It's Just a Beach Day! Right?!

Mara told Eligh she wanted to tell him something before the group got going for the day. It was the morning of the fourth phase, a few hours before commencement. They were all packed up and prepared for an outing in the sun.

At first, ‘they all’ consisted of Eligh and his brother who had talked the beach up, Mara and Tessa who invited themselves along, Anton who claimed he didn’t appreciate being left behind, Patrice and her friends, and Jordan—

Because they couldn’t get rid of the guy no matter what they tried.

Somehow, vehicles had gotten called and tens more people had been invited. Eventually, just about the whole cohort of Gear Up! Games participants were heading to the same beach area at the same time. This included those who had been eliminated from Capture the Flag and, more recently, Hide and Seek.

It made Eligh immensely suspicious.

But not nearly as suspicious and antsy as Mara had made him as they had been boarding the shuttle that would take them down to the beach. Like a sly cat, she’d just slid it into their casual conversation as if she’d just told him she liked drinking water before breakfast.

“You cannot believe that MySimulation is a better game than Stardrop Valley,” Oliver was saying to Eligh, “It’s a clinically insane train of thought, is all I’m saying.”

“Oh, please. Ask anyone! Anyone with half their marbles would to tell you—”

“Hey, Eligh?”

Eligh paused and looked up at Mara. She had stepped up onto the shuttle and was hanging off the side a little, looking down at Eligh like some sort of black-and-auburn-haired goddess. The way the sun shone onto her face and through her hair was unreal. Plus, there was something in Mara’s tone of voice that brought Eligh back to when he’d first seen her in the ninth grade.

A hopeful expression, he asked her with his eyes.

“I… want to tell you something.” She said. Eligh hoped that soft, shy look in her eyes was her answering him.

He could imagine only a few reasons a girl would look at a guy like that. His heart seized up in his chest and his mouth dropped open to tell her, “G-Go ahead.”

Mara had looked around and smiled, said, “I think I’ll tell you later,” and scooted into an empty seat without spending another second on the topic.

Eligh, however, had stood lingering outside the shuttle for so long that Oliver knocked the back of his head forward with a rap of his knuckles and said, “You have no chance, big bro. Just get in the cart.”

Snapped out of his stupor, Eligh got in the shuttle without further delay and settled in beside Mara. She put a hand over her mouth and giggled at him when he looked at her, a burning question obvious in his eyes. It made Eligh raise his eyebrows at her and she cracked up, looking away from him.

Of course, there was the possibility she was laughing at him, but Eligh felt it was something more, and with a confidence he hadn’t felt in a long time, he sat back and relaxed. The shuttle got going towards the beach and Eligh smiled in the breeze.

Little bro, he thought, you couldn’t be more wrong.

About thirty minutes later, the shuttles arrived at the beach nearest to the facility. The views were immaculate, something straight out of a movie. The island itself was already quite beautiful, but the beach, the ocean; it was something worth seeing.

People started running off the shuttles the moment their wheels stopped turning; though, the older participants ambled off with grace, walking to the beach like they’d been there hundreds of times before. To Eligh, it was somehow nice to see.

I must miss old man Yuu and May, he thought and was subsequently yanked off the shuttle by Oliver who had sat on his left side.

“What are we waiting for?” Anton was asking, Oliver nodding in agreement. “We only have two-some hours before the final phase. Let’s go!”

“Wai—Mara!” Eligh cried, wanting to walk with her and yet was pulled toward the sand. He looked back, hearing Jordan call after him, “I’ve got her!” The man rushed to offer Mara his hand as she exited the shuttle.

She jumped down before he could even settle before her. “Thanks, though!” Eligh could hear her chipper voice as the distance between them grew.

Really, what’s got her in such great spirits today? He wondered; though, had little time to mull the thought over. It was as if Oliver and Anton were on drugs. They pulled him with urgency toward the water, dumping their bags with little care along the way. They stripped out of their shoes and shirts just feet from the shoreline and practically flew into the ocean, jumping in with a splash.

Eligh didn’t know how to label what he’d just seen as he waded in after them. “My God, when was the last time the two of you saw the ocean?” He laughed, watching them splash around for a few seconds before joining them.

His pending talk with Mara dangled like a tasty snack in the back of his mind, but he made sure to enjoy his time while he could. It was the second-last day on the island, after all, and most people participated in the Gear Up! Games held in the same place only so many times. He and everyone else needed this moment.

In record time, the beach had activities and mini tournaments set up everywhere. Trenches were being dug by contestants appearing no older than fifteen, swimsuit modeling contests were being held by a random assortment of people somewhere on the right side of the beach, people were smashing watermelons, playing sports, and making sand sculptures. Somehow, water skis had been deployed and surfable waves had been conjured up like magic, and now the entire beach simply looked infested.

