OPEN THE CASEFILE ...

[Charlotte Duncan]

((Okay, for the record, I apologize profusely about my tardy Jay posts. But in my defense, I've been staring at my computer screen for weeks trying to write that stupid thing... so, in lieu of writing much needed posts, I came up with this as a meager offering of forgiveness. Do with it what you will. Meh.))

Sunday was more or less a time of long-practiced rituals. Wake up. Fix breakfast. Dress for church. Attend church. Do not fall asleep in church. Return home for a early afternoon lunch. Spend the rest of the day in peaceful rest and comfort. Colonel Duncan would retire to the den in his favorite sling-back chair with some Ted Dekker work that he had likely read at least three times over. Janna and Di rarely went out on Sundays, preferring instead to sit in their own rooms and make ominous giggling noises behind closed doors. Charlie had been invited to join once, and since then she had sworn never to make such a mistake again. Bethany could be found underneath her bed, reading comic books and eating bite-sized Snickers bars by flashlight. And Charlie’s where she is nearly always found- in the kitchen.

Instead of cooking, however, Charlie reserves Sunday for a time to catch up on her homework ignored on Friday afternoon and Saturday. She sat at the bar with an open text book on her right and a sheaf of papers on her left. Every once in a while she’d glance up at one or the other, then jot down notes in her notebook. The radio hung above the stove was tuned to her favorite jazz station and the wind chimes sang softly on the breeze from the open window. Everything was calm and comforting.

“Chaaaaaaaaaarlie.”

In her head, Charlie breathed a soft sigh. She didn’t even look up from her work to answer patiently. “Yes, Di?”

The brunette waltzed into the kitchen, sank into the chair next to her, and slumped atop the open text book. “I’m so bored.”

Charlie flipped the page of her notebook and continued writing. “I’m sorry to hear that, Di.”

“Michael’s watching some game with the guys, Dennis is in Detroit with his folks, and Melanie, Samantha and Alice are all busy.”

Charlie gently nudged her sister’s arm out of the way to read her text book. “How grievous it must be for you.”

Dramatic sigh. “Oh, you have no idea!”

“Can't imagine I'd want to.”

Dion paused in her dramatizing to scowl at her sister. “Your sarcastic sympathy is so comforting, Charlotte.”

“I aim to please.”

“Ugh!” Dion grumbled, shoving away from the bar. She grabbed a blueberry muffin off of the plate on the counter- remnants from breakfast that morning- and began to pace back and forth in front of the stove. “I’m so sick of being in the house. It’s an absolutely beautiful day outside and we should be out enjoying it.”

Charlie continued taking notes. “You have a pair of well-shaven legs and a driver’s license, so I fail to see what’s stopping you.”

Dion rolled her eyes as if the answer to that were obvious. “I’m not about to enjoy this day alone. I’m a social butterfly, not a social lone wolf like you.” She didn’t really mean it as an insult. It was true, more or less.

With a frustrated sigh, Charlie finally looked up to look levelly at her sister. “To use your metaphor, I’m not a lone wolf, I’m a leopard. Wolves aren’t loners by choice, they’re forced out of their packs by everyone else. Leopards choose to lead solitary lives. And are you going to get to your point of why you’re bothering me with this or not?”

Dion was checking her reflection in the oven window. “Excuse me if I don’t worship the Discovery Channel. And I want to go to the beach. You know, as a family. We haven’t done anything as a family in a long time.”

Charlie’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And the reason why this is not being told to Daddy or Janna is?”

“No need to be so paranoid, Charlie. I already told Bethh and she’s going to invite her two little girlfriends to come along. So, I thought you might want to invite Carmen and any other of your friends. If you have any others.”

So, the truth comes out at last, Charlie thought, leaning back into her seat and folding her arms over her chest. “Di, if you want to play mind games with someone, you might want to practice with an amateur before you try me.”

Dion scoffed. “Do you ever speak like a normal person?”

“You just want me to invite Richard to come along.”

Di’s surprise couldn’t be faker. “Richard? You mean your old friend from freshman year? I thought he was in Russia or something. I didn’t know he was in town.”

“His car was in the driveway when you came home from work, last week, and I heard you on the phone talking to Melanie about him that night.”

“That’s beside the point,” Dion protested. “If Richard’s around, then that’s even more of a reason to go to the beach than ever! We need to have a welcome home party! It’d be rude not to have one, you know.”

“I am not inviting my best friend to suffer horrible and excruciating torture by your hands.”

“Dramatic much? Come on, I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself and play nice with all the other kids in the sandbox. All it takes is a phone call. And besides, wouldn’t he want to spend more time with his best friends?”

To Dion’s ultimate surprise, Charlie actually stared at her in heavy contemplation, reaching up to tug at her bottom lip. She thought for sure she’d be getting another automatic dismissal. Her younger sister was like a mother lioness over her two friends, and any former attempt at getting to know the handsome young man was always met with hissing and spitting and raking claws. Dion had long suspected it had something to do with deeply seeded feelings for the guy, but with Charlie you couldn’t ever really tell.

