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chapter twenty ━ the senior year chapter
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⋆ ౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

location: malibu, california
timeline: july 1999 ━ august 2000
( senior year of high school,
ages seventeen ━ eighteen )
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aliya levine's playlist!

❝ THERE GOES...
...THE LOUDEST WOMAN
THIS TOWN HAS EVER SEEN. ❞
⋆ ౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

i. the last great american dynasty, taylor swift
ii. keep driving, harry styles
iii. midnight rain, taylor swift
iv. uptown girl, billy joel
v. can i call you tonight?, dayglow
vi. august, taylor swift
vii. say yes to heaven, lana del rey
viii. all american bitch, olivia rodrigo
ix. i know it won't work, gracie abrams
x. glue song, beabadoobee
xi. bags, clairo
xii. cardigan, taylor swift
xiii. little freak, harry styles
xiv. would that i, hozier
xv. tongue tied, grouplove
xvi. there she goes, the la's
xvii. brown eyed girl, van morrison
xviii. supercut, lorde
xix. clara bow, taylor swift
xx. linger, the cranberries
xxi. matilda, harry styles
xxii. cinnamon girl, lana del rey
xxiii. making the bed, olivia rodrigo
xxiv. the albatross, taylor swift
xxv. the bolter, taylor swift
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❝ i broke his heart 'cause he was nice,
he was sunshine, i was midnight rain,
he wanted it comfortable,
i wanted that pain, he wanted a bride,
i was making my own name. ❞

midnight rain, taylor swift

⋆ ౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪
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⠀SANTA MONICA PIER
santa monica, california
( 4th july 1999 )
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Aliya Levine always thought it was stupid that her parents owned four properties throughout the United States.

Two of them they didn't even really use, seeing as one of them was bought to spite the woman who had bought the smaller one beside it.

It was wasteful, in Aliya's expert opinion. And, it wasn't a big shock, seeing as her parents were equally as stupid.

Because, why did a family of five even need four houses?

It wasn't as if they were kids anymore. All three of the Levine children were basically adults, Aliya being the youngest at seventeen years old, then Eliana who was twenty-one, and Trent who was twenty-four.

And, if her parents were rich enough to buy as many houses as they would like purely out of greed or a wish to fulfil their dull lives spent entirely obsessing over their youngest daughters future and failures, surely they'd wish to buy a house in a different country?

(That point purely came from Summer Parekh, as the two wandered along Santa Monica pier.)

Aliya's point was the fact that Molly Levine didn't even like the houses she bought.

She always complained about the air conditioning, then Aliya would remind her of the bigger picture, which would only end up with Aliya having something thrown at her (Molly would miss of course, the woman had terrible aim).

Last night, it was a wooden spoon.

Last week, a spatula.

She didn't even cook, she just simply hired "a woman" to do it for her.

But, seeing as she fired Bridget for breathing too loudly, she's on the hunt for a new maid.

Though, Aliya didn't exactly blame Bridget for not even kicking up a fuss about being fired, seeing as the Levine matriarch didn't even bother to learn any of her maid's names.

She called Bridget "Beatrice" all the time.

When they did have a maid the week before, it was an outdated Louis Vuitton purse Molly was trying to sell at the market for double the price being lobbed at her head.

All of this was what the two girls were discussing at this point in time, in an exceptionally hot Los Angeles heat wave.

Both, the houses, and Aliya's mother being the craziest woman to ever grace God's Green Earth.

"Bora Bora?" The girl with two long braids, courtesy of Aliya herself, suggested, twirling one in her hand as they walked the length of the pier in search of ice cream.

"The sharks." Aliya said simply, her eyes narrowing from beneath her sunglasses as sand clung to the skin on her legs.

Summer blinked, opening her mouth to speak before shutting her lips together again, pushing her sunglasses on top of her head, glancing across at the Aliya, who was staring up directly at the sun, her lips freshly glossed. "But, aren't there sharks in—"

"Yep." Aliya nodded in confirmation, because all four of the properties Molly Levine owned had sharks in walking distance. "There are sharks in Los Angeles, Florida, Rhode Island, and even Cape Cod has several species of shark, including the Great White. All with their three hundred individual pearly white teeth."

"Your mother is bat shit crazy." Summer remarked loudly, loud enough for Ethel, the nice lady who runs the cotton candy stand to raise a brow at the girls, muttering insults under her breath.

Aliya, however, plastered a bright smile across her face, one that showed all rows of her pearly white teeth. "Lovely weather today, isn't it Ethel?"

Ethel frowned from beneath her abnormally large sunhat. "Hm." She huffed, plucking a bag of cotton candy off of the shelf and passing one to Aliya, pointedly, eyes casted on Summer.

"Why is it that Ethel on gives you cotton candy?" Summer asked, giving Ethel a look over her shoulder, who was now busying herself with whatever people do when they run a cotton candy stand during a heatwave. "For Christmas, she gave me a mouldy satsuma."

"She likes me better." The Levine girl joked, plucking a piece of cotton candy from the bag, popping it into her mouth before offering Summer some, which she accepted begrudgingly despite Ethel attempting to withhold her cotton candy supply from her.

"You're the town treasure." Summer said light-heartedly through a mouth full of cotton candy.

"Ethel is very old fashioned." Aliya landed on that explanation, passing the bag to Summer for her to have, feeling slightly sorry for her. "So, as soon as she heard "bat shit crazy" come out of your mouth, she saw red. Satan's cesspit, if you will. And, I've resorted to swearing in Czech, so if I did slip up in public, and Ethel were to be lurking somewhere, perhaps behind an unassuming bush, she'll never know what I'm saying."

Summer batted her long lashes at Aliya's very lengthy explanation. "Of course you have, everyone takes up learning Czech on a random Tuesday."

Aliya shrugged, playing with the drawstring of her cover-up, under which she was wearing one of her many bikinis that Molly frowned upon. "It proves handy."

Summer laughed at the longest friend she ever had, opening her woven tote bag, retrieving her bottle of water and unscrewing the lid. "You're actually going through with tonight then, huh?"

"Oh, of course." Aliya grinned devilishly, the way her eyes lit up indistinguishable from under her sunglasses. "Whilst Molly and Travis are off doing god knows what at the Goldberg's, the beach is all ours."

Summer let out a squeal as she clapped her hands, excited at the prospect of how Aliya's family home in Malibu, right by the beach, served as a perfect destination to hold a fourth of July party for everyone in their year at high school, and any one else who decided to rock up to their front step. "When will they be coming back?"

"Perhaps in a couple days?" Aliya answered, though she wasn't even that sure of herself, and she didn't really even care. She hoped they never came back, then she had a chance to be free. But, even if they did live a million miles away, knowing them they'd still meddle with her life in other ways. "They're flying out to Rhode Island this afternoon — hey Fran — and then the house is all ours to maim, if someone breaks one of mom's precious antique vases, my life'll be complete."

Fran (a nice lady who runs a grocery store in Malibu) waved at the brunette who had just greeted her, slightly dazed by what she had just heard her say about the vases.

"Even though, if she came home to find the lifeless corpse of one of her vases, Molly will make my life a living hell, plotting about a dozen different ways to murder me in cold blood." Aliya continued on, Fran now positively out of earshot. "I can just see her now, she's probably got a list and everything. She seems like the type to drown me in the backyard pool, then remove all my vital organs one by one."

Summer snorted in response, failing to hold in her laughter. "It'll be so worth it, don't worry, I'll take care of your funereal. It's gonna be great. White lilies, I think. I bet even Austin will shed a tear, seeing as he's all over you right now." She let out a hopeful sigh, pressing her hands tightly together as she began scheming.

"Austin is almost as sexually charged as a freaking wild animal." Aliya bit back, curling her nose up at the thought.

Okay, Aliya had to give it to him, Austin was a very conventionally attractive boy.

He had that blonde surfer boy hair, and the bright blue eyes that could render a person speechless if they weren't careful.

But, that boy got around half of Malibu, and most of Los Angeles.

