The next day Sunny was roller skating through the streets of Maretime Bay on her way to school. Everyone was staring at her as she sped past, and it wasn’t just because she was a local celebrity (for all the wrong reasons). Sunny didn’t even notice the stares, she was having too much fun.
“Gonna be my day. GONNA BE MY DAY!” she sang happily as she grabbed a street lamp to take a turn at speed.
Sunny was known to use her roller skates to get around town faster but when going to school she rarely bothered with them. She wasn’t really in a hurry to go to a place where most people were keen on using her as a punching bag. Now though, things were different.
As Sunny rounded a corner and the school came into view she spotted a familiar boy walking towards the school gates.
“Hey, Hitch” she called as she sped towards him.
“Sunny?”
Hitch turned around only for Sunny to grab onto him to bring herself to a stop. Poor Hitch was forced to spin around to kill Sunny’s momentum without the two ending up on the ground. When they stopped spinning, Hitch was holding Sunny bridal style.
“Hey” she said teasingly, before climbing out off his arms, completely oblivious to the blush on Hitch’s face.
“Sunny,” he exclaimed, his voice unnaturally high as Sunny started skating slowly beside him. “You’re using your roller skates to get to school. You haven’t done that in… years now that I think about it.”
“Well that will happen when my friend circle expands beyond just you” Sunny quipped.
Hitch glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. The cheerfulness, the sarcasm, the teasing… it was all how Sunny normally acted, except Sunny hadn’t been acting normally for awhile now.
Ok, truthfully she’s been acting differently ever since Argyle died, but during our second year she suddenly became so… withdrawn. She didn’t shut everyone out completely, but it was like she had set up walls around her heart. Now suddenly she’s outgoing again, Hitch thought.
Sunny noticed him staring at her.
“Is there something on my face?” she asked.
Hitch quickly turned away, his blush returning.
“No. You’re good. Everything’s fine” his voice was still unnatural high.
Sunny was confused about the way Hitch was acting, but decided not to pursue the matter as she stopped just before the gates. Hitch noticed this and turned to her.
“You go on ahead, I was planning on waiting for Izzy anyway” she explained.
Hitch nodded and continued walking.
Izzy, he thought to himself. Are you the reason Sunny is acting like herself again?
A few minutes after Hitch left, Sunny spotted Zipp amongst the sea of students heading into the school. She was walking next to another girl who had her eyes glued to her phone.
“Hey, Zipp” Sunny called out, waving her arm.
Zipp saw her and walked over.
“I see someone’s bounced back well from the their terrible first day ” Zipp said.
The tomboy looked awful. Her eyes were half closed and had bags under them, and she was swaying on her feet slightly.
“Zipp, you alright?” Sunny asked, frowning.
“I‘m fine,” Zipp answered, her voice laced with tiredness. “Just need to get back into the school schedule. What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be heading inside?”
“I’m waiting for Izzy” Sunny responded.
Zipp nodded, then walked over to the wall and leaned her back against it, sliding down to the ground. Sunny looked at her with a mix of confusion and worry.
Sunny was pacing (if you call it that, considering she was still wearing her roller skates) outside the school gates. Zipp had fallen asleep. The bell inside the school went off to signify the start of second class, and still no sign of Izzy. Sunny was beginning to curse herself for not asking for Izzy’s number yesterday. She was just considering skating to Bridlewood to try and find Izzy when she heard a bicycle bell ring behind her. Sunny turned around to find Izzy approaching her. Izzy came to a stop beside Sunny.
“You’re here” Sunny said in relief, pulling Izzy into a hug before the latter could even get off her bike.
Izzy was taken aback. She was no stranger to surprise hugs (though normally she was the one giving them) but it was the reason behind the gesture that surprised her. People worrying about her wasn’t something she was used to.
“Sorry. Overslept” Izzy apologised as Sunny let go.
Some muttering behind them told them Zipp was stirring. The sleepy girl looked around and saw that Izzy had arrived.
“Hello, Izzy” Zipp waved, barely awake.
Izzy gave a small smile.
“Don’t tell me. You’re one of those people who needs coffee in the morning to properly wake up” she guessed.
Zipp nodded slightly, staggering to her feet.
Sunny face palmed. How’d I not realise that? Hitch always needs coffee in the morning, and I’ve seen him in the same state Zipp is in more times than I can count.
“Hey, Sunny. Are there any places in town that sell coffee?” Zipp asked.
Sunny removed her hand from her face and nodded.
“Several” she answered.
“Then can we make a detour?” Zipp asked. “I can’t stay awake.”
Sunny and Izzy nodded in agreement. Zipp started walking down the hill toward town. Izzy leaned over to Sunny.
“Personally I’m more of a hot chocolate person” she whispered.
“Me too” Sunny responded.
Later the three were standing outside a cafe on Maretime Bay’s sea front. Zipp had drunk most of her coffee and was feeling much better. Sunny and Izzy meanwhile were having a drinking contest to see who could finish their hot chocolate first. Then Izzy remembered the three were currently supposed to be in school.
“We’re definitely going to be in trouble now,” she said. “We’ve missed three classes already.”
Izzy stopping to speak allowed Sunny to win their contest.
“Don’t worry,” Sunny said. “I’ll take care of it.”
Sunny rolled away slightly and took out her phone. Unlocking it she saw several text messages from Beautiful Heart. Ignoring them she dialled the principal’s number.
“Sunny!” Beautiful Heart’s voice came through the phone, sounding frantic. “Where are you? You didn’t show up to class.”
