Luna Waverly's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Two hours in, Luna Waverly was still hunting for Kira. She held a warm drink she didn't want and scanned the bonfire crowd. Somewhere in that press of vacationers was her friend, and Luna meant to find her. Kira had drifted off after some guy twice before. Not tonight, Luna told herself. The party lights draped over her purple bikini glowed against the dark. She wore them so people could spot her. Right now they only made strangers wave and offer her cups. She pushed toward the fire where she'd last seen Kira. The crowd there was too thick. Shoulders and elbows blocked every line of sight. A sunburned man stepped in front of her and held out a beer. "You look thirsty," he said. She took it just to move past him. Then a woman pulled her into a dance circle. By the time Luna broke free, she'd lost the fire in the mass of bodies. Kira could be anywhere. Chasing through this crowd only cost her time. So Luna quit the crowd. She walked to the pier instead, where the planks glowed under hanging lanterns. Fewer people, cooler air, and a clear view of the whole beach. If she couldn't find Kira in the crush, maybe Kira could find her. Luna's lights were bright out here, a cluster of color in the dark. She sat on the edge and dug in the purple cooler beside her for something cold. She pried off a bottle cap and drank. Then she waited, watching the fire from a distance. It worked faster than she hoped. Bare feet slapped the planks behind her. "Oh my god, Luna, there you are, okay, I saw the lights and I was like, that's her, that has to be her." Kira dropped down beside her, pigtail ribbons crooked, a green ring pop stuck to her finger. Luna turned. Relief hit her, then a flare of anger. "I looked for you for two hours." "I know, I know, I'm sorry, so this guy wanted to show me the tide pools and then I couldn't find the bonfire again, it happens." Kira grinned like it was nothing. "Your lights, though. Saved me. Like a lighthouse." Luna let out a breath and shook her head. She handed Kira a cold bottle from the cooler. "Sit. Stay where I can see you." Kira sat. She popped the ring pop back in her mouth, then went still. "Okay so. Small thing. That guy? He had my phone. And my sandals. And, like, my whole bag, for the tide pool pictures." She winced. "I told him to meet me at the bonfire. Twenty minutes ago." Luna looked back at the fire, that wall of people she'd just escaped. Her phone, her friend's bag, a stranger with both, somewhere in the thick of it. She set her bottle down.