The bonfire is a ritual of passage to celebrate the crossing between winter and spring that is marked by music, drinks, and pits of fire across the beaches in Australia. It's also Aimee's last event in Aussie land and she's excited to take part in it. There are two days left to her departure to India with Scott and her stomach is twisted in a knot, anticipating the event, but at the same time, second-guessing her decision. 

She hasn't seen Liam since the night of the restaurant. Her nights have been full with the gigs at the Northern, and the long midnight calls with Scott. Nonetheless, every night, when the only sounds belong only to the crickets and Josie's light snore, Aimee's head is full of Liam, her heart aches for his touch, his lips, and his presence. Although she should be moving away from him, her heart longs for his embrace.  

At first light, Aimee is already getting dressed. She is determined to catch the perfect wave that encapsulates her dreams, hopes and aspirations. 

"Do you want me to come with you?" Josie asks while peaking from her bedsheet. 

Aimee wraps her long hair in a bun. "No, I'll be fine. I could use your car, though."

Josie takes her car keys from the nightstand and throws them on top of her bed. "No bicycle for you today?"

Aimee chuckles, "If I wreck that thing you will kill me. I'll take my chances with your car." 

She gets her board and places it in the car and drives off to the same spot when she first met him. Part of her wishes she will see him there. Part of her wishes she won't. 

When she arrives at the beach, the crystal clear water calls to her like a siren calls a sailor. She walks to the board and observes two wavy lines that have been drawn in chalk and the date below. 

She heads to the beach and peels her clothes, showing her bikini underneath. She then proceeds to dress up her wetsuit and picks up her board. She closes her eyes and takes in the sweet smell of the salty water. 

She makes her way to the water and paddles, waiting for the perfect peak to arise. In the back, a wave starts forming, growing steadily with each movement. Aimee positions herself and decides that that's her wave. She awaits the right moment before paddling furiously. In a gracious movement, Aimee pops up and manoeuvres her board with elegance and rides the tunnel of water. She grazes the water with her left hand and feels the power of the water beneath her. She closes her eyes and feels connected to her father.

Aimee runs out of the water with a sense of self-satisfaction.

"That was a great ride." A guy with a board says to her while passing by towards the water. She smiles at him and heads to her clothes and starts peeling off her suit.

"That was amazing. You are a good surfer." She turns around and sees Charlie with a smile plastered on his face, and just behind him, a shirtless Liam. "Who taught you to surf like that?"

"Hmm... Liam, actually" she responds avoiding looking at him. "What are you doing here?"

"A little brother bonding. We surf here all the time. Liam more often than I do. But, today is a Sunday so why not?"

Aimee smiles at Charlie and steals a glance at Liam that stands silently in the background, avoiding any eye contact with Aimee. She turns her attention back to Charlie. 

"Have you seen Callum? He was meant to meet me here."

Charlie shakes his head, "No, I haven't seen him around. You're always welcome to hang out with us and surf a bit more. We can show you some neat tricks." he smirks.  

Aimee hesitates, "Thanks for the offer but I should get going." 

"Are you going to the bonfire?" Chris asks. 

"Yes, of course, it's my last hurrah before I leave," Aimee says while stealing a glance at Liam that has now shifted his eyes to the ocean.  

"I heard you're off travelling for a bit? To India?" Charlie enquires. 

"Yes, leaving in two days actually." 

Liam's eyes travel from the ocean green to her emerald gems in clear surprise at the revelation. 

Charlie notices his brother's uneasiness. "Are you coming to our place or do you have other plans?" 

"Not sure, actually. I guess I'll tag along with whatever Josie gets up to." 

"Aimee!" Callum runs towards them waving his arm. 

Charlie looks at his attire. Callum is wearing jeans and a black t-shirt which rewards a lighthearted chuckle from Charlie. "Where's the board, dude?" 

Callum squints momentarily trying to understand the comment. "The board?" 

Aimee points at her surfboard. 

"Oh! No, that's her thing. Not mine."

"I can see that. You are really dressed for the beach." Charlie looks at the tight jeans that Callum is wearing. 

"Oh yeah," he looks down at his outfit. "I just came to meet Aimee."