Finally, after what felt like a short eternity, Charlie released her lip and sighed. Dion felt a small spark of hope. “Alright, I’ll ask them if they want to come. But on one condition.”

An ultimatum. Figures. “What is it?”

This time, Charlie actually glared at her sister. “If Richard shows interest in you, I’ll be happy for you both. He’s my best friend and a great guy. But if he doesn’t, you have to promise to stop pestering him and me. That’s my one condition.”

Dion shrugged. “Fair enough. I can’t keep holding myself out for him forever, anyway.”

Charlie cracked a smile smile. “Yeah, because Michael and Dennis are prime examples of ‘holding out’, right?”

“Funny. Really,” Dion said dryly. “You call up your friends and I’ll go tell Daddy and Janna.” She promptly spun around and started walking through the hallway towards the den, heels clicking against the tile.

In her wake, Charlie sighed. “If Richard makes it through this, it’ll truly be the biggest favor I could give him,” she told herself. But somehow, she doubted he would see it the same way. Groaning softly, she pushed away from the bar and reached for the phone on the wall. She’d call Carmen first, explain the situation, and get her take on things. She’d probably want to invite Walter and Kyle, as well. And that other friend of hers, Jameson, the one who flew back with Richard. Then she’d call Richard. Maybe he wouldn’t even want to come, after learning that Dion was going to be coming along.

Charlie certainly couldn’t guess. So, she picked up the phone and started calling friends.

[Carmen Riley]

Carmen was surprised to get the call from Charlie but delighted as well to hear from her friend. At first, she almost declined but with some persuasion from Charlie, she finally gave in. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with Charlie or her sister (although she didn’t quite like Dion much especially when she started fussing over Carmen’s hair). She just wasn’t sure whether she was ready to go back to a place full of painful memories.

A trip to the beach did sound like the perfect plan. The sun was out shining bright and there were no clouds in sight. The water would be just right, not too cold and not too warm. Most likely, the beach would be packed with other people but that had never bothered her before. The beach was the perfect place to run around as crazy as she wanted and not get yelled at for it. Her mom would take Carmen and her friends to the beach every Friday, bringing along Richard’s mom for company. They would stay there the whole day, having fun and getting into trouble. Or at least, Carmen getting into trouble and Richard and Jameson trying to get her out of it. More than often, her own mom had to intervene.

Sometimes, she got into too much trouble and would be grounded to the beach blanket for the rest of the day. Naturally, Richard and Jameson would stay nearby instead of going off to play on their own. Carmen appreciated that of her friends. She knew she could count on them. And they would find other things to do and usually, her mother would let her go and play if she felt that Carmen had suffered enough. She could leap for joy, give her mom a kiss and run off again with her arms flailing madly in the air. Richard would groan and complain about not having enough energy to go chase after her again. Jameson would cover his face with his hands and pray that Walter would never be as insane as his sister. Nevertheless, as much as they complained, they would get up and follow the rambunctious blonde if only to keep her from getting into trouble again. Richard’s mother and her mother would stay on the blanket, chatting about things while Walter stayed with them, occupying himself with the construction of, that he believed, the biggest sandcastle in the world.

She could remember her and Richard’s mom would joke and say that the reason her mom would bring her to the beach so many times was to help get all of Carmen’s energy out. It seemed to work. By the time they would get home, she was all worn out and would fall asleep instantly. Unfortunately, so were Richard and Jameson. However, the two boys were always rewarded in the morning when Carmen’s mom made them blueberry pancakes for breakfast with hot syrup and whip cream and were allowed to play video games all morning until Carmen woke up in the afternoon. Some mornings, if Carmen was taking an especially long time to get up and the boys were bored, they would go into the bedroom she shared with little Walter and try to wake her up. This would, of course, make her crabby and she would start yelling and throwing things at them. They would regret it but then remind themselves that at least they weren’t bored anymore.

Such was their life. Carefree and simple. Now, she only wished her life was half as good as it used to be.

After her mom left, Carmen couldn’t bring herself to even think about going to the beach. It would seem empty and lonely without her there. Without her smiling face and gentle laugh. What kind of fun could she have with the memory of her missing mother stuck in the back of her head. But Charlie wouldn’t have understood. How could she? As far as she knew, her mother was still around. Carmen felt guilty about not telling one of her best friends about what was going on but what exactly could she say? What if Charlie told her sister or worse, her father? She was sure she would be fine in the foster system but Walter? What if they got separated? No, she couldn’t tell Charlie. She could handle this on her own. And after all, she had Kyle to help.

Kyle was actually excited to go to the beach when she told him about it. He thought it was a good idea and made plenty of interesting suggestions for them but when she next told him that everyone else was going, his excitement quickly disappeared. It was only after several kisses later that he was persuaded into going. Carmen was sure that Richard would go too as well as Jameson. She just hoped they didn’t ask any questions when her mother didn’t show up. The day before had been awkward enough. It had taken all of her self-control to not break down and tell them the truth. Maybe they would let it go and just believe that she was fine and that everything was okay. They hadn’t look too convinced when they left last night.

