Kaitlin and Bradin sat in the tree house talking about each other. Bradin look over at Kaitlin as she smiled when he told her about his life back in Kansas. She looked so beautiful when she smiled.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "I didn't mean to ask you about your parents or life in Kansas."

"I'm fine. Don't worry. I've explained it so many times that I'm use to it. Now, it's your turn to ask a question," he said.

"If you could be any animal, what would you be?" she asked.

"That's easy, a whale."

"Why a whale?" she asked.

"I love being in the water. It makes me calm and happy. If I was a whale, I could be in the water as long as I want and come up to the surface whenever I want." He looked over at her. "What about you? What animal would you be?"

"I would be some form of a cat, preferably a tiger."

"Really? Why?" he asked.

"If I was a tiger, I could attack things that I want if they piss me off and sleep whenever I want."

"Don't you get enough sleep now?"

"Since I began racing, I've only got four to five hours of sleep each night."

"Damn."

"I know. That's why my family and I come here to Playa Linda, so I can take a break from racing and have a good time."

"How long have you been coming to Playa Linda?"

"Um," she began, "I have to say about five years. People here are amazing. Wait, I take that back. Most people here are amazing."

"What did you normally do here?"

"I meet up with my friends and either go dancing, to the movies, or just hang out on the beach. We always find something to do. We have creative minds that make this place the place that you want to be when you're bored."

"Are you going to meet up with your friends?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow, I'm going to my friend, Kylie's house and we're going to go around, get our other friends, and hopefully plan to go dancing soon. Every year when I come here, we go dancing and dance on stage to whatever song we dance to before then."

"You mean like choreographic moves?"

"Yeah. It's so much fun. Maybe you and your friends should go when we go. You'll have a great time when you're with us."

I bet I would, he thought. Kaitlin looked down at her watch and noticed that they were talking for two hours.

"I think we should go. It's almost nine and my mom doesn't like me out this late unless she knows the person or people I am with," she said.

"Okay."

"When does your bandage come off?" he asked.

"Tomorrow. I have to go to my doctor's brother who works in the hospital. The stitches need to be taken out."

"How many did you need?"

"Twenty-five. It was a deep cut," she said looking down at the sand as they walked.

"I think I should shut up," he said.

Kaitlin laughed to herself. "You can talk about it. I just don't want you to mention anything about how it happened or the hospital visit."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded.

"What cut your forehead if you were wearing a helmet?"

"The pixy-glass from the helmet. You know, the shield that covered m eyes. When I crashed, it broke and went into my forehead."

"How are your arms?" he asked.

"They hurt, but they should clear up within a few days."

"Shouldn't they have cleared up if the accident happened weeks ago?"

"You're right. They should have. However, my arms were in a wrap that hid the bruises and made them worse because of how tight they were."

They approached their houses. "Do you want to hang out sometime?" he asked. "I know tomorrow you're going to see your friends. What about the following day? Are you doing anything?"

"As of right now, no I'm not doing anything. But, I know I will be. I think we can hang out that day."

"How long are you here for?"

"About a month."

"So, there will be a time where we can hang out."

"Yeah."

Bradin walked Kaitlin up to her door. "Thank for tonight. I really needed it," she told him.

"Thank you, too. I needed it as well."

Kaitlin smiled. "I will see you later, Bradin," she said.

"Bye."

Bradin turned and smiled to himself happy that he was going to see her again. Bradin walked to his house and noticed that Kaitlin's family was still there.

"Bradin, where's Kaitlin?" Susannah asked.

"She's at her house."

"Is she okay?" Kaitlin's mother asked.

"Yes, she's better."

"You two were out there for quite a while," Jay said nudging Bradin.

"Shut up, man," he said pushing Jay. "I'm going to bed. I'm meeting Lucas and Mike tomorrow on the beach."

"Don't you mean Kaitlin?" Derrick asked.

"No. She's going to hang out with her friends," Bradin said as he got up and ran up to his room.