It was finally Friday of the first week of school. I was so happy that I survived school. I was happiest for the fact I had Alex in my chemistry class and he was my lab partner. I also had Cass in a couple of my classes along with Melody in my drama class, Jack and Rian in French, and Lessa in my British lit class.

“Hey Cami wait up,” Alex called after me as I was about to open my back passenger door to throw my backpack into the backseat.

“What’s up Alex,” I asked as he finally got to my car.

“I was wondering if you wanted to come out to the beach tonight with all of us,” he offered.

“I don’t know, I mean, I just started here and I’m close to you or your friends. I’d feel like I’m intruding. Plus I haven’t spent time with my dad since I was little,” I gave him my best excuses. My only reason to not go was that I was still freaked out by the Synfires and I barely knew anyone.

“Please come, it’ll give you a chance to get know everyone and give a place to belong,” he pleaded.

“Okay I’ll come along,” I told him, “Do I need to drive myself out?”

“No need for you to drive, I’ll give you a lift. Be ready by six so I can take you to get Jack and Zack,” he told me.

“Zack,” I asked, I didn’t know a Zack.

“Zack’s my band’s bassist. He goes to Towson High,” he told me.

“Oh okay,” I nodded my head in understanding, “I’ll see you at six, Alex.”

“I’ll see you at six, Cami,” Alex replied as he went to his car in the senior lot.

---

I was waiting for Alex to come over to get me to go out to the beach. I had my black bikini on under a black and grey drop shoulder top and black denim shorts with black flip flops on my feet. I was making fire dance in my palm or bending ice into roses and lilies while I waited. I was so nervous and I hated feeling like this around Alex and his friends.

“Camille, Alex is here,” my dad called from downstairs.

I grabbed my beach bag and nearly ran down the stairs. I saw Alex in white and red board shorts and a plain black shirt and matching flip flops. His hair was its perfect messy self and he was smiling sweetly at me. God he made my stomach do flips when he smiled or talked to me.

“Ready Cam,” he asked. Only Alex called me Cami so far, and I liked it. Most of the time I hated being called Cami or Cam, but when he said it was so different, like he was meant to call me that.

Alex got Jack and then we grabbed Zack before we finally made it to the beach. Jack got out of the car and Melody ran into his arms, the pair kissing each other sweetly. Zack got out and went over to Lessa and wrapped her up in his arms, kissing her forehead. I walked to the bonfire Rian had set up and was enjoying with Cass on his lap. I guessed that Alex invited me so he wasn’t the odd man out among his friends and their significant others.

I had a beer and Alex had two, the other girls had wine coolers while Jack, Zack, and Rian passed around the fifths of Jack and Jäger. Alex finished his second beer and looked over at me.

“Hey do you want to go for a walk, Cam,” he asked, his beer barely affecting him.

“Sure,” I replied as I rose from my seat and followed Alex away from the fire to the water’s edge.

I walked next to Alex, staying quiet and looking out into the ocean. I often wished I still had my mom and I was living in Seattle still. I like the North Pacific over the North Atlantic. I also missed my mom and the security I had in the familiar in Seattle. But my mom was gone and I was living with my dad, a man I was taken from at a young age. I could have so much more control over my magic if I got to stay with him. I might even know Alex even better than I do now.

“You’re awfully quiet, Camille,” Alex said as he looked over at me being silent and lost in my thoughts.

“I was just thinking about my mom,” I told him.

“What happened to her, if you don’t mind me asking,” he asked, stopping so he could watch me for a reaction that maybe asked the wrong thing.

“She wasn’t very happy and she found no way out. So she removed herself from the equation, taking too many painkillers with too much wine,” I told him fighting the tears that wanted to fall, “I found her in the morning when I went to take a shower before school.”

“I am so sorry, Camille,” Alex sighed and pulled me into his arms, holding me to him. I started to cry in front of him, my tears leaving their mark on his shirt.

“I miss her. She was all I knew since I was four,” I told him.

“I bet she’s proud of you, where she maybe now,” Alex said as he stroked my hair, “I’m sure she misses you and wants you to be happy. You just need to relax a bit and let people in.”

I looked up into Alex’s eye to see the chocolate orbs glowing in the faint moonlight. I felt at peace in his arms. Alex had a way with words and how to understand how I felt. Did he go through something similar to me?

“Alex,” I sniffled, “Did you go through the same thing once?”

“I did,” he replied as he wiped some tears from my cheek, “I lost my brother the year before I met Jack. He died in his sleep after he overdrank.”

“I’m sorry, Alex,” I told him as I hugged him again.

“I hope you and I can be good friends,” Alex said, “I think we could use another member to our bunch of misfits.”

I smiled at his comment. Him saying that made me feel like I belonged somewhere for a change. He was a year old than me, but I felt really close to him. I felt a crush for him forming. His smile made my heart flutter and he made my sad mood over my mom disappear. Alex Gaskarth is going to be very special to me, and I’m going to protect him from the Synfires and my magic.

Notes

Update one of two for today. It's going to get interesting I promise. Just stick with me on this.