Author's Note: YEAH! Still nothing new in the reviews department. Why! It makes me so sad...oh well. Did anyone (besides me and my loyal readers i.e. no one) notice that there were none, absolutely NO COWS in the last chapter! Cows GONE! And I have finally tormented one of my characters and sent the rest of them into a frenzy (except for poor little Chunk, who is probably still trying to catch his breath). How fun, I've been missing this. I haven't tortured a story character like this in a good week, and it's been killing me. Poor little characters. I love them, that's why I torment them. Kind of like my friends, who still are not reading my story. Shame upon your souls. Also in a state of sadness because my boyfriend hath gone to Parthenon-a-gogo Land, a.k.a. Greece, to visit family. But I have emailed him this story, so James, if you are reading this...HI! Much lurve to you, you are the first person I know in real life who has taken time to read this. Have fun with your conservative loons in Parthenon-a-gogo land. Take pictures of the scenery (that includes you too, you know. Bring pictures of YOU! Not that I'm not interested in Parthenon-a-gogo land, it's just...eh, nevermind). Miss you (kinda). Don't look at me that way...well, I'm proud you got this far into the story without dying. And yes, Luna is based loosely on me, however, as you know, James, I am a blood enthusiast. God, if I type anymore, the author's note is gonna be longer than the chapter. So here we go!

I was rooming in with Brand and Andy. Brand had insisted on bringing Mikey too, "in case of another scare," he said. He was such a good older brother. They had their rows, and their differences, but when it all came down to the wire, Brand cared a lot about Mikey.

When we all got settled and Andy checked behind the headboards for bedbugs, I asked, "Um, so, what are we going to do now?"

"I do i not /i want to go back out into the rain," Andy said, looking disgusted.

"Dry off?" Mikey suggested. He was lying on the furthermost bed to the right. Our room was much like the rest of the tavern as everything was wooden and polished. It was quaint and simple, with two full-sized beds (wooden frames, of course) that faced the door, and a narrow wooden dresser between them with a lamp on it. Then there was a longer, double dresser on the side that the door was on, and on the right was a small closet. There was no chair, but instead a low stool. There was no bathroom. The guests all had to use the bar bathroom, which was filthy. They only had two: one for the guests, and one for the employees. I bet the employee's was better. It always was.

"Tell you what," said Andy. "I'll go get us all some food, and then we can all go over to the others' room and see what we're going to do. Maybe if it stops raining, we'll go for a walk or something."

"It would be great if we had a TV or something," I said.

"I have a walkman!" Brand said. "We can tune into the radio."

"No, we can't," Mikey pointed out. "Data took your batteries, remember?"

"Of course," Brand muttered. "Data took my batteries."

"Go ask Data for them back?"

"No, remember, he was inside getting the batteries from your walkman, Brand, you didn't bring it."

"Damn."

One hour later we were all in the boys' room (Brand had simply barged in as if he owned the place, and Mouth yelled "JERK ALERT!"), munching on chicken wings and listening to Data's radio. He had fashioned some sort of a speaker and connected it with a tall piece of metal that acted as an antennae, and we were able to tune into the news channel and see what the weather would be.

"The rain should clear up by about three or so," came the crackling voice of the weather person. Because of the poor reception, I was unable to tell if it was a man or a woman's voice. It just sounded like a static robot. But I still praised Data for his work, as I knew I couldn't make anything like that and have it work like he did.

And true to his/her words, the rain stopped at exactly 2:58.

We went outside in our big group. But to get there, we had to go through the bar, which was infested with the same low-lifes that were there before. Someone whispered "there they go again" and another one snickered and stared at Chunk.

When we got outside, the sun was peeking through the clouds, and the town looked much prettier than it did in the rain. In fact, it looked much like Astoria, very quaint. We walked uphill, passing the buildings much slower now, taking a chance to see what was inside of them.

"You know, guys, there's a beach on the other side of town," Chunk suggested. "Maybe we can go there, you know, for dinner. They have a seafood restaurant and everything."

I was hit with a sudden thought. "How big is this town, Chunk?"

"Puny. Why?"

"Your grandparents," I said slowly. "What if they see you?"

"Yeah, Chunk!" said Mouth. "They'll turn us in, or tell our parents, or something like that!"

"Um..." Brand thought out loud. "We're, uh, taking a...field trip?"

"Yeah," said Andy. "And we're...chaperones."

"We're sixteen," I said. "They'll never believe us."

"They're little old people!" Chunk said in exasperation. "They won't be able to tell if you guys are sixteen or sixty!"

All of us laughed, except for Andy, who said, "That's not a nice thing to say about your grandparents."

"It might not be nice, but it's true," Chunk admitted.