Carmen sighed as she walked down the beach boulevard, adjusting the small bag on her shoulder. She looked at Walter who was by her side, holding her hand and smiled. There was really no need for them to worry. She had control of it. And she was a big girl now. A queen had to be able to handle herself every now and then. She couldn’t depend on her knights for everything, no matter how much she wanted.

The wind suddenly picked up and a blast of warm air came down the sandy path, blowing right past her and Walter. Her hair wrapped around her face and she heard Walter groan as the wind picked up sand and thrust it into their faces. She immediately could taste it in her mouth. ”Ew! I’m going to be crunching on sand for an hour now!” Carmen complained as she tried spitting out the sand.

She reached up and pulled her hair away from her face and looked to the beach for any sign of Charlie. The beach was packed, as usual and there were hundreds of umbrellas out of all different sizes and colors and patterns. Carmen put her hands on her hips and pouted as she glared at them all. How was she supposed to know which one was Charlie’s? She hadn’t told her exactly where she was going to be. Just said that she would be near the BBQ pit near Pier 7.

Well, there was the pier and there was the BBQ pit … and there was about 50 different umbrellas around it and there was no sign of Charlie.

Carmen looked over at Walter. ”Do you see them because I sure don’t. I left my cell at home and I don’t want to walk all the way back home to call her again.” She sighed and shuffled her feet on the sidewalk, trying to think of a way to find her friend. Did she dare just yell out her name? But what if there were other Charlie’s? She could yell ‘Charlotte’ but then she might as well run back home because Charlie would be mad and probably throw something at her.

The shoulder strap of her bag was beginning to slide so she adjusted it higher on her shoulder. She jumped over the stone divider between the sidewalk and the beach. Her feet sank into the warm sand and she squealed with childish delight as it filled in between her toes. Next, she laughed. She had forgotten how good it felt.

”C’mon, Walty.” Carmen waved her hand to her brother, using her pet name for him despite knowing the fact that he hated it. ”Let’s just go find her. She should be easy enough to find.” Carmen waited for her brother to join her, than took his hand into hers and walked toward the BBQ pit.

[Richard Fawkes]

Richard rifled through the chips aisle in the gas station, angrily mumbling to himself. He grabbed a bag of Doritos, looked the bag over and then shoved it back into its place. Next, he grabbed a bag of pretzels and did the same thing. He grabbed five more bags of chips before he heard the store manager clear his throat. Richard mumbled some more and finally just picked up a big bag of salt and vinegar chips. He knew Carmen liked them best.

The curly-haired brunette briefly wondered if Kyle knew that.

”3.67 is your total, kid.” The store manager said as he finished ringing him up. Richard refrained from tossing the money at the guy and instead laid a five on the counter.

”Keep the change.” He grabbed his chips and bolted out the door where his car was waiting. James was sitting in the front seat, talking on his phone to someone. Probably his grandmother. Richard made a mental note to call his own mother again in an hour, just to keep her updated. She wasn’t very happy with him and for good reason. He still hadn’t explained why he was back in Los Angeles, just told her that it had been an emergency. She had allowed to slide but demanded that he tell her sooner rather than later.

He leaned against the side of his car and waited as the gas filled his tank. ”Hey, James. Is there a lighter in the glove box?” Richard doubted there would be but James might have one on him by some chance. Neither of them smoked but there were times that Richard felt like it. He had smoked for awhile after James had left four years ago but had stopped once he left himself. He was just glad that Carmen had never taken up the habit. Then, he would have been pissed. Boyfriends could be taken care of. They could bullied away or bribed or even – dare he think it – forced away. Smoking was a different thing altogether.

The handle gave a click and the pump shut off. Richard pulled it out and set it back in its hold. Screwing his gas cap on, he snapped it shut and got into the car. James was saying something but he was only half-listening, his mind too busy on thinking about ways to get rid of Kyle. He didn’t touch the seatbelt out of habit and instead, turned the ignition and brought the car back to life. The radio blasted back on and immediately drowned out whatever James was saying.

It took them only ten minutes to find a parking space at the beach, despite the fact that it was a Saturday and there were hundreds upon hundreds of people there. After making sure he had all the windows rolled up, he got out and popped open the back hatch with a sigh. It had been a couple years since he had driven the car. He had forgotten about the beach trip he, Carmen and Charlie had taken right before he left. There was the blanket they used and there was the box of s’mores supplies. He chuckled and grabbed the snorkel gear Carmen had used. It was dry and brittle from being in the hot car for so long. The chocolate was melted and the blanket was faded. It was actually kind of depressing. He wasn’t ready for things to change. Couldn’t things stay they had been? Richard tossed the snorkel back into the hatch and shut it with a slam. He grabbed the bag of chips and started to head down to the beach.

