“It’s too bad Faerin isn’t coming” Tao sighs as he sits down next to me on the bus. Faerin had texted me the night before to tell me she’d gotten her phone back and heard my messages. That was a relief, but at least she was ready to listen to what I had to say.

“She says she’s coming back to school tomorrow, so we’ll see her then” I say smiling. I don’t know why the teachers thought taking the grads to the beach when we have last minute projects to finish for extra credit was a good idea. But it sure was, at least to the slackers.

~

“Aren’t you going to go swimming?” Tao asks handing me a freezie.

“Nah, it’s not really my thing.”

“Do you not know how to swim?” Luhan asks, joining me in the sand.

“I was a life guard last summer as well as on a parks and rec swim team, but that pretty much got me sick of swimming” I say letting the warm sand seep through the fingers of my free hand.

“Oh” Luhan says. “Wanna build a sand castle?”

“What are you ten?” Tao asks.

“You’re never too old to build a sand castle” I say poking Tao in the arm. Sudden shouting causes me to jolt my head up. A few guys from the football team were carrying a smaller boy to the edge of the dock.

“Guys stop! Don’t do it, I can’t swim!” He shouts, unconsciously I find myself following after them. “Guys stop, I mean it! HELP! HELP! HELP!”

“Hey, he said stop, put him down” I say causing the football team to turn. “You heard me, put him down”

“Okay” one of them smirks and drops the boy into the water; his head bobs to the surface but his arms are flailing as he chokes on water. The foo