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She turned to look at me, red rimming her lower lid. "Why couldn't he have been more like you?"

Okay, so she saw me as a brother? I didn't know how to feel about that. But I guessed it's safer than my alternative. Her sixteen-year-old brother Xander was beaten to death a few months ago after picking a fight with the wrong people.

She cleared her throat. "This is so stupid. I don't even know why I'm crying. I hated him." She took a deep breath. "What about you? How are your parents?"

It's time for me to tighten up. "They didn't call last night," I said. "But I'm sure they're all right."

"They're probably just busy," she reassured me.

"Yeah." My chest tightened. She's right though. They make an effort to call me every night, but sometimes, they don't even get a minute to spare. It's not the first time they've missed a call-in, but each time they do, I imagine the worst.

"Breathe." She helped by rubbing my back. "If anything were wrong, you'd get a call by now."

I pulled out my flip phone in a hurry to check if I had any missed calls. I didn't. That's a good sign. My breath found me again.

"Let'"Let's talk about something else," she suggested.

"Like what?" My fingers buzzed as I played with the lace on my shoe, trying to ground myself.

"Like what you and Christina were talking about?" She pretended to flip her hair over her shoulders.

"It's weird to see you act feminine." I grinned.

"What are you talking about? I'm a woman. I'm automatically feminine," she said.

Laughing, I teased her, "Settle down, you're not quite a woman yet. You're still a kid."

She gasped. "And what are you?"

I gave her a look as if to say, 'Come on, do you really have to ask?' Popping my guns out, I clarified, "I'm a man."

"Oh, sure you are." She deepened her voice, making me crack up. "You're only a year older than I am." She rolled her eyes.

My chest was a lot less tight. At least with Lily, I could attempt to forget for a while. Living in the moment was best when it's with her.

"Christina and I were talking about prom." I picked up a handful of sand and watched it pour through my fingers.

"Ugh. I bet she was." Lily grimaced.

"What's that face?" I asked.

"Prom. It's so ugh..." She shuddered.

"So, you wouldn't go?" My skin burned, and my pulse hammered with the sudden urge to ask her out.

She laughed aloud. "If I ever show up at prom, call the cops. It must be because someone held a gun to my head. Why? Are you going with Christina?"

"I didn't really want to go before. But now, I do," I admitted.

"Oh, are you rebelling against my disgust for prom?" she teased.

"Maybe." I shrugged. "But if I went, I wouldn't go with Christina." I looked into her eyes. Tell her, damn it. I couldn't. It wouldn't be fair to her or me to admit how I felt. Pulling on the strings of her hoodie, I tightened it so that it covered her face and left her nose poking out. My hands were idle, and my thoughts were all scrambled.

"Hey!" she shouted, peeking at me from beneath her cocoon as she tried to grab me.

I dodged her, jumping to my feet and running away. She chased me, panting as the sand pulled at our feet. I let her catch up to me. She jumped on my back, ruffling my hair. We fell to the sand, laughing.

As a dark cloud passed over the bright sun, we looked up at the sky, lying on our backs next to each other.

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