(Disc

(Disc.: You know by now that I'm not trying to jack anyone's idea. This is, after all, a fan fiction, written by a fan for other fans. 'Bittersweet Symphony' lyrics belong to the Verve.)

(A/N: The author is faced with a dilemma. A dilemma of how to continue her story. So here goes, a put-it-together-as-she-goes-along chapter.)

Unwanted

Chapter 9: Entertainment, a Surprise, and Something New

'No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no'

Point of View - Danger

Mare and I stayed out all night, and in doing so, were already at the beach at five the next morning. The sun would be up in about an hour and fifteen minutes, and we had the perfect view. We were just sitting there, Mare and me, with a bottle of Pepsi (Wow - a non-alcoholic beverage! Shocking…) and a small AM radio. Well, I was sitting, anyway. Mare stood with her back against a dilapidated pillar, angrily attempting to manipulate the silver tinfoil-wrapped bunny ears and adjusting the dial of our secondhand little radio so as to get a station. Her frustration grew as station after fuzzy station whizzed by, there for one second and gone within the next, until finally she tossed it carelessly down onto the sand.

"Hey, hey! That's my only radio, be careful with that…" I protested as I fumbled for the rapidly-falling radio, missing it by a foot.

It landed with a soft thud and the bunny ears retracted into themselves.

"Ah what the hell. It was Skip's, anyway." I flopped down into the sand on my back.

Point of View - No One

"I wish I had a surf board…" Mare sighed boredly, examining her bitten-down nails.

She had her black t-shirt tied up in the middle of her stomach, exposing part of the nearly-transparent skin of her ribs and waist, the jeans sitting dangerously low on her hips. Her sweatshirt was shed, and Danger tied hers around herself like a make-shift skirt, zipping it up the front and tying the sleeves around her waist, stripping off the jeans once fully covered. Needless to say, it was a very short, very Danger-like piece of apparel.

"I have siblings, you know, two of them. Foal is three years older than me and Colt is 6 years younger. My family has an obsession with naming their kids after horses, can you tell? My cousin's name is Ponyboy, you know, after the S.E. Hinton novel character? I thought it was pretty cool." Mare prattled, bored out of her mind.

Both girls were silent now, staring at the horizon as if waiting for a miracle to occur.

A familiar loudmouthed blonde interrupted their comfortable silence, slicing through the early morning light abruptly.

Jay flopped down in the sand in front of Mare.

"Good morning, sunshine." He smirked slightly, brushing a piece of Mare's hair behind her ear for her.

Danger felt an odd sort of connection between Jay and Mare, as if they were related somehow. Not by blood or anything, but they seemed to have many similarities. They both had an odd way of thinking and both were hyper, yet semi-quiet at the same time. And once they made up their minds, neither of them could be swayed from their opinions. And Jay's future seemed as blurry as Mare's past.

Now they had to find another place to stay. Danger knew that she couldn't mooch off of Martika forever, but she felt bad for accepting Jay's offer to let them stay at his apartment. It was already small, and Jayboy's mother wasn't really there most of the time. She worked long hours, and when she wasn't working she was having a party. Often Jay was sent out to purchase liquor for the bashes, which ranged from small gatherings to all-out beer fests. He knew the guy that owned the party store down the street, which granted him access to alcohol almost 99 of the time.

Point of View - Jay

I was starting to get bored just sitting there. I stood up and brushed myself off, busying myself with antics - handstands, flips, cartwheels, etc., to the amusement of the chicks I was with. Really I was trying to distract myself from a recent fight I'd had with my mother's boyfriend, which had ultimately caused him to leave for the third time. I knew he'd be back, he's always back within the month, but I still felt bad. I've gotten pretty good at creating my own little facades over the years. People say things about me when they think I'm not paying attention, off in my own world, whatever, but I hear everything. Whether I'm zoned out or not, I am always aware of everyone around me. I don't seem like it, but I am. And I'm not as crazy as people think, either. I can actually be pretty mellow most of the time, but I find I have to keep up the antics just to get my friends to admit that they really are having a good time.

I guess it's before five this morning, since lover boy isn't here for Danger yet. I wonder what the hell he's doing right now...

'Guys, let's go bug Stacy out of bed." Jay suggested, swirling his arms around wildly.

