Newcomers

Just tell me

Quickly so they wouldn’t get caught, the group snuck out of the back door and ran out into the field. “Come on, come on let’s go!” Priscilla whispered hurriedly. Frankie pulled Cody along so that he wouldn’t fall again and Seojun jogged behind them. Priscilla had the flashlight of her phone on and while everyone was in the neighborhood distracted by Earlyween fun, they ran through the town and made their way to the beach.

Frankie set Cody down on the sand and kicked her shoes off. She ran excitedly towards the water with her arms flying. Priscilla set her wig on top of her jacket she had put on the sand and ran after her. “Ooh! It’s cold!” Frankie exclaimed. “Is it?” Priscilla asked, screeching to a halt just before the shoreline. “Yeah!” Frankie splashed water on her legs and Priscillla jumped high into the air. “Augh! Rude!” She yelled. She kicked water up at Frankie, who laughed and covered her face. “Hey!” She shouted. “You splashed me first!” Priscilla said. “And I’ll do it again!” Frankie said back. She bent down and threw water up at Priscilla. Priscilla shrieked and chased her through the shallows, making sure to splash her as much as she could.

Cody and Seojun stood on the beach stiffly. They didn’t look at each other at all, neither was quite sure what to say. After a long and awkward moment of just standing there, Cody mustered up his courage and started walking away. “Come on, let’s go to the docks.” He said. Seojun followed quietly with his hands in his pockets.

At the docks, Cody pulled off his shoes and dipped his feet in the water. He sighed deeply into the wind. Seojun stood cautiously behind him, unsure if he should come any closer. Cody patted the spot next to him. “Come on, sit down already.” He said. Other than the creaking of the wood, Seojun walked silently forward. He sat next to him, hugging his knees tightly to his chest with his chin resting on them. They sat in a cold, awkward silence for a moment while they both thought.

Seojun noticed that Cody had his arms held close to his body and was hunched over. “You cold?” He asked. “A little bit, my jacket’s kinda thin.” He said. Seojun took the jacket that he was holding and set it over Cody’s head. Cody wrapped it around his shoulders and kept his eyes on the water. “Thanks.” He mumbled. Seojun nodded. “No problem.” He replied.

They were silent again. The sounds of the waves and the crickets only made it more awkward. Like a shitty sit-com. Cody couldn’t take it anymore and finally spoke up.

“I know you know what’s going on.” He said. “What do you mean?” Seojun asked. “Don’t play dumb with me, I’m not an idiot.” He said bitterly. “I never said you were-” “You don’t have to.” Cody cut him off. “I don’t know how you thought I wouldn’t notice something so obvious.” He said. Seojun sighed. “Yeah you’re right. That was stupid.” He said. “You think?” Cody said sarcastically. Seojun stayed silent. “It really hurts that you didn’t even bother to tell me, since it’s clearly affecting both of us.” Cody stated bitterly. “I know I’m sorry. I was going to tell you at some point, but I was scared. Things like that could put me in danger.” Seojun said. “I didn’t know how you’d take it.”

Cody chuckled angrily. “Wow, seriously? This is what you think of me? I’ve done my best to be your friend and make sure you were okay and you don’t even have a little bit of trust in me?” He said. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that I had to think of myself and my family first!” Seojun explained. “I understand that, but you couldn't even give me a heads up. Like, “Oh if you stick around me, you’ll start seeing shit that isn’t there!” He said in a mocking voice. “I didn’t know that was gonna happen! It wasn’t supposed to!” Seojun said. “You still could’ve done better!” Cody exclaimed.