Aliya wasn't one to shame anyone for their sexual escapades, but when she kissed one singular boy at Austin's Beach Party in the Spring, Austin ran his big mouth all over the school, telling everyone Levine took Thompson to fourth base.

Which, is entirely inaccurate, seeing as Aliya was in fact still a virgin.

So, ever since Aliya punched him square in the nose, Austin had been trying to weasel his way back into her good books.

Or, into her pants.

Nobody knew when it came to Austin Jones.

He also happened to be Aliya's next door neighbour, and his mother was actually quite nice. Though, luckily a huge ass tree stopped him from ever seeing into her room.

Thank you, random old oak tree.

"It's gonna be great." Summer beamed, her hands waving in front of her excitedly. "Ethel can go suck it, we're gonna order pizza from her husband's rival pizza place, and I'm gonna make out with her son, the hot one in our year, and that'll show her—"

Aliya was positively enthused with Summer's grand plans of revenge. "Obviously not the son who works at the Casserole Shack, he's at least thirty-four. Ethel wouldn't know what hit her." She mused in enthusiasm, completely supporting Summer's plan.

"—And, when I'm her daughter-in-law, our first born daughter will not be named Ethel, I'd name her Cecelia—" Summer kept on going, now stretching her plan years in to the future. "After Hamish's first wife who torments Ethel everyday with her very own cotton candy stand — Cece's CC — down on the beach." She turned, pointing her index finger at the fleck in the distance, where there was a huge model of cotton candy, supposedly owned by Cecelia the first.

"This plan is one of your best, Sum, I've gotta say." Aliya marvelled, equally as delusional as the girl standing next to her. "It has my full support. Can I be godmother of Cecelia the second?"

"I wouldn't want anyone else to godmother my future offspring." Summer said, her voice all mushy and nostalgic as she hooked her arm over Aliya's shoulder, planting a kiss on her cheek.

In which Aliya responded with a laugh, her own hands holding onto Summer's arm as the pair walked further down Santa Monica Pier, towards Howard's Ice Cream Stand.

"That's made my day—" Aliya declared, her hair flying into Summer's face. "My entire year, hell, my whole life — Dorothy! Margaret! How are you both?" She beamed, waving towards the two older ladies hobbling by with Margaret's dog, Toto. The two ladies were regulars at the club her mother and father went to, so naturally they all knew Aliya.

Though, it was hard to come across someone in Malibu who didn't know Aliya Levine. Because, one thing to note about Malibu, was that one particular daughter of two famous surgeons was in fact, notorious.

In Malibu, she was the sweetheart of the entire city, the honorary daughter and granddaughter of a dozen people, everyone seemed to look twice over their shoulders whenever they passed her in the street.

She was magnetic in about a hundred different ways — she always had something to say, and would quite often speak about a mile a minute, though she was never boring.

"We're well, thank you, dear." Margaret smiled widely at the girl, and so did Dorothy. "Lovely sunglasses, they suit your face."

"Though, Aliya," Dorothy cleared her throat, patting the brunette's hand. "You truly are gorgeous."

"Thank you, both, you're too kind, you're making my blush." Aliya beamed, waving a goodbye before returning to the matter at hand.

Summer's future daughter.

"You'll be the cool aunt, the one who always drinks wine elegantly, and never keeps her mouth shut." The Parekh girl proclaimed as they stopped outside the stand, her arms dropping away as she began to access the ice cream options, even though they knew it off my heart already.

"Howard! How's business?" Aliya questioned, leaning on the glass as Howard looked up from where he was analysing his scoop rather intensely.

"Never been better!" Howard enthused, his cap covering his tragically receding hairline (bless him). "Folks have been linin' up for all day, you've come at a good time. It's reached a lull." He scratched his temples, before adding: "I would've still served ya first anyway, though."

"Aw—" Aliya cooed, her glossed lips curving up into a smile. "You're going soft in your old age."

"Old!" Howard spluttered, pointing an accusatory scoop at her. "You take that back!"

"You don't look a day over thirty." Aliya promised, sincerely.

The compliment was a stretch, seeing as he was sixty three.

But, Howard still smiled at the prospect anyway, quite pleased with himself actually as he stared at this reflection in the glass as he reached for a cone, scooping a large hunk of mint chocolate chip ice cream, cramming in a flake and passing it down to Aliya.

"On the house!" He grinned wildly, retrieving a strawberry ice cream for Summer.

"You're an angel, Howard. Truly." Aliya said, tasting a bit of her ice cream, which tasted like pure heaven. "Best Ice Cream man in Santa Monica— Oh God!"

Suddenly, something in Aliya's field of vision caught her attention, and that was Austin, holding his surf board on the pier like a pretentious little—

"Duck!" Aliya ordered, pulling Summer's arms down as the pair crouched behind the back of Howard's Ice Cream Stand, getting a very weird look from Howard himself, who simply brushed it off, acting unbothered by her antics.

"What? Who's there?" Summer hissed, as they pressed their backs against the side of the stand, ice creams starting to nearly melt down their cones.

"Austin. He's out there lurking or doing whatever the hell he does on the pier." Aliya shuddered at the thought — she really didn't like him and would prefer to avoid him at all costs.

"You cannot stoop that low, Aliya. I won't let you." Summer vowed, marking Austin in the "if you screw him, you've hit rock-bottom" category of whatever mental lists they had going on.

"I promise, he's not getting anywhere near me." Aliya agreed, peeking out from behind the ice cream stand, Summer clutching onto her hand for dear life, as if someone was waiting around the corner to mug them. "Alright, coast is— AH!"

The Levine girl screamed so loudly, many heads turned in her direction, because Summer also screamed. And, together, they could be the whistle the lifeguards used on the beach, loud enough to be heard from across the water.

The pair usually got themselves in situations like these.

Ever since they were in kindergarten, they were partners in crime — along with their other best friend Mae Park, whose twin brother was stood directly before them.

"What are you two doing?" Kai Park raised a brow, his twin sister joining his side, who looked equally as confused as he did.

Aliya peered up at the twins, her ice cream now melting all the way down her forearm. "This is— uh— a lovely spot isn't it, Sum? Hm? Lovely spot?"

Summer nodded her head in solidarity. "Really nice space, they shouldn't change a thing about it."

"Hm." Mae murmured, uncommitted to whether or not she believed anything that came out of the pair's mouth. "And, it's shady of course, so your ice creams won't melt."

"Right, they won't—" Aliya began, though Mae's eyes were fixated on the green trail the ice cream was taking down her arm.

"You were hiding weren't you?" Mae deadpanned, putting the two out of their misery.

The Park girl placed a manicured hand on her hip, narrowing her deep brown eyes at them, her hair pulled up in a perfectly flawless messy bun.

Only she could make a hairstyle that was supposed to be a messy wreck on top of your head look like you've just waltzed off a runway.

Summer and Aliya shared a glance, knowing that Mae was to be trusted. "Very much so, yes." They spoke in unison.

"Who exactly are you hiding from?" Kai pried, crossing his arms. "You're not very good at this, you know? You'd make shit spies."

"Better than you, I can imagine?" Aliya quirked a brow, not reaching for Kai's outstretched hand.

She was an independent woman.

She didn't need help getting up from this measly patch of concrete.

And, besides, she was really nailing this "keeping it cool" thing the pair had agreed on ever since they kissed during a midnight swim exactly three weeks ago.

Then, when they proceeded to meet each other at various hidden locations across Malibu, Aliya still remained calm.

Though, Kai was a wreck, to out it frank.

They didn't even know why they were hiding their relationship, or situation-ship, or whatever they actually were to each other.

It was primarily due to the fact that Aliya was quiet watched on member of the town, so any boy she stepped within five feet of would be declared her boyfriend, or a fling, or whatever.

And also, the obvious — Mae.

She didn't want to end seventeen years of friendship by shacking up with her best friend's twin brother.

Desperately, Kai tried not to look hurt at the fact she wasn't accepting his chivalry.

