“Here she is! She has long, lush brown hair, stunning sea-blue eyes, and in the flesh… EVERYBODY, WELCOME…” The music stopped, and the talk show host lowered his voice. “Madeline Rimes.”

  I took a deep breath and walked onto the stage. The talk show host greeted me with an outstretched arm, and the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. Flashing lights followed me to my seat, and when I settled into the large red chair beside him, the lights were so bright that I couldn’t see beyond them into the audience. I squinted, forcing a tight smile before glancing at him.

  “Madeline Rimes.” He smiled.

  “That’s my name,” I replied with a nervous laugh, feeling my voice quiver at the thought of how awkward my response might be. I had anticipated a moment of dead silence or perhaps an awkward pause, but to my surprise, there was none. Both he and the audience joined in my laughter.

  “So,” the crowd fell silent once more as he spoke, “around the world, millions are pondering the same question as I.” He paused, cupping his crossed legs with intertwined hands. “How in the world did you survive?”

  “It’s quite simple,” I said, “Deuteronomy 31:6.”

  My mother always kept a keen eye on me. Ever since I turned fifteen, she insisted on me keeping a tracker on my phone.

  “Gah, mom.” I swept my final cheat sheet into my worn-out army green backpack and zipped it up. “I’m almost eighteen, I’m always on time, and I don’t go to parties.” I threw my bag over my shoulder before I finger-combed my static hair. “So, why do I still have to check in every hour?”

  “Zip it.” Mom held her finger up.

  “Madeline Rimes,” I mimicked my mom’s words that I’d heard a thousand times. “You never know who might be out there. Anybody could be lurking around to snatch my beauty… blah, blah, blah.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Kelsey Rimes.” I arched my brow, feeling stubborn.

  She clearly wasn’t impressed by my mocking tone, her face scrunched up in annoyance. “That isn’t funny.”

  “It kind of is,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Car, now.”

  I rolled my eyes and walked through our kitchen to the foyer, where I sat down and tied my black boots. Gosh, I loved these boots. They were a gift from my grandma. Who knew she had such great taste at her age?

  After I tied my shoes, I heard my brother Kord running down the stairs. He let out a screech and hit the rail of the banister as if he’d successfully beaten his last record for how fast he could descend.

  I rolled my eyes again, my lips forming a smirk. “You’re such a hoot.”

  He walked up to me, breathing heavily. “Not as stubborn as you.” He started to flick me on the arm.

  “Ah, stop.” I felt the sting seconds after he struck me. I stared at him, noticing his dark spiky mohawk. “You’re a dork.” I stood up and forced him into me by grabbing his head. “I’ll see you tonight after services.”

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a tight hug. “Please beg Mom for meatloaf tonight.”

  “Ew, no. You know I hate meatloaf.”

  “Please.” He looked up at me with his puppy dog eyes that worked every single time.

  “Whatever.” I smiled, then sighed. “Meatloaf it is.”

  He let go of me and headed off to the kitchen where Dad had just walked in.

  “Bye dad, see you later,” I said with a wave.

  “See ya later Hun, I love you.”

  “Love you too.” I opened the door and rushed to the silver EcoSport where Mom was waiting. I slung my bag to the floorboards and hopped inside the passenger seat. Mom started to back up, and I fastened my seat belt. I tried to change the station, but Mom gave me a look.

  “Maddy, no,” she said.

  “Mom, please. I hear this every car ride.”

  “It’s good music. Good for the soul.” She took a left turn. “Secular crap fills insecurities in that beautiful mind of yours and doesn’t do any favors for anyone.”

  “It’s catchy.”

  “Catchy straight to hell.”

  “This music doesn’t send you to hell, mom.” I laughed under my breath and shook my head, thinking she takes religion excessively. “It’s about the heart, remember.”

  She glanced at me, then smiled. Grasped my hand and patted it softly. “Yes, and your heart is too good.”

  I could see my school beyond the stoplights and remembered Kord’s begging request. “Oh, can we have meatloaf tonight?” She looked at me like I was ill. “Please…”

  “You hate meatloaf.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Mmm, I wanna try it again.” I smiled. “Maybe my taste buds have changed?”

