“Hey!” Amber called out cheerfully, clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Everyone come here for a second!”

Rion half turned with a wide smile but at the same time, Noa tried to spring past him. They knocked into each other and ended up sprawled in the sand.

“Noa!” Rion giggled. “Argh! Whyyy?”

Noa let out a laugh of his own. His laugh was different from the everyone else’s, soft and quiet like he was trying to hold it in. It always made Rion feel like he and Noa were sharing some private joke.

Noa raised his head, hair a mess and covered in sand, dark eyes lit with mischief.

“Sorry,” Noa said, not sounding sorry at all.

“You will be when I’m done burying you!” Rion said playfully, kicking sand up over Noa’s legs.

That had Noa giggling harder, rolling away onto his stomach so that he could scramble to his feet. Rion did the same.

“Trouble One and Trouble Two!” Amber called out. “Come on!”

He was reminded that they were supposed to join the others. Rion and Noa, both covered in sand, came sprinting over to their little spread of beach towels.

The grown-ups were off to the side nearby, sunning themselves, sharing drinks and conversation. They had put all their things next to the adults so they wouldn’t have to keep an eye on their stuff while they were swimming in the lake or playing on the beach. Everyone was having fun doing their own thing.

Rion had seen Travis earlier with his own older friends, talking about having a fire later that evening. He barely hung around with the rest of them, only coming back to check on Sarina now and again.

Jesse stuck to Amber’s side all day. Rion thought he was being clingy, but Amber didn’t seem to care. Rion had seen them holding hands, stealing little kisses on the cheek when they thought no one was looking. Rion hadn’t told anyone except Noa who fake-gagged and called it gross.

Peter was there too. He, like Rion and Noa, hadn’t been swimming. Technically he could swim, but he was busy reading a book, sitting in the shade of a beach umbrella. It was a thick book that looked boring to Rion, but Peter got annoyed whenever anyone interrupted him.

Celeste had been keeping the peace all day between Danny and Sarina. The three of them had been swimming for half the day, along with Celeste’s brother and sister, Claude and Sophie. It was Danny’s birthday which, for some reason, had Danny and Sarina competing over everything. Danny’s brothers had even come over to interrupt a few times, distracting them from whatever competition was getting too intense.

Rion had been spending all his time with Noa. And he couldn’t be happier.

Noa was afraid of any water he could drown in, and Rion understood. He wasn’t a fan of water either. Neither of them knew how to swim and no matter how many people told them they should take lessons or try wading in the lake, they both refused.

Rion was happy to have a friend so much like him. He could trust Noa with anything. They were best friends and Noa understood him. Sometimes it even felt like they were reading each other’s minds. He’d never been so close to anyone ever.

“Okay, okay,” Amber said, once they were all gathered. “I know we’re all really busy and having a lot of fun. And it’s Danny’s birthday.”

“Yeah!” Danny cheered, throwing his arms into the air. “Best birthday!”

Amber snorted a laugh as everyone wished Danny happy birthday. “Yes, Danny. Happy birthday! But I wanted to say that I have some non-birthday presents. For everyone.”

“Presents?” Sarina said, her eyes lighting up.

“Cool!” Danny added. “What is it? What did you get? Is mine extra special?”

“It wasn’t something I got; it was something that I made. Each one is extra special,” Amber said with a grin, lifting her beach bag. “Actually, Celeste and Sarina gave me a hand with these. So, thank you guys! You’re so amazing!”

“Oh! Those! Right!” Sarina said in sudden understanding.

“What?” Danny asked. “What is it? What did you guys make?”

“You’re about to find out,” Celeste said.

“Since Danny’s so eager and he’s the birthday boy…” Amber said, reaching into the bag, “…I’ll give him his first. Here it is!”

She pulled out a small bracelet of colourful woven string. She held it out and Danny took it.

“A friendship bracelet?” he said and grinned. “Cool! You guys made these?”

“I want mine!” Sarina said. “Me next!”

Amber handed Sarina hers. It was a colourful mix of pink and purple with a flower pattern.

“There you go,” Amber said cheerfully. “And Celeste, you’re next!”

“Thank you!” Celeste said, happy to take hers. It was yellow, pink, and mint green.

“Peter, better take your bracelet!” Amber called out.

“In a minute,” Peter said, nose still in his book.

