Watching the sunrise in Shellside Bay had become something I took for granted for all those years I lived there. But visiting for my autumn break, it was a luxury that I'd soak up as much as I could.

I sat on the sand, just metres from the water, watching as the clouds turned pink. Orange flames licked the sky, slowly stretching towards the horizon. Even looking at the water, I could tell it was freezing. There was some icy quality about it in autumn—or maybe it was the chill breeze messing with my mind, making the water seem more silver than usual.

I willed the ocean to rise higher, for the water to creep over the sands and step over my toes. I missed the feeling of salt water on my skin, and yet I was too cowardly to take the step into the icy waves.

When I lived here, autumn in Shellside Bay was a time for staying indoors, hiding from the cold wind and colder water.

Now, I would take what I could get. I would recharge at the beach and take in every last second until I was forced back into the city.

I loved the city. I loved living with River and all the opportunities it brought with it. I loved being able to buy a carton of eggs downstairs at two in the morning. And I really loved being able to get a cheeseburger for Maccas at any time of day.

But Shellside Bay owned a corner of my heart; and staying away for this long had drained it empty. It was time to refill.

I counted the waves as they lapped over the sand until my counting was disturbed by footsteps shifting the sand behind me.

"Isla!"

I spun at the sound of River's voice. He raced down the sand, his feet almost slipping, sand piling into his sneakers. Yet, he didn't stop. His face looked frantic.

"Isla!" he shouted again. His voice was eaten by the wind and the waves, barely reaching me on the final syllable.

"What happened?" I yelled back.

He reached me, bending over his knees, and sucking in air as I waited for the news. He shook his head, like shaking the exhaustion away, and met me with wide eyes.

"Results are out."

"What?"

"Results. They're out."

"Already?" I sputtered. How many weeks had it been? It didn't feel long, and yet, it felt like months at the same time. A thought occurred to me. "Have you checked yours yet?"

He shook his head. "Want to check together?"

I nodded, fishing in my pocket for my phone. I'd turned it to silent, deciding to spend my entire morning surrounded by only the sound of the ocean and the light of the sunrise. And yet, there it was.

An email waited for me in my notifications.

Subject line: Term 1 Results.

"Holy shit," I muttered.

"What, that bad?"

I shot River a glare. "No. I haven't opened them yet. I just—I don't know. What if it's like last time?"

What if I failed again?

What if, after all of that additional effort, it still wasn't enough?

What if university was all a big mistake? And I wasn't made for this life. And I was destined to live in Shellside Bay forever—take over my mum's waitressing job, throw out my textbooks, shut down my laptop.

What if all this was for nothing?

"What if it's not?"

I turned to River, frowning. "What?"

"What if it's not like last time? You'll never know unless you look, right?"

I blinked down at my phone, the words on the screen glaring up at me. "I guess so."

"Let's find out then," he said.

He pressed my finger down and the email opened before I could react. The screen flashed white, and then the numbers appeared.

75, 87, 61, 86.

I read them again.

"Holy shit," I whispered again.

River's chin rested on my shoulder as he read my results aloud. He whistled, the sound cutting through the crashing of waves.

"Isla, that's pretty good."

"Good?" I echoed. "I used to get 90's in high school. I could get full marks without breaking a sweat. All that studying, and I could barely scrape a sixty?"

"Oh, come on Monroe," he sighed. He shifted, moving to sit beside me. He flashed his phone in front of my face, showing me his marks; all between fifty and seventy.

"This is university," he began. "Obviously you're not going to get marks like you did in high school. Shit gets hard. So what? You passed, didn't you?"

I exhaled a laugh, turning to smile drily at him. "Has anyone ever told you you're amazing at comforting people?"

"No."

"I can see why."

He rolled his eyes, yet a smile pulled at his lips. "Oh, shut up. I tried my best, okay?"

I grinned, leaning towards him until my head rested on his shoulder. "And I love you for that."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

His voice was thick with annoyance, and yet he leaned his head against mine, his arm wrapping around me in a half-hug. I lifted my arm behind him, landing my hand on his buzz cut.

"I missed this River. Shellside Bay River," I said, running my fingers over his shaved head. "He was gone for too long."

He snorted. "What can I say? The city corrupts."

A smirk tugged at my lips, but I kept my voice steady. "I think it has more to do with your boyfriend than the city itself."

Immediately, River's walls flew up. "He's not my boyfriend."

His voice was completely flustered. I glanced his way to find his cheeks splotching red and had to fight the urge to burst out in laughter. River? Blushing? Those two things rarely went together.

I couldn't help it. A giggle exploded from my lips and his half-hug turned into a half-tackle as he pushed me into the sand. It didn't stop me from laughing.

"You're in such denial," I teased.

"He's not!" he complained, pushing me over. "Shut up."

"Oh, come on. You guys talk every day."

"Yeah, well, so do you and Lachie," he shot back.

My face warmed and I shoved him away, my mood turning sour. I felt the intense need to defend myself. "I do not!"

"Oh, please."

"I don't! Especially since the semester ended."

He was not convinced. "But before that?"

