(Ryden) I hope it comes back to you.

I hope it comes back to you.

"There's no way in hell that we're gonna spend your last night with us staying home and watching Netflix like we do every goddamn day, Ryan." Rude. I huff at Spencer and cross my arms. Spencer, Jon, Brendon, and I are all in the common area of my dorm, and Spencer has refused every suggestion that I've made thus far.

"Don't make it sound like I'm dying. It's just a month."

"You might as well be dead! Our group dynamic is gonna get all out of whack."

"Aw, I didn't know you were going to miss me that much." I reach out to squeeze his shoulder and he lazily shakes me off.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm just worried you're gonna come back with an even bigger stick up your ass than when we met, and we're gonna have to spend all of our time trying to yank it out again."

"Ooh, that's kinky, Smith," Brendon interjects. Spencer snorts and points at him accusingly.

"You just wish you could have had a hand in that." Brendon laughs‚ looking directly at me and I can feel my face heat up. I try to get us back on topic.

"Okay, so my idea of fun is boring. What would you suggest, oh-so-brilliant-one?"

Spencer smiles at me and I already know that what comes out of his mouth next will only piss me off, but Brendon cuts in before he has a chance to enlighten us.

"What if we went to the beach?"

Spencer blows a raspberry at him and leans against the doorway to our bedroom. Brendon is sitting on the only clean spot of our counter, his legs swinging like a child. I consider it, but I'm still not sure if it's better than my idea.

"Eh. That's only like, ten minutes away. We could do that anytime we wanted to," I say, trying to find an excuse that seems reasonable.

"I mean, yeah. But how many times have you actually gone?"

I take a mental inventory and to my surprise, he has a point. I can only think of three specific times I've visited, all of which were cut short due to my propensity to burn in direct sunlight.

"You're always talking about how much you love the ocean and how you never got to see it living in Vegas. So, why not?"

Jon looks at us from over the book that he's been reading while we've spent the last half hour arguing and immediately takes an interest.

"I think that sounds like a great time! He has a good point. You're always writing poems about the sea. I vote for Brendon's idea." Of course he would. I swear, Jon must have been a fish in a past life. Spencer grimaces and Jon gets up from the couch. He dramatically walks over to wrap his arms around Spencer's neck and pouts his lip. "C'mon, babe. You know how much I love the beach." Spencer sighs and begrudgingly kisses him. Well. Now Spencer's on board. Three to one, I don't stand a chance.

"I mean, it's up to you," Brendon says, looking up at me with his head dipped down slightly, and I'm having a really hard time maintaining eye contact. I can tell he means it, it really is up to me, and I forget entirely why I've been so reluctant about going. I am always talking about it, aren't I? And I've been completely wasting the perks of living in a coastal city for nearly a year. I crack a smile and I'm all in.

"Alright, let's go to the beach!"

"But no surfing, Jon," Spencer adds quickly. Jon lets out a noise of disapproval and pleads with his eyes but Spencer just shakes his head. "None of us want to be laughed at because we have shitty balance."

"That sounds like a you problem," Jon mumbles, but he grabs his car keys from the end table. "I'll go grab some towels and things from my apartment, and I'll meet you guys out front in twenty?"