In no way or another does the author of this book support violence against food such as, but not limited to, waffles, pancakes, or bacon. Violently piercing food with forks or other utensils is an act of brutality, which should be refrained from.

Long, blue hair swaying in the wind.

A face which I couldn't remember speaking in a soft voice, "Keep this. Until we meet again."

A blue braided bracelet being handed to me.

Friday, 21st of July

The sound of my alarm pulled me out of the dream which haunted me for years. I looked at the bracelet which had been on my arm for over a decade. Its blue color was faded and some strings were glued back together after being torn apart.

I sighed and got up slowly to turn off the irritating sound that was blaring out of my phone. I looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that I had more than enough time left, as I was planning on cleaning my room before heading to school today. Looking at all the trash in my room made me give up on that idea, so I stayed in bed a little longer.

My parents always called my room "messy" but, although I understood where that assumption was coming from, that was not the case. Everything had its right place.

All the clothes on the wooden floor that might or might not be dirty, the books on my table that I might or might not read, even the opened packs of sweets that might or might not be empty; everything was where it belonged.

Probably.

But, I wanted to prove to my parents that I could keep my room tidy for once, so I had decided to clean it for my upcoming birthday. As I was lying in bed instead of cleaning, it was apparent that that worked out exactly as planned.

Anyway, after I spent quite a while in bed, it was time to get out and start my day. Generally, I'd be grumpy and moody in the morning, but not today. No, not on the last day before summer break, and the last day of being underage.

Only one day was standing between me and my eighteenth birthday. I just needed to keep my mood up till I would get out of school at noon. After that, I'd lay in the sun all day.

Or so I thought.

One glance out of my window was enough to bring all my grumpiness back. Normally, I'd be able to see small boats and surfers enjoy the waves near Minty Shore, the public beach of the island I lived on. Although Greenback Island, located in the Old Tampa Bay in Florida, wasn't huge, the beach was usually very crowded. That wasn't the case today.

It was raining hard. No word in my vocabulary could do this downpour justice. Judging from the dark clouds covering the sky, the rain wouldn't be stopping anytime soon.

I took my phone off the bedside table to look at the weather forecast, hoping to get some good news this morning. I was praying to whichever god that felt the need to make it rain at the start of my summer break. Praying, that they would have mercy on me and give me a sunny birthday.

But no, that didn't happen. Rain, rain, and even more rain. According to the forecast, it would be pouring for the next few days.

I was the type that liked rain a lot; the sound raindrops made when hitting the window was calming, and the smell of rain was pleasing. When thinking about my summer holidays though, I had sunny weather and the beach in mind.

"Oh great," I muttered under my breath and threw my phone on the bed. It landed screen first, which made me notice the phone case I bought yesterday. It was light blue and had the face and ears of a cat on it, making my phone have cat ears sticking out at the top. I found it adorable and felt like I needed to buy it, no matter what.

I realized that I was wasting time again, so I ignored all the distractions in my room and stepped into my walk-in wardrobe to get some clothes. I grabbed some jeans and a top and went into my bathroom for my morning routine.

A look into my mirror revealed my oh so beautiful morning face. I was fond of my looks; most guys at school hit on me multiple times, so I was quite sure that I had a decent face and body.

Not like any of those guys had a chance with me though. People always expected me to be the kind of girl that had the most handsome and popular guys as boyfriends, the captain of the football team, for example.

That wasn't true at all.

I never once had a boyfriend, and I wasn't planning on ever having one. Boys stink, think they are better in everything and just don't attract me.

But that's a whole different story for girls. Well, I also never had a girlfriend, but it's not like I wasn't thinking about it. I did want to, but up to now, I had never felt ready to come out and try to get a girlfriend. No one knew, not my parents, not even my best friends Ida and Quinn.

When I realized that I once again got lost in my thoughts, I tried to focus on getting myself ready. People in movies always wake up with the loveliest faces possible and fully prepared for the day, but that's not how life works. No matter what, I woke up looking like a walking mess; my platinum blonde hair was tangled, my blue eyes looked sleepy, and I had a dried line of drool coming from my mouth.

And like every morning, it took a while to fix all that. Washing, drying, and putting on makeup until my rather wide face with its round cheeks and small nose looked smooth and the faint freckles that I had were covered. I put on pinkish lipstick on my small mouth which was contrasting my white teeth and pale skin, and added eyeliner to emphasize my big eyes.

When I was finally done with my makeup and hair, I made my way downstairs. Already while making my first steps downwards, I could tell that Mom made my favorite breakfast. The smell of pancakes with maple syrup and hot chocolate entered my nostrils; a scent that could make every morning good, no matter the circumstances.

The last step out of the staircase revealed the living room that was decorated with stuff you would see at a children's birthday party. Of course, I was way too old for things like that, and I was sure my parents knew that very well. But they did this every year until now, so it was pretty much a family tradition at this point. And it was fun so I couldn't mind it less.

My parents would decorate the whole living room, hide behind the big brown sofa and wait for me to pass by to "surprise" me.

As always, I decided to play along with it and made my way through the living room to the kitchen. After passing the sofa, my parents jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!"

After laughing a bit with my parents, my dad said in a soft voice, "You know that we need to leave today for our business trip, right Brea?"

"Yes, of course, I remember," I answered. Although it might seem a bit cruel of my parents to leave me alone on my eighteenth birthday, I didn't mind it. I knew that their company needed them to go to Europe for a few days, and I also knew that my parents wouldn't leave if they could have got around it somehow. Things like that can't be avoided when you have a high position in an international company. Their names, Olivia and Alexander Faye, were well-known in their area of expertise, so it was understandable if they had to travel now and then.

"I'm so sorry that we can't be here with you on your big day..." said my mom with a sorry and sad expression on her round face which I obviously inherited from her. It wasn't as bad as she made it seem to be; there are way bigger days in anyone's life than their eighteenth birthday after all.

"Like I told you a few days ago, it's okay. You must represent a big company in Europe, I understand," I said to Mom, meaning every single word, "Besides, you were there for me in all these eighteen years, even when I was very sick as a child. It's not like I can complain about anything."

"Honey, I think our little girl is becoming an adult..." she replied as her blue eyes seemed to light up, "Now go and eat your pancakes, they will get cold."

I did as instructed and enjoyed the delicious meal. Minutes later, while I was still eating, Dad came in and said, "We'll leave the credit card here, so you can go shopping and buy whatever you want as your birthday present. But you know..."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Spend it, not waste it," I interrupted my father with a smile on my lips.

A smile also formed on his face behind the neatly-trimmed blonde but slowly grayish turning beard. The gentle brown eyes on his long face looked at me as he responded, "That's my girl."

As I was getting ready to leave, my parents were also packing their stuff to go to the airport. After saying goodbye to them, who were picked up by someone from their workplace, I took off to school in my car. I drove down the road, listening to my favorite songs from "Krewella" and singing along.

Because of the heavy rain, it took me about fifteen minutes till I could see the sign of my school. Usually, I'd be a lot faster.

"Storm Coast High" it said in big letters on the sign in front of the parking lot. A name that was fitting, considering how often there were big storms in this area, which not only got strong but also lasted for quite a long time. I was guessing that this one wouldn't be any different. The rain was just the vanguard of whatever was coming my way, I knew that.