Wiping away the smudged mascara that lay under her eyes, Marissa tended to the same tear stained face she woke up to every morning. As much as she tried not to be, she was miserable. She was heartbreakingly lonely, and the only smidgen of company she had was her mum and the countless maids and such that littered their house. When her Step-Father had died, all of his wealth had been split evenly between her mum and his two daughters. That left them all pretty well off. Marissa however didn't care about the money or the huge house. All she cared about was that she physically ached to see Ryan again. But she knew that she wasn't going to see him for a very long time.

Her mother was always off on trips around the globe for various different work related reasons. She was a model agent and this time she was in France for 2 months for a promo trip.

Sliding open the top drawer of her dresser, Marissa pulled out what had become her best friend recently, her Vodka flask. She unscrewed the cap and slowly lifted the flask to her lips, before pouring a generous amount down her throat. Screwing her face up at the harsh taste, she wiped her lips and put the cap back on the flask, before placing it back in her dresser. Looking into the mirror in front of her, Marissa scowled. In reality, she'd lost a further 5kg from her already frail figure in the past month, but to her, it seemed like she'd gained 20. Pushing these thoughts into the back of her mind, she left her room, walking down the long spiraling stair case and into the landing. All these marble floors and crystal chandeliers, it was too much. Making her way into the kitchen, Marissa was greeted by the cook.

"What can I get you Madam?"

Marissa smiled kindly at the lady.

"It's alright, I'm not hungry, I just came to get a drink"

"Oh no. Miss Julie said you must eat whilst she's gone, so here, I made you some pancakes"

Marissa stared at the banquet of different kinds of pancakes that lay behind the cook.

"You didn't have to go to all this trouble"

"It's no problem Miss Marissa"

Taking a plate of the pancakes, Marissa smiled and left the room, placing the plate on the bottom step. She stared at it momentarily before picking it back up again and running up the stairs. Once inside her room, she placed the plate on her dresser and stared at it once more. Her body was starving, but her brain was telling her she didn't need to eat. Finally giving in to her body's desire, she ate pancake after pancake until the entire plate was empty. As she placed it back down on her dresser, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She couldn't stand it. In her eyes, she was severely overweight, but to the rest of the world, she was severely underweight. Running to her bathroom, Marissa shoved her fingers down her throat.

--

Step after step, breath after breath, Ryan continued his early morning run along the beach. It helped him release his anger. His path also led him to the lifeguard hut, where every morning he would sit and watch the sunrise, imagining she was there with him. And every morning he traced his fingers over the carving she'd made in the hard wood deck. 'R/M: Thank you'. To most that saw the indent, they would think of it in the most obvious way. Thanking someone. But to Ryan, it meant a whole lot more. When Marissa had first told him she loved him, he'd frozen. The only words that escaped his lips were 'Thank you'. When he'd finally been able to say those 3 little words to her, in a mocking tone she too replied with 'Thank you'. So to Ryan and Marissa, thank you was more than just gratitude.

"Dude, you really need to move on."

A voice invaded Ryan's thoughts, snapping him out of his fairy tale land.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, but whoever the chick is, she's not coming back"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

Ryan had no idea who the guy he was talking to was.

"No, but I come for a jog past this lifeguard hut every morning, and every morning you're here. Now from past experience I'd say, it never really ended. She just sorta left one day and didn't come back. She didn't explain why she left; you just came home one day to find her gone"

Ryan was baffled by how the guy had come to this conclusion.

"Not really. We got tangled up in some trouble with the police. It was either we both go to jail, or we were never to see each other ever again. If it was up to us we would have chosen prison, but her mum stepped in and they moved, to New York"

"Ouch, that's bad. What kind of trouble were you in?"

"A shooting. She shot my brother actually. If she hadn't he probably would have shot me though. He didn't die. I wish he had"

"Wow, that's harsh"

"He tried…he tried to rape her. He completely screwed up her life"

"Oh"

An awkward silence overcame the two.

"I'm Johnny by the way"

"Ryan"

"Well I haven't seen you around school, so I'm guessing you go to Harbour?"

"Yeah. You go to Union?"

"Yeah"