Summer, however, took the invitation, accepting his hand as he pulled her off the ground.

Which only made Aliya smirk.

"So, who is it this time?" Mae questioned, looking about the pier as she swirled her iced almond milk latte with one hand. "That one woman from the beach club? Sarah, the girl you spilt the wine over?"

"In my defence," Aliya cleared her throat, smoothing down the white fabric of her bikini cover up. "Sarah did wear a white dress to Margaret's daughter's wedding, and it was their fault the bartender gave me a glass of red wine. If I couldn't drink it, the least I could do was sabotage."

Summer raised a hand to high-five the sabotager herself, and Kai fought with his lisp to stop himself from grinning at her. "That's my girl."

So, the Park boy shrugged his shoulders. "Seems like a great use for a five hundred bottle of red wine."

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Austin and his "buddies" clambered beside the four of them, and the blonde boy immediately hooked his arm all around Aliya's shoulder, grinning from ear to shitting ear.

Aliya curled up her nose, seeing as he smelt primarily of sweat, which was also meant this skin was sticking to the skin on her own shoulders, which made her even more grossed out.

"Good mornin' ladies!" Austin, still adorned with the grin, greeted. "And, Kai! My bro of course!"

Before Aliya could even question Kai about Austin calling him "my bro", the Levine girl looked up at the clock. "It's 1:45."

For a split-second, Austin's expression faltered, and Aliya nearly had him, but he quickly picked himself back up again.

"It's the mornin' somewhere!" He replied simply, never pronouncing his "g's".

A waft of his foul armpits waved her way, and Aliya physically recoiled, shoving his shoulder off of her. "God, you smell like a freaking garbage disposal."

"Pleasant, as always, Aliya." Austin began to ruffle her hair, whilst Aliya just swatted him away as the other guys began to say stuff in between their light scuffle.

"Hey, Liy," Harry, one of the guys, piped up, stopping her mid arm swatt. "You need anything for tonight? My brother knows a keg guy."

Aliya once and for all shoved Austin off of her, walking a couple strides toward Harry, out of the blonde's reach. "Oo— yes, that'll be great, thanks Harry." She beamed, clapping excitedly.

"My great uncle owns the convenience store, I can get us chips." Austin piped up, his one helpful contribution, making his way back to Aliya's side, his hip brushing against her waist.

"I swear to God, don't touch me!" Aliya threatened, backing up a step, causing everyone around them to snicker under their breaths. "Have you got tested recently?"

Austin chuckled, holding his head up high and proud. "No."

"Get tested." She advised, a very wide, very forced smile across her face.

"Right," Kai clapped his hand together rather abruptly, seeing as he was now eyeing up Austin (one of his closest friends) like he was wishing to kill him. "We better get going, Mom sent us out for some groceries, see you at the party?" He turned back to Aliya, who nodded, waving goodbye as everyone took that as their memo to wander off, leaving just Aliya and Summer on the pier.

"Can I come back to yours?" Summer asked, weaving her arm through Aliya's, watching as their fellow classmates walk away. "Zara's started to play the drums."

"The drums?" Aliya repeated, raising a brow. And when Summer frowned and nodded her head, the Levine girl squeezed her palm with a smile. "Of course."

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━━━━━━━

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KAI PARK (2:08pm)

You looked cute today :)

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ALIYA LEVINE (2:10pm)
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awh thanks

you didn't look too bad yourself

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KAI PARK (2:10pm)

I'll take that.

Anything to add?

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ALIYA LEVINE (2:11pm)

i'm not shakespeare. if you sit at
your window writing love poetry all day,
that's your provocative, i spend my
summer break at the beach. like a
normal teenager.

get a life, kai park

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KAI PARK (2:12pm)

Ha

Anyone ever tell you you're a pain
in the ass?

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ALIYA LEVINE (2:15pm)

no, fyi they say i'm a very
pleasant young lady actually

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KAI PARK (2:15pm)
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Must be getting you confused
with someone else

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ALIYA LEVINE (2:20pm)

hmmmmm they must be

who else had brown hair &
goes by the name aliya

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ALIYA LEVINE (2:25pm)

you love me really xx

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KAI PARK (2:26pm)

I do actually

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KAI PARK (2:45pm)

Aliya?

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━━━━━━━
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THE LEVINE FAMILY HOME
malibu, california
( 4th july 1999 )
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Aliya hadn't even registered they reached her front door, seeing as each step she took as she walked beside Summer mirrored the very erratic beating of her heart.

The boy she had known since she was in diapers just admitted that he loved her.

Kai Park freaking loved her.

She was going to go insane, she could feel it.

She didn't know whether to run, cry, scream into a pillow, or do all three.

But, as she brought her key up to the lock, finding that her front door was in fact open, that took her mind positively off of her mother.

"Have you been robbed?" Summer questioned as the pair stood in the doorway, stunned that the door magically opened for them.

"I don't think so, we hardly have any break-ins here." Aliya replied back, though she cautiously stepped through the threshold. "Mom's made a neighbourhood watch squad."

Summer snorted so loud the room echoed. "I'm sorry, she what?"

"She wears binoculars at night, a head torch, and parades about with the other busy-body mothers." Aliya elaborated further, catching Summer's jaw hit the floor.

"Did anyone ever teach you to knock?"

And, for the second time that day, both Summer and Aliya screamed, drawing their attention the woman walking elegantly down the steps in a powder blue pantsuit.

"The woman", known as Hannah to those with a shred of human decency and a brain cell, was behind Molly, lugging a very weighty suitcase down the steps.

"It's my house." Aliya replied back, crossing her arms across her chest. "I don't really feel the need to knock."

Molly huffed, rolling her eyes. "Who raised you when I wasn't looking?"

"My other mother." Aliya responded, dropping her bag off of her shoulder and onto the floor beside the console table. "She baked brownies, and takes me to the zoo on the weekends."

"I don't believe in zoo's." The Levine woman announced, smoothing down her skirt in the mirror, before fluffing up her hair in one hand.

Her daughter scoffed, pushing her sunglasses onto the top of her head. "Of course you don't."

"Hey, Mrs L, how are you doing?" Summer cut in, defusing what she could sense was yet another mother-daughter argument between the two who thought it was an olympic sport.

"I'm fine, dear." Molly answered, reverting her attention back to herself, seeing as that was her favourite topic of them all. "Though, the woman put the wrong sheets on the bed, again."

"For the love of god!" Aliya groaned, digging her face into her palms. "You're not even sleeping in your bed tonight, and her name is Hannah!

At the mention of her name, Hannah poked her head back through the door she had disappeared through a moment before, after she finished depositing the bags by the front door.

Molly's blue eyes bulged at Hannah, and with a wave of a hand, Hannah scurried off. "You've been gone all morning." She remarked to her youngest child.

"Yeah," Aliya nodded her head, swallowing the words "good observation" down into the depths of her throat. "We went for a surf this morning, and then we drove to Santa Monica."

"I don't know why you waste your time surfing," Molly pointed out as she wandered off to the kitchen, beckoning the two girls to follow them in there. Which they did, seeing as they could still hear her talking. "You should be studying, Aliya. Fill that head of yours with actual important knowledge, rather than salt from the sea."

"I like surfing, and it was you that said that extracurriculars are good for the mind." Aliya replied, stubbornly, slipping onto the stool of the breakfast bar. "Besides, Trent surfs, why shouldn't I?"

Molly reached for one of her many crystal glasses,  before making her way to the fridge, reaching across for the orange juice. "You're different. You don't have time to waste. You have a career to work for."

The Levine girl sighed, heavily, propping her chin up in the palm of her hand. "Don't you need to dust off your binoculars or something?"

"The neighbourhood watch is going very well, thank you for asking." Molly retorted, sarcastically, sipping her orange juice that she didn't even offer around.

"Oh, yeah." Aliya's voice was the image of faux support. "Catching Austin making out with Georgia S in the treehouse in his own backyard last month must've given you such a thrill!"

