The Future of Sulani | 7

Malia's work relationship with Javier has slowly developed into a real (and sometimes slightly flirty) friendship. She's never actually dated anyone before, though, and she can't quite tell if he's truly into her or if he's only flirting with her because she's young and pretty and there. But this feels different than all those unreciprocated advances by drunk, sweaty guys on dance floors. Javier actually seems... sweet. Still, she can't quite find the words to ask him out. What if it turns out she's interpreting his interest all wrong?

He surprises her one afternoon at the end of their lunch break by asking if she'd want to grab a drink with him after work that night. It takes all of her effort to remain calm, cool, and collected. "That could be fun," she says casually, even shrugging her shoulders a bit, but inside she's positively bursting with excitement.

On their way to the laundromat, Malia spills everything to Nani, her heart fluttering anxiously in her chest. "Oh my God, what am I going to wear?" she prattles on. "He's only ever seen me in my work uniform, and every other woman in that place is over 40! What if he takes one look at me in the real world, surrounded by all these other beautiful girls, and decides I'm just so hopelessly average?"

Nani snorts and rolls her eyes. "Come on, Mal, you're nothing short of gorgeous! If you think you're average, then what does that make me? A bridge troll?"

The conversation resumes inside over baked goods. "You shouldn't be worried so much about what he thinks of your outsides, anyway," Nani tells her. "What's really important is that he likes who you are on the inside. Just be yourself, and if he isn't into that, don't even waste your time. You deserve better."

"I guess you're right," Malia replies, munching on her chocolate croissant. "Hell, I'm not about to squeeze into some skin-tight dress and spend an hour putting on makeup just to impress one man! I'll show up like this, just the way I am, and it's his loss if he doesn't like it."

As she's hanging the laundry out to dry, Malia feels the by now familiar presence of the island spirits surrounding her with warmth and light. As she becomes more and more connected to them, she's noticed that they can sense when she's feeling sad or upset or nervous or angry. In the moments when she needs it most, they arrive, radiating a calming positive energy, as if gently nudging her forward, providing her assurance that her life is moving in the right direction.

When she meets Javier at the bar, he's already waiting, two glasses of white wine on the table in front of him. "I hope you don't mind," he says, scrambling out of his chair so that he can pull out her seat. She's relieved that he also seems slightly nervous. "I thought I'd order for both of us before the line got too long. Is this okay? I can get you something else if-"

She gently cuts him off. "It's perfect." Of course, he couldn't have known white whine is her alcoholic beverage of choice, but she can't help but take it as a sign that they might be even more compatible than she thought.

"Actually," she says, after taking a few sips. "It is getting awfully crowded in here. Why don't we go out on the balcony? It's such a lovely night, after all."

It must be the sudden introduction of alcohol into her system that's making her feel so emboldened. Almost all of her prior hesitancy has dissolved. "Listen, I wanted to ask you earlier, but this is a date, right?" she asks but doesn't give Javier a chance to answer before rushing breathlessly on. "Because I really like you and I think you like me, too, but I have, like, no past experience to relate this to, so it's all really confusing and unclear! I just don't want to assume there's chemistry here if you only want to be friends." When Javier doesn't immediately respond, her newfound brazenness begins to fail her. "Not that there's anything wrong with being friends. I'd be totally down for that, too. It's just-"

This time, it's Javier's turn to cut her off. Without warning, he leaps into her arms, causing her to stagger backward and nearly lose her balance. His skin is warm against hers. "Sorry," he says quickly when she releases him with a labored huff of breath. "I may have had a couple of warm-up drinks before you arrived. I didn't really think that one through."

She laughs, feeling her face flush. "That was certainly an interesting first move. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like most people would go in for a kiss first."

"A kiss should be special," he responds, leaning in conspiratorially. "It should be a moment you remember forever, especially when it's with someone you really care about." Malia raises an eyebrow, coyly urging him to elaborate. "You're right. I do like you. But I don't have much experience either, so I hope you're okay with taking things slow."

She smiles back at him. "I'm more than okay with that." They share one more glass of wine but then decide to call it a night before they're tempted to take things to a level they're not ready for yet.

Back home, Malia's entire body feels like it's buzzing with anticipation for the next time she'll see Javier again. The others are already asleep, so she makes herself a cup of tea, lights some incense, and settles down on her meditation stool. She takes a few deep breaths and then focuses on channeling all of her pent-up energy into a single, unbroken beam of tranquility lighting up the entire length of her spine. She feels it so intensely blazing inside of her that it almost seems to be exploding outward, filling her small room with a glowing ball of warmth.

