I wake as the sun is rising over the horizon and stretch in bed, yawning slightly, before getting up.

Still dressed in my oversized t-shirt, I step out of my van, in order to check out the surf. I grin; the waves are rolling in, so I head back inside and quickly change into my bikini and wetsuit.

The grin drops off my face when I see Reiley's phone.

Hesitantly, I turn it on and see a ton of missed texts and calls—all from last night.

Most of them are from Sophie, a few from Cole, and a handful from 'Dad'.

I swallow; Sophie has to be his girlfriend, right? Which means that, as nice as Sophie seems, I should probably stop acting so clingy and so into Reiley all the time.

Locking his phone in my van, I decide it's probably safer there than if I were to take it down to the beach with me, where I'd probably lose it. After checking no one's around, which they aren't, I leave the keys to Bessie under one of the woven chairs outside.

Grabbing my board, I head down to the beach. I do a quick stretch before beginning to paddle out to where the waves are breaking.

I can only see one other person out on the ocean, a surfer, and as I near them, I see that it's Kai, from yesterday.

"Hey Kai." I smile at him as I reach him.

"Hey, Skye." He smiles back, "You know if you'd have been out here an hour and a half ago, you would've been out on dawn patrol with us."

I've heard of dawn patrol a couple of times before. It's where surfers go out at the arse-crack of dawn and catch the waves.

Kai continues, "Loads of us were out here. You only just missed Reiley and Cole."

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow, and say without thinking, "Reiley left his phone in my van last night."

"You came here in a van?" Kai questions.

"No...erm...I live in a van." I bite my lip anxiously.

"That's sounds pretty cool." He appreciates, "My family has got a huge RV up in the Rocky Mountains."

I breathe out a sigh of relief, "So, you're not gonna stereotype me as a van life social media influencer because I live in a van and have travelled across the States?"

"Not at all; I hate labels." Kai frowns, "If I were labelled at high school, I would've been a nerd, a jock, a partyer, a pretty boy...and a surfer."

I laugh at that, "Yeah, it's like you can't fit into just one category—anyone who's ever read or seen Divergent knows that; we're all divergent and don't fit into any one faction. No one, no matter who they are or where they come from is perfect, even on paper. Labels suck—they should totally be abolished."

Kai grins, "Exactly, except you can't stop people being prejudice or judging that easily."

I sit up on my board and push my hair back into a hair band. "Glad to meet someone on the same wavelength as me."

"Speaking of waves," Kai nods towards the horizon, "You gonna catch some or just sit here?"

"Definitely catch some." I respond, and begin to paddle to catch the next wave.

I pop-up onto my feet at just the right time and ride the wave as it crests beautifully.

To my left, I see Kai's riding the same wave as me, but respectfully doing so.

I ride the wave for as long as possible, and get out of it before it can lock me in.

Whooping as I jump of my board and into the sea, I see that Kai also made the wave as well.

"You should join us on dawn patrol some time." He tells me as I clamber back up onto my board.

"Thanks, I'll think about it." I acknowledge, smiling as we paddle back out.

"So, how long are you staying in California?" Kai questions.

"I don't know." I tell him truthfully; "I don't know where I'm heading after here, because California was my destination, so I don't know where I want to go next."

"You could hang around here for a while, if you want." He offers, and gestures around with his hands, "There's plenty of ocean to share."

"Thanks." I laugh.

"And, besides," Kai continues, "You've been here like two days and you've already made friends."

"Well," I shrug, "I met Reiley and then he just kinda introduced me to you guys."

"Yeah," He nods, "That's called making friends, Skye."

Another wave is rolling towards us now, and I tell him, "Go for it, Kai."

"I've been out here for hours now, so I'll catch this one and go in." He tells me, beginning to paddle in, "Catch you later, Skye."

"See ya, Kai." I wave after him.

I catch another wave and paddle back out before, sitting on my board for a couple of minutes, not doing anything except thinking.

I don't know how long I'll stay in California, but with Reiley and all his friends, it feels like I should stay, at least for a little while, anyway.