  She slanted her brows. “Or Kord put you up to this…”

  She stopped in front of the school, and before she could get the truth out of me, I grabbed my bag and said, “Nope, Mom, I gotta go! Love you, bye.” I shut the car door and headed into the school.

  I saw Abigail’s beachy blonde waves shake from a snorting laugh. Abigail and I have been kindred spirits, I swear, since we were nine. Unlike me, she had that quirky personality everyone loved. She could make friends with her enemy in a heartbeat. I was the opposite of her. Secluded and perfectly fine with having a handful of friends. We had many shared interests like church, discussing who the cutest boy in school was, and creating art, whether it was painting or writing short stories. We did it as one.

  Abigail whipped her head to the side and noticed me. “Oh, my goodness, Maddy!” She turned around, and as I reached her, she bear-hugged my neck. I returned the hug and couldn’t help but laugh. She pulled away grabbing my shoulders. With an excited squeal, she asked, “Want to play hooky today? I met this guy named Ash after prom last weekend at this fancy restaurant.” She poked my side playfully. “Which you did not gooo.”

  “Hey, at least I went to prom.”

  “That you did. Anyways, he’s bringing a couple of friends to the docks at Long Beach, and it sounds really fun.” She paused when she noticed my look of hesitation. “Please Maddy. We have two weeks left of our senior year and I want to end it making more fun memories.”

  I arched my brows. “Two weeks of finals.”

  She groaned. “Please. It’s just for the first half, then we can be back before lunch.” She slanted her lips downward.

  I rolled my eyes, then glanced at her as I slid a smile across my face. “Fine. All right.”

  “Yee!” She linked my arm with hers and took off her lanyard keys while pulling me to the door.

  “Wait. My phone.” I looked at her with wide eyes. “My mom tracks my phone like every hour, I swear.”

  “Oh, that’s right.” She clicked her tongue. “Put it in your locker.”

  I raised my brows. “Great idea!”

  We unlinked arms and ran to my locker before the bell rang for first period. Twisting my code in as fast as I could. I swung the door open, plopped my phone and bookbag in then slammed it shut. We knew the clock was ticking, so we began to run through the hall, then out the side doors of the school and into the parking lot.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Hurry!” Abigail chimed in a cheerful voice. She unlocked her red jeep wrangler and we both got in before the security guard noticed. As we rode out of the parking lot, she laughed some more. “Ah, this feels good!”

  I laughed with her. “He was probably stuffing down his morning donuts.”

  She hit my shoulder and laughed louder. “Or the Twizzlers he hides between his belts.”

  “Man,” I shook my head in shock. “That was awesome.”

  “See, this is fun.”

  I rolled down my window to feel the start of California’s summer salty cool breeze. The morning sun beaming down on my arm warmed me, and as I heard the seagulls taking flight from the beach, I saw many people. Some were out in the sea, riding water bikes. Women were on their rollerblades in bikinis. Ooo, I gritted my teeth at the thought of how bad it would feel if you were to fall. I saw men riding long boards with their shirts off, showing off their summer tans. Eh, some people needed to learn to stay out of the sun. Everyone, though it was busy, kept to themselves and enjoyed the scenery around them.

  My favorite parts were the tall palm trees, and the pod of whales you could see when you looked way out in the distance, toward the sea. Summer was the time celebrities left, and the tourists came in. For us as residents, the boardwalk’s Ferris wheel, the tall buildings along the shore, and the jaw-dropping look of the big cruise ships would normally enthrall the tourists, whereas for us residents, it left us bored. So, the excitement for this new adventure Abigail and I were embarking on nearly lifted me off my seat.

  “So, where are we going exactly?” I asked.

  She pulled her sunglasses up and rested them on her head. “He said his parents own a boat and want to take us to this party on Santa Barbara Island.”

  I widened my eyes and smacked her shoulder. “A party? Abigail.”

  “I’m sorry, I lied.” She laughed as if it was no big deal. “You would have never come if it was an all-day thing.”

  I looked away from her and started to bite my nails.

  “Don’t worry, Madeline. I will have you back before school ends.”

  I took a deep breath. “You’d better, or else, my mom will shun you from my life forever.”

  She shook her head, laughing. “Ah, Mommy loves me. You’re exaggerating. Relax and enjoy this moment.” She shrugged her right shoulder. “It’s already happening ? can’t look back now.”