Molly brought the glass to the counter, letting it make a harsh noise against it. "How could I have raised such an insufferable, childish brat—"

"Okay!" Travis Levine entered the room, clapping his hands abruptly seeing as he heard the tail of that conversation.

Though, instead of acknowledging anything that string of insults came out of his wife's mouth, he simply put a stop to it.

Aliya didn't know which she would prefer.

Her father to stick up for her, or to swoop in and stop it, whilst ignoring what she said completely.

Travis plastered a grin on his face, planting a kiss in her daughter's hairline, before turning to Molly, jaw clenched and all. "We best be off honey, the taxi's just pulled up."

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—✩—
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"How's it looking?" Aliya, now positively tipsy on about five cups of punch, breezed over to where Summer and Mae were stood by the drinks, counting the amount they had left in the kegs.

Luckily, their very first party was starting off great.

There was music, blasting out from the speakers on the private beach, and the fireworks were almost ready, courtesy of Harry's first uncle's cousin twice removed. 

And, one of the girls at school brought glow in the dark body paint, so now Aliya's skin was lit up like a Christmas Tree.

"About one and a half kegs left, and about a bucketload of punch." Mae answered, recalling from her mental checklist.

Summer, however, pursed her lips together, reaching over to Aliya's hand to stop her from busying herself with moving the cups from one side of the collapsable table to the other. "I'm sorry about what your mom said, I know it must be hard on you."

Mae shared the same sympathetic expression as Summer, the kind Aliya had grown quite sick of if she were being honest.

All the sympathies in the world wasn't enough, because it reminded her of something she'd never have.

Parents who actually acted like they wanted her.

In response, Aliya made a non-committed sound, smiling at her friend, though she would really prefer to just ignore the problem until it went away.

Which, she knew it never will. Because, that would be on a whole other realm of delusion.

Even if Molly Levine were dead she'd still find a way to torment Aliya, from the depths of her grave.

"Want some more punch?" Summer offered instead in response to her silence, reaching prematurely for a glass, because the Levine girl hadn't even accepted her offer yet.

But, it proved how much Summer knew Aliya, seeing as her response was an immediate: "Oh, hell yes."

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ABOUT FIVE MORE GLASSES
OF PUNCH LATER...
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"Aliya!" Summer clapped her hands together, her hands digging into the Levine girl's left arm as Mae swiftly grabbed her right arm, keeping her locked in. "Have you seen this over here?" She pointed to something in the distance.

It looked a hell of a lot like a cliff side. That Aliya had most definitely seen before.

"I see this beach every morning." Aliya said, matter-of-factly, cheeks pink as a result of the infamous punch. "I don't think that cliff has changed much, it's been there for hundreds of years."

"Really?" Summer squealed, tugging her closer, though Aliya had dug her heels into the sand, resisting being dragged across the sand. "Never knew that, did you know that Mae?"

Mae Park, terrible liar, blinked. "Uh—"

"Mae—" Summer hissed.

"Oh—" Aliya also batted her lashes, angling her head towards the Park girl. "Mae? Is there—"

"Nothing's wrong!" Summer burst out, her voice coming out in one panicked burst.

Which, clearly meant something was in fact wrong.

"Mae?" Aliya said her name again, going for the weakest link.

Mae was a very put together teenager.

She was only seventeen, but she had her whole entire life planned out right in front of her.

But, her one weakness was her inability to ever lie, which always worked to Aliya's advantage.

Mae bit her lip, her eyes going from Summer, who was pulling a variety of faces at her, back to Aliya, who was waiting very patiently for her to spit it out.

"Mae, no." Summer pointed her index finger at her.

"Mae, yes." Aliya countered, a brow quirked.

The girl squirmed, taking a deep breath before saying: "Austin's told everybody that you took him to fourth base underneath Santa Monica pier."

A loud gasp escaped Aliya's lips, her jaw dropping to the sand. "Oh my God!"

"MAE! WHAT DO YOU THINK "ACT COOL" MEANS?" Summer protested.

Mae shrugged her shoulders, looking guilty though she did in fact look quite relieved that the truth was out. "She has every right to know—"

"IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT!" Summer yelled back, hands now on her hips. "NOT SURROUNDED BY THE ENTIRE YEAR!"

"I'm sorry, okay! You know I can't lie!" Mae stood her ground. "I'm terrible at lying, and I can't lie to Aliya. It's unethical, Summer."

"What's unethical," Summer started, waving her hands all about the place, which only caused her jewellery to rattle. "Is telling her without telling her to take deep breaths first!"

"Yeah, but—"

"No, buts!" Summer cut in immediately before Mae could even speak. "We needed to prepare her! I would've gotten her a coffee—

"Um—"

"And a blanket, sat her on the rocks and—"

"Wait—"

Summer did not wait, she just kept on going for longer. "Then broke the news to her! That way, it's ensured—"

"Summer—" Mae spoke in panic, her eyes widening at something past Summer's shoulder.

"What!" The Parekh girl snapped, annoyed all of a sudden.

"Look—"

Summer followed where Mae was pointing her finger towards, slowly turning around to witness the sight of Aliya, storming towards Austin, stomping across the sand with purpose.

"We lost her—" Mae narrated, now growing even more panicked at Aliya stopped right in front of the shit stirrer himself.

"You are a right asshole Austin Jones, did you know that?" They heard the Levine girl yell, catching everybody's attention. Even the couple sprawled out on the sand got up.

"Woah—" Austin raised his hands in surrender, trying to laugh it off, seeing as there were so many pairs of eyes on him at this moment of time.

"What the hell is your obsession with me and fourth base, huh?" Aliya carried on, ignoring all the whispers around her. Because, she didn't really care what anyone was saying. "You seriously need to get a life, cause you clearly don't have one."

Austin continued to grin, like the jerk Aliya knew he was. "It was just a joke—"

"It's not a very funny one," Aliya fired back, angrily. "Get a freaking sense of humour."

"Woah, woah, woah, it's okay—" His voice now reached the realm of mocking, clearly trying to make himself look good in front of the gathered crowd, which only enraged her more. "Calm down."

Her jaw stiffened, and she caught a flash of someone's camera phone in her periphery, but she didn't care in the slightest. "Don't tell me to calm down."

"Maybe grab another punch. It seems like you need it." His lips curled up at his attempt to diffuse the situation, looking back to his friends for support.

Though, they didn't give it to him.

Seeing as they saw Aliya's raised fist before Austin did.

And, just as the blonde boy turned around, Aliya's knuckle met his face square in the nose.

As soon as their skin met, the crowd erupted into pure chaos and screams, all of the people on the beach rushing in towards them.

"Okay!" Kai rushed in almost immediately, grabbing the Levine girl's waist before she could get another punch in, though he wouldn't have stopped her in slightest.

Austin deserved it.

"She hit me!" Austin spoke, dumbfounded as he searched the crowd for some sort of validation, though the searing pain in his nose was a big enough tell. "She hit me!"

Mae and Summer rushed to Aliya and Kai's side, where the Park boy was now hauling Aliya across the beach and away from Austin, now being helped up by Harry and some of the other guys. One of them even offered a can of beer to put on his nose, which he accepted, his head lulling back as he tried to stand. Though, he fell back again.

It was like watching that scene in Bambi where he was trying to stand up for the first time.

"That was amazing!" Summer enthused, grabbing her friends hand and holding it up in the air like she had just one some sort of championship final. "I mean, you hit him! You hit Austin Jones right in his face!"

Aliya grinned wildly, her arm slouched over Kai's arm as he dragged her away from the party, to the safety of her own home. "Who's the maddest one now?"

⠀
⠀
━━━━━━━

⠀

THE NEXT DAY...
⠀
⠀

THE POWERPUFF GIRLS
( 5th july 1999 )

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE 🩷 (8:45pm)

CODE RED

EMERGENCY

SIRENS

BEEP BEEP BEEP

i need your help

⠀
SUMMER PAREKH 🩵 (8:45pm)

GIRL

Leaving my house now

Are you home???????

