Chapter 1

2 years later…

Away from the dust, prairies, wilderness, and not a cow in sight; 16-year-old Nat Wolff chose a seat near the back of the airplane his 13-year-old brother, Alex, followed. "I don't see why we have to go anyways," his sibling complained. "Come on Alex you used to love spending the summer with Uncle Miles and Aunt Amy," Nat said. "Yeah and then I did this thing called 'grew up.'" Nat sighed at his hard-to-please little brother and took out his I pod. "Well he is right," he couldn't help thinking as he tuned to a song that suited his mood, "we haven't been to the farm in a while." Almost three years to be exact. He had always loved to spend the days there. When he was younger he had once thought about moving there when he was older, but for some reason he can't remember now he dreaded the thought of going back. The warm clear blue skies, peaceful and beautiful forestry, the soundless rippling of the lake as they waded in the late afternoons. What had happened? Why doesn't he want to go back? Nat tried his best to rummage though his memory and solve these questions himself, but he was only met by blackness. He couldn't remember anything that far back. He sighed, closed his eyes, and began to listen to "Waiting On The World To Change."

Reseda, home of the Grizzly Bear; "it's good to be back," he mumbled taking in a deep breath of Californian air. "What?" He turned to see Alex staring at him with a smirk. "Shut up."

Finding their luggage in the airport was easy but carrying it was the hard part, well Alex's anyway. "Dang, Alex what'd you bring in this thing?" Nat asked as he pulled the green suitcase along. "Not much just my PSP, my Game Boy, my DS, and a bunch of games for 'em, and some other stuff." "What? Alex we're supposed to be here to do things like camping and maybe some fishing, but not playing videogames on the couch okay?" Why did he act like this? He wasn't always like this he used to love doing stuff, but then he changed. The new mystery quickly faded from his mind as he saw his Uncle Miles's familiar blue truck come into his sights.

"So what you boys been up too?" Uncle Miles asked from the driver's seat. It didn't really matter to Nat what he'd left behind in Manhattan, but Alex immediately began to yap on and on about the masquerade party on the final day of school. About how he and Thomas threw water balloons at people from the roof and weren't caught and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Nat looked out the window and began planning how he was going to spend the summer and the one word he was thinking was: beach. He began to long to see the surf again and his feet began to itch to feel the stringy sand, but something else about the beach here was different than the one back home. Something that made him want to half want to run to the beach till his tennis shoes were worn to the outer layer and part of him wanted to get on the next plane back home. Was there some kind of memory he didn't or did want to face? What is with all these questions?! Nat you're tormenting yourself! Nat laid back on the seat with a sigh and let the gentle sways of the truck take him away. "So Nat what have you been doing?"