In her subconscious, she registers the ocean waves lapping gently against the shore. As she more purposefully focuses her mind on the sound, it's almost as though she can feel the breeze on her shoulders and taste the salt at the back of her throat. It all feels so real she has to crack open an eye to remind herself she's still in her bedroom - except she's not! She's hovering several feet off the ground, surrounded by sand and saltwater and palm trees. When she turns her head, she sees that she's at least half a mile away from the house. Then, her concentration broken, she drops to the ground with a thud. Yep, there's no mistaking the sensation of wet, grainy sand sticking to every exposed inch of her skin.

The next day, she tries to shake off the strange experience as much as she can, but she keeps reliving those few brief moments on the beach in her mind. She had felt in control, up until the second that she wasn't. Where the hell had that come from? Can she just teleport now, or was it a one-time fluke? Maybe she's losing her mind.

At any rate, there's nothing she can do about it right now. It's the annual Ohan'ali Beach Family Fun Day, and they've helped organize it, Nani handling the event logistics, Malia setting up activities for the kids, and Noelani offering their DJ talents free of charge.

Malia catches sight of Noelani's dad wandering in their direction and waves him over, glad for the momentary distraction. "How are you doing, Mr. 'Aukai?" she asks warmly. "It's been a while since we've seen each other!"

"It certainly has," he replies. "You're all so grown up with your busy adult lives now, we hardly get the chance to say hello! But I'm glad you could make time for this. It's so heartening to see that the younger generations are just as eager to keep old island traditions alive as us older folks."

Then Malia bumps into a few of the kids she's babysat and Nani's younger sister, Kelea. She gladly takes turns offering them pushes on the swing set, propelling them higher and higher until they leap, shouting and giggling, into the sun-warmed ocean water.

"How are you so filthy?" Nani exclaims when she finally manages to chase Kelea down. "You look - and smell - like you've been lost in the rainforest for an entire month!"

"I got tired of Mom and Dad forcing me to take a bath every night before bed, so they told me I'm old enough to be responsible for my own hygiene. I haven't taken a bath since last week. It's awesome!"

"You know, I don't think that's really what they meant," Nani mutters, but Kelea is already halfway to the other side of the beach, where she collapses onto the sand and rolls around as happily as a pig in mud. Nani sighs and heads in the opposite direction.

Noelani had to tone down their DJ set to maintain a more family-friendly atmosphere. Even though it's nowhere near their best work, the kids seem to be loving it anyway as they dance and splash along the shoreline. That's one good thing about children: how easy they are to please.

Noelani's dad is also impressed. Even with a child-safe set, it's obvious how much their skills have developed since they were looping records in their bedroom as a teenager. Jokingly, Noelani tells Alvin he'll have to come out to their next club show. "Believe me," he responds. "It takes everything in my power to convince your mom not to show up and embarrass you. It's better if we don't encourage her." He chuckles. "But don't worry, we see all the videos online. The Internet is a wonderful thing!"

Later that night, Noelani and Nani venture into Club Aqua, a hip new night club that's opened up recently. Its slick, modern design is yet another reminder that, as important as island tradition remains, Sulani is starting to take more and more cues from the world beyond its shores.

"I could totally see you playing here!" Nani exclaims as they take in the monochromatic and minimalistic design of the club's interior. "The crowd would be huge! Imagine that many people hyped on your music. It would be amazing!"

"God, I would die to perform somewhere like this," Noelani replies, their expression growing dreamy and distant at the thought alone. "But I wouldn't even know where to start. This sort of place can afford to be choosy. They want a recognizable name, a guaranteed crowd. I'm not sure I'm there yet."

"Ugh, not this guy," Noelani groans when they're up on the rooftop dance floor with a few drinks coursing through their veins. "He played to an absolutely non-existent audience on the main stage at Shipwreck the same night I played underground! His sound is so dated. A five-year-old could come up with fresher transitions than this corny has-been."

"And what's with those graphics?" Nani adds. "A cartoon puppy? Really? Why do these EDM dorks always have some sort of cutesy mascot they hide behind? It's almost like they need the gimmick because they're not good enough to stand on their own."

"Exactly! He's just catering to the algorithm! Everyone's pretending to like it because it's something to move to, but imagine if they were hearing something that wasn't focus-grouped to hell and back. They wouldn't know what to do with themselves!"

"Let's head back home. I need to start working on my next set right now. It has to be huge if I'm ever going to win over whatever normie's booking this place."

For the next several days, Noelani takes off work, holes up with their production equipment, and only stumbles downstairs to use the bathroom and eat. Samples and beats leak out from their headphones as they experiment and remix and tweak. Now that their mind is set on booking a gig at Club Aqua, they won't rest until they make that dream a reality.