⠀
MAE PARK 💚 (8:45pm)

Care to elaborate??

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE 🩷 (8:45pm)

if you love me, come to my house ASAP

wear black

bring snacks

& do a special knock so i know
it's you

⠀
SUMMER PAREKH 🩵 (8:46pm)

I'll be there in twenty minutes

I'll bring the twizzlers

⠀
MAE PARK 💚 (8:46pm)

Are we breaking the law?

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE 🩷 (8:47pm)

not really???

⠀
MAE PARK 💚 (8:47pm)

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT REALLY

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE 🩷 (8:47pm)

you'll see!

⠀
⠀
━━━━━━━

⠀
⠀
THE FOLLOWING MORNING...
⠀
⠀
⠀
CLASS OF 2000
( 6th july 1999 )
⠀

AUSTIN JONES (7:24am)

WHO THE HELL DREW A DICK
ON MY SURFBOARD

This is not funny guys

Who did this.

⠀
HARRY WILLIAMSON (7:24am)

Bro, what???

⠀
GEORGIA STAPLETON (7:24am)

Oh no????

That's so sad :(((((((

⠀
FRANCIS WARREN (7:24am)

Huh

⠀
HARRY WILLIAMSON (7:24am)

I'm so confused

⠀
AUSTIN JONES (7:25am)

Some fucker's drawn a dick on
my surfboard

What's so hard to understand

⠀
HARRY WILLIAMSON (7:25am)

How??

⠀
AUSTIN JONES (7:25am)

Spray paint.

Can't get it off

⠀
TJ SMITH (7:25am)

Wasn't me dude

Who have you pissed off lately?

⠀
HARRY WILLIAMSON (7:25am)

How long have you got?

⠀
AUSTIN JONES (7:26am)

Thanks bro

Really got my back

Now.

This is not a joke. My mom's gonna kill me

WHO. DID. IT

⠀
HARRY WILLIAMSON (7:27am)

You live next door to Levine, right?

You piss her off everyday

⠀
AUSTIN JONES (7:28am)

Shit.

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (7:28am)

i have alibis!!!!!!!!

⠀
SUMMER PAREKH (7:28am)

It's true, she was around mine
last night

We're innocent.

⠀
MAE PARK (7:28am)

I can second that. We're innocent

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (7:28am)

i can third that

we're innocent, your honour

⠀
⠀
━━━━━━━

⠀
⠀
THE POWERPUFF GIRLS
( 6th july 1999 )

⠀
SUMMER PAREKH 🩵 (7:30am)

Do you think they know?

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE 🩷 (7:30am)

nah no way

we literally wore disguises??

and i broke their CCTV with a
nerf gun

⠀
MAE PARK 💚 (7:30am)

I'm gonna suggest David H is
the culprit. Throw them off
our scent

He was acting sketchy at the party
the other day, and Austin said
he smelt like feet too

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE 🩷 (7:31am)

we should do this again sometime

⠀
⠀
━━━━━━━

⠀
MOLLY LEVINE (7:48am)

I just got off the phone with Penelope,
Austin's mother.

His surfboard has been ruined.

Did you see anything?

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (7:51am)

oh no that's terrible

i was at summer's, didn't see a thing

⠀
⠀
━━━━━━━
⠀
⠀

TRENT LEVINE (8:01am)

Just got off the phone with mom.

You did it, didn't you?

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (8:05am)

i have no idea what you're talking about

⠀
TRENT LEVINE (8:05am)

You do.

Austin's surfboard.

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (8:06am)

oh, such a shame isn't it?

⠀
TRENT LEVINE (8:07am)

Nice painting little sister

New spray paint?

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (8:07am)

what can i say

i watch a lot of bob ross

⠀
—✩—
⠀

THE LEVINE BEACH HOUSE
cape cod, massachusetts
( 14th august 1999 )
⠀

"Are you crazy?" Aliya hissed, the grip Molly had around her wrist tightened, her hot pink nails (which were highly impractical for surgery) dug into her skin so much Aliya was sure she was drawing blood. "I was just dancing with him!"

Molly huffed, continuing to drag her daughter out of the beach club, pulling her across the beach, the music behind them growing quieter with every step they took.

"I WILL NOT BE RASING YOUR BABY WHILE YOU'RE AT MED SCHOOL." Molly bellowed, loud enough so the whole of Cape Cod could hear, pulling Aliya by the arm, sending her tripping over in her sandals in the sand.

"YOU'RE DELUSIONAL!" Aliya snapped back, trying to stop the tears threatening to fall as she regained her balance, trying to free herself from her mother's grasp.

"THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS! YOU HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE IF YOU STAY ON THE RIGHT PATH." Her mother screamed, stopping on the sand, now deeming this distance far away enough from her worst nightmare.

Seeing her daughter dance with a boy.

"Let go of me!" Aliya begged, trying to wriggle free out of her grasp, but it was proving very try difficult.

The Levine family had been coming to the Cape Cod beach house way before Aliya was even born.

They had a beach house in Miami, but even then they'd take go to Cape Cod instead.

Aliya adored Cape Cod. Sure, she loved Malibu with her whole soul but, here she had some freedom.

Whilst her mother was busying herself with picking out napkin colours and flowers for the floral arrangements, it gave Aliya a chance to sneak out without Molly even catching on.

Seeing as the Parks also owned a beach house nearby, she mainly snuck off with Kai.

"You will not end up like one of those girls." Molly said sternly, the pearl necklace that adorned her neck shone in the sunset. The scent of fresh sea salt was the only comfort Aliya felt as she wrapped her arms around her stomach in reaction to the gentle chill in the air. "You are going to be a doctor. You are starting your Senior Year at High School. You will get into Ivy League schools. You can't act stupid Aliya."

Give this woman some crystals and some candles.

She sounded like a freaking witch casting a spell.

"It was a mistake." Aliya tried to be calm and to slow her breathing down. "I shouldn't have danced with him, but—" She gestured towards Trent, feeling defeated. "Trent and Eliana danced at the club all the time, and—"

"You're different."

Molly seemed to say those words at least ten times a week, and Aliya never really understood why she was so "different" from her siblings.

"You are going to med school." Molly continued with her manifestations, a manicured nail pointing directly at her daughter, her voice growing harsher and harsher. "I will not raise your baby during med school, got it? There will be no baby."

Aliya blinked at what she just said. "Are you freaking deluded?"

"DON'T YOU DARE—"

The anger that started to manifest in Aliya's stomach towards her mother fizzled and cracked, and she just couldn't even stop it herself, so she fired: "You had Trent before you and Dad were even married!"

Just like that, she had hit a nerve.

Almost immediately after Aliya put the icing on the cake, the sharp sting that flushed bright crimson along Aliya's cheek appeared instantly, her face erupting with burning hot pain. Her hand flew up to her cheek, clutching it as the tears  that were threatening to fall finally began to fall from her eyes, reacting to the cut on her cheek caused by her mothers multitude of rings.

"Hey!" Trent shouted, storming over to Aliya's side, with Travis Levine following closely behind. He pushed his dirty blonde hair back from his eyes as he pointed at Molly. "Don't you dare touch her again! She wasn't doing anything wrong, I was there the entire time! She's just a kid. She's only seventeen!"

"I will not have a scandal." Molly lurched forward, pointing a finger back at her son. "We worked hard for our reputation at the club, something like this will tarnish it." They stared daggers at each other, as if the two were playing some sort of silent game.

"She was just dancing, honey." Travis stood next to his wife, trying to calm her down, placing his hand on her back only to be knocked away by Molly's hand. "We all just need time to cool off."

She turned to her husband in fury, sensing that her own husband seemed to be disagreeing with her. "THAT'S WHAT IT STARTS WITH! THAT GIRL IS AN UNGRATEFUL AND SELFISH! SHE NEEDS TO LEARN HER LESSON."

