I could hear it. And now I had two options. I could either turn it off and get out of bed or sleep for five more minutes.

I picked the latter, obviously.

Without opening my eyes, I reached my hand out and felt for my phone on the bedside table to turn off the alarm. Feeling for my device, I swiped my finger across the screen to silence the incessant ringing and then tucked my hand back into the blankets, relishing the warmth. Sleep hadn't drifted too far from my grasp, and I could feel myself drifting off again.

"Why am I not surprised?" a voice suddenly said.

I only grumbled in response before my brain registered the fact that I was supposed to be the only person in this apartment.

Screaming, I scrambled out of my sheets and frantically scanned the room, aware of how hard my heart was pounding in my chest. The intruder was leaning against my front door and it was none other than Serena, the only one who didn't seem to care about giving me a heart attack. She pushed off of the door nonchalantly as if she hadn't just almost killed me, wheeling her suitcase behind her.

"You sleep in too much," she said before placing a bundle of keys onto the counter and helping herself to a glass of water.

"And you're going to kill me one day." I could still feel my heart pounding, refusing to calm. "You can't just walk in unannounced like that."

"Can't I?" Serena teased.

"This is the last time I tell you where my spare keys are," I grumbled, getting out my blankets.

"Oh, I didn't use your spare keys," Serena said before chugging down the glass of water. "I cut my own key from your spare key."

My brows rose, "and why would you do that?"

"Because when you lose your spare key again, you won't have to break your lock like last time."

"I won't lose my spare key."

"That's what you said last time," she said, pouring herself another glass of water. "And the time before that too."

"You better wash that glass," was all I said in response.

"I'm obviously going to wash the glass, I'm not you," Serena retorted.

"Oh come on, I wash my dishes."

"Only when you have no more clean dishes to use."

"I don't do that anymore," I defended.

"You did it last week. And the week before."

"I've changed now."

Serena rolled her eyes, "just hurry up and get ready before you make us late."

"I won't make us late. I'm not you," I stated before entering the bathroom.

Serena was the one person in this universe who knew me as well as I knew myself. We were best friends, but we were complete opposites. We were like yin and yang. She was extremely extroverted, and I wasn't. She was fashionable, and I wasn't. She was a people person, and I was a book and Netflix person.

We met in college at a fresher party and formed an instant connection. I had psyched myself up to go to that party and didn't plan on going to any parties after that one, but I found myself going to most of them because of Serena. Her extroverted self adopted my introverted self and forced me to be social with her at least once a month. It was horrible but I always found myself having a good time, eventually. We grew closer and closer and now we're basically sisters. She's honestly the only family I have.

"Is that you being ready?" Serena asked once I exited the bathroom, looking over my outfit.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, but I heard the disapproval in her voice. "Don't you want to wear something a little cuter?"

I looked down at my outfit, black leggings, a plain white t-shirt and white sneakers. Then looked up at hers, an off-shoulder floral romper and gold ankle strap sandals. She kept her wavy, shoulder-length dirty blond hair down but I wore a baseball cap, my curly kinky hair tied up, a short, wild pony coming out the closure at the back.

"Glad you approve of my outfit," I shot her a smile just before a loud, long honk sounded outside. "Ally does know that other people live here, right?"

"Ally is Ally," Serena pointed out. "Now let's go before she wakes up the whole apartment."

We grabbed our suitcases and exited my apartment, rushing down the few flights of stairs.

"Hey, freaks!" Ally squealed, half her body hanging out the window of the pickup truck. She was the wildest and most spontaneous out of us all, always ready to say yes to any and every adventure. She got out of the car through the window and almost tackled us in an embrace. Like Serena, she had a great style, sporting a cami crop top and shorts with a white cropped denim jacket and sneakers. She had her red hair down and a pair of shades on her head to keep the hair out of her face. "Ya'll ready to spend a weekend at the beach?"

"Uh, yeah!" Serena cheered.

Faizah exited the car then, dramatically leaning onto the car for support as she approached us, "I think I should drive now."

"Oh, quit exaggerating, I wasn't going that fast," Ally defended herself.

"Unlike you, I care about my life," Faizah said before hugging Serena and me in a way that didn't risk us toppling to the ground. So like a normal person, basically. She took our suitcases and threw them into the back of the pickup with hers and Ally's suitcases.

"Can you explain to me why there is such a big suitcase for a weekend at the beach?" Serena asked, looking into the pickup and seeing a suitcase twice the size of ours.

"It's Faizah's," Ally told her. "Obviously."

"Oh come on, I have my reasons," Faizah stated. "We all know Zara doesn't have a sense of style so I packed clothes for her."

"Hey! I have a great sense of style, thank you very much," I defended.

"Wearing a t-shirt and tights all the time is not what you call style," she said with a teasing smile. "You should wear different varieties like some of us," she gestured to her outfit.

Faizah was one of those people who could pull off any outfit, what with her soft features, dark skin and short black hair. She was wearing a two-piece floral print dress with a long slit off and in-built shorts. "And also, knowing you all, you didn't pack what we call necessities, so I've packed them all," she continued, patting the large suitcase. "We've got sunscreen, for obvious reasons, sun hats, flip flops, some antibiotics—"

"Antibiotics?!" Ally questioned.

"You have no idea how many people pee in that water," Faizah claimed.

"I think we've all gulped enough sea and pool water to have developed an immunity," Serena said.

"Exactly," Ally agreed. "And if you dilute it with your pee, it drowns out the other pee."

Faizah grimaced, "first of all, it doesn't work like that. And second of all, gross"

Ally shrugged, "you gotta do what you gotta do, why waste your time running all the way to the bathroom when you're in the sea."

"Let's just go," Faizah dismissed, still grossed out. "It's a three-hour drive and the earlier we get there, the better."

Faizah was by far the most responsible and reliant of us all. She planned this weekend, choosing a date when we all had clear schedules and zero commitments. She always managed to find new locations for us each time she planned the getaway.

Faizah held her hand out at Ally, beckoning. "Keys." Ally raised a brow, questioning. "I kinda want to get to the beach alive."

"Oh come on, I don't go that fast," Ally reasoned.

"You always go so fast that by the time the GPS says turn, you would have already passed the turn," Faizah pointed out.

Ally frowned but tossed her the keys, "don't crash my car."

"Who do you think I am? You?"

Ally snickered but sing-sang, "I'm DJ-ing then."

"Now that we can agree on," Faizah agreed. "At least I don't risk losing my life that way."

Ally swatted Faizah's arm but hopped into the passage seat. Faizah took the driver's seat while Serena and I hopped in the back.

"Alright," Faiza said, starting the car. "Let's get this show on the road."