Chapter One

The owls had been saved and things in Coconut Cove had cooled down. Even though Mother Paula's didn't move into town, the people were happy with the Owl Sanctuary. Coconut Cove did profit from the national publicity it received. This brought other businesses into town.

It seemed that everybody was happy. Everybody except Roy. Things just weren't the same in town. Sure, Dana was gone, but he didn't feel necessarily happy about that. School was out, but that wasn't any good. All his friends were there anyways. All except one... Mullet Fingers popped into his mind. It had been months sense he last saw him. He had no clue what had happened to him. He was gone.

Roy figured that he would never see him again. All these thoughts just lowered him into an even deeper depression.

Roy had sat in his room watching TV for the last 2 days, eating only junk food and leaving only for the bathroom. He was getting bored of sitting around and being depressed. He had thought of things to do, but couldn't.

He finally bit the bullet and decided that he was going to enjoy the summer vacation while it was still around. It had been raining for the past 2 days, but now it was warm and sunny. Perfect day to be outside he thought to himself.

He thought of who he could visit and realized that a lot of people were gone. Garrett was visiting some relatives in Georgia. Mullet was who knows where. All of a sudden a shiver ran down Roy's spine.

He shook it off and decided that Beatrice was still in town. He wouldn't want to go over to her house, though, with her interesting family situation. He ran to get the phone and called her up.

"Hey, Bea?" He said

"Yeah, whats up?" she replied in a quiet voice

"Not much. Hey could we meet down at the Molly Bell as soon as possible?"

"Sure, I'll be right down there."

"Awesome," he said and then hung up.

He was putting on his shoes when his mom came out of the basement. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"Um, I need to go see a friend. We are going to the beach." he replied, hoping she would not suspect anything. She didn't. "OK, be good and be back before night" she said while walking to the kitchen.

Roy ran outside and jumped on his bike. He sped down the road to get to the boat. Going the other way was Officer Delinko. He waved as Roy went past, but Roy didn't notice. He was too busy thinking. His mind was clouded over. He couldn't think straight.

He wondered what happened to Mullet. He thought of all the events that had gone on. Mullet was sent away to the detention facility about 2 days before Roy's 14th birthday. Mullet had climbed out his bathroom window and been mistaken for burglary. His mom did that to him.

They were going to meet at the Molly Bell just that evening, but he was sent to a detention center before they could. Bea had told him that he escaped when Dana's mom came to the facility, but would not tell him anything more than that. He wondered if he escaped what happened to him. Why didn't he come back. Wasn't he Mullet's friend?

Roy was hoping she could tell him more. He rode up the pier, where only a few months before he was walking with Mullet, planning on how to save the owls.

He put his bike next to the boat next to Bea's bike. He ran up the steps and into the cabin of the Molly Bell. He saw Bea sitting on the bed. She jumped up and hugged him. "Its been for ever sense I've seen you. My summer has been really dull." She said. She released him and then said " My family situation is not getting any better. My mom... she hates me. She threatens to hurt me if I don't tell her about Mullet. I really miss Him..."

Bea looked broken. "I have come down here everyday because I can't stand it at home." She stopped and sat in silence. She recovered and smiled at Roy. "Thanks for coming down."

"Thank you..." Roy said. He looked into the beaming face. She seemed so happy, but there was a sadness. Her family situation had been horrible. He couldn't imagine how she could keep going on like that and still smile.

He was going to wait to bring up Mullet, but he couldn't wait. "Bea... Where is Mullet?" She stood up and looked at him in the eye and said "I can't tell you that. I promised I wouldn't tell. Don't think he hates you. He needs to stay safe after all that his mom did. He also wants you to be safe."

"How is going away going to keep me safe?"Roy bit back.

Roy looked into her eyes, as she bit her lip, but didn't say anything. He just realized something. He had been used. The owls were safe, Mullet Fingers pretends to be his friend just to save the owls. The more people the better. Things made sense. He felt horrible. "To think I actually liked him." He thought. He hadn't seen Mullet Fingers in months and he didn't feel like seeing him now.

Beatrice thought back to the time, the last time she saw Mullet. She didn't want him to go. She didn't really know why he did what he did. She just wanted to help...

Flashback

"So you are just leaving then. You aren't even going to say any thing to him?" Bea said to Mullet, with concern in her voice as she looked down at her step brother sitting on his bed.

"Things have been hard and I need to stay on the low side. I nearly was killed at home and at that prison. My emotions are crazy and I need some time to sort things out."

"Mullet, why don't you tell him. The power is in the secret, this is not something as horrible as you are making it. He might feel the same way..."

"Bea... Don't tell me what to do. Things could never work out. I need to figure things out myself. I am going to leave. I am going far away where my feelings wont bother me. Promise me that you will tell no one where I am going. I might never come back."

