“Benny! Wake up, man!”

Benny stirred and groaned, “Five more minutes, mom!”

“I said…WAKE UP!!!”

Benny suddenly felt a sharp blow in the head! He could already feel a bruise was swelling on his forehead. Benny sat upright and found Ace standing beside him, smirking.

“It’s so nice of you to finally join the living! Pops had to carry you in here before he drove to work. You were sleeping like a baby.”

“Where are we?” mumbles Benny, still rubbing his forehead.

“Where do you think?” Ace gestures to his surroundings. “This is Anna’s beach house!”

Even for a beach house, this living room is luxuriously decorated. Huge Chinese porcelain pots were arranged in the corners. A large flat-screen T.V. was hanging on the wall. The room’s floor-to-ceiling windows had elegant curtains draped over them. A crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room, further accented by the magnificent ceiling rose. The rug had had intricate Turkish designs. The marble floor tiles shone like a pearl had been flattened out on the ground. The expensive looking furniture gave this room an even more high-class feel to it.

“Yeah, I know right? Too fancy for my taste.” says Ace, grinning at Benny as he lifts up his bag, “We should get change! That party’s out back.”

“You got your gift for Anna, then?” asks Benny, taking up his bag.

“Yeah, you won’t believe what I got her!” says Ace a little too smugly, waving the present in his hands.

“Not the wedding veil, I hope?” says Benny with a sly smile.

Ace turned pink, “No! I made sure I checked before I wrapped it this time!”

“Well, I just hope it isn’t something from your house’s attic! So what is it again?”

“It’s not of your business!”

A while later the two boys, already in their swimwear and slathered on sun block, headed outside where a huge party was underway.

It was a perfect day for a beach party!

The sun was high in the blue sky, with a not a shade of a cloud in the air. The ocean’s waters were deep blue and the waves were breaking along white sand. The party was being held in a small beach front property owned by the Perlasreyna Group.

After placing their gifts, on a table laden with gifts, Benny and Ace walked around the beach.

“Now this is what I call a vacation!” says Ace, getting a smoothie from a passing waiter.

Benny does the same and they walk around the beach.

“Benjamin! Pablo!”

They both turned to find a girl wearing a pink swimsuit and sunhat running towards them.

“Anna!” says Benny.

“How many times do I have to tell you just to call me by my nickname ‘Ace’?”

Whether she heard him or not, Anna completely ignored that and she both hugged them in delight. “You guys came!”

“Happy Birthday!” says Benny, blushing slightly.

“Well, of course we did!” says Ace, “It’s your birthday and you invited us remember?”

Anastasia Perlasreyna is often described to be quite pretty and a lot of boys were often seen looking her way. Benny could see the ire on the popularity queen Courtney’s face every time this happens. Anna was wearing pink swimsuit and a pair of sandals n her feet. She had a wide brimmed sunhat on her head. Her long blond hair was braided into two tails.

“Well, come on! I’ll introduce you to everybody!”

Anna led them along the beach where she introduced them to her fellow guests. It did not take long for Benny to notice that most of the guests, however, were her snotty rich cousins and children of her father’s business associates. Every single one of them kept giving Benny and Ace patronizing glances and smiles, something the two weren’t exactly pleased about. They did notice however that none of the guests at the party were any the two boys knew.

“So where’s your dad, Anna?” asks Benny.

Anna pointed to a group of men over at the house. “He’s there talking to some of his partners! You won’t believe what my daddy got me for my birthday! I’ll show you later!”

Knowing the Perlasreyna Family, it could be anything. Last year, Mr. Perlasreyna got his daughter a pony and the year before that, front row tickets to the concert of some famous boy band Anna likes.

“Strange, I don’t see anybody from school.” says Benny, as another cousin gave him a curt nod after being introduced by Anna.

Anna looked a little crestfallen, “I only invited a few and Daddy told me to invite only close friends.”

“Didn’t you invite Mark over?”

Anna blushed red, “How did you know that?”

“You invited him in Home Ed and we’re classmates in that class, remember?” says Benny, with glint of amusement.

