"I'm not having a picture of a GUY hanging on my wall." Sam snapped with his face set in a snarl. He was making his way towards Bekah's poster in their joint room with full intentions of ripping it down. It was against the guy code after all.

"NO!" Bekah yelled, finally making her entrance into the room. She pressed her back up against her beloved poster with her arms out, ready to fight Sam off if she had too.

"Do you see this poster?" she asked Sam dramatically. "This guy is a god!" she explained, or tried to anyway. Sam didn't look like he was listening. He was too busy making faces at Bekah.

"What? Are you horny or somethin'?" Sam asked, his eyebrows raising.

"That is one thing you never say to your sister." Michael's voice floated through the door before his body appeared in the actual doorway.

"I didn't mean it that way." Sam said, a look of disgust washing over his face.

"Whatever." Bekah told him with a shrug. "The poster stays and that's final. I let you have all those stupid comic book posters everywhere and I don't complain."

"Yeah but this is a picture of a guy!" Sam struggled to make her see reason and turned to his older brother for help.

"She just won't understand." Michael said, faking a sympathetic look before he disappeared down the stairs.

Bekah stuck her tongue out at her little broke for a few seconds before disappearing after her twin with a happy laugh. She knew her little brother wouldn't dare touch the poster. He just wanted to share his distaste with her even though he knew she wouldn't take it down.

She gave an evil laugh as she finally emerged into the kitchen but cut it short when she saw her mom slumped over the table with papers in her hands.

"What's up?" she asked, even though deep down she really didn't care. She wasn't exactly in the mood to hear what was wrong with her mother and she didn't want to have to handle whatever was either.

"You're going to have to get a job." her mother said, half distracted by the papers in her hands.

"Why?" Bekah snapped, her steps halting. "Michael can get a job. Why do I have to work?"

"Because you're older." her mother said, finally looking up.

"Don't give me that bullshit. I'm older then him by two minutes. Now give me the real reason." she snapped.

"Because Michael doesn't need to be bothered with a job. Schools starting soon and he works harder then you do."

"I work just as hard as he does!" Bekah yelled, the plastic glass she had in her hands tumbled to the floor as she clenched her hands. "You just don't want me around."

"You're right, I don't want you around." her mother yelled back. "You cause too much trouble and you're a bad influence to Sam."

"Bullshit! I'm not a bad influence to anyone. I'm just being a teenager. Or are you too old to remember those days?"

"Teenagers don't stay out till dawn getting drunk!"

"Actually they do. You just have a socially abnormal son!"

"The only socially abnormal one in this house is you-"

"Hey Bekah!" Sam yelled from upstairs. His voice cut through the tension in the room like a knife and Bekah had to shake herself out of the rage she had built up before she answered him.

"What?" she called back, her voice softer then it had been a few minutes ago.

"That guy that dropped you off last night is in front of the house, the one with the bike." Sam yelled back, his voice was far off now and Bekah could picture him standing in front of the window, looking down at a mysterious Dwayne.

"Alright. Thanks Sam." she called back, her eyes finally resting on her mother again.

"I can't take much more of this." her mother told her. Fresh tears had formed in her eyes in the last few minutes and Bekah's resolve almost cracked...almost.

"Of what? Of me being a teenager or you not being able to handle being a parent?" Bekah knew it was a low blow but she couldn't take it back now.

"Take it back!" her mother snapped, her tears finally falling.

"Oh okay. I'm sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Bekah snapped. Her chest was heaving in and out now and anyone else would have sworn she'd just run two miles without stopping. But this, this was no where near physical.

"I'm sorry that you weren't strong enough to take it when dad left. I'm sorry that I couldn't stop him from cheating on you. But most of all, I'm sorry that you were stupid enough to believe that it didn't kill me to watch him cheat on you for five years strait." she took a gulp of air. Her lungs were burning and she felt like she was going to die but she knew it was just because she was hurting so much inside.

"Now that you've heard what you wanted to can I go?" she whispered. She didn't want her voice to be bitter and she tried with all her might to make it not be, but it was anyway. She had been hiding her anger for so long and she was sure she didn't have any more space to hold it anymore.

Inside she was torn between a sick satisfaction at the thought of her mother finally knowing how she felt and a regret that made her almost sympathetic.

"It never stopped you before, Bek." her twin brother snapped from behind their sobbing mother. His face was set in stone like it always was when he was angry and as usual, Bekah couldn't find it in herself to care.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Michael." Bekah screamed at him. She knew for a fact she wouldn't regret yelling at HIM later.

"Excuse me if I'm actually going to take some time out for me! I can't seem to remember Michael how about you help me out. Who was the one that was right next to mom through out the divorce? Who was the one acting like she didn't care just so her mother could be able to make it to the next day? And who was the one out smoking weed and what not pretending like everything at home wasn't FUCKED UP?!"