Travis sighed, crossing his arms. "You didn't have to hit her Mol—"

"I had to prove my point." Molly snapped back, her designer heels sinking deep into the sand beneath their feet. "She never listens."

"So, you just decide to hit your daughter?" Trent's jaw stiffened as he gritted his teeth, rolling his eyes at the stupidity of it all.

"She's no daughter of mine." Molly spat, venom in her words, loud enough Aliya could hear it.

Because, none of them had even realised Aliya was already on the other side of the beach, running as far away as she could from their arguing, walking as fast as she could, ignoring her sandals filling with sand, ignoring that she was abandoning her friends at the beach club.

She needed to get out of there, away from her crazy mother.

After what felt like hours running unsteadily through the sand, Aliya dropped down into it at the bottom of the cliff, well away from the party. The sand had already filled her sandals, and now it was clinging to the fabric of her clothes. Feeling completely hopeless, she buried her head in her hands.

She knew she could never make her mom happy.

It exhausted every bone in her body to try. She just wished her mom would be normal — one that you see in movies, the one who bakes and smiles and braids their daughter's hair.

She didn't understand one bit why Molly gave all her praise and admiration to her siblings, and didn't save any for her. She didn't know what more she could possibly do.

She was only seventeen, but she was too tired for all of this. She was too tired to even begin to understand how every single person in town adored her, but her own mother never returned the favour.

"Aliya." A voice approached her softly. She knew exactly who it was, but didn't look up, her head remained in her palms. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault." The brunette choked on her own breath, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes, as if attempting to physically force the tears to stop flooding down her cheeks.

Kai shook his head, scratching his forehead in an animated motion. "I told you to dance with him to throw Mae off of our track. It was my fault."

"Kai—" Aliya sighed deeply, tilting her head to face him, mascara smudged under her eyes as he dropped down next to her. And, when he saw the bright red mark on her cheek, the cut that was there also, his breathing grew crooked.

"I never knew." Kai breathed, his brown eyes growing wide as he stared at her. "I never knew your mother was that—"

"Please, just stop."

At Aliya's wish, he didn't say another word.
Though, he took off his jacket, delicately draping it over her shoulders, and wrapping one of his arms around her, pulling her close as they watched the sun set in the distance.

In the silence she whispered in her mind, I think I love you too, just so you know.

Because, she really did say nothing back when he messaged her with that particular confession.

⠀
—✩—
⠀

THE PARK FAMILY HOME
malibu, california
( 28th august 1999 )
⠀

Mae and Kai Park lived with their mother and father (and their cat, Trevor) in a three story house with high windows and mixture of cream bricks and plain white walls covered in ivy and wisteria — just five minutes away from the Levine residence.

The garden stretched from the front of the house, all the way to the back where everything was growing and blooming. Whether it was sunflowers hanging tall, their shadows dancing in the light Malibu breeze, or a vast vegetable patch behind the patio, with the wooden labels Aliya had painted for them as a gift so they knew what was growing there, the Park's always had something growing.  

Their parents were humble and kind, the kind of parents Aliya dreamed of having. Thomas Park owned a fresh produce store in Los Angeles, where the storefront overlooked the beach whilst Eleanor Park was an oncologist who met Molly Levine during their residency at the same hospital in LA.

They treated Aliya like she was their own, and it felt nice to have a place that felt at home. When she left the Parks, Aliya felt an overwhelming feeling of homesickness, even when she was back to her own home.

The old rickety treehouse at the far end of the garden held a bucket load of memories.

During sleepovers, Mae, Summer and Aliya would sneak over, huddled in a pile of floral quilted blankets, telling their deepest darkest secrets. They were only ten so their darkest secrets were only to do with the movies they saw, or how they really felt about someone in their school. Nothing really big, you know?

But to them, it meant the whole world.

The treehouse was the place they cried when they were fifteen when their friend, Sam, passed away in a car accident suddenly. Aliya wouldn't have known how to grieve him if they weren't there with her to hold her hand.

The trio were inseparable, since day one.

They were attached at the hip, all day every day. Except for restroom breaks, of course. That's where the line was drawn.

The fear Aliya felt about the thought of telling them about her and Kai consumed her. She would be damned if she let a relationship ruin the one good thing she ever had.

"We're together." Kai repeated himself, his eyes nervously darting over to Aliya's for some assistance, however she was halfway through taking a long sip of her coffee, hiding inside her mug.

"No shit." Summer eyed the pair, between Kai's widened and fearful eyes to Aliya's casual downing of her coffee like it were a shot.

"It's been going on all Summer." Kai tried to clarify, earning a side eye from Aliya, whose sunglasses were propped up on her head, pushing her brown hair out of her eyes.

"Duh. I knew that." Mae rolled her twin, continuing to file her nails.

"W-what? You knew?" Kai leant forward in his seat, propping his elbows on his knees.

"Well, you're not the best at keeping secrets." Mae used her nail file to point at the couple. "Summer and I have been waiting around all summer break for you two to tell us."

"And, you're not mad?" Aliya said, cautiously.

"Mad? You finally got yourself a boyfriend!" Aliya narrowed her eyes as Mae continued. "I'm happy for you, even if it is my twin brother."

"So, you're not gonna ban me from your home? Use a voodoo doll to torture me? Put salt in my coffee?" Aliya interrogated, eyes narrowed.

"Oh! You're good!" Mae leaped up from her own seat, retrieving an old notebook and pen out to one of the drawers. "You've given me some great ideas to get Rebecca back for cheating on me. Do you have any thing else?"

"Burn down her science projects." Aliya suggested instantly, seeing as Rebecca was very emotionally attached to her projects.

"Casual arson." Mae pondered, chewing on the edge of her pen. "Perfect."

⠀
—✩—
⠀

CHEM LAB
malibu, california
( 22nd december 1999 )
⠀

"Those goggles look cute on you." Kai smirked at Aliya's concentration, how her nose crinkled slightly, the line across her forehead deepening as she studied the text book in her hands in front of her, adding the right chemicals into the test tubes in front of her.

On the other hand, Kai was desperately trying to make a stink bomb.

"Shush, I'm trying to focus." Aliya whispered in reply, her hazel eyes staying pinned onto the book.

"I'm just telling the truth." Kai defended himself, chuckling as he looked down at his book.

It was safe to say chemistry wasn't his strongest subject.

Which was why he had a study partner.

But, when he spent the majority of his time kissing his study partner, he really wasn't getting any better at chemistry.

"Hm." Aliya murmured, half listening to what he was saying.

"So—" Kai dragged out the word, propping his chin on his palm. "A group of us are jumping into the ocean after school, care to join me?"

Aliya raised her brows, flipping a page in her textbook. "Jumping into the freezing cold ocean? Yeah. Sure. I enjoy torturing myself."

Kai shrugged, numbing his shoulder into her own. "You'll warm up."

"Unless I break my neck from falling, then I'll be dead. So, I wouldn't need to warm up." Aliya pointed out casually, whilst gently stirring the concoction in her test tube.

"You've done it before!" Kai argued his point further, leaning on his chemistry books he had no intention of actually reading.

"Yes, many times in fact. I've jumped in there in a bridesmaid dress, a Powerpuff girl costume, naked." She stared at him pointedly, meeting his now very widened brown eyes, staring back at her.

"Exactly." He clapped his hands together, earning a stern 'shush' from the teacher. He raised his hands in defence, mouthing an apology only to turn quickly back to Aliya. "Why not do it again?"

The Levine's girls lips spread out into a smile. "Of course I'm going to come with you."

"There she is." Kai's infectiously wide grin broke free. "I was scared you were becoming too realistic."

"Never." Aliya whispered, before sighing to herself, prodding Kai's arm with her very sharp pencil. "You're distracting me."

"I'll hold your hand when we jump." He joked, because he knew she didn't even need her hand to be held. "So you're not scared." He reached up to tuck a loose wave behind her ear, his hand brushing against her cheek.

Aliya laughed lightly at his suggestion, glancing at him from over her comedically large goggles. "It'll be me holding your hand, we both know it."

