Claire Willis didn’t have any interest in going to the 2017 homecoming dance, so she decided to find something fun to do instead. Her mom decided to take her and a friend to the beach to have a fun filled weekend. The long drive down to Long Beach took about three and a half hours in total, including the stop for lunch on the way. “Instead of being stuffed into a dress and wearing painful heels, and awkwardly dancing to music, we played on the beach, and walked around a beautiful downtown.” She took many pictures of the gorgeous sunset and got to play fun games at the arcade like bumper cars. She looked at many different places for a souvenir and decided Long Beach was a good area to buy one. After going to many different shops, she picked a classic lifeguard sweatshirt. Claire also got to enjoy ice cream, binge on chips, and her favorite food, mashed potatoes. She went to a part of Long Beach, then went to another beach where she flew kites. Later into the night, she splashed and played in the hotels pool and hot tub for many hours, showing off her newly learned skills from her swim class. Her evening closed with a Nancy Drew movie marathon and many snacks.

In the morning, they visited another beach by the hotel, where her younger siblings, Jayn, Serena, and Sage played in the sand. She had a theme where she would take pictures of handstands everywhere she went, and she continued that theme all weekend. Claire was very disappointed when she had to make the long journey home, although the trip back was spiced up when  when her mom was pulled over. While everyone was finding ways to make their homecoming sound more interesting than it was, Claire was busy making fun memories with her best friend.