Salty air whirled all around the group of teens on the beach. Most of them stood inches apart, but there were three who were closer to each other than the others.
The first was a teen with spiky hair that quivered when the wind blew through it. He seemed to be holding his tongue back from talking.
The second person was a girl with brown hair and prominent ears. She shouldered a backpack.
The first two seemed to be listening to the third person in the group, a Japanese boy with long floppy hair hanging over his forehead. He was speaking.
"Remember, our only job is to observe and report to Mr. William about the happenings in here. Apart from that, enjoy!" "But we need to be focusing on the job. I don't think we should relax." The girl replied. "Quit worrying, Cass." The spiky-haired boy said to the girl. "We need to blend in. How can we do that if we look so serious and stressed?"
Cass sighed. "You're right. We should mingle with others." "Max-Ernest, what's this camp's name again?" The Japanese boy asked to the spiky-haired boy. "I'm not sure, Yo-Yoji." Max-Ernest replied. "Sand and Stars Beach Camp." Cass said, looking at her notebook. "You wrote that down?" Yo-Yoji and Max-Ernest asked in unison. "Yes. It could come in handy in the future, you know. Where's Clay-Paul?" The three looked around the beach.
"Hey, you three. You're not listening!" The camp facilitator called to them. They whipped around to look at him. Everybody else on the beach was staring. "Sir Walton, my brother's missing." Max-Ernest explained. The facilitator frowned. "You should know that we follow strict rules here about wandering off on your own when it's not wandering time." "Sorry, Sir, but could we go and look for him?" Yo-Yoji asked. Sir Walton frowned even more, and then sighed. "Fine, go look for him. The beaches are separated by groynes anyway—unless he's gone into the water. You have thirty minutes before we go back to the camp."
Max-Ernest turned to Cass and Yo-Yoji. "You guys have to help me find PC!" "Of course we will, we won't let you look for him alone, bro." Yo-Yoji replied.
Cass noticed four people coming towards them. One of them was a boy with brown hair. "We heard your brother's lost. Maybe we could help find him." He said to Max-Ernest. "Oh sure! That would be a great help. I'm Max-Ernest." The brown-haired boy nodded. "I'm Reynard Muldoon, but you can call me Reynie." He extended his hand to shake. Max-Ernest grabbed it and pumped it up and down. Reynie seemed surprised by the energy that Max-Ernest displayed. "Pleased to meet you! Who are your friends?" Max-Ernest asked.
"I'm Kate," said a blonde-haired girl. She was tall. "He's Sticky," she said, pointing to another boy. He had no hair and glasses. "Hi," he said, smiling. "Her name is Constance," Kate said, gesturing to a small girl beside her. "She can get a bit cranky sometimes, but she's harmless. You know the saying, her bark is worse than her bite." Kate joked. Constance frowned.
Cass noticed Kate had a red bucket fastened to her waist. "Is that where you keep your things?" she asked. Kate nodded. "That's ingenious! It even has a lid!" Cass was impressed.
"Thank you," Kate replied. "Well, come on, let's look for Clay-Paul." Max-Ernest said. "That's your brother's name, right?" Reynie asked. "Yes."
…
The group searched around. Kate and Max-Ernest were chatting like they were old friends. Reynie and Cass were talking, too. Constance just glared at Yo-Yoji while he conversed with Sticky.
After around ten minutes of walking on the beach, they found him. Clay-Paul was making a sand castle. "There you are, CP!" Max-Ernest exclaimed. Clay-Paul looked up and saw them. "Hi! I got sorta bored, so I just went for a stroll." "CP, don't you know that's wrong? It was in the rules being said on the bus," Cass said. "Sorry. It's just that it was so freaking BORING!" Clay-Paul exclaimed. "Oh, you guys made friends." He said, noticing the four new people.
"We need to get back there, otherwise we'll get reprimanded." Kate said. Max-Ernest took CP's hand, and they walked back to the camp.
…