"Come on guys!" Mouth insisted. "Let's go to the beach! I'm tired of being cooped up indoors like a chicken!"

"Lead the way, Chunk!" said Brand.

We all followed Chunk, who had a very heroic look on his face. That was, until Data said, "He'll get us lost for sure."

After a good thirty minutes of wandering around town, we found that the path to the beach was only about a ten minute walk from the tavern. Brand glared at Chunk, and he cowered under the gaze. I was impressed that he'd been able to get us there at all. He kept pointing out every wrong turn he made, and stating that he 'knew where he was going.' It had me in small fits of laughter with Mouth in the back of the line. Mouth was telling me about how Chunk and Sloth had saved the gang from the Fratellis. Chunk had flown in wearing a pirate hat and demanded to be referred to as "Captain Chunk" for about a week after the adventure had ended. It turns out that there had been another girl with them on that adventure, Andy's friend Stef. Apparently though, Andy and Stef had drifted apart after she had started dating Brand. Stef couldn't stand Brand, and hated the way Andy acted around him. From the sound of her, we would have gotten along well, and I was kind of sorry that she wasn't invited.

I was amazed by the beauty of the beach. It was more rocky than sandy, and the banks were dotted with conifers, but the water was gorgeous! It was a little bit rough, and kind of a steely gray color, but I bet it was even more beautiful on a clear day. It reminded me somewhat of coastal Maine. Except on the other side of the continent.

There were patches of sand here and there among the rocks, and it was in one of the larger pockets that we all got settled. I sat down on a nearby rock and dangled my hands into a tide pool. It was infused with sea lettuce and a vibrant purple sea urchin, with some other lifeless shells lying about.

Data came about and sat down on the rock next to me. "It's really cool, isn't it?" he asked. "That's a cockle shell, and a purple sea vermin, and..."

"Purple sea urchin," I corrected.

He cocked his head at me and glared. "That's what I said."

"No, you didn't," I protested. "You said 'vermin.' That's what you said."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too...AURGH!" In the heat of the playful argument I had leaned to the side, and something had gotten hold of my middle finger and would not let go. I jiggled my finger a little bit, hoping to shake whatever it was off, but it bit me harder. "Dammit!" I lifted my finger out of the water, and there, hanging on stubbornly, was a sort of (rather large) crab. "Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" I hopped over to where Brand was standing, shaking my hand and contorting my face.

"Dance, Loony, dance!" Mouth called, laughing. Chunk and Mikey were breathless, rolling on the sand. Data was just smiling widely, sitting on his rock, enjoying the show. I, though, was clearly not.

"BRAAAAAND!" I called. "Getimoffme getimoffme getimoffme!" I continued to hop about in strange patterns. "He won't let go, DAMMIT!"

Just as I said that, the crab loosened his grip and I flung him across the beach. He landed on another rock, uprighted himself, and rubbed his claws together indignantly. I don't know why, I was the one who had lost my dignity, not him.

I noticed that Mikey, Chunk, and Mouth were clapping. "That wasn't FUNNY!" I yelled, my middle finger throbbing with pain. "Am I bleeding?" And I stuck my middle finger up in the air so I could see, without thinking about what I was doing.

"Well, REALLY!" I spun around and saw an elderly couple walking by on the bank. The woman looked at me disapprovingly. The man looked uptight himself, but he just kept his head pointed straight on.

As soon as they passed out of earshot, I collapsed on the sand, holding my finger, laughing helplessly. I spat out, "That wasn't FUNNY!" again between futile breaths, but truthfully it was quite funny. It was the most painful fun I'd had in a long time.

When we all regained our breath and composure, we sat on the biggest rock we could find and just talked. About things, nothing in particular, just...random bits here and there. I told them how I had found a fox pup once and hid it in my closet. I learned that Chunk had lost an eating competition to his 98-pound cousin. And Mouth, Mouth of all people, was homesick.

"You, Mouth?"

He turned away. "I knew you would say that. Nobody really expects for someone like me to feel that way." I got the impression that he was saying, i You're just like everyone else. /i In that sense, anyway.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

"Ok." He simply nodded slightly. "You know, Loony, you'd make a good Goonie, you know that?"

I was a bit surprised, and very flattered. I considered these Goonies to be my peers, even though most of them were a good deal younger than I was with the exception of Brand and Andy. It wasn't like a little kid asking you to join their tea party. Which I know is an interesting metaphor, but you are flattered in that sense also. However, I felt like I was really being accepted into a kind of friendship I'd always dreamed of. Where everyone loved everyone, and helped one another, and that kind of crap. Urgh, I'm not usually one to get all mushy and such. I'm just putting it into the simplest terms possible.

"Thanks." I took him into an embrace, and to my surprise, he not only accepted it, but returned it as well.