Now she really was out of breath. The regret she had felt for yelling at her mother had vanished as she turned towards the door she felt that sick satisfaction take over until it filled her gut. She was happy. She was happy that for once she had told them all how she felt. For so long she had carried this heavy burden on her shoulders, pretending like she didn't care.

And she was tired. Tired because all the pain that had built up in her chest was finally starting to bring her down. And she hadn't even begun to let it all out.

She was barely aware of the cloud of dust that wound around her ankles when she finally hoped off the porch. She was too intent on wiping away the new tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. She had decided a long time ago that she wouldn't let anyone see her cry, and she was about to break that rule.

She couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not.

When she did look up though, she decided it WAS a good thing, that maybe when people saw her cry it didn't matter. Maybe they wouldn't think she was weak for just letting out a few tears. She hoped that was the way the world was now-a-days because there was Dwayne, just like Sam had said he was.

His bike was already turned around, facing the road for a quick exit. He was wearing the same jacket that he had been the night before and once again, there was nothing underneath. She could tell he had on a different pair of jeans but it didn't make much a difference. He still looked the same.

He still looked good.

When she was close enough he held a calloused dark skinned hand in her direction and without a second thought, she slipped her hand into his.

She was getting on the back of the bike of a guy she had only known for a day, and she was leaving. It had a certain feeling to it, like she was finally doing something she WANTED to do instead of something that would just spite everyone around her.

She was doing this because she wanted to do it and she wanted it even more when her small hands finally wrapped around Dwayne's waist.

She was ready to feel carefree and happy; she was ready to feel the way the boys made her feel when she was around them. She wanted to see their smiling faces. She wanted to hear their laughter. She even wanted to see the hate burning in Star's eyes when she looked at her.

In such a short amount of time she had started to love the way the complete strangers made her feel. Was it a crime? Was it really so bad that for once she wanted to leave and make the best of her life? She had spent so long bottling things up and keeping secrets that she had forgotten how to live. Even when she had been partying and drinking and smoking pot with her friends, she wasn't having fun. Back then she had done that kind of stuff to make herself forget about what she was keeping inside.

Now she just wanted to do it because it was what she wanted instead of what she had to have.

"Are we going to the boardwalk?" she asked. Her voice was already hoarse from the yelling she had done and it was even a little bit sore. She waited patiently for his answer, clearing her throat a few times to try and make her voice even out. When she didn't get an answer, she guessed it was just a given that that's where the boy went every night, or almost every night. So when they started off at the same break neck speed as the night before, she wasn't scared or worried about what was coming next.

She was excited to see the other boys and to finally let loose.

And again she had to notice the way Dwayne's body moved underneath her fingers. It was almost comforting know that she had such a strong person protecting her for the time being. She had never had that after all.

When they finally reached the boardwalk, Dwayne stopped his bike next to three others that looked really familiar and Bekah smiled just at the site of them. She was slipping off of the bake of Dwayne's bike before he could even stop her (well, he could have...). She turned back to watch him as he cut the engine on his bike and then slipped off himself. He was back to his regular position of towering over her.

She almost let out a yelp, though, a few seconds later when a hand slipped into hers and pulled her around. She started to settle again when Paul's face appeared right in front of hers.

"You look sad, pumpkin." he said as his rough hands came up to wipe away the fresh tears on her cheeks.

"That's because I was sad." she told him with a small smile.

"And now you're not because you get to see our smiling faces." Marko chimed in in an overly happy voice.

"Haha. You're sooo funny." Bekah swatted at Marko even though she was smiling. He dodged her though so he could come up behind her and throw an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm surprised you let that stalker get you on the back of his bike." Paul said, a mocking grin turned on Dwayne who was trailing behind them with a newly arrived David. Bekah could only smile at the two before she was being pulled off in another direction by Paul and Marko.

"Check it out, Surf Nazis at 2 o'clock." Paul said, his voice taking on a deeper pitch and sounding almost threatening. Bekah's brow furrowed as she looked a little towards her right.

"What?" she asked, still a bit confused.

"Bekah!" her name rung out around the boardwalk and she searched for a bit before she met a familiar face coming towards her.

The green hair was unmistakable and it dawned on her a few seconds later just who it was coming towards her.

"Nathan!" she called, waving at him to let him know she had recognized him. He stopped in front of her a minute later when he had finally made his way through the crowd and Bekah found herself smiling at him.

"We missed you at the party the other night." he told her as he ran a hand through his green hair.

"Yeah I know-" Bekah cut herself off when she felt a hard body pressing at her back. She turned, expecting to come eye to eye with either Mark or Paul but who she saw surprised her.

