Under the "Big Sky"

"Mom!" Brielle yelled down the stairs for her mother. "I can't find my new top. you know, the one with the alligator on the front!"

Her mother sighed, knowing that it was amlost impossible to find anything in her wild daughters room.

"Did you check the closet dear? I hung up some clothes I found in a shopping bag on your floor."

"Thanks Mom" squealed Brie. It was the end of summer and school would be starting in a week. Brie and her friends had planned a surfing party for this weekend, and they planned on camping at the beach. Brie was never very good ay surfing but she loved the beach.

"Leah's here honey!"

"Alright mom. I'm coming!" Brie grabbed her beach bag and sprinted down the stairs. "Love you Mom!" she shouted into the kitchen where her mother had wandered to. "Tell Dad we'll be back Sunday."

"Ready for some fun in the sun?" asked Leah, as they hopped into her bug. Alex was already in the back seat waiting for them.

"Let's do this!" the three girls squealed and started singing along loudly to the Lady GaGa song on the radio as they started their hour and a half long trip to the beach.

Time moves more quickly when you're having fun, because before they knew it the girls arrived at the beach. The guys were already there and out on the water, so Brie and her friends hopped out of the car and ran across the sand towards the water.

Ryan and Zeke were tearing up the waves as Zeke's little brother Christian watched in awe from his board. Christian was only 11 months younger than Zeke, but he looked a lot younger than he was. Still he had the same handsome features as his brother. Brie loved them both like they were the brothers she never had. As for Ryan, she wasn't sure how she felt about him anymore. One day it was just like when they were 8 years old on the playground again, and the next there was an akward tension in the air that Brie could never quite figure out.

Ryan's ride was over and he came floating close to shore. "Brie! Alex! And the other one." he laughed out. jumping from his board and sloshing through the water towards them.

"Haha. Very funny caveman." said Leah. Ryan and Leah have lived next door to one another since they were born and practically were brother and sister. "You must have left at the crack of dawn to get here before us." she said.

"That's when the waves are the best." he shrugged. "and we didn't figure y'all were as thrilled as us about the surfing part of the trip." he was right about that. well, mostly anyways. Alex was just as hardcore about surfing as the guys, but played it off around Brie and Leah. Brie could tell she was just itching to get in the water.

"Did you bring my board caveman?" Alex asked.

"Of course." he laughed. "I'll just go grab it out of the truck. and while I'm at I'll grab the tents, you two can set them up." pointing at Leah and Brie.

"Yes drill sergeant!" Leah and Brie saluted him as he ran off.

They spent the next couple of days playing in the waves and telling ghost stories by the bonfire. Brie could hardly believe summer would be over in a matter of days, and her and her friends wouldn't be able to come to the beach whenever they wanted. It was her favorite place to be. Looking out at the water and up at the stars made her feel so alive and happy. Like all was right in the world. She always hated going home after a trip to the beach, but going home wad inevitable and Sunday came quickly.

Brie and her parents went to church every Sunday. She couldn't remember the last day she had missed, but she didn't mind at all. Leah and Ryan's families went to the same church as hers, and the three teenagers always sat together.