The Return of the Titans

Part 1- Chapter 1: Maria

I stood on the hot sand, burning the bottom of my feet while Jamison, my best friend, was standing about ten feet to my right, smiling as he pretended to throw my sandals in the ocean. He jokingly pointed at the waves, crashing up and down, then pointed back up to my sandals. My feet took off without the rest of my body, hardly being able to take the pain much longer. Jamison sidestepped right before I was able to tackle him. He waved the shoes above his head that was carrying his soft, brown hair and laughed as I made failed attempts to jump and grab the shoes.

His smiling, blue eyes widened in horror as I took out his legs with yet another tackle. I put him in a leg lock, I learned from Martial Arts and laughed as he gave back the sandals in surrender.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw blonde, curly haired girl drinking coffee and eating popcorn.

"That's cheating, Maria," he said wining, brushing the sand off his pale, blue t-shirt and faded, khaki shorts.

"Hey, I was the one that suggested you joined me in taking Martial Arts."

"I am taking Modern Dance at the high school." He defended. "I'm the only 8th grader there. I did it for my future. Now, hand me a soda, will ya?"

I saluted,"Sir, yes, sir! I understand what will comply, sir!" I laughed at his annoyed expression and handed him is soda.

We sat in a comfortable silence that was broken at my sudden burst of anger. I jumped up on my feet, sand cascading down the back of my legs. Jamison's confused eyes followed where my finger was pointing.

"Look at that!" I exclaimed. I was pointing towards a foot shaped shell, that was missing what would be a toe.

"What?" Jamison replied, still unsure what I was looking at.

"It's mocking me!" Jamison was still confused. "Jamison, can't you see? That shell looks like a foot!" He once again shot me a look of not understanding. "Jamison, it's missing a toe. You know my secret."

Finally understanding, Jamison face palmed and sighed. "Maria, just because that shell is missing a toe and so are you, doesn't mean it's mocking you."

"You don't understand!" I spat back. "Your toes are perfect! Perfect!"

He sighed. "Maria, you're ridiculously stupid."

"Aww, love you too, Jamison."

I leaned in for a hug but quickly turned it into a nuggie. Jamison quickly fixed his hair and looked at me with evil in his electrifying, blue eyes. "This. Means. War," he said angrily.

Little Jamison loves his hair. He lunged at me, as I was already running away. We were both ankle deep in the water, wetting our bodies that just dried up. The waves were flat, so it caught me off guard when the water jumped up a little bit and pulled Jamison down. He emerged shocked and annoyed as he pushed me back onto the land, sticky sand glued to my skin.

We were walking back to my house that was right on the coast. Jamison just moved to California from Nebraska. He wasn't too used to the ocean. We were about 20 yards from my house, laughing and bumping into each other when Sarah appeared.

Sarah Huffington. Daughter of Gerald Huffington, Ceo of Huffington Tech. H-Tech, as it was called, is one of the biggest and successful products in California. It's inching its way up to multiple states, quickly passing other companies. She was also Jamison's stepsister. Sarah hated me.

"Oh, Jamison," she squealed in her high-pitched voice and her fake British accent. "Mum was calling you, but it turns out you left your phone elsewhere. Why are you out here with... with her?" Sarah pointed at me with disgust. "You shouldn't be walking around with transients, especially this late at night."