"So let me get this straight—Luke gave you his number and asked you to go with him to the Shady Cove Café?" Sage asked as we walked out of the locker room.

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Pretty much."

"So how is that not a date?" Sage threw her hands up in the air. "This is breaking news, Rayne!"

"Breaking news? What'd I miss?" Marley demanded as she jogged up next to us.

"Rayne's got a date with Luke Sanchez," Sage explained.

I shook my head vigorously. "It's tutoring, not a date."

Marley wiggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Are you sure? Because it sounds like a date to me."

"I'm positive." I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm beginning to think that Sage is the one who set me up with him in the first place."

Marley's gaze swung over to Sage, who smiled coyly. "Maybe," she admitted, "but that doesn't mean you won't make a great couple."

"For the last time," I said, "there's nothing going on, and this is not a date!"

"Ooh, touchy subject," Marley teased. "But I've gotta admit, you and Luke do look great together." She laughed and high-fived Sage. I sighed in defeat—it was useless to try and convince them of something once they ganged up on me.

"See you guys later," I said, pulling away from them and jerking open the front door of the library.

"Bye!" Sage called.

"Have fun on your date!" Marley added.

I felt heat rush to my cheeks as I entered the library. "It's not a date!" I hollered over my shoulder, but my two friends had already turned the corner, their giggles reverberating off the walls. I sighed and turned back to face the endless rows of books and computers that made up the high school library.

Then I froze. The librarian was glaring at me with a stern expression, and Luke was trying not to laugh from where he sat at a nearby empty table. I ducked my head shyly and shuffled over to his table, utterly humiliated.

"So," he said, trying to hide his amused smile, "I see it's pretty clear that we're not going on a date."

"Ha ha, very funny."

"I mean, we can make it a date if you want to..."

Huh? I tried to ignore the millions of butterflies that had suddenly exploded in my stomach at his words. Was he legitimately asking me out, or was he merely teasing? I swept my eyes over his face, but no reaction gave his true thoughts away. I finally decided my best tactic was to switch tracks. "Well," I said vaguely, "what exactly were you planning to do at the Café?"

"That depends—do you like food?"

I grinned. "Duh."

"And hot chocolate?"

"Of course."

"And a walk on the pier?"

"Hmm, isn't it a little chilly out?"

"You can always wear my hoodie."

I was literally smiling from ear to ear now. I was sure my heart couldn't handle another ounce of excitement, I was so thrilled. "Alright," I agreed. "Let's go!"

"Now?" Despite the question, Luke didn't seem one bit surprised. If anything, he seemed just as eager to get going as I was.

"Yes, now!" I urged. "You tutor me every single day after school. It won't hurt to miss one day, right?"

Luke grinned. "Right."

We slid out of our chairs at the same time and made a beeline for the exit. As soon as we were outside the library, we laughed and raced each other to the parking lot, ignoring the looks from students who were still waiting for their rides. We finally slowed and walked side-by-side for half a mile until Main Street came into view. I was shivering from the slight chill in the air, so Luke took off once again, insisting that a short sprint would warm me up immediately. I tried my hardest to catch him, but he was ahead of me the entire time.

"Slowpoke," he said when I finally caught up to him at the intersection.

"Hey, I'm not a marathon runner! I'm a swimmer," I protested, breathing heavily. Much to my chagrin, I was winded.

"Yeah, but doesn't that mean you should be in shape?" Luke countered.

"Trust me, I'm in shape," I said airily.

The walk signal turned on, so we stepped off the curb.

"Anyway, I heard you're a pretty good. At swimming, that is," Luke added.

"Oh. I don't know. I guess you'd just have to watch me and find out for yourself." As soon as the words came out, I immediately regretted them. What was I doing—trying to be a flirt?

Fortunately, Luke plowed ahead. "But it's true you beat Madeleine Hansen, right?"

I winced. "Does the whole school know about that?"

