Mycah tapped his fingers against his leg, moving them to the beat of the music. His eyes scanned the beach, the emanating glow from the bonfire casting light on the young people dancing against each other.

He took a swig of his beer. He wouldn't be getting drunk, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy a drink or two. Contrary to his party-animal-fuckboy-jock image, Mycah wasn't a heavy drinker at all in comparison to other boy's his age. Mainly because of his bipolar disorder; a hangover combined with depressive tendencies was never a good combination, as he had learned in his youth.

He hummed lightly to the tune that blared over the speakers. He turned his head slightly to the left and found his eyes lingering slightly on a trio who looked about his age.

The girl and two boys looked vaguely familiar, and after a moment of staring it clicked with Mycah- they were the teenagers he had seen on the same beach last week, of whom he had made a mental note to introduce himself to.

Until, of course, he was attacked by Arden and his stupid bucket of cold sea water. Mycah frowned thinking about it. Prick.

They looked different in the dark light of the evening, but he was sure they were the same. There was no mistaking that girl- she was extremely hot.

Mycah didn't realize he was staring until the girl looked up, making eye contact with him. She smiled cheerily at him, and he returned it with one of his own. She raised her eyebrows, her expression telling him to come over.

Hell, he didn't need to be told twice.

He stood up, brushing off sand from his naked torso and swimming shorts. He strolled over to where she was standing, the two boys at her side looking up at him curiously as he made his way over.

"Hey." Mycah said upon reaching the trio.

"Hi." The girl replied, her smile bright as she looked up at him. "And who may you be?"

"Mycah." He replied. "What about you?" He asked, addressing the group.

"I'm Katie." The girl answered.

"Felix. And that's Connor." The boy next to Katie said, gesturing to the other boy.

Connor smiled and said a soft hello.

"You guys don't mind if I join you?" Mycah asked, not wanting to impose.

"Not at all bro." Felix answered, holding up his hands to show it was cool.

Katie and Felix were both Asian American, with tan skin, dark black hair and slightly slanted eyes. Connor, on the other hand, was fair skinned with just a light sun tan. He was cute, slim and lithe with some very lightly defined muscle on his chest and stomach.

Katie wore a navy bikini top and shorts, while both Felix and Connor clad in swimming trunks. Not that Mycah expected anything different, it was a beach party after all.

"Are you two siblings?" He asked, looking between Katie and Felix interestedly. They were too similar looking not to be. They shared matching smiles and small noses as well as other similar features. Not to mention, they were both hot. Like, really hot.

"Twins. Unfortunately." Katie joked, earning her a light shove from her brother.

"Cool." Mycah chuckled.

"Not as cool as one would think." Felix replied.

"I'll take your word for it." Mycah replied.

"Where are you from?" Katie asked, rejoining the conversation.

"Virginia." Mycah answered.

"So what brings you to these parts?" Felix asked, nudging Mycah's shoulder lightly with his own.

"Family vacation." Mycah answered simply, not mentioning Arden. Speaking of which, the other boy had seemed to disappear and Mycah momentarily wondered where he was before realizing that he actually didn't care. "What about you guys?"

"Locals." Katie answered. "We are the wise, helpful souls who'll teach you the ins and outs of this place." She joked mysteriously.

"Sounds like a plan." Mycah said back, subtly flirting.

What? She was cute.

"Let's find somewhere to sit down." Felix said, gesturing over to a smaller bonfire close by them that was currently unoccupied. It seemed like a better place to talk, where they wouldn't have to strain their ears to hear over the noise of the party.

They sat around in a circle, the four of them clutching drinks and chatting aimlessly.

"Is it just you and your parents that came here?" Felix asked Mycah.

"I wish." Mycah answered with a snort and a roll of his eyes, earning him questioning looks from the others.

"My parents friends came too, with their son. I guess they're like close family friends or whatever." He elaborated, distaste clear in his voice at the mention of Arden.

"And that's bad because.." Connor asked confusedly. Mycah was slightly surprised. Connor hadn't really spoken much during the conversation and Mycah quickly observed that the other boy was the quiet type.

He shook his head slightly, regaining his focus on Connor's question. "Oh, we don't get along. Not me and the parents, they're cool. The son, he's my age and I guess we just.."

"Don't see eye to eye?" Katie suggested for him.

"Hate each other." Mycah finished.

"Wow, intense." Felix laughed.

"You can say that again." Mycah snorted.

"Are you guys sharing a house?" Connor asked sympathetically.

"We're sharing a goddamn room." Mycah deadpanned, glaring at the others when they started laughing at his misfortune.

"Wow bro, I feel for you. Really." Felix said as he dropped his hand onto Mycah's shoulder, voice both humorous and sympathetic.

"Why don't you get on?" Katie asked curiously.

"Hate each other." Mycah corrected.

"Right. Hate each other," Katie laughed.

"I don't even know anymore. We've just never got on." Mycah said simply. "We're in the same group of friends at school, so we manage to be civil to each other. But for the most part it's just constant bickering. I mean, we've been fighting since we were three years old."

"Have you guys gotten into a physical fight yet?" Felix asked.

"Twice." Mycah answered with a nod.

"In all these years, only twice? That's not too bad." Felix replied.

"Oh no, I mean twice so far on this holiday." Mycah corrected him, shaking his head slightly with a small laugh. "Over the years.. well I don't think I could even attempt a guess. Too many times to count." He said, and Felix whistled in awe.

"Woah. And do your other friends not mind?"

"They're well used to it at this stage." Mycah chuckled.

Katie spoke up then, checking the time on her phone. "Speaking of group of friends, has anyone seen Leona?" She asked, addressing the two boys.

"She was talking to someone we met at the beach the other day." Connor answered, pulling out his phone. "I'll send her a text."

"Who's Leona?" Mycah inquired, wondering if it was the fourth girl he had seen with them at the beach the last day.

"Friend of ours. The fourth quarter of the core four." Katie joked.

"Was that an O.C reference?" Mycah asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Yes! You know it?" Katie asked, sitting up straighter.

"Know it? I love it." Mycah replied excitedly.

"How could anyone not?" Katie sighed dreamily, a wistful expression on her face.

They chatted about The O.C for a while, Connor and Felix engaged in their own separate conversation until Connor held up his phone, which was lit up with a recent message.

"Leona's on the way." He said, waving his phone slightly.

"Great." Katie beamed.

"Was she the girl on the beach with you last Monday?" Mycah asked, referring to the blonde girl he could remember with them.

"Tall, blonde, pale?" Katie asked.

"That's the one." Mycah confirmed.

"You remember us from at the beach?" Felix asked.

"Yeah, I was going to go over and say hi." Mycah replied, slightly annoyed as he was reminded as to why he didn't.

"Why didn't you?" Katie asked curiously, sensing the slight edge in his tone.

"Got distracted." He grumbled back, remembering the feeling of the cold sea water cascading down his back. Ugh.

"You don't sound too happy about that." Katie teased, a knowing glint in her eye as if she just knew it had something to do with Arden.

"Arden threw a bucket of ice cold water over me, the prick." Mycah answered, rolling his eyes.

"I'm suddenly starting to like this Arden guy." Felix chuckled jokingly, Katie nodding along with him.

"Wait, did you say Arden?" Connor asked, brow furrowing as he addressed.

"Yeah.. Why?" Mycah questioned, turning to face the boy.

Connor opened his mouth to reply, but before he could answer a sing song voice cut over him.

"We're here!" The girl, who Mycah presumed was Leona, exclaimed from behind him. He put a smile on his face, readying himself to great the girl. He turned to look back, smile slipping straight off his face and jaw dropping open when he saw who she was with.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."