"Mullet, that wont solve anything... Please... Roy will miss you. You are as much a friend to him as he is to you." Bea said, trying not to whine.

"Bea... This is not natural. I am hated already. I need all the friends I can have and I am not going to let my emotions get between our friendship. I am scared. I don't want anyone to get hurt. Not I and not him. Please Bea, let me do this. It will give things around here a chance to cool down."

"If you must. Promise me you will come back. I don't like the family just as much as you. Why don't I run away with you?"

"No," said Mullet as a tear ran down his cheek. "Stay here and make sure nothing happens to Roy." He looked away and the tear hit the floor.

"But..." started Bea

But with that last tear, he ran out into the darkness...

"Did he even say anything to you when he left? Why did he leave?" Roy questioned. These questions were piercing him. He felt cold. His mind wasn't functioning correctly. He felt confused. He really wanted to see Mullet again, but at the same time he wondered why he would want to see some one that wouldn't want to see him. Roy felt hurt. "How could he just leave me."

Tears formed in his eyes. He was hurt. His feelings started going away. He felt abused.

What he didn't know was that another teenager had the same tears in his eyes. Tears fell from the blond kids eyes as he thought of his life. It was too confusing. He had just left all of his friends. "I can't go back. I don't want to hurt them." Mullet thought staring at the waves breaking on the beach.

He was sitting there, curled up with his head in his knees, sitting on the beach. "I already have." he thought. He looked up and saw the clouds in the sky. "Why can't I lose these feelings. Why do I have to suffer? What is wrong with me" Mullet thought violently as he tried slamming his head into the sand. He didn't understand. He had been told differently all throughout life about how he should be, but he felt different. He wasn't like the others.

His plan had not worked. Running away from the problem hadn't helped at all. Mullet had never been attracted to anybody before. He was 14, but with the owl's problems gone he had a different look on life. He had more time to think, more time to spend with friends. He had lived alone for a while with only Beatrice and the owls as company, but now there was someone else in his life.

When Roy moved in, things were different. He was curious. He was helpful. He was a good friend. At this thought, Mullet pulled away. He remembered what his sister told him. "The power is in the secret." Mullet stood up. He had never done things the easy way and he wasn't about to change. "I might be able to move on if I tell him. Things will get better." He thought confidently. With that he stood up and picked up his shirt and put it on his tan fit body. He ran his finger through his hair and started running north. Now was the time.

Roy and Bea went to calm their nerves at the local Ice Cream Stand. They got 2 cones and sat down. Bea loosened up and said more about why Mullet ran away. She knew she couldn't tell him everything, but just enough to get Roy through.

"Mullet was struggling with some feelings he was having. He was really depressed and the family situation was not going well. He said he wanted to escape those feelings, but I think he'll be back."

Those words sprung into him and gave him new life. He looked up from the speck on the table he was staring at. Curiosity creped into his mind. "Problem with feelings... What feelings..." he thought to himself. He through that thought out of his mind. "He was dealing with depression, just like I was." Roy felt very alone, very different. His feelings were out of touch with the rest of the world. He wouldn't let that upset him now and he turned his attention back to Bea.

Bea just now noticed how cute Roy really was. She felt kind of jealous now, but she shook it off. "For now, Mullet needs all he can get." She was not going to get in the way of her brother. They were his only friends.

After a lot of talking and cheering up they parted just as the sun was setting. They got on their bikes after parting with a hug and went their separate ways. He looked back and saw that Beatrice was going back to the Molly Bell. He finally understood that she hadn't been home in a while. Instead, she had stayed in the boat. An idea popped into his head.

"Hey, Beatrice!"he shouted. She stopped and turned around. "What?"

"Would you like to spend the night at my house?"

"Sure. But, would it be okay with your parents?" She questioned.

"I think so. Lets ask."

They both started pedaling to his house. They got off and entered the house. Roy's mom was there in the kitchen going through the mail with Roy's dad. "Hey, Dad," Roy said "Can Beatrice stay here? Like in the living room?"

His father looked at his mother and they both nodded their approval. They both rushed upstairs to get some pillows and such and Roy's parents returned to their work. They opened the closet and got the bedding. Beatrice got most of it because of her height. They then went down stairs to the living room and put the bedding down.

"Here you go. You can sleep on the couch or on the floor. Where ever you want." He looked at his watch. It was 9 and he was really tired. He had got hardly any sleep the night before because his depression was so bad. It was gone and in it's place was hope.

"I'm going to go to bed now. I'll see you in the morning." Roy said turning around to go back to his room, but Beatrice pulled him out of the door way and gave him a hug. "Good night," she said and as she did so she kissed him on the lips and walked away.

Roy stood there in a state of shock. He had never kissed someone before, or at least in a long while. Elementary School was just puppy love anyways. He tried to clear his mind. He didn't want to think of what happened back then. He finally got the chance to move and he turned around and fell on his bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out.