The Last Song - Virgato/Jochris

THREE

Joel couldn't help the smile that crept on his face when he received his fruit bowl or the noise his stomach let out. So far, there were a few things he had learned about the pier. It had a lot of food, but not man options for his vegetarian lifestyle, there was an arcade and a few mechanical attractions, and it was filled with people. It was like the cheap version of the Santa Monica Pier. He looked around for a few seconds before deciding it was too much for him and walking back to the beach.

"I take it you're not much of a people person either?"

Joel looked up from where he had taken a seat in the sand and raised his eyebrows "clearly you are since you're talking to a stranger"

The blonde boy smiled at him and let out a small laugh "Sarcastic, I like it" he said "but you're right, just wanted an excuse to come talk to you"

"did you get what you wanted?" 

"Ok, I'm gonna take another wild guess and say you're not from here"

Joel moved his eyes back to the ocean and nibbled on a piece of fruit before answering "what gave that away?"

"People from around here tend to be nicer" the other guy answered a cheerful tone "it's such a small town, you can't risk having any enemies. I recommend LA for that, it's all about competition up there"

Joel internally sighed, he really didn't mean to be an asshole, but it seemed like a part of him since he arrived. However, this guy, whoever he was, wasn't to blame and he shouldn't be taking it out on him. After all, he was just being nice and since it looked like he wasn't gonna be going home any time soon, a friend would come in handy. 

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to come off as a spoiled brat, I'm just having a bad day"

The guy nodded and took a seat next to him "so, what's your name?"

"Joel, I'm spending the summer with my dad, he lives around here"

The guy nodded "Well Joel, my name is Zabdiel and I'm sorry your day sucks, can I interest you with a Volleyball game? I was on my way to it before I saw you here"

Joel thought about it for a few seconds before nodding his head. He used to play volleyball back in middle school and enjoyed watching it whenever the Olympics came around so why not? he had nothing better to do anyway and he definitely didn't want to go back to the house. 

"yeah" he nodded again "yeah, why not?"

Zabdiel smiled at him and both of them stood up "Great, follow me, it's not far away from here" and so they took off. 

Zabdiel was right, it wasn't too far away and as Joel had suspected, it was right by the beach. However, what he did not suspect was the amount of people who were there to watch the game. For such a small town, population seemed to be pretty big so far. Zabdiel seemed to know everyone they passed by since he was all smiles in all directions and waving at everyone. Joel just walked awkwardly behind them and avoided those who stared as if they were seeing an alien.

Eventually they reached the bleachers and just as they sat down, the players started walking into the court, shirtless, all of them. Not that Joel was complaining, of course. What did bother him was that two of the players arriving, he had met earlier and he wasn't to keen on seeing them again. 

"Don't, he's all trouble" Joel heard Zabdiel's voice once more "he has the typical player reputation around town"

A bit confused to what he was talking about, Joel turned to him and raised an eyebrow "what?" he asked softly.