”I don’t like him,” Richard suddenly blurted out. He ran his free hand through his curly hair. ”I don’t remember him from the school. He must have transferred here after I left. Charlie doesn’t know much about him either.” Richard narrowed his eyes and started to mumble again.

But then he suddenly stopped and looked around the beach, confused. He hadn’t actually looked where he was going. Just started walking. He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around the beach. ”Uh. You don’t happen to see them, do you?”

[Charlotte Duncan]

Despite the ulterior motives behind the family outing, none could deny that it was a beautiful day to hit the beach. It was balmy with just enough of a sea breeze to make the weather comfortable, and the LA residents were taking full advantage of it. The bronzened sand was barely visible beneath the jungle of towels, beach umbrellas and bodies. Children were either in the water or in the sand, shrieking their delight through their play. Adults were calmly reclined against their beach chairs, watching either the children or each other. As swimwear became more and more an object of attracting attention rather than repelling water, going to the beach became more of a spectator sport than anything else- you either came to watch or be watched.

Dion was a rather easy person to categorize.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in the water," she said as she made her way toward the water, aiming for a group of surfboard-toting men.

The three remaining Duncans glared at her back, standing behind a mound of towels, lawn chairs and beach toys that had been unloaded from the back of Charlie's truck.

"Thanks for all the help, Di!" Janna called out irritably.

Beth sighed and started pulling out the towels. "It's not as if we expected her to help set up, anyway."

This they knew was true. If nothing else, Dion was most clever about getting out of doing most any form of work pinned on her. The older girls exchanged glances and shrugged while they began to help their sister sort out their belongings. Between the three of them, they managed to lay out all four towels and organize chairs and beach bags accordingly. In Bethany's bag were her sand toys and X-men figurines. She was determined to make a replica of Professor Xavier's Acadamy from wet sand and plastic utensils. Waving at her sisters, she took off to find a suitable excavation point to start her grand masterpiece.

Charlie and Janna were planning on spending most of their time out of the water. One had a half day's worth of tanning to do while the other had a date with Emily Bronte.

"Hey Charlie, can you help me with my back?" Janna held out a bottle of sunscreen. She was wearing a semi-modest bikini that had a tied-on backing which she didn't bother to string. Charlie obliged, squirting a generous glob of white gel onto her shoulders while Janna held the front of her bathing suit up. The lotion was cold and sticky, but it was smoothed out until in vanished against her skin.

"Thanks." Janna situated herself on her towel, shoving her chair out of the way, and laid belly-down with her bare and greasy back offered up to the sun. She'd likely fall asleep like that for a few hours, until it was time to tie her top back on and flip over.

So, essentially Charlie had the spot to herself.

She eased out of her jean shorts but opted for leaving on her large grey Harvard t-shirt. Unlike her older sisters, she was just as happy keeping herself mostly clothed. The lawn chair was unfolded, the weathered book was retrieved, and Charlie was ready for a comfortable and relaxing afternoon.

((Baaaah... it's so short!))

[Kyle Reese]

”This is my Jamie.”

Kyle growled as he turned a corner, the tires on his bike letting out a screech as he made the tight turn. His grip on the handles grew tense as he remembered yesterday’s events. He pushed hard on the gas and the motorcycle revved up, speeding him down the empty road toward the beach.

Carmen’s words were still fresh in his mind. It irritated him that she was so close to him. She was supposed to be his. Only his. He wasn’t going to share her with some stupid blonde that just decided to show up out of nowhere. What did that blonde have that he didn’t? Nothing, Kyle was sure. From what he understood, this Jamie had been something akin to a babysitter some years ago, him and Richard. Carmen had been a handful, apparently and required not only the careful eye of her mother but also the careful eye of two young boys.

Kyle couldn’t easily see Carmen being very rowdy. In the past two years that he had known her, she was very calm and passive. There were moments where she was playful and energetic but nothing too extreme. He had heard stories from Charlie about a certain number of Carmen’s ‘exploits’ when she was younger and had thought them to be exaggerated. His Carmen wasn’t the type to get into that much trouble. She had her strange but cute quirks and sometimes did some very odd things that got him to raise an eyebrow but that was just Carmen. Still, it got him to wonder what sort of girl she had been before her mother left.

It was a thought that had begun to plague him ever since the little homecoming event yesterday. Carmen had been a bit different. She smiled more. She laughed more. What was worse, she loved more. He had forgotten how many times she had physically touched Richard and Jamie, losing count somewhere along thirty. She was absolutely adamant against having them leave, much to his displeasure. At least he had found some comfort with Charlie. She seemed to be a little at odds with the situation as well. Richard she knew but Jamie was someone new to her.

Kyle decided then that he didn’t like new people. They messed things up and made things even more confusing. The two boys (he refused to acknowledge them as men out of pure spite) had said they had returned because of a letter they said Carmen had sent them but Carmen didn’t even have any knowledge about the said letter. They probably figured she was lying so they had dropped the subject and went on into their stupid friendly chat about the ‘good old days’. But Kyle knew better, he was proud to say. Carmen wasn’t the best liar. In fact, she was probably one of the worst liars Kyle ever met. Her head would do this left-tilt thing and her cheeks would get this slight tinge of red to them. It was adorable really, as if she thought she could get away with lying with a straight face.

