• It was a cold night during some season in the small city, it was the kind of cold that you could stand but would prefer to be in a nice warm bed and not down at the beach.
    Smokes were low and spirits were high, the four walked around the beach talking and playing word games to discover the true nature of the friendships that lay within.
    The tallest of the four, Nick walked a little back from the rest, he really didn’t fit in but was there as a kind of backup entertainment and smoke supply. He watched the older of the two girls carefully, the truth of his feelings had already been known by two of the friends but not the girl he liked.
    The oldest of the two girls and the fixation of Nick’s affection, Lana was walking next to the cooler of the two guys, she liked him and they all knew it, she joked around with the other girl, the youngest at a year younger than the other three.
    The coolest, Carson smiled at the girls jokes as he thought about Nick and how hard it must have been for him to see Lana act the way she did. Carson didn’t really care that much due to the also well known fact that Carson liked Lana as well, but the thought worried him.
    The youngest girl Chloe also thought about Nick, if she could turn Lana’s affection to Nick then she could have Carson and then they would all be happy, well that’s what Chloe thought anyway.

    They walked up and sat on the pier as they watched the ocean roll the beach like a year twelve bully flexing his superiority over an orientation student. The sounds had all died bar the sea, no birds and no people just the sounds of four friends and the ocean filled the dead night sky.
    After a debate about how a bed is so much better than under the dock, to which the dock won, they decided that it was too late to be awake and they all hit the beach.
    Out of sheer spite, or so Nick had thought, of his feelings the order went Chloe, Carson, Lana and then Nick.
    He thought about it and had no clue as to why Carson wasn’t on the outside as well to which his mind just came back to the previous conclusion of spite.
    During the night Lana had turned from her on again off again boyfriend and sex buddy Carson, to Nick, also somehow she ended up really close to Nick’s face and body and due to Nick’s ability to be able to end up in weird positions while in a mode of deep and uncomfortable sleep, had ended up with his hands around her.

    They woke up early to the sound of the beach combing truck and the birds chirping. Chloe awoke first closely followed by Lana who just laid there and watched Nick sleep, thinking about whether she should be grossed out, be happy, or be scared. The thought quickly jumped from her mind when she noticed him waking up to which she rolled over onto Carson which in turn woke him up.
    Nick awoke and looked over at the, what he thought anyway, asleep Lana and the waking up Carson, Nick looked at them for a split second and the rolled out from under the dock and stood up, he then proceeded to brush himself off.
    Following him the other three stood up and brushed themselves off and then they walked towards Carson’s house because Carson had work in a few hours.

    After leaving Carson’s they preceded towards Chloe’s house to see if they could get in some more sleep.

    After they had arrived they walked quietly towards the back of the house so they wouldn’t wake up any of the occupants that were still sound asleep. They walked into Chloe’s room and as Nick faced the door the girls changed into more comfortable clothes. They then, after some convincing from the girls, all crawled into bed and were dead to the world in minutes.

    The late morning came with the sound of breakfast and talking, the sun poked in through the blinds as an uninvited and unwanted guest.
    Chloe’s mum walked in shouting about how it was a beautiful day and that they shouldn’t waste any moment of it and after some disagreeable grunts and the blanket being confiscated by the overactive parent continuing with the “Beautiful Day” bit, the three awoke.

    They all got up, ate and then retreated to the lounge to sit around and talk the “Beautiful day” away like the Goth kids they were at heart.
    They didn’t talk about much as they played the last hand of poker, just general chit-chat about Carson and such.
    A knock on the door signified the arrival of the missing member and the end of the ‘Boredom’ they had suffered through all day.
    Carson walked in and sat down next to Chloe as he watched Nick take the pot of smokes, lighters and an odd sock that had appeared out of no where during a previous round. After Nick ditched the sock and gathered his new pile of smokes and lighters they all walked out to the front and watched the sun set over the beach.

    The mood was calm and collected as it walked out and the bad mood of a girl who thought too much for her own good, clocked in for its shift.
    No one knew why Lana was angry nor did they hazard a question out of fear of loosing a body part they dearly coveted.
    Lana snapped at the three as one of them, Chloe had gained enough courage to ask due to her not actually possessing previous said body part.
    After a b***h session of about ten minutes about how no one cares about her feelings Lana stormed off closely followed by Carson, not by choice but because the two others demanded him to.
    The fight that ensued lasted about half an hour of beach goes taking wide arches around the fighting couple. Nor Chloe or Nick could tell what was going on but when the two got back they were fine except a brief blink-and-you-miss-it dirty look shot towards Nick from Carson, the two had sorted out the problem and Lana apologized for her behavior to the two outsiders.

