"He needs to be the one to apologize, not you."

Aru sighed as she sat at the picnic table on the beach. She half listed to Xena's twin, Pearl, rant about Aru's situation. Peering out at the beach, she noticed Xena playing in the water with a guy named Zhang. The two of them have been talking more and more lately. It was only because of that, that Zhang now joined their friend group.

Mari was building a sandcastle with one of their classmates, Waxy. Sua and Sehui were peering down at the fish in the water. Gunn joined them that day, along with their classmate Stretch.

"-you did nothing wrong, you were just concerned for him. He should have responded better, especially to you. You have done so much for that guy, honestly!"

Aru mentally sighed before giving Pearl a thankful nod.

"I see your point Pearl, thank you."

"Anytime Aru. It's my pleasure to help a friend through advice."

All of a sudden, a seashell flew through the sky, hitting Pearl in the face. Aru held back her laughter as a smiling Xena jogged over to her sister to ask if she wanted to collect seashells. Aru bursted in small giggles as Pearl angrily chased her twin down the beach and into the water. Tilting her head, Aru angled her camera and snapped a photo.

When it was time for dinner, everyone gathered around the picnic table. Everyone had brought something to contribute to their meal, so it looked as if they had a buffet set up. Everyone had shown up

Everyone but Mook and Dante.

Aru tried her best to get over it all. It has, after all, been a year since she last spoke to Mook. It's been so long, but it felt as if she was just hanging out with him on the rooftop just yesterday. After he started avoiding her, she began to feel lost. Even Dante began to avoid her as well. She just couldn't understand why this was happening. Had she done something to offend them? Was she, herself, the problem? Where had things gone wrong? Why had things gone wrong?

She unknowingly began to remember all their conversations and secrets. She was brought back to the present after realizing people were calling her.

"Look what we brought you!"

Aru grabbed the wrapped snack from in front of her, thanking her friends for the snack. She got up and took a seat in front of the door water. She opened it, only to finally realize that it was a melon bun. She hesitantly brought it to her mouth and took a bite.

Memories flooded her mind. He flooded her mind. Her eyes began to water as their time together she played through her mind. Then she began to silently cry. She cried because he was no longer with her. She cried because she had messed up somehow. She cried because she realized that she loved him.

Then she cried because she realized that he would never love her back.