He hoped she never got conned into playing poker because she would lose. Horribly.

There was a weight suspicion in Kyle’s mind that weighed heavily in Walter’s direction. Exactly why he would send a letter under Carmen’s name and not his own, he wasn’t sure. He would have to ask the kid later about it. Kyle wasn’t happy about the whole situation. He didn’t need the help of two arrogant idiots to make sure Carmen was safe. They had done just fine without them for two years. It only made things more complicated. Thus far, they hadn’t bothered with many questions but it was only a matter of time before they started pestering Carmen for more details.

He turned left off the back road and merged back to the major street. The familiar hum of people chattering soon reached his ears as he neared the main strip by the beach. He slowed his bike as he came up to a traffic stop. A bunch of scandalously clad girls stepped of the sidewalk onto the crosswalk, all giggling and whispering among themselves. Kyle raised an eyebrow at them, taking a second to look them over as they passed by. All of them were blonde with bronze-like skin. He seriously doubted any of it was natural. None of them bothered with pants or shorts or even a shirt to cover up their revealing and fashionable bikinis. He would admit that they had the bodies to fill them out but was there anything beyond that? Or was there main life goal to get some hot guy to shack up with?

They reminded him of the girls he used to date back home. The girls that backstabbed and lied and fucked their way to the top. He had heard a woman on the radio a long time ago say that if women ruled the world, there would be no wars. Honestly speaking, there would probably be more wars. Females were ruthlessly emotional creatures. They were their worst enemy.

Kyle sighed and shook his head as they made their way through the heavy crowd. The beach wasn’t exactly his favorite place to go. He wasn’t very comfortable with that many people around. But Carmen had insisted, saying she hadn’t gone for years and that it would be a great place to take her friends. He agreed, of course. How could he say no to her?

He slid into a small parking spot between a green Jeep and a silver Volvo and turned the bike off. The bike immediately started to lean and he kicked the stand out to steady it. He swung his leg back and stood up, taking his helmet off and resting it on the seat. The smell of the ocean hit him and it made him homesick. He briefly wondered what his mother was doing, if she was well or if she was even alive. It had been years since he had heard from her or seen her. He never bothered to think about the woman but sometimes, certain things triggered his mind into memory.

A sigh escaped him. He ran his hands through his hair and scratched the back of his neck. Well, he didn’t have to worry about his mom. She wasn’t part of his life and hadn’t been for quite some time. Neither was his dad, although part of that had been his fault. Carmen was his life now. She was his family. And yah, the runt too. Kyle grinned and that grin turned into a chuckle. Guess he had made his own family.

Time to find them.

He grabbed the bag off the back of his bike and swung it over his shoulder. After making sure his bike was secured, he stepped off the strip and onto the beach. He cringed instantly. The heat of the sand was leaking through his shoes and socks and to his feet. He didn’t like that. What he did like was the way his feet sunk into the sand. That was kind of fun. He walked a ways in, thankful that his feet weren’t in the sand. The sun felt good on him and he was grateful that he had chosen a light white shirt and light blue jeans instead of his usual darker colors. He’d probably shed them later for a swim. The water did look inviting. The closer he got, the more inviting it seemed. But family first, fun second.

It was easy enough to find Charlie and her gang of sisters, or what was left of them. He raised his eyebrow at the whole set-up they had made. They seemed to be veterans of beach life. ”Hey.” Kyle nodded his head to Charlie. He set the big bag down on the sand and shuffled his hands in his pockets. ”You always have a book with you wherever you go?” He tilted his head to get a better look at the front. ”Interesting choice. Figured you would bring a cookbook to read.” Kyle said casually, turning his head back around to scan the crowds for Carmen.

[Jameson Walker]

Jay felt only the slightest bit guilty. Richard was clearly agitated by this unexpected turn of events (i.e. Kyle) and, in true Richardian fashion, had issues with keeping a strong face. His eyes were unfocused, his brows scrunched, his fingers constantly twitching, lips murmuring to himself the downfalls of another guy being involved in Carmen’s life. Because according to him, there were indeed many.

Jay felt guilt for not listening to his friend’s concerns.

But he felt only slight guilt because it was obvious Richard wasn’t waiting for a response.

Besides, Jay’s mind was busy with its own cogitations. He kept replaying the events of the day before… and wincing. It was quite an understatement to say that he could have handled himself better back at Carmen’s house. Sergeant Worthington would have been appalled at his lack of control. Carmen could very well despise him every bit at much as the boy did.

Jay was sitting shotgun in Richard’s car, leaning his head against the window. “Afterall, we’re only knights, right?” he murmured, watching the road. “Knights don’t get to tell the queen what to do.”