Dwayne was standing behind her, pressed closely towards her. His eyes were darker then normal and Bekah's brow furrowed in confusion again. It looked like he had taken in her shock, but it didn't stop him from wrapping a possessive arm around her waist. She was so caught up in his dark mysterious eyes that she didn't notice the knowing look that passed between the other three boys.

"Anyway," Bekah started again when she was finally nudged by Nathan. "I got lost and David here, kind of found me." she smiled when David let out a chuckle and then turned back to Nathan.

"Some other time then." Nathan said simply, his voice taking on an edge that it hadn't had before. "I'll catch you around sometime." he finished before he rushed off in the opposite direction that Bekah and the boys were headed.

She could feel Dwayne's arm slip from around her waist and then he was stepping away from her. She shuddered at the lost warmth and the over all loss of the feel of him pressed against her.

Her cheeks took on a flush of red at the fact she was actually letting a guy get to her. She had stopped doing that back when her parents had divorced and she had caught her father in bed with another woman.

"What was that?" she snapped, her body turning on Dwayne. She figured the question had rushed out of her as a way to compensate for her bruised ego and the mixed feelings the tall, dark and handsome man was sending. "If I can recall correctly, I don't belong to you and you didn't want me in the first place."

In the blink of an eye, Dwayne had grabbed her wrist and turned her roughly around until her back was pressing against his front.

"Don't tell me you didn't like it." he whispered in her ear. The feel of his hot breath on her cheek made her shiver for more then one reason and her cheeks flushed again. She was overly aware of Dwayne's other hand that had laid itself to rest on her hip. The rough pads of his fingers were drawing circles on her exposed skin, like she had done the night before to him.

She couldn't decide whether she was aroused, confused, or completely humiliated.

"Hey Bekah."

Bekah looked down, the small figure of Laddie finally coming into her view. She could feel Dwayne's grip on her wrist slacken and then the feel of him had disappeared all together.

"Hey Laddie." she greeted him, bending down with a hand stuck out in front of her. She tried her best to put on an easy smile but she was still shook up from the feeling of Dwayne. She had opened her mouth to ask the boy how he had been doing when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked up to see David looking down on her with his cool blue eyes.

"Let's go. We're getting out of here." he told her, his hand leaving her shoulder to hang in front of her face. She grabbed Laddie's hand and David's hand at the same time and then they were off, heading right back to where they had parked their bikes.

When they reached them, Laddie detached himself from her hand and made his way towards Paul, the person Bekah had planned on riding with because she didn't think she could bare holding on to Dwayne.

She looked towards David in a silent question but the only thing he did was shake his head with a smirk. She groaned out loud before running up towards Marko's bike where he was already situated.

"Please?" she begged him, her lip sticking out in a pout she hoped would work.

"Why don't you ride with Dwayne like you always do?" Marko asked, his smirk matching David's. Bekah had a feeling Marko already knew the answer but for some reason the whole group seemed to want to hear why she didn't want to ride with him.

"Because I don't want to ride with Dwayne." Bekah bit out, her eyes trained souley on Dwayne as she said it. It wasn't a lie but it wasn't the full reason either and she figured the whole group would just have to accept it.

"Ok." Marko said, his smirk gone even though his eyes still twinkled.

When Bekah had situated herself on the back of Marko's bike the group took off down the boardwalk. She opted for tucking her head behind Marko's shoulder instead of watching the scenery pass by, not to mention it was warmer.

But when the group stopped all too soon, her head rose to look to her left where the commotion was.

A scowl found it's way to her face when she realized it was her twin brother and the girl, Star, that she had met last night.

"I see a striking resemblance." Marko joked from in front of her. The only answer she gave him was a jab to his ribs that made him shift.

When she tuned into the conversation David had struck up with the woman she only scowled more.

Star had just opened her mouth to answer David's question been Bekah's dearest brother cut her off.

"Bekah?" he asked, his face contorting with confusion.

"Hello, Michael." she answered. She let her arms snake around Marko's neck partly to see if she could spite Dwayne (who she watched from the corner of her eye) and partly to spite Michael.

She only succeeded in spiting one.

"What are you doing with these guys?" he demanded, his hands gesturing wildly to the four boys on bikes.

"They're called friends, Michael, you should try it sometime." Paul sneered before letting out a loud laugh. Marko joined in with his best friend for a few minutes before the two were silenced by a glare from David.

At least long enough for David to issue a little "challenge" to Michael.

"Don't do it, Michael." Bekah told him. There was a hidden plea, a hidden warning, in what she said but she doubted Michael picked up on it. "She's not worth it." she threw in, just for good measure. She doubted Michael picked up on that either even though the other four boys did. All of looks she got from boys were knowing glances, as if they knew what she was thinking and for a few seconds she wondered if they did.

But she didn't get to linger on it long.

Because a few seconds later, they were racing through the boardwalk again, the wind in her hair and the smell of ocean air pressing at her nose.