Half an hour later, Eligh dragged himself from the ocean, huffing like an asthmatic. Anton and Oliver had insisted on playing ‘See who can keep the beach ball up the longest and if Eligh loses, drown Eligh,’ and the poor guy had been fighting for his life for over twenty minutes. He couldn’t get away from those guys sooner!

He grabbed his discarded shirt and shoes and made his way back to the beach bags they’d dumped earlier. He could see Tessa, Jade, and Laurie sunbathing beneath a parasol as he approached, and instinctively looked around for Mara. He spotted her—the top of her head—before reaching the other ladies and stopped in his tracks.

She was a short way down the beach on his left, appearing to be involved in some heated dispute over the most ridiculous-looking sandcastle he had ever seen. He tossed his things near the group’s rest spot with a quick, “Hi! Bye!” and jogged over to her.

“Hey, Mara,” he said and rounded the corner of the sandcastle that stood as high as his chest. “What in the world is this thing?”

“Oh, Eligh! It’s…”

And that’s all he heard.

Mara’s cover up was unzipped and revealed the swimsuit she was wearing. It was a navy blue and white striped bikini top and navy swim shorts with a white waistband, and it completely blew Eligh’s mind. He’d never seen her in anything like this before, and his mind wasn’t prepared for how stunning she’d look in it.

“Eligh?”

“Oh! Um…” His eyes wandered rapidly for any place to look besides Mara and ended up landing on… a pair of feet sticking out from beneath the massive castle of sand. “Mara? What is going on with this castle?” He asked, pointing to the feet.

“Oh that?” She went over and kicked the bottom of one foot gently. “We buried Jordan.”

For the first time, Eligh noticed some random people standing around the castle with Mara. A girl and two boys looking about the same age as he and Mara. It wasn’t surprising.

Since the end of the third phase two days ago, Eligh and his new friends had met a ton of people. The facility turned out to be the dorm for every contestant—eliminated and competing—for the duration of the games. After they had almost killed themselves eating at the buffet lines, the group had crashed for about ten hours, sleeping until Phase Three was over. The next day, they spent the whole day resting, eating, using the games in the facility, and making friends with others.

“Uh… huh…” Eligh said, looking at Jordan’s still feet. “But why would a castle need feet?”

“He was yelling about how he would be the next leader of his country and when he was, he’d outlaw bubble gum—”

“Bubble gum?”

“Bubble gum.”

“—because he once saw a kid using it as an air balloon—”

“How?”

“—and ever since then, he’s been terrified that world travel would be on the brink of transformation and collapse at the hands of eleven-year-olds.”

Eligh was stunned, too stunned to say anything else besides, “I would have buried his ass, too.”

The group cracked up laughing and Eligh couldn’t take his eyes off Mara, as per usual. His heart was in such a state that he felt it dangerous to keep up this suspense any longer and made himself ask before he chickened out. “M-Mara?”

She looked at him, her eyes immediately going softer, her cheeks going red. Eligh’s heart sped up even more. I’m gonna die, he thought, and said, “Wh-What did you want to tell me earlier?”

“Ah… It’s more of a question.” She said and coaxed him away from the group a few steps. “Oh yeah!” She paused, calling backwards at the trio of new friends, “Should probably start unburying him now! Don’t want him to die.”

“Solid idea.” Eligh said and smiled a little before getting extremely nervous. “So?”

“So… I want to know. Why didn’t you ever talk to me back in high school?”

Eligh was shocked. This was not what he’d expected to answer. First of all, she remembered him from high school?! “I-I well, I thought you were too… You know?”

“Nope.”

“T-T-Too… Like… You’re Mara Ono.”

“I am.”

“And like…”

“And like?”

“You’re perfect.” Eligh pushed out. “I didn’t even know if you’d give me the time of day. So… I never—”

“Gave me the time of day.” Mara said.

“W-What?! No! NO!” Eligh said, “It’s not like that. How could someone like me approach someone like you?”

Mara shrugged, “Well, you should have. I’ve… always liked you, Eligh Persil. The task I gave myself was to join the Games with you. And help you. And… I don’t know. Get to know you? More?”

If the world’s volcanoes were going extinct, Eligh could have put them back on the map with the way his eyes exploded with tears, practically blasting him off his feet. He felt he could rocket himself to the other side of the world, fueling a tank with his current level of happiness.

“M-M-Mara!!” He exclaimed and grabbed her up in a crushing hug, swinging her around like crazy. “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me!”

“Oh, I have an idea!” She yelled and he could hear her laughing.

Or was she screaming?

He slowed to a stop and peered up at her. It was other people. Other people were screaming. Alarmed, he set her down on the sand and looked out to the ocean where the bulk of the sound was coming from and noticed a massive sinkhole had opened up in the center of the ocean.

“What the?!” He cried. Panic soared through him. “Oliver and Anton are still in the water!” He told Mara who looked horror stricken.

They started to run.