"I need more sea glass."

Aldrick turned to his new friend Rae, one eyebrow quirking with curiosity, even a little anxiety. She WHAT? "Huh?"

The blonde had been staring across the room for a few minutes now, hardly paying attention to the boy and his quest in the Pridelands. No, that wasn't important anymore. It wasn't interesting anymore. Instead, she peered hard at a glass jar half full of sea glass sitting on her windowsill. Since each translucent piece varied in color, the sunlight through the window caught each and every one, and this rainbow rested itself in Rae's lap. That's when she noticed it, and that's when the gears of her mind began to turn.

She smiled. "I need more sea glass. It's not full yet, see? And since there's all sorts of new laws being passed about trashing the ocean, sea glass will only get rarer... Not that those laws are bad, but it won't be around forever..."

The boy laughed nervously in return. He only befriended Rae a short time ago in school. He still wasn't sure how to gauge anything about her; she was so confusing! One minute up, the next minute down, a suggestion of jest sounding serious, a serious suggestion sounding like jest... Happy, sad, happy, angry, happy...

All he really knew for sure was that she was interesting, and good. He was PRETTY sure he wanted to be friends with her.

This being the case, he wasn't sure if she was just talking to herself, or making a suggestion for later, or hinting that they should go now.

This was the first time they were hanging out alone. They were just going to relax, weren't they?

"Ah," he answered, unsure of what else he could say.

The girl jumped to her feet, turning off the PS2, not even allowing Aldrick time to save. "Let's go get some!"

"Now?" he questioned, giving a short internal sulk for his two hours of wasted work with that flick of a button. "Where? ...A store?"

"A STORE?! Don't be silly. We're going to the beach."

Uh-oh.

The beach?

That meant sun. That meant LOTS of sun. And heat. Aldrick really didn't like those two things.

"Um, I don't even have any swim trunks."

Rae giggled, already rummaging through her rooms and shoving things into a bright blue bag. "You silly! We're not going swimming; we're getting SHELLS! You don't need a suit for that."

"I burn easily," he offered, which was true.

The girl momentarily held up a bottle that read, "Coppertone" before shoving it in with the rest of her beach necessities.

Okay, that didn't work. He could just be honest, right? Ask for them to stay in here and hang out more in the nice air conditioned house with plenty of snacks andnosun...

"Uh, Rae, I don't, uh..."

"Yup?" The girl peered up from her packing, wearing a pair of shades over her glasses.

"I don't want..."

"You don't want?" she repeated, frowning slightly.

Oh no. That face. She was giving him... THE SAD FACE!

Aldrick heaved a sigh of defeat. "I don't want to worry your mom. You should call her and tell her what we're up to."

Ding-dong.

"Could you get that for me?" Rae asked, toting a swimsuit and shorts in hand.

Before Aldrick could even answer, the girl was off to change. He sighed, making his way down the stairs, a little white dog following behind. What was her name again? Fiona? Flip? Whatever it was, she didn't seem to like him too much. She kept barking and barking and BARKING...

When the blonde peered outside the screen door, he saw a scruffy man cloaked in a long, Matrix-esque black coat, sunglasses, and a black hat. Odd, considering it was summertime.

"Yes?" asked Aldrick, unsure of how to address the stranger. "How may I help you?"

"I'm here to kill Rae."

For a moment, Al's heart skipped a beat. "Excuse me?" he questioned, laughing nervously. Already his mind was running. He could lock the door really quick, and then run to the back door and lock that, too...

"I'm here to kill Rae."

Grabbing the phone on his way there would be easy since Rae's condo was small, but what if the guy had a weapon? What if he tried to make his way in?

"Who's there, Al?"

Damnit, she was coming down! "OH no one!" he attempted, hoping that she might stay ups-

Rae bounced down the stairs in her sandals and a slip, crouching down half way to see who was at the door. "Oh, hi."

"Hi"?! What kind of response was "Oh, hi" to a crazy person?!

"I'm here to kill you."

"What, again? Anthony, how am I supposed to have our merbabies if you're out to kill me? ...And aren't you hot in that?"

Anthony? Merbabies? WHAT?!

The alleged psycho's eyes narrowed, but he conceded, ripping off his fake beard. "Fine. I'll have to wait until after the pregnancy. And then I'll take the kids and raise them to be rabble-rousers like me."

"Can't I even have one?" Rae requested, pouting.

"No. Not even one. HA!"

"Darn."