Kailani

I dipped my foot into the pool water, getting that feeling of relief that I loved so much. That content feeling I had every time I came in contact with the water. There was always something about the way it felt, the way it moved, that made me love it so much.

I took a deep breath before jumping into the pool, staying under water for a few moments before surfacing. I smiled contently to myself before floating on my back, staring up at the sky that was currently in its dawn phase. It was such a beautiful sight, which was probably why I always went swimming so early in the morning, even on school days.

"I'll never get this habit of yours," I heard my best friend say in a tired voice. "Waking up at the crack of dawn just to go for a swim."

"There's just something so peaceful about it," I said. "Like you and your nature walks."

"I don't go on nature walks close to seven in the morning," Lincoln said as he sat down near the edge of the pool. "You're crazy for doing this."

"You call it crazy, I call it....Living life to the fullest," I said. "You should come in."

"Yeah, right," he said with an eye roll. "As you can see, I'm in my pajamas and I'd rather not get them yet, thank you very much."

"That's boring," I said.

"Yeah, whatever," Lincoln said before laying on his stomach and resting his chin on top of his arms. "Are you okay?"

I gave him a weird look. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that you're usually sad this time of year," he said.

I sighed, knowing what he was talking about. Every time my birthday was close, I wasn't normally in a happy mood. I had my friends to spend it with, but no family.

When I was just a few days old, I was left on the doorsteps of Lincoln's home with nothing but a small note saying, Name: Kailani. Birthday: February 19th. There was nothing else. No information of who my real parents were or where I came from.

Lincoln's dad, Marvin, gladly took me in, despite being a single dad with a one—month old baby. Even he tried finding out where I came from, but nobody had any information whatsoever.

It did suck not having any family with me on my birthday, but I couldn't ask for better friends or a better place to live.

"It's been almost seventeen years," I said. "There's nothing I can do to change that, so I have to get used it the fact. Maybe one day I'll meet my birth parents but until then, I will continue living my life to the fullest. Meaning going swimming very early on the morning."

Lincoln chuckled. "You're crazy, you know that?" He then sighed, though having a smile on his face as he stood up. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Before I could even say anything, he peeled off his shirt and dropped it on the ground, which only made my cheeks redden.

Without hesitation, he jumped into the pool, then popped his head above the water. "I can't believe you did that," I said. "I thought you didn't want to get your pajamas wet."

Lincoln shrugged. "I still don't see the satisfaction in this."

"Oh, yeah?" I said before splashing his face with water. "Because there was plenty of satisfaction with doing that."

Lincoln gave me a devious smile. "Oh, you're on!"

I tried swimming away, but he quickly caught me and pushed me under water for a bit. As soon as my head was above the water again, I splashed him again before swimming away, thankfully being the faster swimmer since I was in the pool almost every day.

"Lincoln, Kailani," Lincoln's dad suddenly said. Marvin was standing by the backdoor with an amused smile on his face. "Breakfast is ready. Lincoln, are you still wearing your pajamas?"

"Yes," Lincoln said before swimming over to the edge and pulling himself out of the pool. I swam over to him and he helped me out as well before handing me a towel that was sitting in a basket nearby. He wrapped it around me before wrapping his own towel around himself. Once he picked up his shirt, we walked inside the house.

Lincoln went upstairs to change out of his pajamas while I went to the dining room since I was used to eating breakfast in my swimsuit. I thanked Marvin when he set a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of me.

Lincoln shortly came downstairs, now dressed for school and his brown hair sticking up all over the place because of the water, and of course he was looking as attractive as ever. The only thing I hated about living with Lincoln; the feelings I have for him, especially when he has a girlfriend.

After Lincoln and I ate our breakfast, I went upstairs to get changed and I quickly blow—dried my hair, giving it a quick brush before heading downstairs with my backpack. We put on our shoes and walked outside of the house.

Our school was about a ten minute walk away, so the only time we ever drove there was when it was pouring buckets. Well, I still tired walking to school because I loved the rain, but Lincoln refused to let me walk.

On the way there, we stopped at our friend's house. We waited for Heath to come outside before we continued our walk to school.

"Something's different about your hair, Kailani," Heath said. "Is it actually dry for once?"

"Only because I blow—dried it after the swim," I said.

"I'll never get your fascination with swimming," Heath said.

"You know, I almost said the exact thing in the morning," Lincoln said.

"Right before you decided to jump in the pool," I pointed out.

"I wanted to see what the big deal was about swimming in the morning," Lincoln said. "And I've got to say, it's a waste of time."

I gave him a fake gasp. "It is not. Anything you love doing is not a waste of time. I could say the same thing about you and your nature walks or Heath and his soccer."

"Fair point," Lincoln said as we arrived at the school.

Almost immediately, Lincoln's girlfriend Wendy rushed over and gave him a hug. "Hi, Lincoln," she said, smiling up at him.

"Hi," Lincoln said, returning the smile. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I am," Wendy said. "Oh, Kailani, I have the notes you let me borrow," She pulled away from Lincoln and opened her bag, taking out the notes for French class that I let her borrow because she was sick for two days. "Thank you again for letting me borrow them. You know how the teacher is with catching up while we're sick."

"No problem," I said, giving her a thin smile. As much as I hated that Wendy and Lincoln were dating, I had no reason to hate her. She was a really sweet person and she made Lincoln happy. "I'm going to head to my locker now. Don't want to get trampled by everyone wanting to talk to these two boys."

"You're overreacting," Heath said. "Not everyone wants to talk to us. There are probably six people that don't."

"Exactly my point," I said. "I'll see you guys in P.E." I walked into the school and to my locker.

There usually was a crowd of people wanting to talk to Lincoln and Heath, the two most popular guys in school. Heath was the captain of the soccer team and Lincoln....Well, there was just something about him that everyone loved.

And me? I was invisible, despite being best friends with Lincoln since I was left on his doorsteps, and Heath since Lincoln and I met him in kindergarten.

I kind of hated it, to be honest. I didn't really care for attention, but seeing my two best friends talk to almost every single person in the school made me feel a bit left out. I mean, I did hang out with them at lunch and every class we have together, but still.

I kind of wish it would change.