It was easier to navigate the boardwalk alone, Elizabeth mused, watching some guys chug from an unwrapped beer can. Keeping a group together was hard work, they kept getting separated by the huge crowds and throngs of people. She guessed that's why Michael asked them to split, they weren't embarrassing him as much as slowing him down. She wondered what the girl looked like, glancing in to a clothes shop. There was a big display of skimpy, neon swimsuits and t-shirts with bold slogans on them. Not so much her style. Walking on, she thought about her brother, it was so unlike him to be so bold with a girl. Michael was usually a closed book when it came to girls, he'd never talked about his love life before.

A small cluster of TVs caught her eye and, without thinking, she started to cross the boardwalk, smiling widely. They were prizes, she realized. She looked at the stall, saw that it was staffed by a bored looking attendant surrounded by flashing lights and streamers enticing people to exchange their tickets.

"Oh, sorry-"she muttered, as a burly teen with pierced eyebrows and a powerful, tie-dye shirt brushed past her. He didn't even glance at her, even though his ketchup smeared hot dog had come perilously close to rubbing against her white blouse. He was off into the crowds in seconds.

Standing in front of the TVs, she was smiling again. MTV was playing on two of the five screens and she wished she was with Sammy right now. Her eyes darted to the neon yellow display tag, shaped like an explosion.

5,555! Was printed in bold, red lettering.

"Most of the games are rigged" a voice spoke from behind her.

Elizabeth jumped jerkily, surprised, and turned around. Smiling friendly, the boy – it was a boy - continued, "you'd have to spend way more on tickets than those things are actually worth" he jerked a gloved thumb in the direction of the TVs.

He was wearing a colorful, bright patched jacket with gold detail over a white tank top. His hair was blonde and tightly curled and that's all Elizabeth really acknowledge before she started to speak, "oh yeah," she started, smiling politely "no, I wouldn't even try, to be honest. But my uh, my brother loves MTV so it kind of drew me here"

He was nodding.

"We don't have a TV at home and he's having withdrawals" she finished by way of explanation, filling the silence, "we just moved here a few days ago..." stop talking, stop talking, she thought.

He smiled kindly and she couldn't not notice that his soft face was friendly. His features made him look almost angelic.

"Oh, well welcome to Santa Carla" he grinned, "how'd you like it so far?"

Elizabeth smiled again but inwardly had started to wonder why he was talking to her. She had never seen him before, what did he want? She had almost been mowed down by a hot-dog wielding punk and received not even a glance for her troubles...people didn't seem to care to make friends at the boardwalk.

It's a bit weird, she thought. Did he really care if she spent money trying to win tickets? She suddenly felt self-conscious, "it's OK. Nice, I guess..."

He nodded, "I'm Marko"

"Elizabeth" she extended her hand on instinct and grimaced internally when he looked down questioningly at it. Why had she gone for a handshake? She wanted to groan. He laughed a little and graciously shook her outstretched hand, "well, it's nice to meet you Elizabeth" he said, with a playfully fake, formal air before returning to his previous tone "and sorry, you know, if this is weird?"

She felt her ears begin to get hot and wondered if she had given him a bad impression. She wasn't in the position to turn down friends, she was just taken off guard. But wait, was this guy a friend? Did people just approach strangers without a reason? Was he…was he hitting on her? So many thoughts pulsing through her head.

No. This wasn't weird, it was how you make friends, she thought, annoyed with herself.

Her mouth began to feel a bit dry and she found herself being drawn to his eyes, the crowds of people, the noise and the pulsating energy of the boardwalk not fully registering.

"No, sorry, no not weird, just. You know, I wasn't really expecting to –" lame lame lame, her cloudy thoughts chanted before they were quietened, "meet anyone here, not before school.."

"Yeah, it sucks being new" he said simply enough, "I should confess, though...it was my friend that actually sent me over" the gloved thumb jerked once again, directing her now slow moving eyes to nameless faces in a crowd. She didn't know who she should be looking for but sure enough, her eyes were drawn to two boys, one with long black hair and one with wildly backcombed blonde hair.

She narrowed her eyes a little, wanting to see them, wanting to absorb their features but it felt like time had sped up, she couldn't focus on them through the humming crowd of people passing by.