"Probably." He shrugged. "News travels fast in a small town—and even faster in a small high school."

"Oh."

"You don't sound too excited. You should be thrilled, Rayne!" He grinned. "Madeleine has been one of the top athletes since junior high. She's practicably unbeatable—that is, until you came out of nowhere and destroyed her."

"I don't think that's necessarily a good thing."

"Why not?"

"Well, ever since my first day at Shady Cove High, she's been out to get me."

He laughed dryly. "Yeah, she has a bit of a temper."

"But on the first day? Seriously?" I shook my head. "I know her dad is the swim coach and all, but it's not like he's giving me special treatment or anything." I suddenly clamped my mouth shut. Maybe that was my problem after all. Coach Hansen had been trying to find a time to train me for the Junior Olympics, and he did show me a lot of favoritism during practice. Was Madeleine furious over that?

"You know," I added, "I heard she beat up some guy from the swim team last year. Is that true?"

"Yeah."

"What was her motive?"

"I don't know. Nobody is one hundred percent certain why she does the things she does. I guess she had a grudge against him or something. They were fighting in the hall, he gave her a little shove, and then she went all King Kong on him."

I swallowed nervously. This conversation wasn't exactly the most comforting thing to hear at the moment. "So...do you think Madeleine would beat me up?"

Luke gave me a strange look. "I doubt it. Why would she beat you up just for being a better swimmer than her?"

"I don't know." I sighed and glanced down at my Converse, wiggling my toes underneath their worn surface.

"We're here," Luke suddenly announced. He gestured toward the small building up ahead. With a smile, he held open the door to the Café and ushered me inside. Just before entering, I got a whiff of a salty sea breeze and realized we were fairly close to the ocean. I immediately felt that familiar tug on my heart.

"So what do you want to eat? Pick anything you want."

I quickly snapped back to reality and scanned the menu. The playful font was displayed in teal and silver lettering. It seemed like those were the theme colors of the entire building, from the walls to the tiles to the colorful rugs on the floor. Though the Café was small, it was light and airy. Quaint seemed the best word to describe it.

"Hmm," I said at Luke's prodding, "I think I'll have one of the sandwiches."

A few moments later, we were at the front of the line, and the effervescent cashier took our orders quickly and brightly. I pulled out my wallet from my jeans pocket, but Luke slapped down a twenty before I could pay. "It's on me," he said, smiling.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Luke turned to the cashier. "Oh, and can we have two hot chocolates with marshmallows and whipped cream?"

I felt a blush creeping up on my cheeks. This was the first time a guy (other than Dad, of course) had paid for my meal. Had Sage and Marley been right?

For the rest of the time in the Café, I felt like I was in a dream. Luke and I sat across from each other in a booth and chatted casually as we ate our sandwiches and sipped our hot chocolate. The food was delicious, the atmosphere pleasant, and the company charming. "If only Kimmie could see me now," I murmured with a half-smile on my lips.

"What?"

I suddenly realized I had just spoken my thoughts out loud. "Oh, nothing," I said quickly.

Luke gazed at me inquisitively, so I confessed, "I was thinking about my friend back in Newland."

"Oh." He settled back in his seat. "That must be hard to move away from all your friends."

"Yeah, but at least I've made new ones." I felt a slight pang of guilt at my words, remembering what Kimmie had said the night before I moved away:

"You better not find a new best friend to take my place!"

I laughed. "No way—and the same goes for you!"

Kimmie and I laughed and laughed until our stomachs hurt. It felt good to just be sitting here, watching the beautiful sunset. "You know I would never let anyone take your place," she said honestly.

Had I broken my promise to my best friend? Were Sage and Marley slowly replacing the place in my heart where Kimmie had been?

"Rayne?" Luke asked, reaching out to touch my hand. "Are you okay?"

I sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just—I just miss my old home."

Luke was silent for a few moments. I stared down at my half-empty cup of hot chocolate, watching as the last of the whipped cream swirled around in the center of the drink. "So," he said suddenly, "do you still want to take that walk on the pier?"

