Before & After: Island Diet (Patreon)

Every summer Beck would come from the mainland to spend some time with his grandparents on the island. It was always so relaxing to be on the ocean, fishing, swimming, and letting all the worries of school and the mainland drift away. But most of all, every year Beck looked forward to seeing his best friend, Aolani. As kids, they were inseparable--a blend of rivals and confidants--always getting into mischief around the island. Every year, they would race to see who could get to the top of the big rocks on the island. As they grew older, and the rocks less impressive, their traditions shifted to taking a photo at the rock instead.

Then something happened over the years. At first Beck barely even noticed it, his hand fit platonically around her waist. It was just like her to tease him by standing on a sand pile to be at eye-level with him. But year by year it got harder to explain away, and soon they weren't at eye-level at all, he was staring at her chin! That was the summer things began to change for them. What had once been a playful rivalry, now felt like flirtatious fun. Whenever Beck would ask Aolani about it, she would give him one of her mischievous grins and simply say "Must be this island diet. You're never gonna grow big and strong eating that mainland crap." Just when they were getting very close, Beck had to leave to head off to college, with Aolani attending school on the island. It would be a whole two years before they would see each other again, and when Beck returned to the island, he found a big surprise as Aolani waited for him at the docks.