Anna sighed, “Mark had other plans today so he couldn’t come.”

“Didn’t you invite anybody else?”

“Yeah, I thought those Divas -Ow!”

Benny had to elbow him in the rib.

“Don’t call them that, Pablo!” said Anna reproachfully.

“Sorry.” Ace said with a wince. “So where are they then? I thought you invited Courtney and the rest of her cronies?”

“They’re not here…” she says sadly.

Both Benny and Ace looked stunned to hear this. Knowing Courtney, she wouldn’t miss a chance to get well acquainted with rich people.

“How come?” They both said at the same time.

“Well, it’s just weird. Courtney and the other girls suddenly came down with chicken pox.” She says thoughtfully.

“Chicken pox?” they both repeated, looking at each other.

“Yes!” nods Anna, “Which is weird considering they said they already been vaccinated for it. In fact, Courtney’s face was completely covered with blisters when she called up to tell me that she couldn’t make it. I think she might have caught it from Ken.”

“That’s what happens when she doesn’t leave people alone.” Ace laughed, “Sure wished I could see her face!”

“You’d probably puke that smoothie…” says Benny matter-of-factly.

Though Benny didn’t mean that as a joke, Ace was practically laughing his head off upon hearing that. This earned a disapproving glare from Anna and several looks from the nearby guests.

“Err…let’s go have some fun in the beach! What do you say, Birthday Girl?” says Benny quickly. And for good measure, he also elbowed Ace again to stop his fits of laughter.

Anna smiled, “That’s a good idea!”

“Yeah, great…” Ace grumbled, rubbing his rib.

They walked together along the beach, debating whether they’d go build a sandcastle or go swimming. Anna suggested they’d go inside the beach house and play the Xbox tennis game in her console. Benny was up for it but Ace said that wasn’t the point of having a party at the beach.

“Oh, I know let’s go snorkeling!” Anna suggested pointing to the docks, “We have a snorkeling kit on the ready! Or we could try fishing?”

Ace suddenly looked excited, “Snorkeling! Now that is a good idea!”

Benny, on the other hand, didn’t look so enthusiastic, “Actually I was thinking of fishing-”

But before he could finish Ace grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him towards the docks.

“C’mon Crusoe, there is no way I’m wasting my time waiting for a fish to nibble on a hook, only for us to throw it back! Besides snorkeling is fun! You’d get to see the fish up close and personal!”

“I thought I told you to quit calling me that!”

After being instructed by the guide, they all set a little out to sea on a motorboat and jumped in. They spent an hour or so swimming underwater. Ace and Anna swam all around like a pair of fish themselves. Benny had a little trouble when he got entangled in a growth of kelp, but all-in-all Ace was right. It was indeed fun seeing the undersea wildlife. Especially the starfishes and the weird corral shapes. They even passed by a small school of fish as it swam around them.

When they had enough they all headed back to shore.

“So what are we going to do next?” asks Anna.

“I know! Let’s go have beach volleyball!” Ace suggests.

“Right off the bat?” says Benny as he patted the water out of his ears. “Shouldn’t we take a break first?”

“Now don’t be like that, Crusoe! When in the beach do what the beach goers do!” says Ace.

“Have a sun tan?”

“Err…yeah, that too! But of course it’s never a beach party without beach volleyball!” declares Ace, with a crazed look of enthusiasm in his eyes. Benny sighed as he relents, when it comes to sports Ace is second to none.

“I have a beach ball we can use to play!” says Anna.

“Why am I not surprised?”

They were still debating on what to do when one of Anna’s butlers came up to them.

“Excuse me, young miss, but we have another guest coming!” he announced, gestured to a girl heading their way.

She had a pixie-style haircut and a tanned skin like Ace. She was wearing a dark violet swimsuit which showed that she had a well-built physique.

“Terri!” both Benny and Anna greeted her.

“Oh no,” Ace groaned. “What is she doing here?”

“I invited her!” Anna answered as though it should’ve been obvious to him.