I immediately brightened at the thought of strolling along the ocean. "Sure. Let's go." We gathered up our trash and threw it away before heading outside. I carried my cup of hot chocolate in both hands to warm my skin as we walked down the sidewalk. There was a light breeze blowing in from the sea, making it even colder than the air around Shady Cove High. True to his word, Luke took off his hoodie and placed it over my shoulders as soon as we reached the pier.

We strolled across the wooden boards quietly. The only sound was the crashing of waves below us and the lapping of water against the pilings of the pier. The wind was even stronger here, and my bun bobbed loosely against the back of my head. Our conversation had lapsed into a pleasant silence as we headed to the end of the pier.

We huddled over the railing together and watched the murky blue water swirl against the pilings. "Are you cold?" Luke asked.

"No," I lied. The truth was, I had goosebumps on every inch of my body, but I didn't want to spoil the moment. This had been a wonderful afternoon.

"Hey," I exclaimed, pointing at the water. "Dolphins!"

"Where?" He scanned the ocean but couldn't find anything. "I don't see any."

"They're swimming right underneath us." I leaned over the railing and watched as one dolphin after another suddenly began breaching under the pier. Luke stared in awe. The dolphins seemed to smiling at us as they leaped out of the water and splashed back in. I immediately wished I could be swimming with them.

"Come on," I said, pulling on Luke's sleeve. "They want us to play. Let's go in to shore and see if they'll follow."

Luke gave me a puzzled smile. "So you're a dolphin whisperer?"

"Not that I know of," I laughed. "Come on! Let's get closer to them!"

We ran all the way back to shore, jumping off the last section of the pier where it was only a few feet off the sand. Luke paused while I ran all the way to the water's edge, my heart beating rapidly with excitement. "What are you waiting for?" I called over my shoulder. "They're coming!"

Sure enough, the pod of dolphins that had been breaching underneath the pier were directly in front of me, playing in the waves. Their sleek silver bodies glistened under the setting sun as they leaped high into the air before crashing back into the water, sending foam spraying everywhere. I smiled as I watched their acrobatics. My heart longed to be in the ocean swimming with those amazing creatures, but I was forced to hold myself back. Not here. Not now.

"Wow," Luke breathed, coming up behind me. "That's amazing. Why did they follow us into shore?"

"They wanted to," I replied simply. "They're trying to get us to come play in the water."

Luke gave me a strange look. "You baffle me sometimes," he said. "Are you sure you're not a dolphin whisperer? I mean, how do you know they want us to play with them?"

His question caught me off guard. How did I know?

"I just know," I answered truthfully, if a little ambiguously. I had known when the dolphins were underneath the pier, and I had known why they followed us into shore. It was instinct.

Luke drew closer to me, and we watched quietly as the dolphins began to swim farther and farther away, until they were no longer breaching but swimming underneath the surface, out of sight. The sun was beginning to dip behind the horizon, casting watercolor streaks of orange and yellow across the surface of the water.

"You're different, Rayne," Luke said suddenly. His voice was thoughtful. "I can't explain it, but somehow you're different. In a good way, of course."

I turned to face him. "Thanks for today. I had a lot of fun." Then, with slight hesitation, I added, "We should do this again sometime."

"Totally," Luke said to my relief. "Should we meet at the Café again on Saturday?"

I grinned. "Of course."

"How about one o'clock? Is that a good time?"

"Yes," I said immediately. I didn't have a meet this weekend, so spending the afternoon with Luke would be a perfect way to pass the time. I didn't care that he hadn't officially asked me out on a date. I didn't care that Marley and Sage would tease me mercilessly if he did. All that mattered was standing here, on the soft glowing sand, watching the dazzling sunset mirrored on the glassy surface of the water. I wanted to savor this moment like the sweet hot chocolate that was still melting on my tongue.