Chapter 1: Blondes and The Ocean

I slide on a black cutoff hoodie, some short shorts, and my converse before slipping out of the dark house. Flipping the hood over my blonde curls, I walk down the cracked sidewalk. I keep my head down as I walk through the neighborhood towards the coast. Here, it was better for a girl to keep her face hidden. I don't know how many times I had seen someone get hurt because of a pretty face. Goosebumps rise faintly over my skin from the cold morning air and I huddle into my jacket.

"Hey, you!" a deep voice calls through the dark.

My heart thuds into my throat as my body jumps slightly, my head turning towards the alley the voice came from. I faintly make out the lumbering stride of a man walking towards me. Please, don't come after me. Please don't come after me. My feet move faster against the pavement, rushing to get away without bursting into a sprint.

"Awww, come on. Don't be like that, baby!"

My teeth grind together and air whistles through my teeth as my lungs suck in a deep breath to keep from screaming. Can't I ever just get to the beach without guys lusting over my body? Thank God Thalia, my friend, forced me to take self-defense classes with her. I've lost count of the number of times it's saved my life, not to mention the knife I keep strapped to me. Footsteps creep steadily towards me. Great, there's definitely no way to escape this. It's too early in the morning for anyone else to be around. I step into the circle of light from a streetlamp illuminating the sidewalk just as cold fingers wrap around my waist, pulling me back into a warm, hard body. I struggle to get free, whipping my shoulders side to side, as I growl, "Get off me!" His hands slide up to my shoulders, fingers digging in tightly as I'm forcefully twirled around. My face is buried in a hard chest and as I shove my hands against him, my eyes snap up to glare into his.

He leans his head forward as I freeze, pressing his cheek to mine. His hot breath slides against my ear, making me shiver as the air tickles the skin. His mouth twirls into a smug grin against my cheek as he whispers, "Miss me, Beth? I bet you did."

"No," I spit, swallowing thickly as my body slowly unfreezes. " Who could miss someone like you?"

"Aww, Annie that's cruel," he pouts, jutting his bottom lip out and touching a hand to his chest, keeping the other firmly clamped to my shoulder, in an attempt to look cute and innocent. As if. You don't make the same mistakes twice.

The blonde haired devil slides his hands down to clamp down on my wrist, taking a step back towards the shadowed alley. No! No! No! I can't go back there. My arms start to flail, hitting everything I can. My legs lock firmly against the cement and my body begins to thrash wildly once again. He tugs my wrists harder, his frosty blue eyes peering into my stormy gray ones.

"Come on, Beth!" He sighs exasperated. His eyes light up with some sick idea and he leans forwards quickly thrusting his lips onto mine forcefully. Jerking back, I try to pull away, to get his disgusting lips off mine, but his fingers keep me in place. He steps back again and again taking advantage of my shock. His lips pull off mine to throw me to the wall of some building before his body swiftly follows mine. Hands curl around my wrists, slamming them to the brick above my head as his hips dig into mine. His lips press onto mine as I struggle.

Frantically, I wrack my brain for a way to get out of this but only one solution comes up. I force my tense muscles to relax, groaning in frustration. The blonde seems to take it as encouragement and moves his lips to my cheek, trailing down to my neck. He releases my wrists to trail his hands along my sides and I slowly slide my hands over his shoulders to the base of his neck. I lean slightly into him, screwing my eyes shut. My chest expands as I heave in a breath before tensing my arms and shoving him away from me. The man stumbles backwards, feet fumbling against the trash littering the street. I follow him, throwing my hands around his neck and jerking my knee up in between his legs. A whine escapes his lips as he bends over struggling to catch his breath. His head lifts and his blue eyes glare at me murderously. As he sucks in a breath and opens his mouth, still hunched over slightly, I pull my arm back. My knuckles meet his nose with a crunch before I take off sprinting through the dirty streets. I look over my shoulder to take in the hunched over panting form of the man, the blood trickling through the fingers cradling his nose. Pride wells up in me and I can't resist the urge to shout gleefully. "See ya, Luke!"

LINE BREAK

My footsteps thump softly against the sidewalk as I slow my mad dash to a walk, tossing my wild blonde curls over my shoulder. Distantly the dull roar of the ocean waves breaking over the rocks, pounding into the sand reaches my ears. The stars still shine faintly overhead but soon they will disappear into the day. I reach the beach and slide my feet out my sneakers, brushing my feet over the cool sand.

The waves crash into the sand, foam hissing as the water rolls over the shore in an endless cycle. A smile slips onto my face, quirking the corners of my mouth up slightly as I inhale the salty smell. Ever since I could remember, the controlled chaos of the ocean has comforted me, wrapping my in the assurance of its permanence. Anything could happen, my life could spin out of control, the next war could start, the apocalypse could come, but through it all the ocean will always crash onto the sand without a care and waves will always rise, and it will always be a source of awe to anything that sees it.

I pull the hoodie over my head and tug my legs out of my shorts, revealing my black bikini as I drop the cloths in a pile. White foaming water slides over my toes as I walk into the surf. Foam sprayed my face and the salt stung my eyes as I dove into the oncoming wave. I swim until my fingers brush against the rough rock rising from the sea. Flicking my wet curls out of the way I reach out, digging my fingers into any crevice I can find in the surface. I jump up, feet scrambling to find any purchase on the rocks. I stretch my hand up, shoving my fingers into another crack before pushing off and scrambling to find another foothold on the slippery rock. Tiny cuts on my hands and feet sting as the waves crash into my body. I continue climbing until my hands finally reach the smooth top and I heave myself over the edge. I tuck my knees up to my chest, arms curled under them and turn my head to the slowly lightening sky.

I stare up at the stars in their final moments before the sun rises. I love looking at the stars twinkling faintly in the black. Maybe I was in awe of something so far away shone so bright. Maybe it's because something so simple has enraptured so many people for such a long time. Maybe it's because they don't really disappear. Even when the sun rises, they're still shining. I like to think that somewhere out there, there's someone who won't disappear on me. The sun begins to peak over the horizon, pale pink lines stretching against the purple sky. I smile and close my eyes as the warmth begins to touch my face and the salty spray settles lightly against my skin.

A/N: Read and Review Please

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