The girl named Terri walked towards them with a smirk-like smile on her face. This girl is an old friend of theirs (Ace not so much), Terri Diamante moved away a couple of years back when her single-parent mom got a new job there.

“Haven’t seen you guys in a while!” she says to them, “And here’s the birthday girl herself!”

Anna gives her a hug, “It’s been so long! I didn’t think you’d actually come!”

“Okay! You can let go now.” She pries herself from Anna.

“How the school over there in Iligan?” asks Benny.

“Not much different from St. Xavier. The math teacher’s just as brutal though!”

“Aren’t they all?” chuckles Benny. “Are you still doing gymnastics then?” he adds, noticing her toned arms.

“Yeah, I joined up the Gymnastics Club as soon as I enrolled there! But enough about me! How are you guys? I’ve seen you changed quite a bit Benny! You’ve gotten taller and you also got a pair of new glasses!”

“Only by a three inches and I had to beg dad to get me a normal looking glasses.” says Benny adjusted his glasses, “The last pair were a little too big!”

“And they made you look like a bug-eyed freak!” says Terri with a nod.

Benny blushed a bit. “Well, it’s all thanks to Ace. He punched me in the face by accident and broke them.”

“By accident?” repeats Terri she glances at Ace, who looked away pointedly, “Knowing this guy, it’s probably no accident. Isn’t that right?”

“Ace!” says Benny, “Aren’t you going to greet your cousin?”

“Hello…” Ace said rather stiffly.

“Hello Cousin Pabby!” Terri smirked at him.

Ace looked grumpier than ever.

Terri was Ace’s first cousin as their mothers were sisters. But his animosity towards her was because she was the only person in the world that was toe-to-toe with Ace in any sporting event and would beat him. Something, Ace is greatly shameful about.

“I see some people haven’t change!” Terri rolls her eyes.

“Well, compared to you that’s a compliment!” snaps Ace.

Terri frowned at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“He didn’t mean anything! Ace, knock it off!” Benny steps in trying to stop the crossfire that was already underway. But it was too late.

“What I mean is that at least I don’t look like I morphed into a gorilla girl in the last two years!”

“What was that?!” snaps Terri, cracking her knuckles.

Benny stepped in-between them, even though he knew he was probably be the one going to get hit instead. But he knew he had to considering high-profile guests were all around. And the last thing, Mr. Perlasreyna would want is a fist-fight in a party he is hosting.

“Guys, cool it! We have VIP guests here!” Benny adds in a hushed whisper.

“That’s enough!” says Anna. “This is my birthday party and what I say goes! And I say no fighting between you two! For once, can’t you put your competitiveness aside?”

Both Terri and Ace looked at each other for a slight tense moment before they grunted in agreement.

“Fine…” Ace grumbled.

“Only because it’s your birthday, Anna.” says Terri, still looking a little peeved.

“Now then!” says Anna looking quite satisfied, Benny sighed in relief that he didn’t become a punching bag. “Why don’t we all have fun by swimming in the beach?”

“Good idea! I’ve wanted to go swimming since I arrived here!” She says while doing some stretching.

Ace snorted, “Well, we’ve just gone swimming already!”

“Oh you have, have you?” Terri glances at him, “I can see why you’re shivering! The water must be so cold that you couldn’t handle it, right?”

“Shivering?! Nah! I’ve just warmed up!”

Benny knew from the conversation where this was heading already.

“In fact…” says Ace, his eyes gleaming, “I bet I can swim faster to that buoy over there than you!”

“Oh really?” smirks Terri, “Well, last one there is a rotten egg!” Terri sped right towards the sea in a flash.

“Oh no, you don’t!” yells Ace as he ran after her.

Benny stared at them running off and sighed.

“I knew that was going to happen. They can’t find one leisurely activity without turning it into a competition between themselves.” groans Benny.

“But that’s what makes things fun!” says Anna, before following them to the water. “Wait for me!” she yells after them. Some of her guests look at her in surprise and disapproval at her behavior.

Benny was left with no choice but to follow them.