"Only because we had class all the time." I shoved him hard, catching what he was trying to do. "Stop deflecting. I have a boyfriend." I paused, kicking sand towards him. "And so do you."

"I'm telling you, he's not my—my boyfriend. He's never used that word before."

"Do you want him to be your boyfriend?"

"Do we seriously have to have this conversation right now? Can't we just enjoy the sunrise?"

He glared at me, and I matched his look for a moment before relenting.

"Fine," I said, settling back into the sand and watching as the sun continued to lift above the horizon. "But as soon as Sky gets here, we're talking about this. For real."

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Sky made it to Shellside Bay before lunch. She'd been spending the last month in Perth, so after flying back to the east coast, her first stop had to be Melbourne to visit her pregnant cousin and official cousin-in-law Josh. They'd held her up for longer than she'd anticipated, and so here she was—two weeks later, but here.

She found us at the Shack and sprinted across the sand to reach us.

"Isla!" she squealed, throwing her arms around me. I squeezed her back, burying my face in her neck.

"I missed you so, so much. How's the Gap Year 2.0 going?"

"Amazing," she replied. Her shoulders sagged as she pulled back to smile at me. "But it's so good to be home."

"What, you travelled all around Australia just to figure out that Shellside Bay is the best?"

She laughed. "I never said that. But you're not entirely wrong. I mean, what other town or city has a Shack like this?"

She nodded towards the Shack beside us. My old boss, Tom Buckner, stood under the shade, scribbling in his notebook. He looked up at her voice and smiled sarcastically.

"Good to see you too, Sky," he said.

"Tom, you know it's autumn, right? Take the day off! Relax a little," Sky said, grinning as she leaned over the counter towards him.

He ignored her, only continuing to fill out his notebook. "Just because it's a little colder than usual doesn't mean we need to shut down. People still drink water in autumn."

"Right, because $4 bottles of water are what run your business."

"Sky, leave him alone," I interjected before shooting Tom a cheeky smile. "He's an old man, you don't want to raise his blood pressure."

Tom narrowed his eyes, pointing a finger towards me. "Don't forget, I'm still one of your job references."

My mouth snapped shut. Sky giggled, throwing her arm around me, and pulling me closer.

"How were your finals?" she asked.

"Fine," I replied. "I mean, I passed everything."

"Yes!" she cheered. Her hug became tighter and, combined with her shorter height, I found myself bending over, my face growing closer and closer to the sand as her arms squeeze tighter around me. "I knew my best friend was a genius."

"Alright, alright," I said through my laughter, prying her arms off of me. "I said I did fine; I didn't do amazingly."

"Oh, please. Fine to you is beyond amazing to me." She paused, looking around the beach. "Where's everyone else?"

"Austin and Connor are working," I replied. "River's out there."

Sky's gaze followed mine towards the water where River was already looking at us. He was shirtless, walking slowly from the ocean to the sands, a surfboard dragging behind him.

"What the hell is he doing? It's freezing out there!" Sky frowned, watching him as he tried to hide his shivering, keeping his usual nonchalant 'River' expression on settled on his face instead.

By the time he reached us, he couldn't hide his shivering any longer. His entire body shook as water dripped off his shoulders and down his bare chest.

"It's fucking cold," River said.

I scoffed, reaching behind the counter of the Shack to grab his towel and throw it over his head.

"No shit. I told you it was a bad idea," I replied.

He grabbed the towel, running it over his body with quick movements before throwing an arm around Sky in a half-hug. She shoved him away immediately.

"Get away. I don't want to get wet," Sky chided.

River cracked a smirk. "Don't worry, you're not my type."

"Gross," Sky and I said in sync.

"Don't do that again," I added.

River's smirk fell and he rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Pass me my shirt, yeah?"

I threw it at his face. He peeled it off, settling me with a glare as I stifled my laughter. Before he could say anything, though, my ringtone went off. I grabbed my phone, instantly answering it without looking.

"Ev," I said.

"Hey, Isla," he said. Except it wasn't Everett's voice.

I glanced at the screen, frowning, before pressing the phone back to my ear. I stepped out of earshot from the others before saying, "Lachie?"

"Hey," he replied. "Sorry, were you expecting a call from someone else?"

"No. No, I just—I didn't look properly. What's up?"

"Did you see the semester results are out?" he asked. "I was wondering how you went."

"Oh! Good. I did good. Passed everything. What about you?"

In front of me, Sky and River were exchanging strange looks and mouthing words to me that seemed a lot like, who are you talking to?

I shook my head, turning so that they would stop distracting me.

"Good," Lachie said through the receiver. "Could've been better, but hey, P's get degrees, right?"

"Exactly."

Lachie was silent for a moment before saying, "Sorry I couldn't come to Shellside Bay, by the way. I didn't realise all my co-workers had blocked out their schedules for the break. Maybe next time though?"

"Oh, yeah," I sputtered. "Maybe."

I wondered if my maybe sounded convincing enough. Really, my maybe was more like a never.

It wasn't that I didn't want Lachie to come to Shellside Bay. It was just—Shellside Bay was almost like a little secret for the Nauti Buoys and I only. And bringing someone from the city into home territory, especially when Everett wasn't around—it felt almost treasonous. It felt wrong.