  Right, I thought, it is happening. Please God, don’t let me get into trouble for doing something I know I shouldn’t have done. Although I was having fun, I couldn’t help but feel anxiety twisting in my stomach like a taut rubber band. A thought told me to turn back, but that was just my paranoid mind. I had never skipped school; that’s why I had a four-point-oh. This was entirely new to me. Of course, I would have anxiety.

  We parked in the lot near the pier. Rows of boats swayed gently with the current. Approaching the lush green grass, the sound of waves crashing against the shoreline enveloped my ears. As we walked through the sand toward the pier, a seagull swooped in front of me. I halted and watched it pick up a small pink shell. It was as if the seagull wasn’t afraid of me. A second later, it began to tap the shell against a small rock. I smiled, thinking how cool that was. Never had something like this happened to me before. Suddenly, it dropped the shell, then cocked its eye up at me. Its black pools almost mesmerized me.

  “Maddy,” Abigail called out. “Are you coming?”

  I looked up and realized she had reached the pier. “Coming!” I glanced back down at the bird, and as it made me think about the movie Nemo, I couldn’t help but mutter, “Mine.” I chuckled under my breath and watched its spindly legs amble away from me before it took off. I started walking toward Abigail and noticed she had stopped in front of a boat. She raised her arm and motioned for me to join her. I quickened my pace when a man, who appeared to be in his forties, intercepted me.

  “Excuse me, Miss, would you mind helping a fellow out?”

  I furrowed my brows for a second, and looking over the shoulder of the man, I motioned her to wait. “What can I help you with?”

  He glanced at Abigail, then back at me. “Oh, you’re with your friend, maybe she can come and help too?”

  I shrugged, squishing my lips to one side. “Ah, it’s okay. It shouldn’t take too long, right?”

  He laughed optimistically. “I imagine not too long.” He turned around then walked off the pier and stepped into his boat. With caution, I stepped to the boat of the door and peered in as he asked, “I didn’t catch your name, Miss?”

  “Oh, it’s Madeline, but everyone calls me Maddy.” I saw him kneel, then slide under his cabinet with his legs dangling out. He was untangling some wires under his cabinet. “What’s yours?”

  “David.”

  “Nice.” I glanced around his boat more, seeing it was a single cabin. Which meant, he must be alone in this world. “The sea is your wife, I see?”

  “Yep.” He pushed out a laugh, then a small grunt as he pulled on a wire to get it loose. “You see those tools sitting on the minifridge?”

  It was a small red one. “Yeah.”

  “I need the pocketknife out there.” He made a small grunt again, yanking on the wire some more. “I gotta cut this loose. My hand isn’t strong enough.”

  I raised my brow. He looks pretty strong to me. I hopped into his boat and grabbed the knife. Opening it, I handed him the side of the handle. His eyes moved away from the wires and at me.

  “Don’t you realize that could’ve cut you?” He spoke.

  I scoffed under my breath. “That wasn’t my first thought, trust me.”

  He looked at me with a wide grin then said, “So, you do have common sense.”

  “Oh, this...walking onto some stranger’s boat?” I nodded. “I know a bit of karate.”

  He started to laugh, and then it progressed into a belly laugh. He made an Ooowee sound, then wiped the sweat off his brow. “Child, I haven’t laughed like that in weeks.” He cut the wire, then, asked for the electric tape.

  As I handed it to him, I couldn’t help but ask. “Is this just a stop on the way to a destination ? or do you live here?”

  “I am on a task for my master.” He spoke. “Trapped in flesh until it’s complete.”

  Okay. I stepped away from him and wondered where his volleyball, Wilson, was. “What’s your task?” I watched him like a warmonger.

  He climbed out of the cubby and stood up. Grabbing his yellow rag with black stains, he wiped his hands off. “Don’t worry about that. Thank you for the help and the chat, Madeline.” He held his hand out for a shake.

  I hesitated, then, for a second, I saw a glimmer of light in his eyes. I felt a pull to shake his hand as comfort had swayed over me. I shook his hand. Then, with his other hand, he placed the same knife, closed, in my hand.

  “Take it as payment.”

  I slanted my brows again with an unsure smile. “Thanks.” Then I slid it into the back pocket of my jeans.

  “Who knows, someday you might need it like I did today.”

