Thoughts are in italic.

The Next Morning:

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Bradin jumped at the screeching of the alarm clock. He looked over to Marissa who was still sound asleep. How she could sleep through that alarm? Especially when she was on the side of the bed where the alarm clock was. He got out of bed, careful not to wake Marissa, and walked into the living room to find a note on the coffee table. He grabbed it and walked into the kitchen, leaning against the counter.

Bradin,

Marissa's father went to work early and so did Susannah and I. Derrick's lunch is finished in the fridge and money for Nikki is on the counter by the microwave. I called your school and told them you and Marissa would not be there. Jay's there if you need anything, but he'll be leaving for the surf shop shortly after Nikki and Derrick leave. I have my cell phone if you need anything. Love You,

Aunt Ava

Bradin crumpled up the note in his hand and tossed it into the garbage can. He flopped down onto the couch and turned on the tv. A re-run of "Friends" was on, so he decided to keep that on. Half an hour later, the show ended and Bradin went searching through the channels again.

Marissa P.O.V

I woke up with the sun shining into the room. I looked next to me to see Bradin missing. Oh my god, please tell me I'm not home alone. Please, please, please. I hated being home alone. To me, it was the scariest thing in the world. I jumped out of bed and ran to the door. I sighed in relief when I saw Bradin sitting on the couch watching tv. I made my way to the couch and sat down next to him on the couch.

"Hey," Bradin said, smiling at me. I tried to smile, but I couldn't. "Come here," Bradin said, opening his arms for a hug. I moved closer and snuggled into him, wrapping my arms around him and cried into his chest. We were on the couch for about 15 minutes when Jay walked in from the back door of the house, followed by Lindsay, Nikki, Derrick, Taylor and Tyler coming down the stairs.

"Good morning, everyone." Jay said in his thick Australian accent. Everyone replied with their version of "good morning."

"Bradin, Marissa, I'll take care of them, you guys go for a walk or something." Jay said.

"Alright, thanks Jay." Bradin responded while I just nodded. We walked out of the house, hands locked together. We walked to the beach in silence. We came across a bench and sat down. Bradin sighed and looked at me.

"Marissa, you know I'm here for you, don't you?" I nodded. "I know what you're feeling. Alone, confused, upset. I know. I want you to talk to me."

"I…I know. It's just hard." I managed to say.

"I know it's hard, babe, but you have to. I would have gone insane if I didn't have Nikki and Derrick to talk to. I know you, Marissa. I know you don't like to talk in situations like this, but like I said before, you have to. Whether it be me, your dad, Lindsay, my aunt Ava, anybody."

"You. You're the only one that understands me." Bradin nodded. We talked on the beach for while and then headed back. I called Aly.

"Hello?" Aly answered.

"Hey, Al. It's me."

"Hi. How are you?"

"Better, but still not so good," I answered honestly.

"Me too."

"So... I just called to ask you about the fu…fune…funeral."

"Yeah, it's on Friday," She said. Today was Tuesday.

"Okay, I'll probably fly out there. My dad knows someone who owns a hotel there so I'll just stay there. I'll call you later."

"Okay. Talk to you later. Love ya, girl."

"Love ya. Bye" I said, hanging up the phone.