It was like when Everett first appeared, and he seemed to taint the bright sands of Shellside Bay with his outstandingly city attitude.

Maybe one day, Lachie would visit.

My phone beeped and I frowned, noticing I'd received a text from River. I spun, shooting him a glare as he shrugged, grinning at me.

"Sorry, Lachie, I think I have to go," I said, still glaring at River. "I'm being pestered by someone who can't figure out what 'I'm on the phone' means."

"Let me guess, River?"

"Yep."

"I'll leave you to it then," he said, laughing. "Congrats on the results! See you next sem?"

"For sure."

He hung up and I stepped forward, slapping River on the back of his neck.

"What was that for?" he complained.

"Disrupting my phone call," I said. I pulled up River's text, reading it out loud. "Tell Lachlan that it's not normal to call up girls who have boyfriends to ask about their exam results."

River chuckled to himself. "Am I wrong?"

"We're just friends, you dolt."

"Does he know that?"

"Of course, he does. He's met Everett." I paused, frowning. "How'd you know I was talking to Lachie?"

He laughed, meeting knowing eyes with Sky. "Isla, you're from a small town. You don't know how to talk to people outside of Shellside Bay. Your face goes all stiff and shit."

"Gee, thanks, River. Good to know I'm frigid."

"Anytime," he replied. "Besides, it's not like Lachlan is any less frigid than you are. You should've seen him in high school."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why do you say that like you knew him in high school?"

"Because I did," he said, as if it were obvious. "We went to the same school."

"What? He told me he's from the countryside."

"We had dorms, Monroe. He was a boarding student."

"And you guys were in the same grade?"

"No shit."

"So, you knew him."

"No shit."

The news hit me and turned the world lopsided for a moment. It was like everything I knew about River and Lachie had been erased and replaced with this new piece of information. It was like realising once again that River outside of Shellside Bay was a River I never knew. It was a reminder that, other than the people I grew up with—Sky, Austin, Connor, and to some extent, River—I would never know their lives, who they were before they met me. Not really. Not in the same way.

I wondered what I didn't know about Everett. What things I'd never thought to ask him, things he'd never thought to mention; things I'd never thought to mention.

"Why didn't he say anything?" I asked.

River shrugged. "I was barely at school. I don't think I ever said a word to him. Besides, he was only there for our final year. He was super introverted. Never would've expected him to be such a popular guy on campus. I guess he's trying to change his reputation now or something."

"What, like go from an introvert to an extrovert?"

"Yeah," River said. "Not that he knows how. I don't think he knows how to talk to girls—even the ones he's just friends with."

"What do you mean? He's not, like, strange or anything."

"That's because you're strange, Monroe."

"What! No I'm not!" I frowned at him and when he didn't react, I turned to Sky. "Sky, defend me!"

"He's not wrong," she said, betraying me in three words. Catching my glare, she explained, "I mean, it's a bit weird that he asked if Everett is coming to Shellside when you invited him."

"Oh, come on. He just wanted to be prepared," I said.

"Or," River began, "he doesn't know how to talk to girls. Probably just didn't realise what a question like that suggests."

I was silent for a moment, turning this new information over in my head. Really, it was kind of nice to know that Lachie acted this way with everyone—that our friendship wouldn't have to be tarnished by any potential presence of a crush. Because he didn't have a crush. Apparently, he just asked questions like that to everyone.

I shrugged, turning away. "Well, it doesn't matter. He's my friend. He's nice."

"If you say so," River replied, ending the conversation and immediately preoccupying himself with his phone. He never did care much about other people. That was, until he met Connor. Really, Lachie probably found River equally as strange.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed, ending my train of thought.

"Oh, who's that? Lachie, begging for more?" Sky teased.

I rolled my eyes, unlocking my phone to find a notification from Everett. Without thinking, I opened the message, my heart jumping out of my throat as a picture appeared, three words flashing beneath.

Everett: Just finished gym.

Too slow, I turned the screen off and pressed it against my chest, but not before River caught a peak of skin and a dirty mirror. His eyes popped out of his head and my face grew hot. Very hot.

"Oh, my fucking God," River said. He pressed his eyes shut, covering his face with his hands. "I saw nothing."

"What?" Sky asked, clueless. "What did I miss? I want to see."

"You really don't," I said, my face turning hotter and hotter.

"Why not?" She frowned, looking between us.

River and I met eyes. I groaned covering my face with my hands and River snorted, shaking his head.

"You need to teach your boyfriend how to send a warning," River chided.

"He wasn't that naked!"

"He was naked enough."

"Oh," Sky said. Her lips twitched and she looked at River. "Oh."

My phone dinged again, vibrating against my chest, except this time I didn't dare to look.

"Not going to get that?" River teased.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't make me check my phone, River. I know you won't be able to look him in the eye anymore."

"Oh, yeah, nah. If you guys ever break up, send him my way."

It was my turn to gag.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Bit of a longer chapter this time! I hope it makes up for how long it took me to edit it! Let me know what you thought! There are literally only TWO chapters left so now's your time to leave your final hopes and guesses while I work on them!!!