⠀
—✩—
⠀

THE BEACH
malibu, california
( 22nd december 1999 )
⠀

"I hate you." Kai shivered in the winter Malibu wind, which was still fairly warm, so his shivering was mainly caused by the complete and total fear he felt staring at the twenty foot drop they had in store for them.

"You love me." Aliya smiled wide, nudging his hip with hers as they waited in line behind their fellow students.

"I can't believe you're making me do this, Aliya." Gritting his teeth, Kai took a cautious step, as if the cliff was going to crumble beneath his feet.

Aliya cackled, the laugh that caused Summer to burst out laughing and spit out whatever she was drinking. "Says the one who begged me to come with him in chem lab?"

"I take it back." A shiver overtook his body yet again, and he quickly responded by tugging Aliya's hand, gripping it tightly as he inhaled an unsteady breath.

"I'm right here with you." She patted his cold palm affectionately, moving closer to the edge of the cliff. "I won't be an asshole and jump without you." She vowed, giving his hand a squeeze, and Kai seemed to take some comfort in that, nodding his head.

Though, he did look quite green.

lAre you ready?" Aliya looked out at the ocean, now their turn. The sun was setting in the distance and the horizon was a perfectly straight line. It made Aliya want to take a picture of this exact moment in her mind, and remember it for as long as she'd live.

"As I'll ever be." Kai readjusted the grip he had on Aliya's hand, rolling out his shoulders in preparation.

"Three..." Aliya began to count, readying herself for the jump. "Two..."

Kai swore under him breath, his teeth chattering.

"ONE!"

And after that moment, for another six months, they were perfectly and stupidly in love.

They went on various double dates with their friends, a multitude of high school parties, and Aliya even managed to sneak him into her room late at night.

They broke the toaster at the Park's house, and the coffee machine at her home.

Even after the toaster incident, she was always welcome into his home, having weekly dinners with Maverick and Eleanor. She wished everyday was like this, the light hearted jokes, laughter and polite conversations.

At her own house, dinners consisted of insults, passive aggression and 'please can you past the butter' laced with venom and gritted teeth.

When she broke her leg roller blading in March, he visited her in the hospital every afternoon, sitting by her bedside as they talked about anything and everything they could possibly think of, the words coming out in frantic breaths.

Everything was going smoothly.

Even her own mother liked him.

Maybe that was the reason everything went wrong?

However, everything was going right, until she received an acceptance letter.

⠀
—✩—
⠀

THE LEVINE FAMILY HOME
malibu, california
( 1st june 2000 )
⠀

Pushing through the creaky front door Aliya swore her mother made noisy so she knew whenever her children sneaked out (however Aliya always climbed down the gutter, she knew better than to try the front door), Aliya entered the house, kicking the door shut behind her.

Seeing as she had her hands pretty full.

"Hey, honey." Travis greeted her with a smile on his face, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Is that your cap and gown?" He gestured towards the large black bag in her hands.

"Yep, in all its glory." Aliya said with a nod of her head, adjusting the bag on her arm, which only to cause the yellow and blue sash to slip out from the blown zipper, the blue words crinkling as they fell at her feet.

"Aliya?" Travis furrowed his brows, bending down to pick up the silky fabric.

"Oh— that's nothing. It must've—"

"You're valedictorian?" Travis held the sash like it was precious family heirloom, his hand smoothing the fabric so the letters aligned.

"I—"

"This is huge!" His eyes welled with tears, and before Aliya could stop him, he rushed to the kitchen. "Molly! Molly! Aliya is valedictorian! Honey!"

Aliya sighed heavily, rushing into the kitchen after her doting father, holding the bag close to her chest as she ran after him.

"I knew that, Trav. I got a letter about it." Her mother replied, casually and unbothered as per usual, mid way through chopping up various vegetables.

She fired "the woman" (Sylvia) again.

Molly Levine was the type of person you shouldn't talk to when she was holding a knife.

"And, you never said anything?" Travis set the sash around his own neck, moving to the cupboard with flourish, grabbing a glass, and filling it with lemonade from the fridge, adding a couple ice cubes into the glass while he was there. "I wish I was Valedictorian when I was—"

Molly let out a weighty sigh. "I suspected Aliya would tell us sooner or later."

Here it comes, Aliya thought as Molly met her eyes in a dismissive gaze, moving to grab the red bell peppers that were laid out on the counter behind her. "Or, we would just find out on the day of her graduation. No biggie."

"I was going to tell you." Aliya set her bags on one of the chairs they inherited from her great grandmother. Her mother only swapped the chairs out to these when family was expected over.

This occasion was Aliya's graduation, of course.

Even Molly Levine didn't want to admit to her own mother that she despised these chairs.

Maybe it all ran in the family.

The youngest daughter's always resented their mothers.

Note to Self, never have children. They will only end up resenting you in the long run.

"Sure you—"

"I have something else to say too." Aliya announced to her parents, carefully, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach, how her heart rate increased at the thought of her mother's reaction to the news.

"Go ahead, take the floor." Her mother gestured dramatically to the stools, inviting Aliya to take a seat. Which she did, slipping onto the stool and clearing her throat, placing her hands onto the counter to stop herself from fidgeting.

"What is it, honey?" Travis questioned, taking a very loud sip from his lemonade.

"I'm not going to Stanford." Aliya informed them, quicker and snappier than she intended too.

At the news, her mother paused what she was doing, her eyes burrowing into the cutting board in front of her. The Levine girl watched as her mother's jaw tensed, creating a shadowed line across her face.

"What do you mean you're not going to Stanford?" Molly looked up slowly, her blonde, blow dried hair falling over her shoulder, her palms braced against on the counter once she had put down her knife. "I went to Stanford. What's wrong with Stanford?"

Aliya began to play with the hem of her dress, looking into her lap. "Nothing's wrong with Stanford. It's a great sch—"

"Then it makes no sense why you aren't going there." Molly pointed out matter-of-factly, moving to the refrigerator to grab other various vegetables that were already laid out, in the brown paper packaging of Thomas' store.

"Let's just hear her out." Travis replied calmly, always the referee, the devils advocate.

With both of her parent's eyes on her, she couldn't help but feel nervous to admit to them what she had known for a month.

"I'm going to Columbia." She let the words slip out of her mouth, the butterflies doing insane acrobatics in her stomach, and she only had to wait a single split second for an explosion.

"YOU'RE MOVING TO NEW YORK?"

A stray pepper came tumbling from Molly's arms as she spoke, landing unceremoniously on the floor tiles.

"Molly—" Travis moved towards her, leaning to pick up the pepper as she set all the other vegetables she had in her hands on the counter, sending them all tumbling down with the pepper.

"I am, yes." Confirming with a nod of her head, Aliya steadied herself for the defence portion of the argument. "It's one of the best medical schools in the country, it'll be good for me. New York is a once in a lifetime opportunity—"

"You don't know what's good for you." Molly muttered bitterly. "I had to pick your graduation dress."

"Actually," Aliya straightened her shoulders. "I went with the red one."

Something similar to a sob escaped Molly's lips.

Aliya decided to ignore that. "I've picked out my dorm. I booked my plane ticket. I'm going to Columbia." Molly's lips thinned. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just couldn't find the right way to tell you."

"I can't deal with you right now." Her mother waved her hands around, pushing from the counter, her sandals clanking across the floor as she made her way out of the kitchen. Before she actually left, she turned back to glance at Aliya over her shoulder, briefly. "I hope you stay with Kai, the Parks love us. I wouldn't want you to ruin the alliance we have with them. Besides, you two make a handsome couple."

Aliya blinked, watching her mom leave in a fluster.

Alliance?

They weren't in a freaking dystopian fantasy novel.

Travis watched his wife disappear before returning his gaze back to his third born. "Aliya, honey—"

"It's fine. It'll be great." She said, more to herself than him, grabbing her cap and gown (and her Valedictorian sash from around her fathers neck) with one hand before racing out of the kitchen, up the steps, and into the refuge of her own room.

