I stayed out on the beach for a while longer, sitting in my red chair, watching the sky get darker and the stars begin to pop out in the great expanse of sky above me. Today had been the most normal I'd felt since I came here. For short amounts of time I could actually imagine that I was just a regular 17 year old girl, spending a relaxing day on the beach with her friends. 

Too soon, that feeling would be gone. I glanced down and saw my amulet was just barely lit and I sighed, heaving up from my chair to go out into the pitch black water. I could already feel the changes of the seasons coming. The water was colder today, not nearly as comfortable as it had been most nights.

"Serena!" Cass called from the little island and I swam over. The moon was bright tonight, illuminating the sand and making it seem to glow against the sand where Levi and Cassandra were sitting.

"Hey guys." I smiled, still feeling a little bubbly as I joined them where they sat.

Levi raised her eyebrows at me and pulled up her dress so that she could sit cross-legged. "I can't believe you." She said hurriedly. "You're insane for not coming out to the boat."

"She's right." Cassandra chimed in, her long slender nose looking pinched. "Alana is probably going to be really pissed off." She told me sounding worried. "What were you thinking? There were ten guys on that boat that got lost."

My shoulders slumped. "Ten?" I repeated.

Levi hit my shoulder gently. "Yeah, and I know I said Theon is hot, but he's not hot enough that you should blow off keeping your deal with Alana."

I nodded, but turned to face them. "I don't regret it." I said honestly. "Tally was with me, and I didn't want her to see me do something like that."

"Theon probably does worse in front of her." Levi shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes at her and suddenly had an annoyance with her at an extremely high level. "He would never do anything bad in front of her, Levi." I snapped. "You don't even know them."

She widened her eyes and leaned back on her hands in the sand. "Alright, well then what is it exactly that he does? Does he just make Alana balloon animals, or hand out cotton candy?" She had a snarky edge to her voice I'd never noticed before. "He isn't a saint or he wouldn't be working for someone like Alana."

I was fuming, and I took a deep breath. "I don't know what he does, Levi, but it doesn't matter. I know it isn't something cookie cutter, but I know he would never involve Tally in something bad, and I didn't want to either." I said heatedly and I hated the shake to my voice.

"Guys, stop arguing." Cassandra groaned, pulling up her knees. "It was Serena's choice to pass on the boat to protect Tally, so we can't say anything about it." She said to Levi, then she turned to me. "Levi is only trying to look out for you." She said and I nodded my head.

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Yeah." Levi repeated, crossing her arms, but sighing. "Did you have fun with him?" She asked, trying to sound less annoyed. "It looked like you guys did."

I tried to let go off my annoyance too, and I smiled. "Yeah, I did, but it wasn't about him." I added. "I had fun in general. Tally is great, and Theon was a lot nicer than usual." I told them. "Next time you guys should come too."

"Next time?" Cassandra repeated.

"Did he kiss you?" Levi asked, lifting one eyebrow.

I laughed, laying back on the sand. "I mean, I don't know if there will be a next time or not, but if there is, I want you guys to come too. It felt nice to pretend to be normal again." I sighed. "And, no, Levi." I smiled up at the moon. "He didn't try, and I wouldn't have let him if he did, I love Asher, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." She laughed, laying out beside me.

Cassandra leaned back too. "What was he like?" She whispered. "Asher, I mean."

The moon looked more melancholy to me know. "He was...He is the most amazing guy." I whispered back. "He's gorgeous, but it's not only that." I told them. "He was my best friend. He was dependable and smart, and he had this face he'd make whenever I was trying to make him laugh and he would try to hold it back. He'd pinch up his face and it made him look constipated, but I always thought it was the funniest thing ever. He always made me laugh. He was...good." I smiled sadly. "I miss him."

Cassandra reached over to me and held my hand, squeezing it once. "He sounds great." She said softly.

"I bet he is missing you too." Levi said beside me and I blinked away one tear.

I stared up at the moon, and cheesily and hoped that wherever Asher is right now, that he might be looking up at the same moon as me.