Point of View - Danger

I really want to see Stacy; I want to find out how he feels about what happened earlier. The kiss, I mean, not the whole escaping-from-a-hospital-and-running away-to-the-beach thing. I know how it affected me, and I'd really like to know how he felt about it. We were supposed to meet him here at five, but if we beat him to his house it would save him a trip.

I agree with Jay and rise without a word, pulling Mare up by her outstretched hand.

We arrive unceremoniously at Stacy's low bedroom window and I tap softly on the glass with my fist. We watch as he rolls out of bed, hits the floor, and jumps up with a start. His long hair is sticking up in every which direction, he's sleeping in an old t-shirt and his boxers. I smirked slightly as he stumbled over to the screen-less window and opened it, staring out at them.

"What do you guys want? Oh shit, I was supposed to meet you wasn't I? What time is it?"

"Relax, Stacy. It's an hour earlier than you said you'd go to the beach. We just got tired of waiting." I giggle a bit at his silliness.

Point of View - Stacy

As I was quite rudely awakened this morning at four AM and literally fell out of bed, I somewhat regretted even going to sleep the night before. Why did I do that? I just left her on a beach with someone I hardly know. But I guess she knows Mare better than I do, so it's alright. For now.

It's an hour early, I know it, but I'm still wondering why. Go figure, antsy Jay and Danger couldn't wait an extra hour for me to come at the time that we had actually set up. Whatever. I ask them a question before rummaging around on the floor, attempting to find a clean pair of jeans under the pile of dirty items littering my floor. I really need to clean up in here. Some other time.

When I turn around, almost too quickly, I nearly knock Danger over. She's perched on my windowsill, legs dangling into my room. Jay and Mare are nowhere in sight, although they're probably sitting just outside the window, giggling insanely.

Point of View - No One

Danger took him by surprise, grabbing his face and kissing him deeply. She drew him closer, placing her hands on his sides; he put his hand on the back of her neck. Danger's tongue danced over his, flitting into his mouth, and he smiled slightly into their kiss. Danger released him and hopped into the room, grabbing his surfboard for him.

"Let's go?" She looked up at him; she had one leg perched on the window, poised to climb back out.

"Okay." Stacy sighed, following her out the window and closing it from the outside, skateboard under one arm, his head in the clouds.

Point of View - Stacy

That was a totally new experience for me. I've kissed before, but I've never been so surprised in my entire life. I'm really starting to like Danger. I've liked her from the beginning, of course, but you already knew that. Kathy, you say? Psh... Kathy who?

Point of View - Mare

Damn, finally I get to say something. I bet you were wondering what Jay and I were doing while Danger and Stacy were busy. No? Well I'll tell you anyway! Geesh... well for your prying information, we didn't do anything except talk. We went back to the beach and sat under the pier, just talking about everything and nothing. I told him about my parents; he told me about his mother and her boyfriend. I shared that my favourite food was sweet and sour chicken, and that I could eat with chopsticks; his was pulled pork sandwiches, and he could hold a fork with his toes. That was a little odd, but I guess we're all unique, and all of that sensitive psychology crap.

He told me that he always worried his mother wouldn't be able to pay the rent because of her factory job. That really hit home for me. I told him that I didn't know where my brothers were, and that I thought about them all of the time. He seems pretty understanding, but I don't really know if I can fully trust him yet. Trust is a big thing for me. I haven't really had anyone to trust lately, so I'm often suspicious when people are trying to get close to me. I just really don't want to get hurt again.

I shared my sexuality with him. Naturally, he didn't mind, being who he was. It's nice to have people who don't care about me being bi for a change. But I guess this IS the state of change, California. All about freedoms and being the epitome of cool, or whatever.

I completely expected his first question.

"So, you like dudes... and chicks, too? Cool. That's something new." It was a blunt statement, not a question.

I glared at him, because he knew very well that this was not the full extent of things. I don't know, maybe he's attracted to me or something.

Point of View - Danger

When we got back to the beach, the sun was beginning to rise. The orange sun peeked over the horizon of blue at us, edges blurring as it returned to our side of the earth after a night of lighting the other side of the world. It was breathtaking, like everything else in the world stopped existing for a few minutes. It reminded me of New York at night, how the glow of so many neon signs sometimes drowned out the sun as it set across the city line... I'd sometimes watch from rooftops to see if I could see the sun sinking below the horizon, but somehow it always managed to be just out of my sight, blocked by a building.

I really loved New York, but I am a hell of a lot more glad I came here.

California is amazing.