Early Fall, 4700

“Go away.”

Ameiko stopped under the trees that stood between Cliff Street and the bluffs for which it was named. Kali was sitting in the tall grass a short distance from the drop-off, staring out over the water. Gulls rode the currents along the ridge, rising overhead to hover briefly before dropping down and vanishing over the edge.

A long silence passed before Kali spoke.

“If you’re here to yell at me, too, don’t bother. I don’t care. So just leave.”

Ameiko stepped over to her and sat down without saying anything. Kali turned away, putting her back to Ameiko as she sat.

Ameiko said softly, “I’m not here to yell at you.”

The onshore breeze picked up, lifting the gulls high above. Kali watched a half dozen of them hang in the air, wings outstretched. An even longer silence passed before Kali spoke, her voice breaking slightly.

“I hate them.”

“They’re jerks. Just ignore them.”

“I can’t. They won’t leave me alone.”

“Getting angry will just make it worse.”

Kali knew she was right. She knew it. But that didn’t mean it was easy to let it go. It all started when she was eight: names, some jokes behind her back, hushed giggles and laughs. Two years on, it had turned to this.

“Ana isn’t one of them. Neither am I,” Ameiko added.

Kali knew she needed to apologize to Ana, but she didn’t want to. To make matters worse, her parents had found out about it because everyone in Sandpoint hears about everything, eventually. She had never seen her father get that angry before and it actually scared her. It also made her want to apologize even less.

“Taking it out on your friends isn’t going to help.”

Kali also knew that Ameiko was right about that, too. Ameiko was always right. But Kali didn’t want “right”, and she most certainly didn’t want to be reminded of it. What she wanted was to be mad.

So she stood up abruptly and stormed away.

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