The beach was louder than I expected.
Not because of people—there weren't many—but because of everything else. The waves folding into themselves. The wind dragging its fingers through the air. The cicadas screaming from somewhere beyond the road, even though we were already close to the sea.
Ren kicked off his sandals and ran straight toward the water. "Last one in buys drinks!"
"That's not how that works!" Yuna shouted, already chasing after him.
Mio laughed beside me, her hand lifting to shield her eyes from the sun. "They're going to regret that in five minutes."
I nodded. "They always do."
We walked slower, letting the others get ahead. The sand was warm under my feet, almost too warm, like it had been waiting for us all day.
"This place hasn't changed," Mio said.
"It changes," I replied. "Just slowly."
She looked at me, surprised. "That sounded like something you'd write down."
"Maybe I already did."
She smiled, the kind of smile that stayed with you even after you looked away.
Ren and Yuna were knee-deep in the water, arguing about something pointless.
"You splashed me first!" Yuna said.
"That was an accident!"
"You don't accidentally splash someone that much."
I sat on the sand and watched them, my notebook resting in my bag. I didn't take it out. Some moments felt wrong to trap on paper.
Mio spread a towel beside me and sat down, hugging her knees. The sunlight caught in her hair, turning it almost gold.
"Aoi," she said quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever feel like time speeds up when you're happy?"
I thought about it. About yesterday. About how the bell rang and summer began before I was ready.
"…Yeah."
She nodded, like she already knew the answer. "I wish it wouldn't."
Later, we lay on our backs, staring at the sky. Clouds drifted lazily, unconcerned with us.
Ren spoke first. "What do you want to do after summer?"
Yuna answered too quickly. "Travel."
Mio hesitated. "University, I guess."
Silence followed.
I didn't answer at all.
Ren laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "Wow. We're boring."
"No," Yuna said softly. "We're scared."
Ren didn't reply.
The cicadas cried louder, filling the space where words should have been.
As the sun began to lower, the beach emptied. We washed sand from our feet at a public tap, the water cold and sudden.
"Same time tomorrow?" Ren asked.
Yuna nodded. "Obviously."
Mio looked at me again. "You'll come, right?"
"Yeah," I said. "I will."
She seemed relieved by that. I didn't know why.
On the walk home, the sky turned pink, then orange. The day folded itself away like it had always planned to.
That night, I finally opened my notebook.
The cicadas are loud this summer, I wrote.
Maybe they're afraid of being forgotten.
I closed the book before the page could dry.
Some thoughts were already too heavy for tomorrow.