𝙾𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙴𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝚃𝚠𝚘

𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝙵𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟷𝟶𝚝𝚑

Pondering over the calories of my breakfast's make up, metal spoon against ceramic sound as I push my yoghurt from one side of my bowl to the other.

I shouldn't have added so many blueberries.

And yet, I bring myself to eat one half spoonful and then the next until the inside of the bowl is a pattern of thin streaks.

I won't add as many blueberries tomorrow.

Having washed my breakfast bowl and spoon, I grab my school bag and lean forward as I land its weight over my back. I walk towards the front of the house and past Mum's open bedroom door, indicating she's left for work. Having locked the front door, I step off the verandah and dash over the stone pavers, taking a grasp and snapping off a single prism leaf from the front garden's grasstree. Even before hitting my street's bitumen, I'm breaking off small prisms, dropping them as I go. The scents of salt and dry heat infiltrate my nose, and I know I'm coming home. A dirt track lies between two neighbouring houses, a passage to the local nirvana. Scrub dominates either side as dirt becomes sand and the sand the scrub is rooted in becomes waves of dunes. The big blue has made its appearance and already surfers manoeuvre her rolling surface, throwing spit for the rising sunlight to catch. Having left my shoes and socks at the base of the dunes as well as my bag, I flex my toes in the damp sand of the water's edge. The ocean glazes her liquid over each of my feet – a good morning. And at that, I hear another.

"Good morning!" Callie chimes from the track I originated.

"Morning!" I call back, "How are you?"

"Great," Callie begins before embracing me, "I'm still thinking about how fast you ran that 1500m on Saturday! A district record – wow!"

"Hopefully, I can do it again come finals – have a PB inscribed on a medal," I say before smiling to Callie, "But thank you. Without you treading on my heels, I wouldn't have competed nearly as well."

"Stop it," Callie replies, tossing her hand out as if to slap my words, "You know I was only trying to beat your ass."

Callie begins to run along the sand and it's my cue to get my heartrate up as well. Our school day routine. Cool sand beneath our feet as our bodies warm up to the pace of our legs. Surfers continue to emerge from the dunes, wading out into the ocean before flopping onto their boards and paddling. We reach the sign reading 'DUNE REHABILITATION', jog to a stop and turn to walk back. With the clarity a run provides, the question I've been meaning to ask comes to mind. "What is it about Seraphina you don't like?" I ask, my words being separated by eager breaths.

"She's two-faced," Callie breathes back.

I consider my best friend's comment but recognise Seraphina's always been nice to me. "Seraphina's hot enough for Gabriel to ask her to be his date," I say, venting my thoughts, "I'll be alone forever."

"You're hanging out with Cooper on Valentine's Day," Callie replies, nudging her shoulder into my arm.

I roll my eyes to Callie. "It's a surf session that happens to be on Valentine's."

When I was a little girl, I had a dream about reading in the library. Then the prince of my dreams rode in on his white horse. "You are the fairest of them all," he'd declared. Suddenly, black knights appeared and tried to fight him. But my prince whisked me onto his horse and we rode away together.

Reality hits come high school. I now get dressed before a mirror each morning.

"Guess what!" Callie says, a smile lighting up her face.