It's still dark outside when I drag myself out of the front door. The streetlights lining the road are still on and the faint purple and orange cracks in the sky is still preparing for the sun rays to filter through.

Nathaniel's leaning against the same spot on the railing, where he usually does every time he has to wait for me.

"Good morning Ariya." He smiles enthusiastically, pushing off the railing and standing straight.

Rubbing my eyes, I let out a quiet groan before patting my cheeks repeatedly to wake myself up completely. I squint at him, taking in his appearance with a flat expression.

"Not in the mood to be civil, Nathaniel." I mutter, bending down to lace my running shoes, "Just follow me without a word. We're going to the beach."

"The beach?" he asks, surprised, "Why did you ask me to wear this then?"

"Because we're not going sightseeing, for God's sake!" I reply, my annoyance obvious in my tone, "We're going to work out."

He looks at his outfit with a frown. He's wearing one of Dad's old workout t-shirts and a pair of loose black synthetic shorts.

Honestly, it was my intention to deliberately mess with Nathaniel by forcing him to wake up before six in the morning on a Saturday and put him into clothes that he'd probably never worn before. But it turns out that the joke was on me- Nathaniel is obviously a morning person, judging by his brimming enthusiasm and he doesn't look comical at all in the slightly oversized clothes he was wearing. In fact, I notice that his legs were pretty toned and he is one of those people who could pull off a faded large tee with absolute finesse.

With a quiet huff, I break into a jog and motion for Nathaniel to follow me, on my usual route.

I normally prefer to go for a run in the evening before the high tide sets in, so the beach looks weirdly unfamiliar with everything looking brighter than I'm used to.

"I'm going to run without shoes on the sand." I state, as we reach the edge of the sandy edge of the beach, "You can run with the shoes on if you want but the sand normally gets in."

I kick off my running shoes and shift them on a rocky depression with my foot, where they remain partially hidden.

"I suppose I do not want to dirty your father's spare shoes." He nods, carefully unlacing them and pulling them off before placing them side by side next to mine.

"Right, that reminds me that we need to go shopping for a new wardrobe for you today." I suppress a yawn, "After lunch maybe. I really need to have a nap after breakfast."

"Okay, is there anything else we're doing today?" he asks with a chuckle, "Because I might have to tweak my schedule accordingly then."

"You have a fucking schedule?" I scoff, jumping in my place to warm up, "No wait, you're you so I don't even know why I'm surprised. Also, just because you happen to be a morning person, you do not need to rub it into my face."

Nathaniel mirrors my actions perfectly as I do a couple of basic stretches, even doing a couple of extras as he waits for me to finish.

"Ugh, stop copying my actions." I huff, "It's getting on my nerves!"

"But I thought this was part of my training." He replies with an apologetic smile, stopping altogether.

"Are you fucking daft?" I groan.

Nathaniel ignores my grumpy response and starts jogging at a steady pace along the edge of the sandy strip lining the receding waterline.

"Argh!" I throw my arms in the air in frustration, before I break into a run myself, "Don't just leave me like that."

We run up and down the thin beach strip- side by side in silence until the phone strapped to my left arm beeps twice, the fitness app indicating that I've crossed the five mile mark. With a sigh of relief, I walk a few steps before doubling over to catch my breath. Gosh, how I hate running!

"I haven't exercised my legs for a long time." Nathaniel bends down to touch his toes, his palms flattening against the ground as his forehead touches his knees, so that his body looks like it's been folded into half, "My muscles are burning, but breathing in all this refreshing morning air just makes it worth it."

My lips twist up into a crooked smile and I watch him with a funny expression, my hands resting on my waist as I shake my leg muscles to relieve them. The exertion from the running has worked wonders by sending my sleepiness flying out of my eyes and I'm in a far more tolerable mood now.

"As great as it feels now, I don't think it's an incentive enough to make me drag myself out of bed every morning." I surmise, disengaging my phone from my arm to get a picture of the rising sun hovering over the seawater.

I swipe through the pictures I just took with a disappointed frown as we walk lazily towards the rocky edge where we've left our shoes.

"I think all the shiny promises on TV commercials about perfect phone cameras is such a scam." I groan, "I just took seven picture of the sunrise and all of them look like awful."

"Maybe photography is not your greatest strength, Ariya." Nathaniel says with a straight face, making me wonder if he's mocking me or just being his usual polite self.

"Pfft." I wave my hand, "Why don't you try taking a picture then? Larger the pool of test subjects, more accurate the conclusion, right?"

"All right." He puts out his hand for my phone.

He holds up the phone at a slightly tilted angle and clicks a couple of pictures, before handing it back to me.

"Did you use a filter?" I narrow my eyes, holding my palm over the screen to prevent the screen from glaring, as I squint at the photographs, "Because these look unreal."

Nathaniel gives me a pointed look.

Ignoring his expression, I take another glance at the pictures he's clicked before posting one of them to my Instagram story.

I make an attempt to click a better photograph, but it looks astonishingly similar to my previous ones, with the sun light bombarding the intensity of the picture and making the water almost invisible.

Fuck it!

"Well, I suppose nature photography isn't my forte." I state optimistically with a slight shrug of my shoulders, "Anyway, the best part is that you're going to be my official photographer. I need some good pictures for my LinkedIn and Instagram profiles."

