No Strings Attached ; j.g

t w e n t y - o n e

The hippies all grabbed their towels and ran out to the beach happily. Doobie ran after them, barking and jumping in the wet sand. I stared at the very familiar beach, feeling much regret.

Doobie came running back and jumped up. He licked my face and ran away. When he turned around and saw that I wasn't following, he whined. I smiled at him and ruffled his fur.

I quickly grabbed my towel and walked down the beach, Doobie was by my side the whole time. I saw the familiar coconut tree. I climbed up the tree and grabbed two coconuts. I found a rock and jabbed a hole into both of them.

"Hey Ziggy!" I called. "Ever tried coconut milk?"

The hippies ran over to me, eager to try the fresh coconut milk. "It's kinda tangy, I like it!" Hash said enthusiastically. We drank the coconut milk and laughed until it was gone.

Soon enough, the hippies were back out on the beach. I sat on my towel and watched them. They were like little kids. It was beautiful. They were all beautiful little human babies. They were living life happily, something I'd loved doing.

As it got later, the beach started cooling off. We made a fire and sat around it. They had their radio out, Fleetwood Mac was playing quietly as we stared at the flames with out knees pulled up.

"I'm going for a walk," I said breaking the silence.

"Wanna be alone?" Hash asked, and I nodded.

I walked down the beach, alone with my thoughts.

Be free. Forget about Jack. Forget about Sam.

I'm their lover, I love both of them. Way too much for my own good.

But who will be your lover? You get one pick.

I'd choose Jack in a heartbeat, but he doesn't love me.

I've tried telling you, no one will love you. Be free with the hippies, there's no strings attached.

I cringed at the thought of those words in my head. I could still hear 'Rhiannon' playing, they must've turned it up. It rang in my ears. I swayed as I walked to the music. I twisted and turned every which way, just gliding through the wind. I stared at the dark, starless sky as I spun around.

Will I ever win?

Be free, Alexis. Don't get caught up in your feelings.

I was beginning to agree with my thoughts. I slowly walked back to the new camp next to the coconut tree. ((A/N: just now realizing this, but are there even coconut trees in Cali?))

"Welcome back," Ziggy greeted as he focused on his inflamed hotdog that he held over the fire a tad too long. "You know, you'd think that after all these years of eating roasted hotdogs, I'd know how to cook one without burning it."

That caused laughter from the rest of us. Ziggy pulled the burnt hotdog off of the end of the end of the stick and offered it to Doobie, who gladly accepted it.

"You look happy," Misty pointed out. I hadn't realized the smile that was on my face, even though the laughter had already died down. I just felt, I don't know, refreshed. Cleansed.

"I guess I just needed to clear my head," I smiled to myself. I was gonna be happy again.

"Duuuuude," Koi came stumbling towards us from the van. "This kush. Is killer," he took two puffs and passed it. "Oh, Breezy, there's some guy with white hair looking for you."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "hm?"

"Yeah, said his name was Sam," he shrugged. "He said I knew him, but I don't know a Sam, like whatever man," he giggled and took two more puffs.

"You are high as a kite, Koi. You are soaring," I laughed and walked up the beach as I listened to Koi's off-key singing.

"We're sooooaaarrin, flyyyyinnn!"

"Koi, you suck," Cotton chimed in.

"Hurtful, bro. That was cold."

I laughed to myself until I saw Sam.

"Back in town?"