  I held my smile and felt another wave of comfort wash over me. Before I turned around to leave, I hesitated and asked another question: “David, will I see you again?”

  “I believe so.”

  I nodded, then turned around and left his boat. I exhaled at my quick whim of action. Heck, I even shook my head. I was glad that I did it though because he was good company. I finally reached where Abigail was standing, but I didn’t see her. “Abby?” The wind picked up and I saw a roll of rope. I went to pick it up, thinking someone could wrap their foot in this and trip. When suddenly a hand touched my back.

  “Hey! Get your hands off my rope!” Abigail teased, deepening her voice.

  I jumped at the sudden voice and turned around with a small scream. Abigail, placing her hand over her mouth, started to burst out laughing.

  “Ugh, don’t do that!”

  “What, come on, it was a joke.” She laughed some more.

  I rolled my eyes. “Where is this, Ash.”

  She squished her lips together and skipped past me with wide eyes. “Over here.” She got in the boat to the left.

  It was small, white, with three blue stripes, with a decal sticker that read: When the party is over. It’s over. Esshh. That seems weird. I followed Abby and waited by the cabin door.

  “Come in,” she said, “He’s under the cabin getting us drinks with his friend.”

  “Mmm, okay.” I stepped inside and noticed it was a double-wide cabin. He and his friend living in a double-wide made sense. I stood by the wheel, and we waited for them to come up. I moved my legs and felt jittery. I didn’t know why. I guess because I had never done this before. Mm, maybe it was because I was intimidated. I didn’t allow myself to be around boys much. Shy. There it was, yes. Shy.

  I heard the boys climb up the stairs, and my heart started to thump like a rabbit scratching its ear. An underwater tornado swirl of anxiety took my breath away, and I hesitated to move my eyes away from my feet.

  “Hey, hey, hey!” the first guy said. I could tell just by that response. He was immature.

  “Hey,” Abigail replied, “Ash, this is my bestie, Madeline.”

  I forced my eyes to look at them both. The guy to my left was tan. He had short dark curly hair, brown eyes, with a long face. His height looked five-nine. The guy to my right also had a beachy tan. His short blonde hair was freshly cut, his eyes were blue, and his face was round.

  “I’m Ash.” The guy with the blonde hair spoke, then pointed to his friend. “This is Derek.”

  I gave a short wave. “Nice to meet you guys.”

  Ash and Abby looked at each other.

  “Are we ready?” Ash asked.

  “Ready as ever!” She took a glass from his hand and started to chug it. She then took the glass from Derek’s grasp and offered it to me.

  I grabbed it and held it close to my chest. The tiny nudge within me, which felt like a whisper, told me to withhold from drinking it.

  “Get comfortable, people,” Ash said. “Santa Barbara, here we come!”

  He started the boat’s engine, and I sat on the teal couch, next to Abigail. As the boat gained momentum, the boat started to sway a little bit more to the waves. I never got seasick, but for some reason, this time I did. I could tell he was gaining fast speed; the small waves began to make the boat jump.

  “I would fasten your seatbelts,” Derek suggested.

  “Hmm, great idea,” Abby said, her face starting to look a little green.

  Her sick look made me chuckle. “So, how big is this party?”

  Derek shrugged. “Not too big, just enough people to have fun with.” He smirked, then rustled his fingers through his hair.

  “Is it just me or am I getting hot, because I don’t feel so good,” Abby said.

  I glanced at her and realized sweat was dripping off her forehead.

  “Oh, my gosh. Are you all right?”

  “Ah, she’ll be fine,” Derek chimed. “The drink was champagne, and she chugged it fast. Sickness tends to happen fast on a boat when you drink alcohol.”

  “Right.” I slanted my brows for a second, but I was cynical.

  “It is better if you sip,” he suggested.

  “No thank you.” I set my glass in the thick glass holder. “I think I will wait for the party at Santa Barbara.” I glanced at Abby and realized how sluggish she’d become. Her head rested on the couch, swaying as if she had no control. My breathing started to increase, and my heart pounded as I widened my eyes. “Oh my gosh, what did you do?” I reversed my gaze back at Derek and realized he was standing right in front of me.

  “You should’ve drunk yours.”

  Before I realized what was happening, he reared his hand back and with something hard, he hit me on the head, and all went jet black.