The longest that I've stayed in one place, on my way here, was a week, in the middle of Texas, when I was trying to get a flat tire replaced on Bessie.

Part of me doesn't want to stay for too long; I don't want to get too attached to a place that isn't my home, or to people that I might never see again once I return to Miami.

Once I return to Miami... I've spent so long trying to get here, but the thought of returning home fills me with dread for some reason—surely, I'd want to see my friends and family again?

But what would I be returning to? A life I used to know, a life that I used to life, a life that I no longer know or understand...what would happen to Bessie if I were to return home? What would happen to me if I were to return home—would I instantly revert to how I used to be?

I swallow back a couple of tears; for some reason, I can't imagine going home right now. For one, it's the height of summer, and Florida will be packed with tourists. Secondly, I don't know what I want to do with my life anymore.

I had it all planned out—my 'perfect on paper' life, except that nothing is really 'perfect on paper'. Late last year, I got accepted into the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League Uni. Then, through Instagram, a modelling agency had signed me on for a contact.

It came as a huge disappointment to everyone when I bought Bessie from a scrap yard, and declared that as soon as I fixed her up, I would have a gap year, travelling across the States. It almost tore a hole through my family, and it definitely tore a hole through my relationships with friends.

I guess some people are only friends with you if you're saying, thinking and doing the exact same things that they are.

And I guess that everyone expects you to be perfect on and off paper.

Welcome to the materialistic, self-centred, 21-century, everyone—where you get labelled no matter what you do or don't do.

But Reiley, Cole, and Kai were nothing like my friends back home—and it's not just because they're guys; I had guy friends back home who were, and are just as shallow as my girlfriends were, and are...just as shallow as I was. The fact that Kai agrees with me on the no labels idea means a hell of a lot to me.

Not feeling in the mood for surfing anymore, I paddle into shore.

Cole's sat on the beach, with a small barbeque set up next to him.

"Hey Cole." I smile wearily, thoughts still weighing me down.

"Hey Skye, how's it goin'?" He grins up at me.

"It's been better." I huff and plonk my board down on the sand.

Peeling my wetsuit off my top half, leaving me in my bikini top, I sit down next to him, hugging my knees.

"Wanna talk about it?" He inquires.

"Not really." I pick at my nails.

"Want some breakfast?" He opens the lid of the barbeque, revealing perfectly-cooked hotdogs.

"Yes please." I say, with a watering mouth.

He chuckles, "Good thing I cooked extra then."

He passes me a hotdog, loaded with ketchup, and a napkin.

I take a bite and moan, "This is so good."

"Any food tastes good after surfing." Cole shrugs, and sets up a small speaker next to him, before connecting it to his phone and playing some music.

"Oh! That reminds me!" I say with a mouthful of food, before swallowing quickly, "Reiley left his phone in—at my...place, last night."

"I know." Cole laughs, "Sophie left him so many messages."

I bob my head, nodding, "Yeah I saw he had a lot of missed texts and calls."

We sit in silence, eating, for a bit. The music that he's playing is nice and chill.

The song that comes on next is 'Hold Back the River', by James Bay—one of those songs that just radiates chill vibes.

Hold back the river, let me look in your eyes
Hold back the river, so I
Can stop for a minute and be by your side
Hold back the river, hold back

Hold back the river, let me look in your eyes
Hold back the river, so I
Can stop for a minute and be by your side
Hold back the river, hold

Lonely water, lonely water, won't you let us wander
Let us hold each other
Lonely water, lonely water, won't you let us wander
Let us hold each other...

When I finish eating, I thank Cole and head back up to my van.

"Hey, Skye!" He shouts after me, unexpectedly running up to me.

"Oh, hey." I smile, but hover awkwardly.

"Reiley asked me to get his phone for him." Cole explains.

"Oh." My smile slips off my face, "I was gonna stop by the Oasis Moon and drop it off myself."

"He doesn't work on Sundays." Cole shrugs. "Don't worry; he told me that you're living in a van, and not to judge you, because you're nowhere on social media and the only tech you have is an iPod Shuffle that's basically ancient."

