On the Boardwalk

Now

I walked under the large sign stating "Welcome to the Santa Carla boardwalk!". There were lots of food stands with funnel cakes, ice cream, cotton candy, and corn dogs. I didn't have to worry about this place closing anytime soon, the sun is setting and the boardwalk is open until 5am. My mom is home unpacking boxes, and I begged to help her but she said "No, you deserve to have some fun! You'll make friends!" I thought yea, sure, it might be easy for you, but not for me. I was wearing ripped jeans, a San Diego hoodie (that's where I moved from) and a pair of worn out converse. My hair was up in a ponytail, but I take it out because my head is starting to hurt. I was thirsty, so I walk over to the nearest stand to get a Coke. My mom gave me $30, so I should be good. No one really stared at me, so that helped my anxiety. I bought the Coke and walked all the way down the boardwalk, so that I can start from the back and work my way forwards. I passed lots of rides and game booths, and saw LOTS of teenagers, like more than I would have thought would be here. Once I got to the end, I had finished my drink and stood looking over the railing into the dark water of the ocean. Standing next to me is a girl about my age, with her little brother. She notices me looking at her and she walks over. I quickly turn my head towards the water to avoid talking to her, but it's too late.

"Hi, you new here?"

"Yea," I say quietly. Surprisingly she hears me.

"Cool! How do you like it here so far?"

"It's nice, I haven't really gotten the chance to walk around, we got here yesterday."

"Wow, I'm assuming your from San Diego?"

"Yep," I say, glancing down at my hoodie.

"Oh, my name's Star by the way, and this is my brother Laddie," she says as her brother waves, then hides behind her.

"I love your name! Mine is y/n, I say with a smile and wave towards her brother.

"Aw, thank you, I love yours too," she says as she spins toward the ocean, with her big fluffy hair spinning with her and blowing in the wind. I turn with her, looking out over the black ocean with the moon reflecting off the surface.

"So," she says spinning back toward me, "what are your plans for tonight?"

"Oh, I was just gonna walk back down the boardwalk and maybe ride some rides or play some games."

"Ooh fun, mind if I join you? I've got nothing better to do," she says, then whispers something to Laddie and he runs off.

"Not at all, I'm glad I met you, or I would've been alone, and that's no fun."

"I'm glad I met you too!"

"Alright, lets go," she says, grabbing my hand and leading me toward a basketball game. We played tons of games and rode the roller coaster and the Ferris wheel, where Star pointed out everything. The last thing to do was ride the carousel.

"C'mon, we have to! It's been here forever and it's kinda a historical landmark!" She laughs and pulls me toward the carousel, where a ton of teenagers are all sitting on the ancient looking horses, where as I thought there would only be little kids. We climbed up onto the spinning platform, I get onto a red horse, Star climbs onto a purple one. All of a sudden, a blond guy walks up wearing a long black coat with black pants, a black shirt, black gloves, all complete black boots and one earring. He approaches Star and wraps his arm around her shoulder, but she grabs his arm and removes it.

"What do you want David..." she says sounding annoyed.

"Where have you been Star," he says while eyeing me and exaggerating her name.

"I asked first."

"I just wanted to see you."

"Yeah right," she says as she turns toward me and rolls her eyes and mouths "he's lying".

"Get out of here David." He stares at me for a second, but then spins on his heel and walks off.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"David, he can be a total jerk, but he has a soft side once you get to know him."

"Ah, I see, I had some friends back home who were the same way." She nodded as the carousel stopped spinning. We stepped off and started walking towards the exit. That's when I collided with him.