I, as you already know, own none of the characters of Summerland BUT I do own Teresa Coleman and her family, friends and anything else you are unfamiliar with.

Thanks to justthegirl07 for reviewing.

Okay, if I'm gonna keep updating this, I'm gonna need y'all to REVIEW!!! As I've told you, your reviews are what is keeping it alive. So, if you're reading it and not reviewing, please do. Thank you.

Chapter V

Don't Ask Me That!

Bradin couldn't sleep. It had been a month since he'd witnessed the boy and girl on the beach but somehow it stayed with him. Seeing another person die had made him angry about his parents' death all over again. He remembered how hurt, sad, angry, confused and upset he'd been. He thought he had finally gotten to the point of moving on after about a month, but then everything came rushing back one night after he had a dream about his life back in Kansas with his whole family. Then, he would have a dream like that every other night, and they didn't end happily, something would always happen to his parents in the end... It was like reliving the night they died every other night. After the dreams started he had withdrawn from everyone and though his aunt tried extensively to get him to talk to her, or anyone, he wouldn't talk to anybody. Then, seeing the boy die only made it all worse...

Erica had suddenly taken to getting close to him and he slowly started to trust her and would have told her about his dreams and how much he missed his parents but he found out that Jay had asked her to try and find out what was bothering him. This made him very mad, then he wouldn't talk to Erica about anything unless in was about surfing during his surfing lesson, in which she was his instructor, and she gave up trying to talk to him after that.

Why wouldn't everyone just leave him alone? Couldn't they see he didn't want to talk to anyone? He was getting pretty tired of them asking him everyday if he was okay... Of course he wasn't okay but he didn't want to talk to them! He wouldn't talk to them but he did want to! No he didn't! His mind screamed two different things; he hit his fist into his pillow. Tears formed in his eyes, he really didn't know what he wanted... He wanted everything to go back to how it was before his parents died so he wouldn't be bothered by thoughts of them or haunted by their memories every time he saw something that used to belong to them in his aunt's house. He rolled onto his back as more tears rushed to his eyes, he was tired of closing his eyes and seeing his mother or father and he was sick of everyone asking if he was okay. Couldn't they tell he wasn't? And if not, then they really weren't very smart people, but if so, why didn't they ask him what was wrong? And when he lied to them and said, "nothing," why did they give up so easily and walk off?

"Ohh," he groaned in frustration, trying not to cry.

He felt the tears that had formed stinging his eyes and falling down the sides of his face. He turned to his side and looked at his little brother sleeping peacefully in his bed, he sighed. Trying to fall asleep was just not working tonight and it was already 3 in the morning. He shut his eyes but every time he did so, a vision of his parents would flash before his eyes. He hadn't been this bothered in a week. Usually he could get to sleep after a while. He shut his eyes again, and again, he saw his parents. This obviously wasn't working. He got up, pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt and slipped out of his room careful not to wake his brother.

The house was dark and very quiet; evidently everyone was asleep. Bradin peeked into his sister's room, just to make sure she was okay, because another thing that had been bothering him was the worry that he would lose one of his siblings. He slunk down the stairs and into the kitchen, he left a note that said, "Gone for a walk, Bradin." and slipped out the back door.

He walked down the beach going nowhere in particular just walking... He found himself standing on the beach near the house that the women had come from when he'd seen the little boy die. He stared at it for a minute then turned to the ocean and sighed. He started walking again, his head low and hands in pockets.

He stopped again, picked up a rock and tossed it into the tide... He was standing directly in front of the backside of the house, which was about 30 feet behind him, where the women had come from. He wondered if the teenage girl were coping okay or not... He looked up at the moon and wished he could just disappear so he wouldn't have to face the coming day and his own grief. The breeze, though cold, comforted him in some strange way. He sighed, the ocean was working it's magic on him again. He felt himself losing awareness and floating away on the sound of the waves, he walked into the water until it was up to his waist, it was very cold but he didn't get out he just stood there staring at the sky, hands at his sides, hair blowing freely. He felt so free in the water, so free and so whole, it was as if the ocean were his missing piece.