"He got scammed by one of these games lifetimes ago" he said, bringing her attention solely back to him again. There was something disquieting in his grin, something in his eyes. Lifetimes ago? That was a strange choice of words, wasn't it? A knowing smirk lingered beneath the surface of his face, but before she could fully register or consider it, it was gone, the genuine and friendly grin in its place, "he's got a chip on his shoulder about it, he tries to stop the scammers running this place making more dirty cash"

Suddenly the conversation felt fake. Wait, did it feel fake? Her thoughts were still jumbled and she felt confused, like…like she wasn't fully in control of her emotions? No, she was being stupid. She was nervous, that was all. But…what..why was she nervous? She took a breath, feeling heavy. Not fake, she thought, not fake…it was honorable and, and, and noble.

"So, why did he send you?" she asked, wanting desperately to know but somehow keeping her voice neutral.

If only she knew how thick, how sleepy she sounded. How trance like her words had become.

"He's waiting for food, his number's almost up" came the smooth, low reply. Rehearsed reply? No. Maybe? He was waiting for food? What food? She wanted some food, too. Was there a food place over there, her thick thoughts asked?

But before she could say anything, before she could muster the energy to say something, he looked over his shoulder before taking a step back, "I gotta go, but I've been there, Elizabeth. I've been new. My friends, too…come say hi, Elizabeth. They want to meet you. Come with us. We can show you the sights. Come with us. Come with him..." he told her, his tone of voice making the command sound like a request, an invitation. He offered his hand lightly. Nodding her head, she suddenly felt grateful for the offer. Desperately grateful. She wanted to go with him, to meet them now. She really, really wanted to meet them. She needed to meet them. Elizabeth started to lift her leg, raised her hand, readying herself to follow his steps, to be guided by him…

"GET YOUR PRIZES! PRIZES HERE! PRIZES!" an electronic voice boomed from the booth beside them, while bells and whistles suddenly sounded.

Elizabeth jumped and Marko's head, quicker than lightening, jerked in the direction of the booth. The attendant was still looking off into the distance, boredom painted over his face. The announcement must have been on automatic. For the briefest of seconds, anger flashed on Marko's face.

He dropped his hand.

She let out a shaky laugh, "Jesus, that scared me"

Her thoughts had become clear and she smiled falteringly up at Marko.

What were they talking about?

He smiled reassuringly at her, "yeah, me too" but she knew he was lying, he was far too composed to have been scared.

She frowned a softly, was she forgetting something?

Taking a big step back, he told her not to be shy and to please keep an eye out for him.

"Thanks, I will" she assured him, not entirely sure if she meant it. The bells and whistles started to slow down and loose volume. She didn't know if she would have the confidence to approach him, "and thanks for the heads up about the tickets…Marko?" she finished, confirming his name.

He nodded, "Marko. It's not a problem. See you soon, Elizabeth" and he was off.

As soon as he was out of sight, she released a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Her heart was thudding and her palms were sweaty. Had they been sweating the whole time? She wondered. She wiped them on her bleached jeans, feeling cold.

"What's gotten in to me" she muttered, facing the TVs once again. She noticed the time on the TV had passed by over fifteen minutes – had they really chatted for that long? Just a hello and an introduction, could they really have spoken for that long?

She took a breath and, untying a denim shirt from her waist, she slipped it on. She still felt chilled, her arms had erupted with goose bumps.

She wanted to get off the boardwalk now and she wished she was with her brothers. She wanted company. Adjusting her bag, she started to walk, glancing back to check she was alone.

She couldn't see Marko. He had looked so friendly, his face so angelic...but there was something there. Something more.

It took her ten minutes to get to the off the boardwalk, keeping her head down and walking at speed.

She had stopped just a small distance away from the boardwalk, walked to a bustling fast food window and bought two extra-large hot dogs with extra radish and mustard, along with an extra-large coke. She was ravenous, she felt like she had worked up an appetite but for the life of her, she couldn't imagine why. It was four dollars seventy and she received her food with a grateful thanks.