Once the door was shut firmly behind her, she set the bag down on her bed, moving over to her desk.

Her whole room was always cluttered, not in the messy kind of way, but more so in a sort of organised chaos route.

Various sentimental items were taped to her walls, along with a quilted comforter she had gotten for her ninth birthday, folded neatly on her bed.

Her art was placed everywhere, all of the walls, littering her dresser and desk — landscapes, the Parks house she painted with watercolour, Kai, Summer and Mae posing with 'Summer specials' (her famous cocktail).

Tugging open her desk drawer, she carefully pulled out the folded letter that was hidden under a pile of test papers, in her photo album. Away from any prying eyes.

She was accepted into UCLA to study art. Nobody knew — not even Summer or Kai or Mae.

Aliya could tell her mom. Say she was going to UCLA in a couple months to study what she really wanted to study.

But the truth was, Aliya was scared.

Scared of what her mother would do if she told her. She flipped out about the fact Aliya was moving to New York, flipped out about Aliya getting an A, not an A+ (which she usually always got). Molly threw a sieve across the room when Aliya admitted she didn't like the herb salmon when she was eight years old. 

So, she stuffed the acceptance letter in her trash can.

And instead of storming to her mother, fighting with her and resisting her orders, she opened the photo album up from the beginning, flicking through images of her friends and family, smiling a toothy smile at the camera her mother always said made her look like her teeth took up her entire face.

She never smiled like that in photos again after that.

When you were seven and your mother told you your smile was hideous, it was hard to ever smile again after that.

Reaching the Kai pages, and seeing his own smile made this all hurt even more. That smile that could turn her knees into stupid jelly, because she knew it couldn't last.

Love was never enough.

She loved Kai, she knew that, but, isn't love about also letting someone go?

Knowing yourself that you are no good for them, and that they deserve better than you.

Aliya's life was messy. It was full of anger and resentment towards her family, full of anxieties and stress masked by her optimism. She couldn't give Kai that. He was good and kind and respectful, the perfect first boyfriend. He deserved something easy, and not the mess Aliya was encaged in.

He deserved someone who wanted the same things as him.

Aliya was tangled up in so many messes, even she couldn't get out of them. And, she couldn't expect Kai to untangle them for her.

⠀
—✩—
⠀

MALIBU PIER
malibu, california
( 18th august 2000 )
⠀

At the party the Park's and the Levine's threw for the three girls (and Kai) before they went off to college took place in the Levine residence, only a short walk from the pier where Aliya had escaped too to catch her breath.

The acceptance letter for Colombia came in the mail a few months ago. He knew about California Berkeley and Stanford. Both acceptances.

She bagged Harvard and Yale too.

Kai didn't know yet that she planned to pick the one that put miles between them.

The one the furthest away.

Racked with guilt, Aliya stood at the edge of the pier, leaning onto the weathered and rusted railing, letting the wind whip her carefully curled hair around her head. She closed her eyes, soaking in the evening sun on her cheeks, the sound of the waves travelling to shore, the smell of salt air inflating her lungs.

"Everyone's looking for you." Kai's voice appeared behind her.

He was in a dark blue suit, his tie had long disappeared and his hands were buried into his pockets as he stopped next to Aliya, close enough to touch.

"Summer and Mae want to take pictures."

"More?" Aliya joked with a forced smile, and he nodded, shyly in confirmation. "Look, Kai—"

"You're breaking up with me, aren't you?" The words slipped out of his mouth and into the open air around them, catching her off guard.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"

"See. You're not denying it. I knew it, I've known for weeks." Kai's voice was strained, breaking halfway through his words. When Aliya didn't reply, he sighed, long and hard. "About your acceptance letter to Columbia. I was waiting for you to tell me." He clarified, making Aliya feel even more guiltier that he had noticed all the signs leading up to this moment.

She never knew he could read her so well.

"I was waiting for the right time." Aliya swallowed the lump in her throat as she explained, pulling the bracelet on her wrist, letting it fall back into her skin. 

"We can do long distance." Kai told her, trying to find a way to save them. "I don't mind." Reaching for her hands, Kai squeezed them tightly, holding them against his chest.

Aliya could feel his heart beating erratically as everything began to escalate around them, too fast to be stopped.

"I—"

Kai kissed her hand gently, willing her back to him. "We can get through it, Aliya. We aren't like other couples, we will last." He told her, but she wasn't listening. He was talking to himself.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was small as her hands slipped out of Kai's. "We won't, Kai. I can't— I have to focus—"

"We can still be together—"

She shook her head, and Kai could sense that she had already labelled this a dead case. "I have to do this, Kai. We want so many different things. I don't want you to wait for me. I want you to have everything you've ever wanting, and that's not me."

"Don't say that. I want you." Kai reached for her, but it was too far gone. "We— We will figure it out."

"Kai—" Her voice was breaking as they reached a dead end, the final chapter of their story.

Aliya didn't want the book to end, but it had to.

"Aliya—" He put his forehead to Aliya's, tilting his head slightly so their lips touched. He didn't know she meant it until she pulled away from him for the second time, taking a step back.

"I can't do this anymore. I don't want this anymore. I don't want to be—"

"You're really going through with this. Just like that?" Kai snapped bluntly, his eyes laced with tears in the sunshine glow, trickling small waterfalls down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Kai." She replied, looking down at her shoes, her heels red hot from the uncomfortable height of the heel. Though, it was easier to focus on the physically pain, than the feeling of her heart breaking inside her chest.

"You're not sorry." He sniffed, swiping his hand across his nose, smudging the tears on his cheeks as he willed himself to stop crying. "This was your great plan, huh? To drag me down with you?"

His voice was bitter, a cruel edge she never heard from Kai before. She couldn't exactly blame him.

She had gotten herself a front row ticket to the exact moment his heart was breaking. Aliya could see it on the way his eyes grew red, his lips downturned.

The truth was, she was getting worse. She picked at her fingernails too much she had to get acrylics, and then after that she moved onto the skin around her nails.

Her nights were sleepless, causing premature darkness circles under her eyes. And, she felt sick with anxiety every hour of the day, with every bone in her body aching to feel fine.

In addition, she missed who she used to be all the time, and the longing for her mother to be better never disappeared.

Even at the age of eighteen, she never lost the hope that things could be different.

She hated that about herself too.

"You don't mean that. I know you don't mean that." Aliya lip quivered, so she bit down, drawing blood. m

Kai gritted his teeth. "You don't know me."

"I do. I know you." Aliya defended, a hand to her stomach as the sickness intensified.

Kai took another step back away from her, expanding the distance between them both physically and metaphorically. It wasn't supposed to end like this. Aliya didn't know why she managed to get everything so messy. It

seemed, these days, everything she touched turned to complete chaos.

"I don't know who I'm looking at anymore. You are not the Aliya I knew. She wasn't a quitter."

And just like that, Kai twisted the knife that she already planted deep in her heart.

"I didn't want to hurt you." Aliya breathed, her chest heaving.

"Well, you already did." He snapped, turning away quickly and leaving her in her own misery, watching as he stormed away, his hand raking through his jet black hair, his suit jacket clutched tightly in his hand.

When he finally left the pier, she broke, muffled sobs breaking out of her as she slapped a hand to her mouth, hot tears burning her cheeks, though she tried to will herself not to cry.

She just hoped that New York would be a good distraction.

⠀
⠀
⠀

( notes! )

my boy was a montage, a slow motion love potion jumping off things in the ocean, i broke his heart cause he was nice. 💔💔

did i base their entire relationship on midnight rain? yes. yes i did.

i hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!! i had so much fun writing teenage aliya!!! there were soooo many other scenes i wanted to include, but this chapter was getting so long that i might save them for another time!!

also, i hope you liked the texting part of the story!! because it was quite a long chapter, i wanted to add in something a little different to break it up a bit!! and i do love writing in other formats i find it so fun!

( word count! — 12,300 )