Blossom Beach: Perfectly Wrong

Prologue

Hailey

4 months ago...

"Jess, are you sure it's safe out here? Maybe we should head back," I tell my slightly-too-relaxed best friend. She simply smiles and keeps walking.

Jess and I have been best friends ever since kindergarten. Jess is a tall, beautiful, half-Latina, half-American girl, who always knows exactly how to make me feel better. Yet, at this moment, she can't. I am terrified. People injecting themselves with drugs, mothers screaming at their children because they didn't get enough money during the day, and more people fighting over a blanket. We are in the streets of San Francisco, close to midnight. It is colder than usual and the trembling of my body, which comes from the fear, doesn't help keep me warm either. It isn't safe for us to be out here, and we are both very aware of this, which is why she doesn't answer my question.

A loud bang makes me jump up and turn my head to look in the direction it came from. "Cálmate, chica. We're going to be fine.'' Her telling me to calm down isn't anything new either, but it still bothers me. I have never been as brave as Jess, and I imagine I will never be. Still, I can't help wishing to be less... weak.

I am a very cautious person, and she knows this all too well. I take her hand, and she squeezes it to reassure me we are going to be fine. I have never liked how Jess always has to be the stronger person out of both of us. Ever since we were little children, she stood up for me and protected me. She was all I had for most of my life.

As I bring my attention back to reality and the street in front of me, I notice a petite woman walk past us with a terrified expression on her young face. She sees exactly what I see. The city is very dangerous at night, especially with all the drugs being used. I look down her side and see her child pressed against her, an action which indicates the want to protect her daughter no matter what. I wonder what that feels like: parents who actually care about you.

My parents aren't good parents. They are never home, and they don't try to be either. Their work is more important to them, which they have said to my face countless times. Whenever I have a problem, they aren't the ones I go to. Jessie is the one. Well, Jess and her parents. They have been my family for a long time. Instead of questioning why I don't talk to my own parents, they are just there for me. No questions asked. Jess must have told them about my 'family-situation' at one point, but I don't care. I have always wanted parents like Jessie's, but I also know my parents would never, ever be like them. My best friend is very lucky, she got the best ones.

After we walk past another closed shop, I breathe in and out very quickly and loudly a few times, to try and bring my heart rate down. "Hales, please chill. You're making me nervous. We'll be fine," she reminds me.

We walk a few more minutes in silence. It is so quiet, I can hear my own heartbeat in my ears. This may also be because my heart is beating twice as fast as usual, but nonetheless, it's deafeningly quiet. My hand never leaves Jessie's, and my breathing stays uneven. Big cities have never been my thing. They scare me. I read the newspaper a lot and every time I do, something bad has happened again.

A tall man walks past us, and I scoot closer to Jess. He has a weird smile on his face, which makes me more than uncomfortable. As he passes by, he also cocks an eyebrow, and I force my gaze back onto the ground.

We are close to the train station. All the shops are already closed by the time we walk by them and the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach doesn't go away. How can it, when everything is telling me to go hide somewhere? The first thing I learned when I was younger was never to be out this late at night in a big city. Yet, here we are, going against one of the most important lessons girls can learn. It makes it hard to get rid of the scared feeling, especially because at least ten people are watching us closely.