He couldn’t tell whether Richard heard him or not. Even if he had, it was doubtful he would respond. So Jay sat silently, planning his next reunion with Carmen… and the boyfriend… and imagining every way in which he could try to redeem himself.

Maybe it was because he had Carmen and Kyle on his mind. Maybe it was because he was still worried about the letter Walter had sent to him and Richard. Or maybe it’s because Carmen just involuntarily stands out no matter the crowd she’s in. But as they were cruising along the beach side looking for a parking space, Jay suddenly saw a familiar blonde head rush by, standing on the sidewalk. Startled, he lifted his head off the window and turned over his shoulder to follow the girl and the boy standing beside her as they passed.

“Hey, Richard, turn around! Carmen and Walter are back there!”

[Charlotte Duncan]

Charlie heard the sounds of a person settling down on the sand next to her and slid her glance to the side. Kyle. Her eyes tightened infinitesimally before returning to the pages of her book.

“You’d be surprised at the amount of material I read that does not include three tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt,” she said coolly. Despite her best efforts to maintain indifference, there was still a venomous undertone seeping through her words. Her eyes could no longer focus on the text on the pages- they had hardened with restrained fury. She made sure her face was completely averted, staring at her book with seemingly not a care that the guy that took a gun on his date with her best friend was sitting next to her. She forced her body to relax despite her tension and calmly flipped the page of her book.

Around them, beach life surged. Mothers were slathering their children with sunscreen, ignoring their complaints. The sun was rising high in the sky and people were fighting its rays with umbrellas, sunglasses and juice pouches. Off to one side, a group of teenagers were starting up a volleyball game. Some of them Charlie recognized from their school- mostly cheerleaders and assorted sports jocks.

Near the dock, Dion was standing in the center of a circle of guys. Her laughter was like a siren’s call, bidding surfers and life guards and all manner of shirt-less men to her side. Bethany was closer to the water where the perfect molding sand was found. She already had assembled a knee-high pile of wet sand the size of a plastic kiddie pool and was currently in the process of molding the outer walls of the Xavier Academy. Jannette, laying on her stomach on Charlie’s other side, was snoring lightly.

Charlie turned another page of her book as she worked up to the question that had been burning within her since yesterday.

“So,” she began calmly, without looking up. “Were you expecting some sort of trouble at the movie theater, yesterday? Or do you always go out in public with a pistol in your pants?”

[Alexandria Crown]

Clothes make the man.

Accessories make the woman.

Surely, there was nothing truer. If a woman didn’t correctly accessorize herself, she was doomed for fashion failure and snide mockery. A simple necklace, a flashy belt and some dandy earrings could turn a drab outfit into a piece fit for the runway. Every woman knows that going without jewelry is like going without a bra. It was wrong and awfully tacky.

One did have to be careful about over-accessorizing as well. A good friend will tell another friend when too much is just too much.

Lipstick, on the other hand, was a different story. One could never have enough lipstick or lip gloss and there was never such a thing as too much. The more that was on, the better the chance of landing a catch and by catch –

Alexandria lowered the sunglasses she was trying on to have a better look out the store window as her eyes caught just a glimpse of a rather attractive piece of flesh as it walked by the store. Had she spied a familiar face? Hmm. She wasn’t quite sure. The brown hair had sparked up a memory a particular boy but it had been such a long time since she had seen that one.

And there were so many boys roaming around the city she knew of that it was hard to keep track of them all. Most of them looked the same too. What was it with boys and men these days? Hardly any originality with them. With a lazy sigh, she pushed the sunglasses up her nose and fixed herself back in front of the mirror. She put her cherry-red colored lips together and blew out a kiss to her smiling reflection.

The lipstick was, of course, top of the line and it looked dazzling on her, if she did say so herself. There were going to be no strikeouts today for a one Alexandria Grace Crown. She took off the sunglasses and set them back on the rack. Her other pair had gotten boring and if there was one thing Alexandria was positive not to be … it was boring. So here she was on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon, at the beach shopping for a pair of sunglasses.

As well as shopping for her next date.

The tall brawny boy behind the counter might have a chance if he stopped chewing that horrid apple-scented gum of his like a camel. Alex narrowed her eyes very thinly and eyed the cashier with a look of disgust. He was at least ten feet away but she could still smell that horrid gum of his. The whole store reeked of it now she that thought about it. She just couldn’t concentrate with that smell. It probably was tainting the sunglasses too. Without another thought or look around, Alex lifted her chin and waltzed out of the store. It was really too bad. That cashier had been rather cute.

If only he had chosen a different flavor of gum. She wouldn’t be able to stand the taste of stale gummy apple in her mouth.

As she stepped outside, she almost regretted her decision for the bright sun was relentless. She raised her hand up to shield her eyes and took a glance around the beachfront. There were other stores she could go to and shop around but none of them had the quality she was looking for. The nearest store more to her taste was at least twenty minutes away inland. It would be a good idea to go and buy a new pair before she squinted her way into a wrinkle but it would be a more horrible idea to leave the beach without some sort of souvenir.