She drank the coke almost in one, pausing twice to breathe. After the first few swallows of the sugary drink, she began to feel settled. It wasn't often she drank the full sugar stuff, too much was a trigger for both acne and an unpleasant bout of cystitis but tonight, she really craved it. The sugar seemed to soothe her nerves, though she didn't know why they needed soothing. And anyway, didn't sugar give you energy? This should be revving her up, not settling her down?

She didn't dwell on it, it suddenly felt so unimportant. She took a bite into the hot dog, groaning a little as she did. She really was hungry. She finished it fast, not worrying about indigestion and not caring if people watched her gorge. She wiped her mouth and started to walk, dumping her empty drink carton and the finished hot dog wrapper in a trash can as she did.

She headed towards the library, eating her final hot dog with less urgency than the first. She felt warm, comfortable in the dark night.

She wished she hadn't put her shirt on and wondered why and when she had done so in the first place.

The library came into view, its art-deco design an interesting contrast to the town around her. She hoped Sam and Mike had a nice night, too. She couldn't place exactly why she had had a nice night, she couldn't remember doing all that much.

Elizabeth wiped her mouth with a scrunched up napkin. She did feel a little relieved to have the promise of a potential friendship. She couldn't remember her earlier confusion, the unpleasant feelings, and the jumbled thoughts. She felt something niggling at her, something tugging at her memory but it was so minute. Her nerves must has flustered her for a while back there, she mused. But again, she couldn't remember why.

"Gimmie the hot dog!"

Her brother boomed threateningly, jumping out from behind a parked car, "this is a stick up, gimmie the dog" he repeated. Elizabeth had taken a shocked step back but otherwise was un-moved.

She saw he was holding a comic book, "...seriously can I have a bite?" he asked.

She frowned at him, "you could have really scared me, Sammy! It's dark.." but still, she passed him her almost finished food. There were about two bites left but he finished it in one.

He thanked her through a mouthful.

They were walking together, just a short distance away from the car. They saw Michael waiting thoughtfully, leaning against the car, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Michael couldn't remember the sense of urgency he had felt before, he couldn't remember the burning desperation, his need to meet that girl. He couldn't remember how the people and things around him had blurred, how he had been walking almost with a pinhole vision.

"Hey, Mike" she poked his arm, "you OK?"

He jerked his head towards her; she had startled him out of his thoughts, not that he could remember what they were.

"She stiffed him!" Sam cackled.

"Huh?"

"She had a boyfriend, jumped on his bike just as Mike got close" Sam gleefully retold, "roaring off into the distance" he was laughing playfully.

Elizabeth glanced at Michael, who looked very…unbothered.

"Nah" he shook his head easily, not knowing why but knowing, knowing deep in his gut he would see her again, "I don't think they were dating"

Sam looked at his brother unbelieving; shocked he hadn't had to fend off a swat or retort, shocked by his reply, "dude…she jumped on his bike? She ignored you?" he reminded.

No. She had smiled at him, an enigmatic smile full of secrets and promise.

"Liz's ridden on my bike hundreds of times" an over exaggeration but also a valid point, which Sam dismissed easily with a wave of his hand, "siblings do that. Friends do that. It's not something only couples do"

Not wanting to embarrass her big brother anymore - though he didn't really look bothered -and wanting to deflect any potential conversation away from herself, without fully knowing why, Elizabeth tugged at Sam's comic.

"Thought you didn't like horror comics?"

"I don't" he grimaced a little, glancing down at the blue comic with a tacky vampire decorating the cover, "but they insisted I take it. Said it might, 'save my life', whatever that means. This place is weird" he observed.

"'They'?"

"The two guys that work there" Sam replied with a small shrug, not bothering to talk about the two sleeping adults he had spotted, "kind of intense. Really pushing the horror, think army fatigues are cool…"

"Bet you're glad it's there though, right Sammy?" Mike asked, joining their conversation.

"Yes Mike" he said, nodding, "aside from the shoddy displays and seriously disturbed assistants-"

Mike tutted at his sarcastic tone and Sam smiled at the reaction he finally managed to draw.

They saw Lucy walking towards the car, she was walking with a spring in her step and, as she street lights illuminated her face, they could a smile, a smile that said a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

She was eating a lollipop, and had a second one in her free hand.

Michael immediately asked if he could have it. He said he was ravenous.