The next day came on fast, but brought no new people to the cove. Theon had been back on his regular schedule. He showed up, did his work, and then got out of here. We exchanged some pleasantries, but he didn't hangout or anything after he finished his work, not that I expected him to.

The days were all starting to blur together, and the more and more passed, the more I had to start to wonder if I'd made the right choice not going out for the boat. I knew I had, but at the same time I definitely worried that another opportunity like that wouldn't happen again.

As long as two years sounded, two more weeks passed like it was nothing. The realization was both comforting and terrifying. In one respect it meant that two years of working for Alana may go by faster than I'd thought, but at the same time, that meant we were getting closer and closer to our deadline and none of us were anywhere near 100. The pressure was weighing us all down.

I walked up the beach, and stared into the trees. I decided to see how far into the foliage I could get before my amulet starts to dim. The change of scenery felt nice, and I crept slowly through the tangles of trees. The way the sun cut down through the palm leaves casted a green hue across my skin and I inched further and further in. I was beyond curious what all was on this island. It is clearly pretty big since I know there is a resort, a bar, and a diner at least because Theon works in all of those places.

I was a few yards in when I came across a small little house-like shack.

It would have usually freaked me out to stumble across a house hidden away in the trees, but today it was intriguing. It was one story tall and only had three little dusty windows. The whole thing was built out of mix matched colored wood, and the front door was plastic and there was small little drawing across it.

I took a couple steps closer, and I was about to lean in to look in the window beside the door when it swung open.

"Who the hell are you?" A girl demanded. She was a little shorter than me, with dark olive skin and brown hair and eyes. She looked to be about my age and she stood in front of me gawking at me. "Hello?" She asked again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to intrude, I was jus-."

"Heading to a costume party?" She asked narrowing her eyes at me like I was disgusting. "What the hell are you wearing?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm just going to go." I told her, turning to walk away.

"Yeah, you do that!" She yelled after me.

"Serena?" I heard a familiar voice call and I whipped around.

"Theon." I said when I saw him standing in the doorway of the little shack.

The girl threw her arms in the air. "Of course you two know each other." She said acidly.

Theon caught her arm as she tried to leave, but she jerked it back. "Tanya, where are you going?" He asked her.

"Home." She snapped, throwing me a nasty glance again before she disappeared into the trees the opposite direction.

Theon cursed and ran his hands through his hair, kicking the ground in front of him.

"I'm sorry." I whispered then turned away again walking briskly back towards the beach.

I could hear his footfalls behind me, and he caught me by the elbow spinning me back around. "What are you doing out here, Serena?" He asked, his voice not sounding as harsh as I expected it to.

I stuttered as I stared into his honey brown eyes. "I was just exploring and I just happened upon this..."

"My house." He finished for me.

My chest tightened. "You live there?" I asked.

He huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, not as nice as what you're used to, I'm sure, but it does for me and Tally."

I shook my head, reaching out to put my hand on his broad chest. "Oh, no, I wasn't saying that, Theon." I said quickly. "I just didn't know you lived so close is all."

He avoided my gaze, looking off behind me instead. "Yeah, well, you better get back." He told me. "You're losing light." He said softly, looking down at my amulet for a minute.

"Ok." I said awkwardly, kind of wanting to get out of these trees and back to my beach.

I walked away fast. I don't know what I had just interrupted, and I couldn't help thinking how sad it was that he and Tally live in that tiny little place in the middle of the trees. What he had said to me about people teasing Tally started to make a little sense. Kids can be mean when it comes to things like this, as sad as it is.

I sighed with relief as I walked back out to the sandy beach and down to the water.

No wonder Theon had been so rude to me at first. He just thought I was a spoiled rich girl, and he was living in that as hard as he works.

Suddenly I was struck with an odd thought.

Theon has been calling me a princess, and talking at me like that since the day I met him. He told me he knew more about me than I thought, and at the time, I thought he was just being an ass. But now that I think of it, even just a minute ago he acted like he knows I come from money.

How?

How does Theon know that?