I still had the book in my hand, standing near the stack of towels on his bed. We stared at each other for a moment, his hand still on the doorknob, frozen, in what must have been shocked to see me rifling through his sacred things.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a voice that sounded almost vulnerable.

Is he...nervous?

I put the book down quickly and took a few steps away from his bed in an attempt to show respect for his private space.

″Sorry, I was lost in the poetry book. It was so beautiful. I had no idea that you liked poetry.″

″Yeah,″ he smiled. ″Poetry speaks my soul,″ he takes the book and closes it then puts it back on the table. ″Beautiful lady, I'll give to you, my thoughts, my prayers, my hopes, I offer you my heart, my strength. My love is yours forever, Graham R. Bryan.″

I gulped nervously. Just the thought of Theo speaking beautifully of that poem gave me the chills.

I stare up at him, stunned. I can tell from the expression on his face, he's just as surprised to find me here.

″So, do you still want some water?″ He gives me the Fiji water bottle.

I laughed at his question and took the bottle from his hand. Leaving the room, he quietly closes the door as he walked behind me to the front door.

″Thank you for helping me out with the box and again, I'm sorry for being nosy.″

″Aha, Nah you're okay. It's okay. You're welcome.″

″I should get going.″

″-- Wait. Steph,″ He said my name, and I came to halt, turning my body back to him.

″Yes?″

″Um, tomorrow night there's a bonfire party at the pier. You should come.″

″Who's going to be there?″

″Classmates,″ he laughed. ″Just old friends, hanging out. Would you be okay with that?″

I sighed and compressed my lips slowly. The thought of being around with my classmates from my old high school gives me weird energy.

Half of the students I know never really talked to me. I was always known as 'Kenny little sister' which I hated so much.

Not to mention, the attention and pity I've gotten since Kenny's passing was a bit agitating. It felt like I was being watched under a microscope.

″You know, you don't have to if--″

″-- No, No. I want to, plus it's been a while so why not?‴

He lets a small grin and nods his head slowly. ″Sunset, that's the time.″

″Then I guess I'll see you at sunset.″

...

Music fills the air without effort, like the waves filling holes in beach sand; the sound rushing in and around every person at the beach. After parking my car in the parking lot, I walked over to the steps that lead me to the shore. As I walked down the steps, the attention stop and everyone's eyes lead to me.

″Stephanie? Stephanie Clark?″ Halle said to me. Halle Paul, one of my close friends since freshman year in high school. She was the typical hippie-styled friend that cares about the earth and animals.

Her hair was up in a ponytail and she jogged over to me and hugged me.

″Stephanie!″ Julia squealed from the side. Julia Johnson, another old friend from high school. The stereotypical adventurer friend that posts new location spots in their Instagram.

Her last location was in Germany when she died her hair all in red which brings out her green-blue eyes.

″Hey, guys!″ I hugged them from the side tightly. Gosh, I missed the old days with these two beauties. We used to have the craziest time in high school; going to each other's house, playing makeup, talking about boys, those were the good days.

″Can we all give a friendly welcome to Stephanie fucking Clark?!" Julia yells and everyone cheered back with their beer in their hands, acting all crazy.

″Come here!″ Halle grabs me and hugs me like in a three-sixty. I have forgotten how strong she was.

I giggled and tucked a string behind my hair when Theo came over to the side.

″Ladies, may I?″ He asked.

″Yes, yes you may, but don't steal her for too long! We gotta catch up!" Halle said.

″Yeah, we know how you are Petrakis,″ Julia adds.

″Geez, even after these years you guys are still on my ass.″

″Yup,″ they both said at the same time. I laughed and blew them an air kiss as I followed Theo to the booze bar.

"You like soccer?" Rhett asked, smiling that amazing smile. Rhett, stereotypical class clown since high school. He was the second of being Kenny's friend.

"Oh, hi. You scared me." I smiled back. His grin was infectious.

"I have that effect on women."

″I see you haven't changed.″

″You bet,″ he winks. ″It's good to see you, Stephanie, glad you're here.″

″Thanks.″

″-- See, being here isn't so bad isn't it?″ Theo said to me.

″No, I guess it isn't at all,″ he hands me over a beer bottle and taps lightly on the cap.

We chatted for almost an hour outside on the beach, with the music blasting current radio hits.

I told him about my dreams of traveling the world one day, and how I missed Kenny; and he told me about how things went after, spending the summers in the Hamptons, and how he dreaded working for his father's architect company,

"So if you don't want to work in an architect. Why not do something else?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's complicated family stuff. I have a lot of pressure to follow in some pretty old footsteps. So I accept my fate and just look for various ways to release said pressure.″

″Got it, understand.″

He leaned in a little closer. "Well, I feel pretty relaxed right now, here with you. You're very beautiful, Miss Stephanie," he drawled, imitating a proper Southern suitor.

I looked down, blushing. My mind blanked out. No one had ever hit on me so aggressively. A part of me was enjoying it.

He broke the silence a moment later.

"You know, I would like to see that creek... Lowe Creek, right?" he asked casually.

"It's just a short walk from here."

''Yes, I know. What do you say? Want to get out of here for a bit?''

''Sure, of course.''