The ocean crashed aggressively against the sand. The shore line was crowded with people during the midday. The many yelling voices almost drowned the sound of the ocean entirely. The warm day encouraged more people to show, taking advantage of the plus 30 degree Celsius weather. Not unlike me. 

Opening my eyes the sun glared through the clouds almost making it a couple of degrees warmer. Might not make a difference but  I was always cold. My skin felt like ice all the way down to my feet. My friend always told me I reminded her of a vampire. Always cold, paler than moonlight, and I prefer a good steak to chicken. I mean. I can't argue with her.

Sitting up, I clutched my knees to my chest. Hoping to warm up just a bit more, didn't really make a difference.

A come on I thought

Tired of being cold. I gave up and decided to make my way back to my house. I threw on my sweater and sneakers, tying my hair up with an old elastic I found lying around the house. My house was just a block from the pier. My mother chose the spot because my father used to joke he'd catch a shark one day. Which reminded me of the old house. When he'd sit for hours on end at the edge of the pier in our backyard, staring at the sunset.

Smiling to myself with that memory,  I made my way across the sand and onto the paved road. The trees swayed with the slight breeze coming off the ocean. Los Angeles was usually very warm, or so I'm told. I couldn't really tell the difference between a rainy day and a sunny day.

 I was just about to pull out my headset when a car pulled up beside me. 

``Hey bitch get in!"  

Recognizing the voice I glanced through the car window. It was my newest friend Riley. Her eyes glimmered behind her  already sparkling sunglasses. Unlike me she radiates warmth and sunshine. I liked being near her. She was like my own personal fireplace to relax beside. She didn't quite know it but I was truly fascinated by her. Her warm smile, her green eyes, toasted almond skin and her long shiny brown hair. She always seemed to  smell of strawberries. Needless to say I never disagreed to hang out with her.

Smiling, I climbed in the car beside her and hugged her, digging my face into her hair. 

Mmm, I thought, strawberries.

"Eeek! damn girl you're freezing!" She fake shivered to accentuate this fact.

"I know I know" I rolled my eyes and fell back into my seat.

"How was the beach?" She asked.

"Crowded as always" 

Riley always loved the beach, regardless of it being crowded with people. She and I were completely different human beings that way. She loved people like the extrovert she was. Unlike me, I was an introvert. I hated people and places with people. The idea of being around other people made my anxiety go nuts. Which was funny because there was more people in Los Angeles than I could bear to think about. 

 Bored of my own thoughts, I decided to throw Bluetooth on. Picking the first song that came up on my playlist.

Of course it had to be Queen 'somebody to love'.  It was our favorite song, a song that I had on the day we first met. Quite a long time ago now. She'd been my friend ever since.

Glancing over at her I smiled and she joined me in singing. We both sang as loud as we could. Pretty sure everyone could hear us.

Laughing, my friend threw the car into drive and the car followed the roads towards my house. The car passing through the streets, different coloured houses passing through my peripheral vision. Riley knew the way to my house like the back of her hand. It was like a second home to her. I didn't blame her. My mom's had her hooked from the minute she said 'Boba Tea?'. Riley's been over everyday ever since. Like tradition.

Los Angeles hadn't always been my home though. Northern Ontario was my home. Always would be. I've lived there most of my life up until two years ago. My father disappeared a long time ago. Just went missing into nothingness. That's not my impression of 'he left'. I mean we filed a missing persons report and everything but we never found him. It broke my mom. She couldn't live there anymore. I honestly couldn't blame her. So much has happened since then. I often catch myself wondering what he could be doing. More often than not it always ended up with me taking antidepressants.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Are you thinking about your dad?".

Surprised , I glanced over at Riley. Her eyes never left the road. My mouth moved before I could think of what I was about to say.

"How do you figure that?".

She laughed "dude, first off you went dead silent".

Really? I never thought of myself as a chatty person.

"Second your eyes glaze over when you think about your dad"

"Well unfortunately yeah,that is the case but I promise I'm fine".

"Hey relax I don't care, you're allowed to show emotion" she rolled her eyes.

Chuckling, I agreed mentally. I mean that's what my counselor said to me on my first day. 

Staring out the window I just watched the signs pass by. Music slowly faded to the background as I seemed to step into some type of daydream. The sun turned almost greyish throughout. My breath slowed my heart rate, everything seemed to haze over blocking out complete thought. For a while I relaxed. That was until I saw Her. 

A woman in a bright red dress and heels. Her head tilted to the side as she saw me. A confused expression crossed her face, her eyes were- suddenly I was jerked from her image.

We'd hit a red light. Riley had hit the breaks a little hard. Causing my snap back to reality.

"Wow that was weird" I shook my head.

Riley glanced over for a brief moment. Then the light turned green and we continued down the road towards my house. Actually just around the corner.

"You okay?"

I thought I saw a woman staring at me... like she knew me" 

A concerned look shaded Riley's face. Her green eyes were blank. She spoke in a light monotone.

"Ah there's lots of people in Los Angeles, I bet you were just tired from being in the sun all morning".

Nodding in agreement I relaxed once more. Before I knew it she pulled into the driveway of my house. The bright white paint on the house caused the sun to flare right off the front. Mom's red roses contrasted the house. I never knew why mom loved roses. Red ones especially. She grew them in her garden like a madwoman. Pruning, watering ,and weeding were a part of her additional chores.

Riley turned the ignition and with it the music went silent. Glancing up I watched my mom make her way down the driveway towards us.

"Heads up" I smiled.

Riley chuckled "three, two, one-"

Mom opened my side of the car and handed us each a Boba tea.

"Could you be any later?" 

Raising my eyebrow I replied "Mom, you never gave me a time to come home".

"Still, it would be nice to have dinner with you" 

Was that supposed to be sarcasm? I thought. Riley and I locked eyes shrugging.

 Riley locked up the car and we followed mom towards the house. The house was small on the outside but don't be deceived. It was two floors and a basement. I hated it. 

I never liked big houses. Made me feel like it was a chore to take care of it. Why go through that effort when you could be relaxing after an hour of cleaning a smaller house. It never made sense to me. Mom always liked big houses. Not from expense but because it reminded her of the first house my dad bought for them. The one I was raised in. 

Mom shut the door after us so as not to let the cool air out of the house and told us to sit in the living room. She was painting the other side of the house so we weren't allowed over there. I think she does it to keep herself ocupado. I used music myself.  

Riley plopped herself on the couch, a rested expression relaxed her face.

She sighed. Bringing me to her attention.

"What's up?".

"So...woman?"

"We still wanted to talk about that?".

Riley looked like I'd just asked her torture someone.

"Are you kidding!" She laughed "of course we do, we can't just ignore it!".

"Wait! Weren't you the one who told me it could've been anyone?"

"That was just because I was driving" she waved passively "so what did she look like?"

I thought about it. Then frowning, I replied.

"I don't remember"

"What, like you don't know what she looked like?" 

I shook my head "no it's like I never saw her. I actually don't remember seeing her!"

Riley leaned close "weeeeird".

I nodded. I know.

Just then mom walked in with crackers and cheese for a snack. Remembering that I had homework I pulled it out of my bag that conveniently sat beside the couch. Riley smiled and pulled hers out of my bag. She always stuck her stuff in my bag. Just that kind of friendship I guess. We began on algebra. Getting through the first ten questions when. 

"So, she doesn't exist?"

Sighing, I smiled "I guess not".

If I had been honest though. I wasn't so sure. I thought I knew her from somewhere. Like I'd seen her before. I guess it wasn't that important. 

Right?