Boxlock Bay

Chapter 1

"Shit."

"What?" I hear Riley return with an edge of irritation as she scuffs her feet to a halt and turns to face me. I glance quickly at her tall figure before staring at the sign again, continuing;

"You heard about this?"

"What?" She must be getting frustrated with my vagueness; adding a slight stomp to her long strides as she walks to stand behind me, leaning a tad over my shoulder and narrowing her sharp, bright eyes at the sign in curiosity.

"17 year old boy missing..." she mumbles to herself (a habit I both know well and love), "Boxlock bay... 12th of August... please contact police." She pauses.

"Well fuck."

"Yeah." I sigh in return, "Poor guy probably drowned days ago."

"You're such a fucking pessimist sometimes."

"Realistic, more like." I counter, a grin playing at my lips. Riley's stare softens and she lets out a small laugh before doing a hop-skip-jog combination  out into the middle of the path.

"Hurry up! My Mum's making pasta bake tonight! And I'm quite simply famished."

She then feigns an intense stomach pain and bends over dramatically before sharply standing up grinning at me.

"Seriously. Come on."

We walk for the rest of the 20 minute walk down the country path in mostly a comfortable silence. It's something that makes our friendship so different to any one I'd had before. I usually hide behind a loud mouth and fountains of sarcasm, trying to stop people realising what a lack of charisma I have, but with Riley, I could spend hours in her company saying nothing.

It scares me sometimes to think how much it would hurt if I lost her.
If she lost interest.

Though, as soon as I gaze across and see her send me a grin, where the corners of her eyes scrunch and her eyes glitter with a beautiful light, I know that she hasn't. Not yet anyway.

I'm not exactly the ideal friend. Sometimes I have major moods swings if I get anything less than 8 hours sleep and go from if-you-look-or-breathe-in-my-direction-or-say-anything-your-life-will-be-ended-slowly-and-painfully to complimenting anyone in the near vicinity and downing entire litre bottles of fizzy drink.

Then I get a sugar rush.

Even though the drinks are sugar free.

I'm not all that bad though, I do listen to people and give advice and I have a mean David Attenborough impression. So, if that's what you want in a friend: I'm your dude.
I use that a lot; dude, bro, bruh, duder, broski, brother, man etc. No need to mention I'm not the most popular among people, in general.

"What are you doing?" A slightly humoured voice wakes me from my inner monologue; "You completely zoned out." She laughs little.

"Sorry pressing thoughts, dude."

"Stop calling me that."

"What, you mad bro?" I proceed to square up to Riley's shoulders before she shoves me playfully.

"No, but are you starting?" She feigns anger, putting on a very convincing east London-ish accent.

"You should act." I sigh, "You win. Go, eat pasta to your stomach's content."

"See you in the morning." She hugs me briefly, pulling away before I can return it, and practically sprints down the narrow, paved pathway leading to her sleek, freshly-painted, black front door. She waves as the door closes, narrowly missing trapping her hand between the door and the frame.

I let out a deep intake of breath and feel my mood drop instantly with her leaving. Spending time with Riley is like taking a drug; when you take it you get a rush, gives you a fix- but it's temporary, and every time I come down I end up feeling lower and lower.

I make the 5 minute walk back to my house a 10, letting the chill of the evening nip at my face and feel the day turn to night. The silhouetted trees outlining either side of the path rustle gently, whispering soothing stories of the night and the moon- something which fascinates me. To me, the moon is far more powerful than the sun; its light blasts through the darkness with a much higher force than the sun. The sun leaves you when it's light is most needed. The moon, however, stays.

I take one more look at the silent, misty beauty in the sky and walk cautiously into my house.

~ Hey all!
So , this is part one. Honestly, I have no idea what's going to happen but I want to have a bit of fun and do some writing !
Any feedback would be awesome and greatly appreciated and I hope anyone who reads will enjoy!
~ Kckoolio