But who to pick?

Alexandria licked her top lip like a tiger would as it watches its prey. She ran a finger across her jaw line and went about searching for her unsuspecting victim. If she wasn’t too careful, she’d end up with a no-good man with no-good talents and by talents –

Suddenly, she saw a head turn and instantly smiled. Ahh, a familiar face. And just any familiar face but a familiar face worth pursuing. At least, for a little while.

The brunette didn’t bother to look both ways before making her way across the street. She had the right of way. And the right sway to match. She did manage to get an excited honk from somebody as she walked on and few whistles too. It was pointless to hide her wolfish smirk. She even dared to turn her head and smile coyly at her admirers, which earned her a few more whistles and even a few requests for a phone number. Alex just let her hips do the talking.

Sorry boys. Not this time.

The breeze from the ocean felt good against her bare skin, just the right kind of cold for such a hot day. And there were plenty of others who felt that way too. The beach was plagued by the simple folk with all of their multi-colored umbrellas and horribly fitted bikinis. Alex kept her eyes away from most of the fashion disasters but it was hard to miss some of them.

There were just some outfits that certain people should not have been allowed to wear.

Her own outfit was stylish and well-thought out and perfectly accessorized. The white blouse was designer and fitted her small sculpted body so perfectly, it was almost like it was made especially for her. It was loose and thin, wonderful to wear on such a hot day. The shorts were short and tight, frayed at the ends and complimenting those touchable hips more-so than her last pair. To top it off, she had a new flashy belt, dangly earrings and a necklace that spelled out sexy.

She was lusciously ready for the taking.

And to take.

Speaking of which, she had lost sight of her prey. Alex stopped by a very large pink and brown beach umbrella, hands on her hips. Where had that boy gotten to? Had she just been seeing things? As the young vixen kept her eyes scanning the crowd, she heard an unfamiliar but totally male voice call out:

”Hey, Richard, turn around! Carmen and Walter are back there!”

Alexandria turned her head to glance over her shoulder to the source of said male voice and was pleasantly surprised to not only find her original prey but also a future one as well. Again with the wolf smile, she did a 180 degree turn and sauntered through the crowds of color-clashing umbrellas to her destination:

Richard Fawkes, ex-boyfriend.

And how fine did he look standing there. Alex wasn’t one to have favorites but Richard was probably one of the guys that she particularly liked. Ironically, the two had hardly been a solid couple but the before and after bit had been fun. And he was so delightfully easy to play with. The boy was all talk and all blush when it came to physical contact. Part of the reason they had broken up was because she was too pushy and he was too worried about how another little girl would feel if he got into a too-serious relationship.

It was the name that had tipped her off. There weren’t many Carmen’s hanging around Los Angeles and even fewer of them had a certain Richard wrapped around their finger. The child, as Alex saw her, was nothing more than a spoiled girl who was accustomed to having things going her way and when they didn’t, hell broke loose. There was hardly a time that Alex saw Richard without the mud-covered brat. His loyalty was one of the things that attracted her to him. He seemed to so effortlessly put others before himself. Such a selfless knight.

And so handsome.

Not to mention, Carmen-less.

“Ri-ichard!” Alex called out to him, hoping that he could hear her above all the usual beach noise. Although it didn’t matter much since she was closing down on them in record time. Before he could make any sort of reply or worse make a run for it, she had pounced on him. “Richard!” She leaned up on her tippy toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her body into him as much as she could. “Quelle vue pour les yeux douloureux,” Alex cooed, making sure to bat those eyes of hers.

Then, without missing a beat, she turned her eyes to the stunningly handsome creature next to him. Tall, blonde and lusciously ready for the taking. “Ooh la-la,” she purred as she unlocked her arms from Richard and swayed herself right into this stranger’s arms. Before she could help herself, not that she would have stopped anyway, she wrapped her fingers around his shirt collar and pulled him down for a he-llo-kiss. Then, just a split-second before his mind could register what his lips were doing, she pulled back, cool as a cucumber. “My name’s Alexandria but you, tall and gorgeous, can call me Alex.”

[Jameson Walker]

”Ri-chard!”



Jay had heard his friend’s name being called, but to be honest, he didn’t really pay much attention to it. He had spotted Carmen’s blonde head bobbing among the dozens of other hair shades, and he was struggling to keep it in his sights. Afterall, this was California, for Pete’s sake. Blondes were about as frequent an occurrence as beaches. Truth be told, the two phenomena might even have something to do with each other…



Point was, Carmen was walking away from them.



Besides, Richard had graduated two years after him. It wasn’t too farfetched an idea to think that his friend was more easily recognized than he was. Both of them were popular enough while in high school. And it had only been two years since he had left, too. It was a general assumption that it was an old friend calling for Richard’s attention. At any rate, Jay’s focus was on Carmen, and what he was going to do and/or say when he reached her.



