"Nope, no more virginity." Bradin muttered with a sly smile, tossing the pen onto the table in victory and placing his entry form into the hands of a judge. Erica shoved him in a playful manner and led him back toward the boardwalk's curb, only a group of five blocked their way. All of them were painfully familar, and the one with spiked hair caught their attention immediatly. Colbalt blue eyes stared past Bradin and to his surf instructor. She felt the attention stinging at the back of her neck and stopped in front of him, arms folded across her chest.

"The name's J.B." He stuck out a hand to her but she just glared at it with disgust. All of his friends, each being boys, snickered at his defeat. He was not going to give up from there. Out of instinct Bradin pushed through them and held Erica's arm for her to follow. J.B. licked his lips and watched her pass by. "You want some fries with that shake, girl? Your ass be bangin'..." The last sight he saw was both Bradin and a taller frame lunging toward him. A strong, sun kissed arm sprung foreward and flung him onto the sand. Jay leaned over and narrowed his eyes with fury. The sixteen year old was standing beside him, followed by an appearing Johnny, while Erica stormed over to meet with the rest.

"I ever see you and your clan of rats around these parts again, and I will make sure you'll be able to see in two directions at the same time. Am I clear, mate?" All of them nodded at the Australian's words and helped their friend up before dashing off in the other direction, toward the water.

"Let's go." Johnny mumbled. He forced his roomate back toward their family with Bradin lurking behind. When arriving at their side Erica was nearly trembling in disgust. She leaned tightly into her boyfriend's shoulder and cursed under her breath.

"Pigs..."

"What happened?" Derrick asked through a mouthful of recently purchased ice cream. There were splotches of vanilla all over his upper lip but he didn't seem to mind. No one answered. Nikki ruffled the top of his hair and smiled sweetly; Bradin could tell she forced it.

"Nothing, Derrick. Nothing at all." She told him. He stared at her, knowing she was lying with the way her eyes looked to the ground, and continued walking. The whole group fell silent and continued along the boardwalk, past the many shops and restaraunts. A metallic blue sign in front of one of the newer looking stores suddenly caught all four of the girls' eyes. Erica's head snapped up from Jay's shoulder. She squealed and rushed through the front door with Ava, Sussannah, and Nikki all trailing behind. The older boys shook their heads and all sat down on the steps that led to the entrance while Derrick tried to sound out the words on the sign.

"Free Hair Brahdin and corn rawls?" He looked at his brother and took another lick at his icecream.

"Free hair braiding and corn rolls." Bradin corrected him without looking up from the ground.

"Don't those stupid things take forever?" Johnny complained.

"It's torture waiting for just one of them." Jay grumbled with a miserable sigh.

"I'll go say how long it's gonna take." Bradin stood up with reluctance and went through the gaudy looking door only to be greeted with a noseful of cheap perfume. The whole room was dimly lit to give a spooky feeling, but as he continued along the gray tile of the floor he was greeted with a much brighter room filled with full length mirrors on the walls, moving stools, and of course, enough hair equipment to fit any girl's dream. Ava, Sussannah, and Nikki all stood huddled in a group and watched in awe as a short woman that appeared to have a Japanese herritage work away on a head of long brown-red hair belonging to one of her custamors. Bradin stood on tip toe to try and see who it was by looking through the mirrors, but another hair taker stood in front of it, making it impossible to see. With a slight pout he slid over beside his sister and asked how long they were going to be.

"Well, it takes fifteen minutes for every three inches of hair, and since all of ours is shoulder length or longer-"

Bradin did not even have to do the math without figuring out the horrible truth. He groaned and banged his head off of the nearby wall. He'd be planning his twenty first birthday party by the time they finished.

"Can't you guys do it another day?" he whined loudly, not caring if the two elderly women getting their hair dyed in identical purples laugh at him in the corner. Ava shot him a glare from the corner of her eye .

"If you don't stop complaining, I'll find an appointment for YOU to get your hair done."

That just caused Nikki and Sussanah to break out in laughter. The woman working with her long, artistic fingers whipped around and threw back her head to giggle. It was a very high pitched and caused his ears to ache. "I get you appointment, sir?" she cackled.

He heard another laugh, too, and blushed when he realized it was louder than the rest. After the woman spun around her customer's chair for her to leave, he nearly drooled at what he saw. Her face partially hidden by thick cornrolls, Callie's eyes met his, and she smiled brightly, showing her innocent dimples.

"Small world, huh?"

Nikki nudged him in the ribs because he was obviously at a loss for words. "Yeah...Small world."

A shade of white suddenly formed in her cheeks. Staring at him for what felt like hours, she tried to recap on what just happened; did he speak? Out of the corner of her eye she saw a joyful looking Ava, and just decided not to ask him anything about it. Instead, she smiled a second time and hopped from her seat, pulling down her fitted white tee shirt with slight dismay on how her flat stomach poked out, and leaned over in a hug to greet him. He placed his arms around her middle in return and looked at his own reflection in the mirror. His cheeks were still a bright, noticable red. "What are you doing here, anyways? Come to get your hair done?"

Why did everyone think a boy getting his hair braided was so damn funny? He sniffed and pulled back from her. "I'm with everyone today. Sort of a family thing."

"Sounds fun." she grinned, and he did too at how a playful sarcasm dripped from her words. "Hey, you wanna come down to the beach for a while? We can just hang out, away from the water..." she noticed the creases in his forehead and quickly changed the subject. "A group of my friends are there waiting for me. I'll introduce yah."

He looked over at his aunt and she nodded. Bending down in front of Callie, she got the message and jumped on his back, and he carried her out of the store, walking happily down the boardwalk.