I'm not going to talk a whole lot about Chelsea, because she's boring right now.

Chapter 10: Alone

One day. Twenty-four hours. One-thousand-four-hundred-forty minutes. Eighty-six-thousand-four-hundred seconds. That was how long Chelsea had been in the ocean. That's how long she'd been apart from Denny. That's how long her heart throbbed.

She saw millions of colorful fishes swimming freely. She wanted to be able to lose herself. She wanted to vanish, to disappear into a pit of bliss. Could she ever have that? No, as far as she was concerned, she could never feel the slightest joy again.

X~*&*~X

Ten minutes. That's how long Denny stared at the photo in his hands. It was an image of Chelsea and him smiling brightly. It had been beside his mat for so long, Denny forgot when it was taken. The glass frame had stray droplets here and there. Denny wiped of the tears.

He had woken up that morning feeling empty. What was he without Chelsea? He knew moping led you nowhere, but he always had someone to smile for. His eyes burned. He had cried so much since Chelsea left. That night, he cried himself to sleep – even then his sleep was uneasy.

Dreams – no, nightmares – haunted him. The nightmares depicted Chelsea… she was melting. What was becoming of her?

X~*&*~X

Denny forced himself up and out the door. He stared at the waves crashing against the shore. His head was too heavy to hold up, so it just fell, facing the ground. Denny watched his own footprints form in the wet sand.

"Denny."

Denny attempted at lifting his head. The strain was great, but he managed to look at Vaughn. Vaughn's usual apathetic face was showing signs of emotion. "I'm sorry. But everything must… meet its end."

Denny shook his head, releasing a great pain down his spine. "You're wrong."

"I'm never wrong."

"Then tell me why I still love her. Tell me why I can remember her like crystal. Tell me why the aching is still fresh as if it were inflicted on me a mere five seconds ago. Tell me why – and I'll admit you're right. Until then… Farewell." Denny didn't feel like hearing Vaughn's melancholy. He wanted some joy – some bit of happiness.

Denny left Vaughn standing there. Denny liked to think the cowboy's jaw was gaping like a fish. When he turned his head to look at him, however, Vaughn had tilted his hat and spun around to face the horizon.

Denny weighed his options to who he could chat with. He made a list in his head.

He couldn't go near the forest - that would be too painful.

He didn't feel like visiting the jungle. Its inhabitants were weird.

Lanna was too happy-go-lucky. She would annoy him.

Denny would rather shoot himself than spend time with Pierre.

Sabrina and Regis were open candidates.

Luke was fine. No, what if other people were there and they tried talking to him?

He considered Julia and Mirabelle. He decided against it when he thought Vaughn could be near them. But, then again, Julia already knew the secret. She could've told Mirabelle. That would be even the more reason to avoid the mother-daughter duo.

Chen and Charlie were fine. Oh, what if others were in the store?

Mark crossed his mind. Mark… he'd probably take over the ranch now. He knew the potential rancher would be happy to finally live out his dreams – he'd be too happy to fake being sad for Chelsea.

Elliot and folks were fine, except they were too sunny for such a gloomy day. Natalie was the exception, but she'd be too sad and wouldn't take his mind off of Chelsea. Darn.

Denny just didn't know. He looked down at the stone pavement. The road! An idea of the perfect person popped in Denny's mind.

X~*&*~X

Gannon smiled. "Hi, Denny! What can I do for you? Hey what's wrong…?" Denny failed at hiding his sorrow.

"Bad day is all… Can we talk?" His voice was heavy.

"Of course – I've got plenty of time!" Gannon's rough voice was laced with friendliness. "Whatcha want to talk about?"

"Anything."

"Hey, I just realized: where's Cheals?"Damn, the forbidden name.

"She… she…" Denny couldn't think.

"Oh, bad break, eh?" Gannon grew sympathetic all of a sudden.

"Sort of."

"I've been through those." Denny hoped he wasn't going to start talking about feelings. "Wanna help me get rid of that rock down by the coast?"

Denny looked at Gannon confused. "What do you mean…?"

"Women sit 'round talking 'bout their feelings and shit. Men – we pound things. Hard." Denny nodded. How can he turn down a good pounding?

Now you sort've see how they're faring without each other. Next chapter: Everything reminds Denny of Chelsea! How will he escape? Find out next time on Curse of the Mermaid's Tail!