An apology was an obvious first move. Kyle’s attitude had been unexpected and, he felt, wholly undeserved, but then again, his own response wasn’t much better. He had lost his temper far worse than that before, but it still was something that could have been prevented had he been thinking straight. So yes, apologies and requests of forgiveness were first on the list. That being said, he owed Kyle an apology, too. Not that that excused the fact that he had stashed a gun behind his back, nor the part about him pointing said weapon at his best friend, not to mention how-



No, no, now wasn’t the time to be getting upset all over again. Not after how long it had taken to calm himself down yesterday…



No, he’d find Carmen, apologize, then find Kyle and-



-and…



…and the next thing he knew, there was a finger hooked around his collar and his lips were pressed up against someone else’s.



Wha-…



Before he had enough time to form a coherent thought, the lips moved away far enough for Jay to make out a face for them to belong to. An altogether nice-looking face, truth be told- beautiful, even- that was smiling coyly at him. But Jay could manage little more than a slack-jawed stare in return. His eyes took in her features at a glance- brown hair, flashing brown eyes, a small dimple in her chin that seemed to appear when her entire face was stretched in a Cheshire cat grin like it was now- but nothing sparked as familiar.



Had he been kissed by a total and utterly shameless stranger, then?



Jay blinked, the thought registering rather slowly.



Holy… she kissed me!?



Only now did he realize how close she was standing, with her hands still on his collar, and as gingerly as he could, he peeled himself away enough to take a few steps back. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears, and his heart was hammering hard enough to crack cement. And just what he was supposed to do now seemed to completely evade his befuddled mind…



Courtesy prompted him to politely apologize and introduce himself (Wait… did I do anything wrong?). A voice that sounded suspiciously like Lt. MacArthur was remembering all the pressure points he memorized for optimal punching effectiveness, but then his grandmother’s voice swooped in screeching not to hit a lady. His own conscience was doubting whether this young woman was even human, let alone a lady, and highly doubted Grandma would argue with self defense. And yet another smaller voice was pointing out that Carmen was disappearing into the crowd just as he had feared…



If you tell Carmen, I bet she’d come back and take care of the situation for you, whispered a fifth voice.



Suddenly, Jay shook his head and ran his hand through his hair nervously. Listening to voices in your head were never a good way to go.



So, with nothing else to do, he settled for a default. “Um… hello?”

[Richard Fawkes]

”Ri-ichard!”

Said boy stopped in his tracks and turned, thinking it was Carmen who was calling him. He should have known it wasn’t. The voice didn’t match. It was far too sing-songy and flirtatious to belong to his little, innocent Carmen.

Although, currently, the jury was still out on the ‘little’ and ‘innocent’ part.

Richard groaned as soon as he saw her. ”Shit,” was his under-the-breath response. It wasn’t that he minded catching up with old friends and old girlfriends. He just didn’t want to do it now. Maybe later after he figured out what to do about Carmen and the boyfriend problem.

A problem he was going to fix. Forcefully if he had to.

His mind gave a guilty twitch as yesterday’s events came back. Not like he hadn’t been replaying them in his head the past twenty-four hours but only now was he beginning to feel guilt for the way he had acted. It had been rash and impulsive, not to mention immature and probably stupid. But he hadn’t been able to focus clearly. There had been too many things going on inside his mind at once and he wasn’t able to register the scene with as much maturity as he would have liked.

Pulling a gun out in public had been a bad idea. Pulling one on Carmen’s supposed boyfriend had been a really bad idea. And Charlie had voiced it so. Loudly and very angrily.

Shuffling the bag of chips to the other hand, he moved his other through his hair, the usual gesture of nervousness. Richard wasn’t looking forward to explaining to Charlie why he had a gun in the first place. He had shoved off the question and had ignored her much after that, too focused on Carmen and that stupid idiot.

Speaking of stupid idiots –

He gave a polite grin as the short brunette lunged herself at him, arms and hands freely wandering wherever they pleased. ”Hey. Long time no see.” Richard managed to say to her without sounding annoyed. An eyebrow was raised as she went on to speak to him in French. He rolled his eyes. “Alex, you know I don’t speak French. Could you just speak English like every normal girl out there?”

But she wasn’t paying attention to him anymore, which he was used to. Alex had never been a very attentive girlfriend. What he hadn’t expected was for him to go for his best friend. He lifted his eyebrow again but before he could introduce said best friend, Alex had detached herself from him and re-attached herself to Jameson. Richard was about to give him a warning but he was too late. Alex was giving her usual ‘greeting’. He held a hand to his mouth to try and hide the wide grin on his face.

The expression ‘deer-in-headlights’ came to mind.

”Don’t mind her much, Jameson. She does that to everybody,” Richard shook his head, not bothering to add the tiny fact that she had done that to him when they first met.

However, as humorous as the situation was, they had to get going. ”Sorry to kiss-and-run, Alex but we’ve got some friends we’re meeting up with. Maybe I’ll see you later?”

Hopefully, she’d saunter away as fast as she sauntered in.