"Sorry, but I'd like to pass the offer. That doesn't sound very appealing." Nathaniel replies, almost condescendingly.

We've already reached the rocky bit where we've kept our shoes so I roll my eyes at his response, letting it slide for now.

"So, I'm thinking pancakes and smoothies before we head home." I look up as I tie my shoelace.

Nathaniel neatly slips his feet into my father's shoes, taking care not to crease the canvas as he fastens the laces.

"Why would you load yourself with calories after working so hard to lose them?" he questions with a genuinely confused look.

"As a reward, of course." I retort, like there could be nothing more obvious, "Beside, our two options are either that or milk and cereal at home. And I strongly urge you to choose the first option. Actually you know what? I'll let you get a fruit and coconut bowl or something."

"Fine, works for me." He nods.

"Great!" I chirp happily, "I can see a few diners that way. Let's check them out."

We make our way to the beach side diner a little distance away, on the more commercialized part of the beach.

The distinct aroma of freshly ground coffee and warm breakfast foods greets us into the open air wooden cabana. It feels like being enveloped into a cocoon of warmth and comfort after my unnecessarily tiring and sweaty run.

"Hey, Ariya!" Giya from my chemistry class greets me.

She's wearing a black half apron over her shorts and has a notepad tucked into the half moon pocket in the front.

"Oh hi, Giya." I smile politely, "You work here?"

"Yes, I help Mum out on the weekends and Friday evenings after school." She chuckles, before turning towards Nathaniel, "And you are Nathaniel, right? I'm Giya, we're in the same chemistry class."

"Yes I know." He answers with a polite smile, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Enchante!" Giya giggles coyly, shamelessly giving him a once over, "You look different. Like a good different, don't worry. I almost didn't recognize you when you came in with Ariya."

"Thank you." Nathaniel nods tightly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

I clutch the edge of my chair tightly, struggling not to snort at their exchange. He stares at me blankly, his jaw twitching slightly.

"Right. Can we order now, Giya?" I ask, inhaling deeply and pushing back my laughter.

"Oh yes, of course. Silly me!" She laughs, uncapping a pen and standing ready with her notepad, "My head functions a little slow in the mornings."

I pretend to laugh along.

"I'll have the coconut cream and pancakes. And Nathaniel will have..." I trail of, raising my brow at him.

"A glass of watermelon juice and an omelette." He says quickly.

"Okay, order number three coming right up!" Giya announces, skipping towards the kitchen.

The moment she's out of earshot, I burst out into a fit of laughter as Nathaniel pulls a sour face and gazes at the waves hitting the sand repeatedly.

"Someone's got an admirer!" I tease, laughing harder when Nathaniel's cheeks flush in response.

"It's a natural hormonal reaction which is perfectly natural so it's nothing much to stress about." He mutters quietly, after staying silent for a few moments.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. But I'm pretty sure she thought you were flirting with her before she started shamelessly hitting on you. Try using a more informal greeting next time." I shake my head, my mouth still stretched in a devious grin, "Eat up fast now. I need to get home and take a nap so I'm energetic enough for a full length shopping stint."

"Is it necessary?" Nathaniel asks with a sigh, "Because I really think you have no concrete plan in mind about the entire unopulence tutelage."

"Of course I know what I'm doing!" I faux gasp, "And shopping is going to be a major step forward in the grand scheme of things."

"All right." He says reluctantly, "We can go, I suppose."

I open my mouth to say something, but Giya arrives at that moment with a tray of food and sets it on the table along with two plates.

"Wave for me if you need anything." She smiles sweetly at Nathaniel, "Anything at all."

She stands there, waiting for his response. Nathaniel, utterly unaware, cuts his omelette into small portions with his fork and knife.

Just when I think Giya is going to clear her throat or something to make her presence known, when a pair of early morning surfers walk in with wet equipment, showering water droplets everywhere as they manoeuvre between the tables.

"Crap!" Giya bites her lip, before running towards them reluctantly.

"Don't just outright ignore her, you ass!" I kick Nathaniel's foot under the table when she's gone.

"I didn't mean to do that." He defends weakly, "How was I supposed to know that she was waiting for my response?"

I shake my head, chuckling to myself as I dig into my warm, buttery pancakes and fluffy, white coconut cream.

When we finally finish eating, we pay the bill and head back up the narrow, sandy road towards the main part of the town where the residential area is located.

A beat down grey Volvo whizzes past us, missing my side by the skin of the teeth.

"Look where you're fucking going!" I scream after it, but I doubt the person driving can hear with the window closed.

Wordlessly, Nathaniel moves to walk on my other side so that I'm walking on the edge and he's exposed to the cars passing by.

"You didn't have to." I sigh, looking over my shoulder to see if any more cars are incoming.

He shrugs his shoulders.

When we reach our street, I push back the car incident as I jog up to our house and run up the stairs to my room. Stripping out of my sweaty clothes quickly, I wash of face and change back into my pajamas.

"Shopping at three, don't forget!" I shout down the from the top of the stairs, "Ok, now bye. I'm sleeping."

•><•

Are you a morning person or not?

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