“We’re supposed to be having fun and enjoying the holidays,” Amber said in exasperation. She tossed his red and black bracelet into the pages of his book. Peter jumped and squawked in protest. “Isn’t that one of Uncle John’s old textbooks? Did you seriously borrow that?”

“It’s interesting,” Peter grumbled, moving his bracelet and smoothing out the pages of the book, even though they weren’t damaged. “Reading is fun. I’m having a good time. Leave me alone.”

Amber rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she turned to Rion and Noa. “Okay, well, here we go. Double Trouble time.”

Rion and Noa’s bracelets were done in a matching pattern with purple and yellow thread. The only difference was that the colours were reversed. Rion was happy to accept his, holding it out to compare it to Noa’s right away.

“We match!” he said.

Rion grinned at Noa but then hesitated, his smile slipping. Noa was holding his bracelet, staring at it. He looked like he’d just been given something invaluable by the way he held it gently in his hands. He was tearing up.

“Noa…?” Rion said, wondering if he should even say anything.

Noa quickly closed his hands around the bracelet. He held it to his chest, like it was something precious, shutting his eyes tight for a second.

“Thank you, Amber,” Noa said, his voice wavering.

“Don’t mention it!” she said and if she noticed her cousin was getting emotional, she didn’t comment.

Instead, she turned to Jesse and handed him his bracelet. It was blue and green with threads of gold running through it.

“Thank you, Amber,” Jesse said with a big smile.

“No problem,” she said with a grin. She lowered her voice. “Just so you know, your bracelet isn’t a friendship bracelet.”

Jesse blinked. “It isn’t?”

Amber leaned in towards him, her voice dropping even more. Rion could still hear her though.

“It’s a promise bracelet, Jesse.”

Jesse blushed red up to his ears and Amber giggled. Rion rolled his eyes at how cheesy they were. He turned to Noa to see if he noticed but Noa was busy putting his bracelet on.

“Want me to–?” Rion began but was shoved to the side as Sarina unceremoniously plopped herself in front of them.

“Let me help you, Noa!” Sarina said, all smiles.

“I got it,” he said as he continued trying to tie his bracelet.

“Let me do it,” Sarina said, reaching over but Noa squirmed away from her.

“No!” Noa said.

Sarina pouted, puffing up her cheeks in annoyance. Rion let out a little laugh, fiddling with his own bracelet, feeling the weave of threads.

“Did you make our bracelets, Sarina?” Rion asked.

“No,” she said. “I did Danny’s, Celeste’s, and Travis’s…but Travis is dumb and said he didn’t want his.”

“Your guys’s match!” Danny said, flopping down in the sand with them. “That’s so awesome!”

“I wanted mine to match with Noa’s too,” Sarina said. “But I wanted pink and purple flowers and Amber said those wouldn’t work for Noa.”

“Why would you want to match?” Danny asked. “That doesn’t make sense. You’re not Noa’s best friend.”

“You’re dumb!” Sarina said to Danny.

She threw a handful of sand at him. Danny laughed, turning away, and holding up his hands in defense.

“Don’t be mean! It’s my birthday!”

“Did you get it?” Rion asked Noa.

Noa smiled and held out his wrist, the friendship bracelet securely tied on.

“Looks good!” Rion said, starting to fiddle with his. It was hard to tie one-handed. “I’m glad we match…”

Noa reached over and started to help him. Rion held out his wrist, letting Noa do it.

“Rion doesn’t need help,” Sarina said loudly.

“I want to do it,” Noa said. It took him seconds. “Is that okay, Rion?”

“Yeah,” Rion said with a smile, looking his bracelet over before glancing back up. “Hey, thanks again, Amber…”

But Amber was still talking to Jesse. They looked like they were off in their own world, giggling together about something.

“Groooss,” Noa said from next to him.

“Whatever,” Rion said with a shrug. “It’s the holidays. We’re supposed to have fun.”

“I think Jesse and Amber make a cute couple,” Sarina said. “Amber’s really lucky. I’d like a cool boyfriend like Jesse.”

“Wouldn’t it be weird if you started dating an older boy, though?” Danny asked. “Like, Jesse’s fourteen and you’re ten–”

“I don’t want to date an older boy!” Sarina said hotly. “I said a cool boy like Jesse. An older boy would be weird!”

“I think you’re out of luck then because none of the guys in your grade are cool or like Jesse,” Danny said. “I mean, look at Rion and Noa. They’re total nerds. No offense, guys–”

“I’d rather be a nerd than be cool,” Rion said.