Finally he got too cold and walked back to the beach, sitting down facing the ocean he breathed in the salty air. The sun rose somewhere behind him and filled the sky with golden color, he felt his pain returning knowing he would soon have to face another day, another set of "are you okays" and another restless night.

He buried his head in his knees and felt tears rolling down his cheeks. After a few minutes he heard his watch beep, looking at it he saw that it was six 'o' clock. He groaned; he really didn't want the day to begin. He dropped his head back in-between his knees and sighed.

He felt like he could never get up and that the tears would never stop coming. It had been about 15 minutes since he looked at his watch but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to get the tears to stop coming to his eyes. He really wasn't crying, but he knew it would look like it and he wasn't about to go back home and have his aunt or someone else ask him about that, no, he'd just wait. A few minutes later he gained control of his emotions enough so that no more tears came. Now he was just waiting for his face to clear up before he went home. He was also trying to clear his mind of his parents so he could concentrate on other things. He had been messing up terribly when surfing lately and Erica had said, "Hey, Kansas, I know you won't tell me what's bothering you, but if you don't get your head in the game soon, you are seriously going to hurt yourself! Now pay attention." Bradin hated that he couldn't concentrate on it, usually he would surf when he felt stressed and it would help, but now he was so distressed that he couldn't even do that! Why wouldn't his mind just click off and leave him alone? He felt tears coming again but he refused to let them fall, he pushed them back and sighed.

Bradin was so in thought that he failed to notice a person standing beside him. "Hello!" a voice said from right next to him. Startled, he jumped, jerked his head up and stared up at a girl around his age. His heart raced from being startled, he breathed fast and studied her, he was sure he'd seen her before, somewhere... but where?

She had shining red-brown, slightly wavy, hair that went down to the middle of her back and stunning emerald green eyes, her skin was a light shade of brown, indicating that she was at least part Hispanic. She was wearing a smocked, long dress, a white charm necklace that was layered to look like it was three different ones, and a dark green, jeweled, bracelet. Her hair hung loosely down her back and over her left shoulder, she was barefoot and looked to Bradin to be 15 or 16. She was beautiful.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" she spoke sweetly, "I'm Teresa, you?" Her mind replayed that last line instantly and mocked her choice of introduction; I'm Teresa, you? Are you just trying to be stupid? It screamed at her. To her shock he just dropped his head and mumbled, "Bradin."

She decided she would press on despite the strange introduction on his part. "So, um... how old are you?"

He didn't answer for nearly a full minute then with a sigh he raised his head and looked away from her saying, "I'm 17."

"Oh... I'm 16 today!" Teresa smiled. No answer. She was disappointed that he wasn't helping her to carry on a conversation. Maybe he just doesn't like you! That stupid voice spoke up again. Maybe you should just shut up! She returned, How can he not like me? We just met! The other voice spoke, So what? Maybe he can tell that he's not gonna like you... Oh please, that's silly! She said back but felt her confidence falling with every second of awkward silence. She really felt like she should get to know him, so she wasn't about to give up that easily! Aloud, she said, "So um... you mind if I sit here?"

"It's a public beach isn't it?" he returned.

She felt herself getting mad at this but blew it off, "Uh.. yeah... You okay?" she said, sitting down about 2 feet away from him

Bradin was seriously about to beat his own guts out for being so mean to this girl, she never did anything to him except try to be friendly. Oh, you stupid idiot! His mind screamed at him, What did she do? Why are you being so evil? "It's a public beach isn't it?" God, it can't get much ruder than that right of the back! You are so stupid! He severally berated himself for being so mean to her. He was about to turn around and say he was sorry when he heard her say, in reply to his "public beach" comment, "Uh.. yeah... You okay?" That was too much. "Am I okay?" he laughed as though she were a small child, "Am... I... Okay..." he breathed between each word trying desperately to control his temper, "Don't ask me that!" he screamed at her.

Well folks, that's chapter 5! I hope you like it and will review, but if you don't like it, I still hope you will review!
Thanks!

Anna Christie AKA SecondStarToTheRight15