The day became pretty much a competition between Ace and Terri. Every single activity they managed to turn it into a competition to see who is best. Anna joined in whenever possible, and only did so because she just enjoyed playing with her friends. Benny often found himself either being a judge (which gets him on bad side of either he declares the loser) or an extra player for it to become a two person team (he keeps getting paired with Ace while Anna teams up with Terri).

Things got wilder as they shift from one activity to another. Right after their so-called swimming competition, they all went water skiing. Benny had to hang on for dear life when it was his turn. Anna, on the other hand, gracefully skidded across the water. Ace and Terri wound up trying to knock each other off while doing some weird acrobatics, much to the general applause of everyone who saw that. They shifted to watermelon smashing, with Ace winding up slamming his stick on Benny’s foot.

Right after that, they moved on to sand castle building. Terri and Anna made one that looked like the undersea castle from the Little Mermaid movie. While Benny and Ace made one that summed up in two words: trash heap. It looked like a huge clump of sand had been gathered together instead. Ace tried to pass it off as a sea-monster but Benny though it was stretching a little too far.

When lunch came, Ace and Terri had an eating contest with Ace as the winner. All the while, the guests start converging wherever they are. Benny, at first, thought he and his friends were making fools of themselves. But he could see everyone genuinely seemed to enjoy watching them… or maybe these snooty rich people just enjoyed seeing non-rich people doing just that: making complete fools of themselves.

Eventually, they started on beach volleyball, Benny and Ace versus Terri and Anna.

This time everyone, even the helpers and house staff were watching. Benny felt extremely nervous because now he was sure that he was going to make a fool of himself. His friends however did not seem to be bothered by their audience. Ace and Terri were looking at each other with fierce determination from the opposite sides of the pitch. Anna seems to be enjoying the attention as she waves to her cousins, some of which were nice enough to cheer for her.

One of the houseboys acted as a referee. He held the ball in his hand.

“Is everybody, ready?” he asks them.

“Yeah!” says Ace and Terri.

“I’m ready!” says Anna, looking gleeful.

“Err...do we really have to do this?” says Benny. “I mean can’t you guys just settle with rock-paper-scissors?”

“NO!” both Ace and Terri yell at him.

“Maybe I’ll pass on this one!” Benny tried to turn away but Ace grabbed him by the hood of his hoodie.

“My partner is not abandoning me, you hear?” Ace hissed me.

“Why does it have to be me?” says Benny with a groan.

After the sound of a whistle, Terri makes the first serve!

“Here I go!” Terri slams hard on the battle and it shoots straight at Ace.

“No, you don’t!”Ace manages to counter and send it back right at Terri’s head, where she manages to block but causes the ball fall to the ground.

“1 point for Team B!” says the referee.

“Oh yeah!” says Ace as he punches the air, as some of the guests cheered.

“Umm, I think you’re supposed to hit ball at the opponent’s field not at each other!” says Benny.

“Who cares? We got a point!”

“Don’t you mean you?” mumbles Benny.

For the rest of game ball keeps shooting between Ace and Terri, while Benny and Anna just stood there and watch. Every time the ball went to either Benny or Anna their “partners” would come in block the ball for them. Even though game wound up becoming a one-on-one match, everybody else seemed to enjoy their rather spirited (as well as over-the-top playing).

Benny had to admit, it was rather fun to watch the whole game. He could tell Anna was getting a little frustrated that she wasn’t getting a turn.

Benny decided now would be a good time slip away. Suddenly a cool wind blew at him causing him to shiver. At first, he thought it was just sea breeze but then he felt as though someone was watching him. Benny looked around and saw someone standing by the edge of the water, wearing a white cloak and holding a staff! Benny tried to adjust his glasses to see if he was seeing things.

It’s that guy from last night! What was he doing here? And wait…he’s real?!

Those thoughts were running in Benny’s mind. But then he suddenly heard someone yelling.

“Benny! Get out of the way!”

“What?”

Benny turned sharply on the spot and saw something flying right at him at breakneck speed.

It was too late for him to react.

The next thing Benny knew was something heavy making contact with his face and everything went out.