“Yeah, me too,” Noa agreed. “None of the cool kids play video games.”

Sarina puffed in anger. She stood, kicking up sand.

“You’re stupid and you don’t know anything!” she snapped at Danny.

Sarina stomped off. She threw herself down next to Celeste and Peter, inserting herself into whatever conversation they were having.

“What’s wrong with her?” Danny asked, blinking at Rion and Noa.

“No idea,” Rion said. “Isn’t she always like that?”

“Nuh uh,” Danny said. “She’s cool when we hang out. She only gets mad about stuff when we’re all together. I don’t get it.”

“Girls are weird,” Noa said. “They don’t make sense.”

Danny laughed. “Maybe? I don’t know. I think Sarina’s kind of cool. She’s really brave. She can pick up spiders and grasshoppers with her bare hands!”

Danny shuddered.

“That’s not brave. Anyone can do that,” Noa said.

“Not me,” Danny groaned. “I can’t stand bugs.”

“They’re not so bad,” Rion said. “Maybe you just need to get used to them?”

“Never!” Danny said, shaking his head. “You can be friends with bugs, Rion, but not me. I can’t stand them.”

Rion gave Danny a pat on the arm. “It’s fine, Danny. You can count on the rest of us to take care of bugs for you, okay? Especially today.”

“Rion, you’re the best,” Danny said.

He cheered up instantly and pulled Rion into a hug. Laughing, Rion hugged him back. And then Noa joined in, hugging them both.

It only lasted a couple seconds. Noa pulled away almost as quickly as he jumped in. Noa wasn’t very physically affectionate; Rion had learned early on in their friendship. He didn’t seem to mind the Murphys or Rion, but he was much briefer with their other friends when it came to hugging or touching.

Sometimes, Noa would hold Rion’s hand and squeeze gently. Rion had always thought of it as a special sort of Noa hug.

“Hey, did you want to go on some trails later?” Danny said, flopping back in the sand. “My brothers are feeling up to it, but you should come too. It’ll be nice to walk in the shade after running around this hot beach.”

“Sure,” Rion said but Noa hesitated.

“Maybe… I can’t stay out too late,” Noa said.

“No, not late,” Danny said, sitting back up, hair askew and layered in sand now, since it was still wet from swimming in the lake. “No way would I do trails in the dark! There’s bears and coyotes out here! And all the mosquitoes… Urgh! We were going to go in an hour or so and come back before dark. Then when we come back, we’re doing supper, cake, and presents!”

“I’ll ask my aunt and uncle,” Noa said.

He got up and headed over to the adults. Danny and Rion watched him for a second before Danny leaned in towards Rion.

“So,” he said with a big smile. “How’s it coming along?”

“How’s what…? Oh. You mean the comic?” Rion said. “Noa said he was almost done the latest page.”

“No, no!” Danny laughed. “I mean your scrapbook. Can I see what you have for this summer?”

“Oh, sure. But it’s not very good,” Rion admitted, somewhat embarrassed. “Um… I don’t have a lot of pictures of everyone so it’s…it’s kind of hard.”

“Oh, we have lots of doubles,” Danny said. “I could ask my mom for some. We have shoeboxes full of ‘em. It’s no problem. I bet you could ask some of the others and get stuff from them too.”

“I… I don’t want to bother anyone,” Rion said, feeling more self-conscious about it by the second.

“Then don’t worry about it,” Danny said with a grin. “If you take care of bugs for me, I’ll ask for photos for your scrapbook. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Warmth blossomed in Rion’s chest. He smiled and nodded.

“Yeah… Yeah, that would be awesome. Thank you, Danny,” he said.

“No problem. You can always count on me,” Danny said.

Noa came back to them, smiling.

“They said I can go,” Noa said. “I have to be back before six.”

“Perfect!” Danny said and turned to Rion. “You should ask your dad too, right?”

“Oh… Yeah, I should,” Rion said.

He was sure his dad would say yes but he turned and glanced his father’s way. He was sitting with Danny’s parents and they seemed to be having an enjoyable conversation. His dad was smiling which was rare these days. He only seemed to cheer up when they did outings like this.

“I’ll be right back,” Rion said, getting up.

“Want me to come with you?” Noa asked.

“No, no,” Rion said with a wave. “I can ask myself. Thanks, Noa.”

He headed off to the adults, sprinting through the sand, feeling good about things. This summer was turning out to be a good one.