Stage Fright (On Hold)

PROLOGUE

Galveston Island, TX
2013

May and Claire jumped hand-in-hand into the deepest part of the shallow pool. When they surfaced, they took one look at the other girl and began to giggle. There was no particular reason for it, that's just how their friendship was.
The girls had pretty much grown up together, having met at the ages of five and seven when Claire's mother discovered her tattoo artist had a child close in age to her own. One play date was all it took, and the girls had been inseparable ever since.
They hadn't done much growing up in the nine years they had known each other. At least, not when together. Though separately, the girls possessed the ability to be mature, once put together they were about as grown up as a pair of sugar-high toddlers.
It was their maturity, or lack thereof, and companionship that won them the attention of one particular person that day. He sat in one of the blue reclining pool chairs, his face shadowed by a cap, and his phone in his hands. Neither girl had so much as taken notice of him, nor would they have had he not decided to approach them.
The girls were getting ready to climb the ladder out of the pool so they could jump again when a shadow fell over them. May, unable to see due to her hair in her face, dunked under the surface. Claire, on the other hand, squinted up at the boy.
"Excuse us." She said, her tone that of a polite stranger. This quickly changed when the boy made no move or response. "Can we help you?"
May came up just in time to hear Claire get snippy. She put a hand on Claire's shoulder, a silent gesture to tell her to take a chill pill, and was rewarded by feeling some of her friend's tension ease.
Though Claire was nothing but a sweetheart on first glance, she had the tendency to get quite prickly. Especially if she felt the need to protect whoever she was with. With May, that seemed to be always.
The seemingly dumbstruck boy came back to life with a slight shake of his head. "I - erm..." He started nervously. "Well, I was bored and you two seem like the most interesting people here."
Claire pushed away from the ladder, May following suit, to give him room to climb in. She was still wary of the stranger, but his words rang with a certain honesty.
"I'm May, and this is my friend Claire." May began the introductions after the boy climbed in.
"Danny." He replied. Though his nervousness seemed to have faded away, he was still glancing warily at Claire who was steadily scowling at him. At a stern look from May though, she composed her features.
"Where are you from?" Claire asked, to appease her friend. She even managed not to sound like she was going to murder him, for which May was grateful.
"Austin, born and raised." May and Claire shared a glance. "What about you two?"
"San Angelo." May answered.
"But I'm about to move to the Austin area." Claire added. Danny beamed at that.
"It's a cool place! There's this really nice, open park that's a great hang-out. When are you moving?"
Claire shrugged, still wary and unwilling to trust him. Much to her relief, he seemed to take the hint and didn't push.
"Do you visit here often?" May asked. Danny shrugged.
"I have family in the area, so I'm here a couple times a year. What about you two?"
"My parents make the trip once every year or two, but and more often than not we have Claire with us." May answered.
Bored of the small talk, Claire ducked under the surface and swam across the pool and back.
"-like music and I draw some." Claire came up in time to hear May finish saying.
"Hobbies?" Claire asked. May nodded in answer.
"Danny is a singer in a band." This answer didn't much help Claire's opinion of him, but she maintained a civil composure.
"I write, draw, dance, do some photography, and some graphic design. Basically anything artistic you can think of, I've at least dabbled in." Claire answered the unasked question.  Danny nodded, and the conversation seemed to fall flat after that. Taking the chance she was given, Claire turned to May and said "I think you're starting to burn, May-May, and I know I am. We should probably go."
The statement was not false, and neither was the concern that colored Claire's tone, which was probably why May agreed.
"It was nice meeting you, Danny. Good luck with your band!" May said. Danny grinned again.
"Thanks! Hey, do you think we could exchange contact info?" May shook her head. Claire wasn't the only one looking out for her. Her mom didn't allow her to give people her information unless she had met them too.
"Sorry, not allowed. See you around though?"
"Yeah." Danny replied, an odd look on his face. With that, they split, and the girls went back to their room for the night. They did not, in fact, encounter Danny again during the rest of their stay. Claire didn't mind in the least and would soon forget about him, but May would remember from time to time, and regret not being able to give him her number.