The girl was pretty.

That's what Marko knew. Not her name, her age. Hell, he didn't even know if she was really there. She floated through the crowd, her deep magenta skirt swinging lazily with her tanned legs. Her hair fell frizzy and brown to her back. Her eyes…

...she was too far away to see. He kept his eyes on her, and when they finally came to a clear area, Marko saw that she wasn't alone. Three boys sat on motorcycles, all chatting quietly. They greeted the girl, then one of them looked around at Marko. Marko stepped forwards, and all of them fell silent. The one who was staring was tall, with long blonde hair and light blue eyes. He was wearing white pants and a battered, long black coat. The boy next to him seemed to have some Native American in him, with his dark skin and black, straight hair. Marko saw that he had no shirt underneath his black jacket, but he was wearing some necklaces. And the one that seemed to be the leader was pale, with a blonde mullet and dark, steady eyes. Marko remembered him as the boy that Allie had hit her head while watching. He smiled.

"Marko. How nice to see you," he said. Marko froze for a moment. He didn't recall sharing his name with any of these people.

"Did you give me the note?" Marko asked, eyeing the leader.

"You asked to know us," he replied.

Marko stared at the boy. He had thought that to himself, yes, but never said it out loud.

"So, who's who?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the psychic vibes.

"Dwayne is there," the leader said, pointing at the black haired boy. Dwayne nodded.

"Paul," the youth continued, gesturing to the tall blonde.

"So you must be David," Marko finished. David nodded. There was a pause in which Marko adjusted his jacket, and David lit a cigarette, blowing tendrils of smoke strategically into the air.

"Hey, Marko!"

A shout behind him made Marko turn around. A short, stocky youth was walking towards him, waving. He had dark brown hair and big hands and feet.

"Hey, Ty," Marko said as Ty came up to him. Ty looked around at the boys, and his eyes lingered on the girl. Marko thought he saw David's eyes flash.

"New crowd, eh?" Ty asked, looking back at Marko.

"The only crowd I've got is you and James," Marko replied, grinning.

"We'll be seeing you, won't we, Marko?" David asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Marko said, not paying attention. "You live nearby?"

"Yeah," Paul said, speaking up for the first time. "You could call the boardwalk our second home."

"Right," Marko said, then he nodded at the group and set off with Ty, who was chatting nonstop.

"James got a hold of some weed, man. Enough for all of us to get high," he said, stumbling a little as he avoided running into a little kid.

"You sure you didn't have any already?" Marko joked. They chuckled and talked as they made their way to the small comic book store on the boardwalk. It was fairly full, being a new store, but it was always easy to spot James in any gathering of people due to his bright green hair. When Marko greeted him, James giggled and clapped his hand on Marko's shoulder. He reeked of weed, and the smell hit Marko hard as James opened his mouth to speak.

"You see those little boys? They're craaaazy," he said, pointing to two small kids behind the counter. Both were glaring stone faced at the trio.

"They said to go home. Can you believe it? And they held up their comics to show me. Vampires. I swear, this is why I don't read!"

James giggled again.

"Where's the stuff, man?" Ty asked.

"At my car," James said, waving him off.

"Let's go, then," Marko said, and they all linked arms, strutting through the crowd.

They eventually came to the jammed parking lot, which was mostly empty of people, who were all on the boardwalk. James stopped at his car, a 1979 Crysler Newport, and opened the driver door.

"Let's go for a ride," Ty said, suddenly.

"Are you fucking nuts?" Marko said, staring at his friend. "James can barely walk."

"I can drive," Ty huffed. "C'mon. One little ride."

"I locked up my bike, but we'll need to come back for it," Marko reminded them as he climbed into the car. Ty had to support James into the passenger seat, and then they were off. The trip smoked a great deal of weed, and so they were parked on the side of a road, the left side leading to a sloping hill with trees and bushes. Marko's head lolled lazily against the exterior of the hood as he laid against it, staring up at the inky sky, scattered with stars. The weed always made him relaxed, and it slowed his thoughts, making his mind peaceful. Ty and James were off in the trees somewhere, smoking or making out or whatever they did when Marko wasn't there. They liked their privacy.

The radio was up full blast in the car. Marko hummed along with Kim Wilde as she sang.

We're the kids in America, whoa

We're the kids in America, whoa

Everybody live for the music -go - round

Marko stretched, focused his eyes to a different spot in the sky, and then sat up with a shout. He could have sworn he just saw three silhouettes. Not next to the car, or on the other side of the road, but in the sky. Three big, black shapes, swooping and laughing. Marko rubbed his eyes and looked back up. The things were gone, and it was quiet again. James and Ty were emerging from the trees.

"Marko? Dude, what was that?" Ty asked.

"I thought I saw-" Marko began, but he stopped, realizing how ridiculous it sounded.

"Probably the weed," James said, knowingly. "We should grab your bike and go home."

"Yeah," Marko said, absentmindedly, "we should do that."

"Oh, man! Kim Wilde? I love her!" James said as the chorus began again. He began to sing along, his voice off key. Marko chuckled and got back into the car.

James was probably right. There wasn't anything to worry about.