Charlie hums amusedly, "I was just telling Aimee that you guys should all come to our place for the bonfire tomorrow night. " 

Callum shrugs, "Ok, sure. That should be fun."

"See Aimee. No excuse now." Charlie says chuffed with himself. "I'll tell Eva and Izzie. They will be over the moon. We always have a little party of our own. Your uncle will be there too." 

"We'll be there," Callum says confidently. 

Aimee raises her eyes at her brother attempting to provoke a silent scold which goes unnoticed. "I guess, we'll see you there." 

Aimee steals another glance at Liam that shuffles sand by his feet making a point to not look at her. 

"Enjoy the waves." Aimee picks up her things and starts walking away from the brothers with Callum following her closely.

"You could have said a word or two." Charlie admonishes his baby brother when the siblings are an earshot away. 

"We've got nothing to say to each other."

"So, last week you got shit faced over this girl and almost blew one of our largest contracts but now you've got nothing to say to her? She's leaving, mate, it's now or never."

"She made it clear she doesn't want to hear what I have to say."

"Are you going to continue to bullshit her or be a man and give her the truth?" Liam stares at his brother. "Think about what she deserves to hear, not what you want to say." 

Liam's eyes travel to the brown-haired girl that makes her way to the car park, followed closely by her twin. 

"Aimee! Slow down!" Callum huffs while catching up with Aimee that sprints to the car park clearly annoyed at her brother. "What has gotten into you?"

Aimee shoves the surfboard on the back of Josie's truck and stands with her arms crossed. "You had no right!" 

Callum looks stumped at her accusation.

"We'll be there? We'll be there? Maybe I don't want to be there!"

"You're upset that I said yes to the bonfire thing?" Callum stares at her inquisitively trying to ascertain her state of mind. 

Aimee paces in circles. "And, and you arrive late. I've been here for two hours. We said 8 am. Does it look like 8 am to you?"

"I'm sorry I was late..." Callum rubs the back of his neck apologetically. 

"We'll be there! I can't believe you!" Aimee screams frustrated. 

"Whoa. I need you to calm down for a minute here. Are you angry with me because I was late or because I said yes to the bonfire? 'Cause I'm grasping at straws here, sis."

"Yes," Aimee responds. 

"Yes, what?"

"Yes. Everything is a yes. Yes that you came late. Yes, that you said we were going to the bonfire. Yes, that I had to run into him today of all days. Yes, to all of this nonsense. We should have never come to this place in the first place. But, we did, and now everything is a fucking mess! So YES!" 

Aimee exhales and realises she just screamed at her brother, a day after they had promised to work things through. 

"Run into whom?" Callum says impassively. 

Aimee shakes her head and turns her face away from Callum. "No one."

"Liam? What the fuck is happening between you two?" Callum circles around and stares at his sister. "I'm not stupid. Do you think I didn't see how he was behaving with you just now? Or how he jumped to talk to you when you were with Tessa, even though his girlfriend was right there, next to him..." Callum sighs, "I'm getting a bit tired to be always the last person you tell everything in your life to when I used to be the first and sometimes only confidant. Like when you were the first I told when I got together with Ana."

"Callum..." Aimee eyes water. He's right. She's shut him down since they arrived in Australia. 

"Don't bother. Do you want to know why we're out of sync, Aimee? Because you made us that way just because you disagree with me." Callum takes the car keys from his pocket. "You're just repeating your pattern. First with dad because he thought your music career was a risk, and now with me because I want something that you don't want." 

"I'm sorry..." she replies unable to move her body. 

"I'm done, Aimes. I'm done trying to be there for you when you clearly don't want me around." Callum looks towards the Forsyth brothers that are now paddling in the water together. "And, I don't know what is happening with Liam or the guy you are going to with India, which by the way you haven't even bothered me to tell me his name..."

"His name is Scott," she whispers. 

Callum raises his hand dismissively. "I don't really care anymore. You do you." He spins the keys in his hand once until they land back in the palm of his hand. "And, I'll do me. Come to the bonfire. Don't come. I don't care anymore." 

"Callum..." Aimee's eyes fill with tears that now spill on her cheeks that are tainted red. 

But, Callum has already started the engine. He takes his sunglasses and without stealing another glance at his sister drives off. 

Author's Note:

Photo by Sean Oulashin on Unsplash