And it was always a phone call, not a FaceTime or a text but a proper call on the phone.

Each night around 10ish, Noelani would go outside to the backyard and like clockwork, Jalen would call her.

At first the conversations were mainly about the stars that they could see at night and then they turned into conversations about anything and everything.

Noelani was happy that they were speaking again.

It was dusk in Hawaii, and Noelani was walking both of her dogs in a coconut tree grove a few miles from her house.

Their leashes were held tightly in Noelani's hand to ensure that neither of her pets ran off, she was in ripped jean cutoffs and a red tube top despite it being February and her hair was free from a hair tie.

Blue stopped to smell something at the base of one of the trees and Noelani reached in her back pocket to grab one of the various plastic bags she had bought just in case.

Distantly, there was the sound of another dog barking and immediately Cinnamon started barking as well, lunging so suddenly that Noelani lost her grip on her leash.

"Cin! Cin! Cin, stop!" Noelani picked up her pace into a run forcing Blue to start running as well.

"Cin! Cin, what the fuc-?" Noelani stopped at the sight of her dog with a boy who looked to be of Native Hawaiian descent with tan skin and a giant schnauzer with gleaming onyx fur.

His dog and Cinnamon were playing, taking turns chasing each other around the forest they were in.

"Cin!" Noelani called out, making the animal look at her.

The boy looked towards her and Noelani simply blinked.

He was tall, at least 6'2, with caramel colored eyes, a white smile and short wavy hair. On his forearm was a traditional Maori tribal tattoo. He couldn't have been older than eighteen.

"Is this your dog?" He asked.

Noelani gave him a 'duh' look, "Obviously."

"Prove it." The boy challenged.

Noelani rolled her eyes but snapped her fingers hard and loud, getting her dog's attention again, then pointed at her Converse covered feet.

Within seconds Cinnamon was at her feet and Noelani had the leash back in her grip.

"Impressive. How long did it take for her to learn that?" The boy asked, walking a little closer.

"It took a solid month. Your dog's cute." Noelani commented.

"Thanks. This is Nash, it's a star in Sag-."

"In Sagittarius." Noelani finished.

The boy gave her another impressed look, licking his bottom lip a little.

"Uh, this is Blue and Cinnamon but I just call her Cin'." Noelani said, looking down at her pets.

"Cute." He commented, glancing up from her dogs to her face, making it clear that the compliment was for her.

"Are you new to the island? I walk this trail all the time and I usually don't see anyone else." Noelani took a silent deep breath.

"Yeah, me and my grandmother just moved back to Oahu from the Big Island. I walk this trail all the time, you're the new one." As he spoke, the boy slipped his hand under his pale yellow t-shirt, inadvertently showing his toned stomach.

Noelani simply nodded then looked at the ground to hide the fact that she had checked him out.

When she glanced up, the boy had a cocky smirk on his face.

Oh shit, he saw me.

"I'm lived here all of my life." Noelani scoffed.

"Really? You don't look like us." The boy said.

Noelani rolled her eyes before pointing out, "Because I'm not. You're Maori and I'm Hawaiian. Well, half."

"How did you kn-." The boy's eyes fell on his tattoo, "I don't meet a lot of people who know what this means."

Noelani looked at his tattoo and outstretched her fingers, "Can I...?"

He nodded and Noelani nodded pulling her dogs with her.

"Unaunahi for health and abundance. Pakati for strength and Manaia, the spirit guardian." As she spoke, she lightly traced the intricate lines on his skin.

"You getting a tattoo?" He asked in a low tone.

Noelani looked at him then stepped back after realizing her proximity, "Yeah, when I turn eighteen in a couple months. I want the koa'e'ula."

The sun had fully set now and the stars were beginning to reveal themselves in the sky, which meant Jalen was going to call soon.

Which meant Noelani had to get home now.

"It's getting dark. My mom is gonna wonder where I went. It was nice meeting you, uh," Noelani prompted, starting to walk down the trail that led to her house.

"Alex." The boy smiled.

"Nice meeting you, Alex." Noelani turned to leave but Alex grabbed her hand making her turn to face him.

"I can't get your name?" He grinned.

"Noel." She glanced at the sky again.

"Maybe we can plan a day for them to play," Alex gestured to Nash and Cinnamon.

"Yeah, we should," Noelani agreed with a smile.

"Lemme put my number in ya phone. So we can actually do this."

Noelani palmed her back pockets, "Shit, I forgot my phone."

Just another reason why she needed to get home as soon as possible.

Alex simply smiled and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Noelani pushed her number in then gave it back to the boy.

"Now, how I will know that this isn't a fake number?" Alex teased.

"You don't." Noelani said simply with a shrug.

"Alright, alright." Alex nodded his head with a grin, grabbing his leash for his dog off of the ground, "I will be seeing you around, right?"

Noelani glanced at the sky again, "Guess you're gonna have to find out."

Noelani passed him a playful smile then turned and started walking home.

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