Bradin hopped back into his car with a heavy sigh after once-again failing to find his mystery girl in the seventh bar he looked at. Being only eighteen, he wasn't able to get into any actual bar, but when he asked the restaurant bars if they'd seen his girl, they all said no. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten to ask her what her name was, which probably gave her the impression that he wasn't interested, and now she was playing hard to get… or find, actually. His cell phone rang, and he picked it up after reading "Bryce Cell" on his caller ID

"What's up?" Bradin asked, putting his car in reverse and driving away from the bar in disappointment.

"What happened with that chick from yesterday?" Bryce asked, "Did you get her number?"

Not wanting to sound like a loser in front of his friend, Bradin said "Yeah, I did. I told you I could, didn't I?"

Bryce laughed. "Hey, don't celebrate just yet. Have you checked to see if it's genuine?"

"Genuine?"

"Yeah. I mean, are you sure it's her real number? Or maybe she felt so badly for you and gave you a fake number."

Bradin could feel the blood rising in his face from anger. "Of course it's genuine, I'm on my way to meet her right now, as a matter of fact."

"Oh really?" Bryce asked, disbelievingly, "Well, bring her by later, I wanna see her. What's her name, anyway?"

"Umm…" Thinking quickly, Bradin said, "Hey, she's here, I've gotta go," and hung up his phone. Not totally sure why he'd just lied to his best friend, he drove over to Mona's Sandbar, the restaurant his aunt Ava Gregory's boyfriend, Johnny Durant, owned to take a break before continuing his search.

He walked into Mona's and found Johnny clearing plates off the bar. Bradin walked over and sat down on a barstool. "Hey Johnny." Bradin said unenthusiastically. Johnny looked up at Bradin.

"Hey," he said, "it's the surf man!" Johnny noticed Bradin's depressed look on his face. "What's wrong, Bradin?"

Bradin sighed. "I met this incredible girl yesterday on the beach! I mean, she's perfect! She's into surfing, she's absolutely gorgeous, she's so nice, she knew all these things about me-"

"That's what made her perfect?" Johnny asked, placing the dirty plates on the conveyer belt that led into the kitchen. "Sounds like a nightmare, really."

"It's not that," Bradin said, "'she's just amazing."

Johnny looked at Bradin. "You say that a lot."

Bradin shook his head. "Naw, it's different this time. I mean, like Erika: we had a blast together and everything and I was totally attracted to her when I first saw her and everything, but with this girl…" He let out a long, slow breath, "I don't know."

"Have you heard from Erika?"

Johnny's question had taken him by surprise. Bradin hadn't seen his ex-girlfriend Erika Spaulding in over a year since she broke things off with him for an unknown reason, and moved away six months later to "get over him" as she put it.

"No," Bradin said after a long pause, "I don't think I ever will. She wants to get over me, remember? And I'm doing the same."

"Ahh," Johnny said, wiping a glass with a towel he had slung over his shoulder, "with this girl, huh? What's her name again?"

"That's the problem," Bradin sighed, "I don't know it. She didn't give it to me."

Johnny made a face. "That doesn't sound good. You think she blew you off?"

Bradin shrugged. "Now that you've said that… yes." He paused to think. "I don't think that's ever happened before."

Johnny leaned over and patted Bradin's shoulder. "It happens at least once in our lives," he started wiping the glass again, "Except… I don't think it's ever happened to me."

"Thanks," Bradin muttered, putting his head down on the table. He couldn't face Bryce without the girl, and if he did, Bryce would never let him live it down. As he contemplated as he stared down at the table about what he was going to do, he heard the kitchen door swing open and a familiar female voice say, "Johnny, your packages are here, but they want you to sign for them."

"Thanks, Belle," Johnny said, putting down the glass he'd been wiping. He shook Bradin by the shoulders to get his attention. "Hey, man, let me introduce you to someone."

Bradin reluctantly lifted up his head. "What?" he moaned with his eyes half closed.

"This is Belle," Johnny said, walking over to her and pushing her over towards Bradin, "She's my best worker." Johnny turned his attention to Belle. "Belle, this is-"

"Bradin Westerly," Belle finished for him, causing Bradin to open his eyes and look at Belle, who he realized was his mystery girl from the beach the other day. "I know. We met yesterday."

Johnny looked back and forth between Bradin and Belle, confused at first, but then with a sense of comprehension. He turned to Bradin and said "Is she the girl you were talking about?"

Embarrassed, Bradin nodded. Johnny let out a silent "Oh…" and backed away to the kitchen, saying he had some business to attend to. Belle smiled and looked at Bradin.

"So," Bradin said once he found his voice, "your name's Belle."

"So," Belle said, "you found me."

"It wasn't that hard," Bradin said, looking away from Belle, who didn't say anything. When Bradin looked back at her, she had a smirk on her face, letting him know she knew he was lying. "Okay, so it was hard. But you didn't give me much to go on, I mean, you pointed to a bar."

"I pointed to a sandbar," Belle replied, pulling out a glass from behind the counter, "I just thought it'd be fun to see if you'd actually try to find me."

"'Which I did," Bradin said, "Successfully, too, I might add."

Belle laughed. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"How 'bout a beer?"

Belle looked strangely at Bradin and stuck her hand out. "Let me see your ID first."

Bradin pretended to be shocked. "You're carding me?"

"We card people we think are underage," Belle said, then smiled mischievously at Bradin, "and I doubt you are of the legal age to drink, sorry bud."

Bradin laughed. "I'll have whatever's good, thanks." He watched as Belle hustled and bustled behind the counter. "How long have you worked here?"

"A couple of months," Belle replied as she placed a glass of orange soda onto the table.

"Johnny never mentioned that he hired a new girl,"

"Not that new," Belle said, propping her elbows onto the counter, "but why would Johnny say anything about me to you? I'm not that important to him."

"You're his best worker," Bradin said, remembering what Johnny had said earlier, "You'd think he'd say something about that."

Belle looked at Bradin. "Johnny talks about you a lot, you know that?" She smiled as she thought about something. "Almost in a fatherly way, you know? It's cute."

Johnny had always been the father figure in Bradin's life since his parents died, and although he knew nobody could ever replace his dad, it was reassuring to know that Johnny would be there whenever he or his siblings needed anything, as well as his aunts two other room mates, Susanna Rexford and Jay Robertson.

As Bradin thought about this, something fell into place. "That's how you knew all that stuff about me," Bradin said, looking at Belle, "isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Belle asked, clearly pretending to be confused.

"Johnny told you all that stuff about me, didn't he?"

Knowing Bradin had already figured out the truth, Belle sighed. "He needed someone to talk to, and I happen to be someone."

"That's something I'm aware of," Bradin said, smiling at Belle. "Well, hopefully it was good stuff."

Returning Bradin's smile, Belle said "Wouldn't you like to know,"

"I would, actually," Bradin replied, and Belle laughed.

"I really should get back to work," Belle said, wiping down the counter with a towel she grabbed from behind.

But Bradin wasn't ready to leave yet. He hadn't even come close to knowing all the things he wanted to know about Belle, and what was bothering him was that there was a bar top standing between him and Belle, meaning the only way he could move any closer to her was to lean over, and if he did, he might just kiss her right there in front of everyone, not that he would have minded anyone seeing him kiss her.

"When's your break?" Bradin asked, hoping it was soon.

"About 4 hours ago," Belle replied as she kept wiping the counter. When she looked up, she saw Bradin's glum expression, and she smiled. "I get off in half an hour." She said when Bradin made eye contact with her, and disappeared through the kitchen door.