Sean and Stacey walked up and down the beach looking for Kaitlin. They found her talking to Bradin and ran up to her.

"Get away from her!" Sean yelled.

Kaitlin and Bradin both looked and Bradin began to walk away.

"I asked him to come here," Kaitlin said. Bradin turned around and looked at her in disbelief. "He needed to tell me something and it was important."

Sean glared at Bradin and looked back at Kaitlin. "What are you two talking about?" he asked.

"I told her that I'm really sorry for the pain that I caused her and I do care about her," Bradin said hoping Sean, Stacey, AND Kaitlin believed him. He really did care about Kaitlin after what his friends have been doing to her when he wasn't with them.

"You're a fucking liar!" Sean yelled as he punched Bradin.

"Sean!" Kaitlin yelled pushing Sean away from Bradin as he raised his fist again.

"What are you doing?" he asked not believing that she was standing up for one of the kids who hurt her.

"Don't hurt him. He's sorry, okay? He's sorry."

"Don't believe him! It's just a plan to hurt you again!" Stacey yelled.

"Fuck off! You're not the one who is getting bullied by the popular kids in school!" Kaitlin screamed. "I'll talk to both of you later," she said as she helped Bradin up, "Come on."

Once they were far away from Sean and Stacey, Kaitlin turned to Bradin.

"Don't talk to me again," she said trying not to yell.

"Kaitlin, why did you lie again?" he asked.

"I don't want you ending up like me."

She turned to walk away when she felt Bradin grab her arm. "Thank you," he said, "I meant what I said earlier to Sean about caring about you and that I'm sorry. I don't know why I was acting that way. I shouldn't be acting this way if my parents are watching over me."

Kaitlin had no idea what he was talking about.

"Can we talk again?" he asked.

"Why? If your friends find out-"

"They won't," he said interrupting her, "I want to see you at night. You seem like you're different than I thought."

"No one knows me besides Sean and his girlfriend," she told him.

"I want to become your friend," he said.

"I don't have friends!" she screamed.

"Ever since I saw you crying in Math, I began to worry about you. I won't stay friends with them if they keep hurting you the way they are. I don't want you dead."

"You don't know me," she said as tears formed in her eyes, "No one knows the real me."

"If someone like Sean is a friend of yours, then you're probably a really cool girl," he said as he turned and left her alone.

Bradin walked on the boardwalk as he thought about what to do. He had two choices: stay friends with Callie, Sarah, and Tanner or try to become friends with Kaitlin. Te only way he would become friends with Kaitlin is if she came up to and talked to him. He sat down on a bench and thought about what to do. Sitting there thinking he heard a girl scream. He looked to his side and saw Kaitlin getting beat by Tanner, Sarah, and Callie. Bradin got up and ran over to them.

"Leave her alone," he said pushing Tanner away from Kaitlin.

"What's your beef man?" Tanner asked.

"Touch her and I'll kill you," Bradin threatened.

"You can't kill one of your only friends," Tanner said.

"But, I can," they heard. Everyone looked behind Callie and saw Sean standing there with Stacey. Sean punched Tanner. "If you touch this girl who is the most amazing person in the world and I will kill you," Sean said to Tanner.

"Why are you friends with this geek?" Sarah asked. "You deserve so much better."

"Don't touch my boyfriend!" Stacey yelled as she saw Sarah run her hand across Sean's waist.

Kaitlin sat on the boardwalk listening to the two groups argue. Her head was throbbing pain as all of them yelled. She couldn't take it anymore.

Bradin looked down at Kaitlin and saw how much pain she was in. He touched Sean's arm and told him that he was going to take Kaitlin somewhere quiet. "Thank you," Sean said before he went back to arguing with Tanner.

Bradin kept an arm around Kaitlin's shoulders as they walked on the peaceful beach. All that Kaitlin could do was cry.

"I'm sorry. I really am," he said.

"So am I," she told him quietly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he told her as he stopped her from walking, "I'm the one that hurt you."

"And, I'm the one who ruined your life. All I do is make mistakes. I made a mistake of choosing to live here in Playa Linda instead of New York. I would've had a much better, painless life if I didn't choose to come here."

"Calm down," he said placing his hands on her shoulders. "Look, everybody makes mistakes."

"But, I'm a mistake in this world," she said pointing to herself, "I'm the mistake."

"No," he said as he placed his arms around her to hug her, "You're not a mistake. I know that for a fact."

"But, you don't know me," she said pulling out of his arms.

Sean and Stacey ran up to them asking if they were okay.

"We're fine," Bradin said. He turned to leave.

"Wait," Sean said. Bradin turned around. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"From stopping them from hurting Kaitlin. If you didn't get there when you did, she'd probably be in the hospital or something."

"I told you that I care about her."

"I believe you now. Would you forgive me for punching you?" Sean asked hoping for a yes.

"Yeah."

"Friends?" Sean asked sticking his hand out for Bradin to shake.

"Friends," Bradin said shaking his hand.

"Kaitlin was right about you," Stacey said.

The three of them looked at her with confusion.

"She said that you're different than the others and people can change. I guess that after you saw how much pain you caused her, you did change. You stuck up for her when your friends were beating her."

"No one deserves the tears or pain that we caused her," Bradin said as he looked at Kaitlin.

"Can you walk her home? Stacey was supposed to be home two hours ago and I better be there for her when her parents ground her," Sean said.

"No problem."

Kaitlin walked home next to Bradin with her arms folded in front of her.

"If you don't want to talk to me again after tonight, I'll understand," he said to her.

She looked at him not knowing what to say or do. She looked straight ahead and continued walking. When they got to her house, she turned to Bradin.

"Go home and think about what you're doing."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You ditching your friends for me isn't the right choice you're making," she said.

"Yes, it is. Kaitlin, I know I don't know you, but I like you as a friend. If Sean is a nicer person than I thought, than you should be nicer than he is."

"Go home and think it over. Please," she begged. She opened the door and went inside her house.