    They then started for the Carson’s place where they were going to be occupying mismanaged time until something better came along.

    The next day came as quickly as the last ended for the group. Every one had things that had to be done during the day so the day past a little slower than usual. After Nick had finished his day of stuff he decided to walk around to Chloe’s house as he knew Carson was still at work and he didn’t know where Lana lived.

    When he arrived he knocked on the door and then after a few minutes Lana answered the door.
    “Hey Nick, what’s up?” Lana asked with a surprised and worried look on her face
    “Nothing, just board,” Nick butted out his smoke before replying, “You?”
    “Going home, wanna walk with me to the shop?” She asked as she walked out
    “Yeah sure” Nick said with a cautious smile while he worried about if Chloe had told her about his feelings
    “Ok cool” Lana replied now smiling from ear to ear
    “Why are you so happy?” Nick asked now scared about his previous thought
    “No reason. Let’s go,” She said as she grabbed her bag from behind the door frame, “See you all later” She yelled back into the house.

    They started down the long road towards the shop where Lana was being picked up by her mum.
    “So Chloe told me you like someone,” Lana said with a hint of excitement that made Nick freak in his mind, “So who is it?”
    “Umm, not gonna tell you” Nick smiled nervously
    “Aww come on, tell me please” Lana replied sounding like she was hurt
    “No, if you want to guess” Nick felt a little relived, if Chloe had told her then that would make it easier on him
    “Can I have a clue?”
    “Sure”
    “Well”
    “Ask me a question and I will tell you the answer”
    “Who is it?” Lana laughed at her own joke which made Nick laugh
    “Not funny Lana”
    “Ok then,” Lana thought about it for a while before asking, “It is a girl right?”
    “Yes,” Nick thought about it but quickly passed it off, “It is a girl, I aint gay”
    “Ok then, Do I know her?”
    “Yes”
    “Is she from school?”
    “Yep”
    Lana thought for a while, “Was she in our class?”
    “Uhuh”
    “Was it Shay?”
    “Nope” Nick thought about Shay for a second and then back to the game he and Lana were playing
    “Was It…” Lana stopped and thought, “Was it Leela?”
    “No”
    “Ok then, um, well, Tara?”
    “Nope, keep going” Nick said as they neared the shop
    “Do we still know her?”
    “We do yes, you know her the best though” Nick threw her a bone to speed up the process
    “Is it um Kira?” She now sounded like she was grasping for names
    “Nope”
    “So we went to school with her, she was in our class and we still know her. Is it Hailey?”
    “Yep, yep, yep and Nope” They stopped at the side of the shop and waited
    “Umm well,” Something caught Lana’s eye, “Ahh mums here, so who is it?” Lana asked
    “Not telling, you didn’t guess yet” Nick replied with a smile knowing that she had to guess it was her soon,
    “You’re no fun,” Lana walked to the car that had pulled up, “Well I will talk to you later then.” She said as she got into the car and waved.

    Once again the group had spent most of the day apart. Nick once again went to Chloe’s house to pass some time and after a while of doing nothing Nick had to leave, Chloe walked him out and when they walked out the front Nick looked at Chloe and told her that she could tell Lana if she wanted to about his secret. After this he parted and Chloe walked back inside.

    “Hey Lana lets go to my room,” Chloe said as she walked to her bedroom door.
    Lana stood up and followed wondering why Chloe’s mood changed from normal to excited in such little time.

    “Yeah what?” Lana asked as she walked into the room and Chloe had closed the door
    “Nick told me that I could tell you who he liked” Chloe replied with a wide grin
    “Oh, ok, so who is it then?” Lana asked
    “Do you know yet?” Chloe asked
    “No, why, should I?”
    “Well what do you know about her?”
    “Your not going to play this game too are you?” Lana was slightly annoyed and wondered why it was such a big deal
    “Just answer my question”
    “Well I went to school with her and she was in my class and I knew her very well and I still speak to her, why?”
    “What and you can’t guess who it is?” Chloe looked dumbfounded
    “No, look I don’t really care anymore ok” Lana was now angry
    “It’s you, you dumbass” Chloe said then laughed, “Seriously, who did you go to school with that you still know and that you,” Chloe emphasized the word ‘you’, “Know more than anyone else?”
    “It’s me, are you serious?” Lana sat there in silence after this, deep in thought,
    “Yeah,” Chloe laughed again “It’s you.”