A blush rises in my cheeks—Reiley remembered all of that, and told his friend not to judge me...maybe he does care about me.

As a friend though. I'm getting more convinced day by day that Sophie is his girlfriend.

I bite my lip, not wanting to bring it up with Cole, but the words just fall out of my mouth before I can stop them, "So Sophie's going out with Reiley, right? Just because I saw that she left him like a ton of texts and calls."

"Sophie, going out with Reiley?" Cole laughs aloud, "Dude, you gotta talk to Reiley about that one."

I frown, "What did I say?"

He shakes his head, still laughing, "Talk to Reiley."

"I don't know where I can find him." Grabbing my keys from under the chair and unlocking Bessie, I pass Reiley's phone to Cole.

"Thanks," He takes it and mindlessly scrolls through all the missed messages and notifications, "There's a party tonight, on a superyacht out on the ocean," He explains, "Reiley will be there, and I can take you across with some other friends on my RHIB."

"Are you sure?" I ask, eyebrows raised, "Whose party is it anyway?"

"He's a good friend of mine. You'll love him, trust me. And he wanted me to invite you to it." Cole explains, tucking Reiley's phone into his pocket, "Be at the docks for six sharp tonight, and I'll take you over."

"As long as you're sure." I check, "I don't want to intrude on anything..."

"Trust me, Skye. It'll be great." He's already walking off.

"What's this guy's name, anyway?" I yell after him.

He just shouts back, "You can ask him later."

I sigh and flop down into my chair; I've just been invited to a party on some mysterious guy's superyacht. I bet he's one of those party-boys, living off his daddy's trust fund. Yes, I just prejudged and labelled someone I've never met...

Feeling bad, I make a pact with myself not to judge or label anyone before I've met them. Isn't that the first step in abolishing labels and stereotypes? Nobody's perfect, after all. Even, especially, on paper.

I'm half-nervous, half-excited about this party, and meeting this mystery guy.

Glancing at my watch, I see that I have to wait roughly seven hours before I can start getting ready for it.

"Ughh..." I groan inwardly, before getting up and getting on with the day.

*~*~*~*

Today's a Sunday, which means that it's the day that I take all my dirty clothes to a laundrette and get them washed.

After showering and getting dressed, I pack all my dirty clothes into a rucksack, before heading into town. It takes me ten minutes to walk to the laundrette, which is called Lilly's Laundry Service.

As I walk in, I smile at the old woman at the counter, who I presume to be Lilly, prior to emptying all my clothes into a washing basket.

I then separate the colours out, light and dark, and stick them in two separate washing machines. Digging some change out of my pocket, I insert two dollars into each machine, and my clothes start whirling round, surrounded by soap.

Boredom sinks in as I sit and watch it for 15 minutes until it's done, then I set it on tumble-dryer mode for two minutes.

*~*~*~*

The rest of the day passes with the same anticipation, before 5:30 finally rolls around, and I start getting ready for the party.

I opt for a loose, floaty, white V-neck top and denim shorts (giving out nice Greek island vibes) with a bikini underneath it, a minimal amount of makeup—only waterproof mascara and the lightest brush of bronzer on my cheeks, adding a little glitter. I spray my hair with some instant beach wave spray, and pin back two small sections from the front.

By the time I've found the docks, Cole's about to leave.

"Wait up!" I shout, and rush towards him, flipflops slapping the wooden planks on the walkway.

"I was beginning to think that you weren't gonna come." He grins as I clamber into his boat.

"No chance." I smile up at him.

"Let's get this show on the road then." He pulls the boat out of the docks, and begins heading straight for a superyacht anchored out on the ocean, that has loads of boats surrounding it.

It also has bright lights strung up all around it, and music pumping out loudly.

I have no idea what I'm about to get myself into...but I'm looking forwards to it anyway.

I remember that I have to talk to Reiley about Sophie, that part I'm not looking forward to, especially if she's there as well.

Just breathe, Skye. Just keep breathing. You got this.