw, I thought you were cooking tonight! Plus its still morning!"

Zane smiled, resting a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder and let out a breath. "That is correct. I am only being prepared, for who knows what this day holds for us?" He fumbled with the wallet, pulling out a card and turning to hand it to me only to fall still, just like I had.

"Y/n."

"Hey, Julie. How are things?"