He was at the beach, along with a few other teenagers. Tori Hanson was throwing a beach party in honor of her cousin, who was coming to stay for the summer.
Skye mentioned something about a date; Dustin had zoned out, searching for the rest of his friends. As usual, Shane Clarke and Hunter Bradley were surrounded by their fans: girls who never failed to show up for a skate exhibition, or a race. Blake, the younger of the Bradley brothers, laughed as he played volleyball with a few beach bums. Tori was nowhere to be found. He supposed that she was surfing. He scanned the crowd again, his eyes falling on a particular person.
The girl stood apart from the rest, both literally and figuratively. She was pale, pale, pale, with short auburn hair streaked with bright blue dye. She was petite and slim, but stood with an air of hidden strength. She was dressed in beach clothes (a black bikini and olive green board shorts, but the expression that she wore on her compelling face suggested that she didn't want to behere at all.
She intrigued him.
Skye finally got the impression that her charge wasn't listening. She followed his gaze and rolled her eyes. iTypical/i she thought in disgust. iEveryone's got it bad for the new girl./i She marched over and dragged her to him, deciding then and there that her chances of scoring with Dustin Brooks was now zip.
Upon closer inspection, it was obvious that the girl was not from the sleepy town of Blue Bay Harbor. A nose ring glinted dangerously in the sunlight. There was a tattoo of a dragon winding up her right arm. The most unusual thing about her appearance, however, were her eyes: the left one was blue and the right one was green.
"Uh," said Dustin, "hey."
She blinked at him, as if it was the first time she had ever been spoken to. "Hi," she said warily.
"I'm Dustin Brooks," he pressed, hopng to get her to say more.
"I see," she nodded, draining her drink. She moved away, looking for a place to throw her empty paper cup.
"Wait," called Dustin. "I like...didn't get your name, dude."
The girl turned around, her odd eyes glinting mischevously. "I didn't give it," she replied. She sauntered off, only to be blocked by a girl with long blonde hair.
"Dustin," Tori said, holding the girl by the shoulders. "Have you met my cousin Jade?"
Jade Thomas clicked her tongue pierce against her teeth. "Brilliant, Tori," she said. "You messed up my dramatic exit."
Her cousin either missed the sarcasm, or chose to ignore it. "Jade, meet one of my best friends," she said. "This is Dustin."
"How many best friends do you have, anyway?" asked Jade, shaking his hand. So far, she had been dragged all over the beach, meeting a variety of people. Right before she managed to escape, she had met a dark-skinned skater surrounded by giggling girls (Shawn? Spencer? She couldn't remember right now) and two guys whose smell of motor oil did not completely cover their own personal scents.
"So how come you're living with Tori?" asked Dustin.
"I'm just spending the summer here," she explained. "I'm waiting for my scholarship to be approved; I live in Los Angeles."
"With your parents, yeah?"
Jade's mouth narrowed into a thin line. Tori was determinedly looking at sand crab at her feet. "Well," she said a little too cheerfully, "they died when I was fifteen."
"Oh," Dustin looked away, an ashamed expression on his face.
Jade rolled her eyes. People made such a huge debacle about the death thing. The best way to deal, in her opinion, was to deal, period. Any shedding of tears, or expressions of pity were unacceptable.
"Can I go now?" she asked.
"Sure," replied Tori. "I'll meet you at home, okay?"
"I can hardly wait."