“Relax,” Sunny said calmly. She knew why Beautiful Heart was acting this way. Her relationship with her daughter Posey was… rather unhealthy, so Beautiful Heart tried to fill the void in her heart by treating Sunny like a daughter. And while Sunny enjoyed having a mother figure, she wasn’t Beautiful Heart’s daughter. “I’m at a cafe on the sea front with Izzy and Zipp.”
“Wait a minute…” Beautiful Heart said, now sounding confused. “You’re saying you decided to skip school to go hang out with friends?”
“It wasn’t planned,” Sunny explained. “Izzy overslept and turned up late and Zipp needs coffee to be able to function properly.”
Beautiful Heart sighed.
“Should I expect you three to show up to school at all today?” she asked.
Sunny hummed, pretending to think it over.
“Nah” she said.
Beautiful Heart laughed.
“And how exactly is Izzy supposed to get her education?” she pointed out. “I’m not worried about you or Zipp, but Izzy…”
“Zipp and I are the smartest students in school, remember?” Sunny reminded her. “We can just tutor Izzy.”
“Okay,” Beautiful Heart said, sounding unsure. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“I’m sure,” Sunny reassured her, glancing over her shoulder at Izzy and Zipp. “I’m not alone anymore.”
“Alright then,” Beautiful Heart said, sounding cheerful again. “You have fun with your friends.”
“Bye, mom” Sunny responded sarcastically before hanging up.
While Sunny was on the phone Izzy and Zipp had finished their drinks and Zipp was now detaching a skateboard from the front of her bag.
“So you live in Zephyr Heights. What’s it like?” Izzy asked.
Zipp paused for a moment to think about it.
“Loud” she settled on. “What about you? Where are you from?” she asked as she placed her skateboard on the ground.
“Bridlewood” Izzy answered.
“And what’s it like?” Zipp asked, unzipping her bag compartment.
“Soul crushing” Izzy responded without hesitation.
Zipp paused again to glance over at her.
“Please tell me you’re joking” Zipp asked, slightly concerned.
Izzy shook her head.
“I wish I was,” she sighed. “Most of Bridlewood’s residents are like animatronics, they have the same routine day in, day out. Aside from me, the only people who act alive there are a local bar owner and his two daughters. The bar owner almost seems amused at how lifeless everyone is, and the daughters…” Izzy trailed off, shivering as several memories came back to her. “So many water balloons… all the damn time.”
“They bully you?” Sunny asked, rejoining her two friends.
“Yeah, but only me,” Izzy said sadly. “And the only time the other residents show any signs of life is when they laugh at me. They hate me.”
“If I had a dime for every time everyone laughed at me…” Sunny muttered darkly before turning to Zipp. “What about you? You the outcast of Zephyr Heights?”
Not exactly,” Zipp explained. “My family are local celebrities, but unlike my mom and sister I hate the attention. I’m kinda a loner by choice.”
Zipp took a helmet out of her bag. Sunny and Izzy stared in amazement.
“Wait. If you carry your riding gear in your bag, where do you keep your books?” Sunny asked.
“I leave them in my locker,” Zipp explained as she pulled out knee pads and started putting them on. “I memorised all my books over the summer.”
Once Zipp also had her elbow pads on she put her bag back on before stepping on her skateboard and rolling out onto the sidewalk.
“So where do you guys want to go?” she asked.
Izzy walked her bike over to Zipp.
“We could have a race” she suggested.
“Ok, but to where?” Zipp wondered.
Sunny joined her friends on the sidewalk.
“We could go to my place” she said.
“That wouldn’t be fair,” Zipp pointed out. “We don’t know where your house is.”
Sunny smiled.
“Trust me,” she said, pointing to a lighthouse on a cliff overlooking the town. “It’s difficult to miss.”
“You live in a lighthouse?” Izzy asked, amazed.
Sunny nodded, then turned to Zipp.
“Sound fair to you?” she asked.
Zipp shrugged.
“Good enough for me,” she said. Then she raised her voice slightly. “Now, start your engines.”
Izzy hopped on her bike as the three lined up.
“Ready,” Zipp began.
“Set,” Izzy continued.
“Go!” Sunny shouted, before the three took off.
Sunny raced up the hill towards her house, Zipp right on her heels.
“I win” Sunny cheered as she came to a stop outside her gate.
“Barely” Zipp pointed out as she also came to a stop.
Sunny rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah” she said.
The two glared at each other half heartedly for a second before breaking down into laughter.
“Okay, rematch some other time?” Sunny asked as their laughter subsided.
“You’re on” Zipp said competitively.
Sunny then noticed Izzy wasn’t there. She rolled forward slightly and spotted the blue haired girl sitting at the bottom of the hill with her bike lying on it’s side. Concerned Sunny rolled down the hill.
“You okay?” she asked as she came to a stop in front of Izzy.
“You two… are way more athletic… then I am” Izzy panted, before lying backwards onto the grass and closing her eyes.
Sunny laughed slightly as she shook her head, before skating over to Izzy’s side.
“Everything alright?” Zipp asked, having walked down to see what was happening.
“Izzy pushed herself too hard trying to keep up with us” Sunny answered, kicking off her roller skates.
Zipp laughed, then addressed Izzy.
“Need a hand?” she asked.
“Yeah, if you two don’t mind carrying me” Izzy said weakly.
Sunny pulled Izzy to her feet then slung Izzy’s arm over her shoulder. Zipp took Izzy’s other side and them helped her up the hill.
“Thanks,” Izzy said when they reached the top. Then she looked at the lighthouse. “So this is your house?”
“Yes,” Sunny responded. “Welcome to the Maretime Bay lighthouse. Or as I like to call it, the Brighthouse.”