    “Lana, where are you going?” Chloe yelled at her friend as Lana rushed through the house and out the front,
    “I need to think ok” Lana yelled back as she walked to the beach.

    As she arrived the sun was about to set and she sat down and thought about this new revelation,
    Why me, she thought to her self, I’m nothing important; she looked at the back of her hands then at the ocean.
    She sat there deep in thought as the sun started to set.
    She watched as a guy and two kids played in the sand, she recognized Nick and moved so she could watch him without him seeing her.
    Oh ******** you Nick, she thought, Why me? She asked him silently, Why me?

    Nick sat down on the beach as the two kids he was playing with, the two youngest kids of Nicks mum’s friend, played in the water. He thought about how Lana was taking the news unknowing of the girl sitting no more that ten meters behind him, He hoped that she shared the same feeling but knew she wouldn’t, why would she? He thought about him self then back towards Lana.

    They both watched the sun set and thought about each other, both very alone but both very together.

    They sat around the bonfire out the back of Carson’s house as the party was in full flight.
    “Um Nick, can we talk?” Lana asked Nick after spending most of the day ignoring him,
    “Ahh sure,” Nick stood up and followed Lana out the front where they sat down on a patch of grass, “What’s up?” Nick asked
    “Well Chloe told me and well,” Lana stopped and tried to find the right words,
    “You just want to be friends right?” Nick basically finished her sentence before she had a chance to gather her thoughts
    “Ahh yeah, is that ok?” She asked “It’s not like your a bad guy but you know, um”
    “I’m not your type, you don’t want to ruin the friendship don’t worry, its ok, I’m fine with it ok,” Nick tried to ease the tension,
    “Oh thank god,” She smiled, “You are a great friend Nick” She said as she hugged him.
    Nick stood up and walked off into the dark.
    “Nick, please” Lana whispered to her self as he walked away.

    “Chloe where is Nick and Lana?” Carson asked
    “Well I told Lana about how Nick felt yesterday, so Lana had to go tell him how she felt,” Chloe said worried about the way Carson now looked uneasy,
    “Please no, how long ago did they leave?” Carson was worried and it showed
    “About ten minutes ago, why? What’s wrong?” Chloe asked,
    “Well Nicks uncle died today from a collapsed lung,” Carson started towards the front,
    “Which uncle?” Chloe now knew why he was worried and started to follow,
    “Ted,” Carson said as they walked out the front towards where Lana was standing,
    “Lana, where is Nick?” Chloe asked
    “He went off that way, why?” Lana said with mascara lines on her face from where she had a few tears,
    “Ted died today” Carson replied,
    “s**t,” Lana started to cry heavily now,
    “What’s wrong with you?” Carson’s mum said as she walked up to Lana as Carson and Chloe ran off, “Where are they going?”
    “Well I feel like a real b***h now,” Lana said through sobs,
    “Why?” Carson’s mum asked.
    Lana explained it all to Carson’s mum and then Lana took off to go find the others.

    As they caught up with Nick they sat down on the dock next to him,
    “You ok Nick?” Chloe asked as she handed Nick a smoke,
    “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be, Lana spends most of the night ignoring me and bragging about sleeping with that dickhead and when she finally talks to me she basically tells me I’m worth nothing,” Nick lit the smoke up and laid back to look up at the stars.
    “Why do you think she thinks your worthless?” Chloe asked
    “Well she says she didn’t want to ruin the friendship,” Nick replied then took a drag,
    “Yeah, that means you’re a friend Nick not worthless, Friends are priceless” Carson said
    “So what, aren’t you her friend?” Nick snapped
    “Well, I uh, you do have a point” Chloe said after a while,
    “I’m sorry Nick,” Lana said as she walked up to them,
    Carson and Chloe stood up and walked off to give the two some time to talk,
    “Go away please, I really am fine ok, it’s not your fault you don’t like me, it truly is ok. I just need some time to think ok” Nick said as Lana walked off.
    And that was the last time any of them spoke.