Waterline

Absent Writer

Allen walked along the rocks of the beach. A lot of junk gets left behind on the rocks, maybe, one of the junks belong to Nelson. Mae admitted that her voice won't be able to reach underwater. Allen suggested searching around the beach to see if they could find the last place that Nelson stood at. He had a lot of significant items that he would bring with him, so there is a chance he could have lost them.

Nelson's phone was never found, so they lost some of the clues. The only other clue they have is his poetry journal, which held valuable information. It was a diary for Nelson but more figuratively. Libby and Ashley check Nelson's room, while everyone else searched around the beach. If they have no luck, Allen knew one more person to talk to but knew that it would be hard to get information from them. That was the backup plan once everyone gave up.

Ashley flipped through the poetry journal as Libby checked everywhere else. Nelson's dog laid on the bed with a sad look on his face. "Do you think Rover also misses Nelson?" Libby asked as she comforts the dog. "It looks like he really does miss him," Ashley said as she studied the dog's face. Rover hasn't done much with Nelson is gone, most of the time he sits on the porch. He no longer spends his afternoons jogging with Nelson or snuggling on the bed. It must be lonely without him. Everyone pitched in to help take care of Rover and tried their best to keep him company.

"If you don't start searching, then Rover and Nelson won't be reunited again" Ashley threatens to get Libby back on track. "Oh, yeah!" Libby said as she went back to searching the drawers. Ashley sighed at the girl as she started looking at the recent poems by Nelson. Most became songs for Albany but the others were personal. Ashly hates to invade his space but that's the only thing she could do to help.

"Libby, what was the girl that Nelson went on a date with?" Ashley asked.
"Clare" Libby responds.
"He seemed to really like the girl," Ashley said as she gave Libby the poetry book.
"What? He told me they are just going to be friends" Libby said in shock.
"Look here" Ashley gave the journal to Libby. She was correct. The poem is about falling in love and at the corner of the page was a picture of Clare.
"I can't believe he hid this from us. We have to tell the rest" Libby said as she looked up.

Allen read the poem for the fifth time. "I knew something was off with Clare! Why didn't he tell me about this!" He said before standing up. Everyone gathered around and were sitting at the side of the boardwalk. "You know that he struggles with confessing his emotions" Ashley told him.
"But, I thought we were friends..." Allen said he sounded heartbroken.
"We shouldn't worry about that, we need to find Nelson," Pj said. Allen dropped the book on the sand before gritting his teeth.

"I'm going to talk to Clare," Allen told them. "Do you need company?" Conor asked.
Allen shook his head before saying, "no, I got this on my own." He started walking away from the boardwalk. Everyone knew that Allen and Nelson were close. Allen told Nelson every little secret he had, and Allen believed that Nelson was doing the same. It was a different relationship than with Libby, much more serious and real talk. Reading about those secrets broke the bond between the two.

Libby didn't speak, no matter what she says, it won't make anything better. "We should continue looking around the beach," Toby said, breaking the silence. Everyone agreed and got up, then walking along the beach to find items that may be left behind by Nelson. Mae then remembered something, so she and Conor went to a perfect spot.

It was a spot almost hidden between the rocks. She explained to Conor that it was the place she woke up at. Both dug through the sand in hopes that something was there. To there luck, a leather bracelet with a pearl connected to it was hidden beneath the sand. Conor recognized it almost immediately. "Darrel found oysters with pearls in them, so he gave them to Libby. She had the idea to turn them into bracelets for everyone." Conor told her.

Mae picked up the bracelet, it was ripped. She knew exactly what happened before she made the exchange. Nelson fought against Mae to prevent it. She remembered holding the bracelet as she kissed him. Then it ripped off as he sunk to the bottom and Mae floated to the surface. She continued to hold the bracelet until she woke up and forgot all about it.

"It's all my fault" Mae concludes.
"You didn't know so it's not right to blame yourself" Conor comforts her.

Allen started smashing the door, too impatient to wait. Finally, someone came and answered the door. A girl with straight black hair stared at him annoyed. "You hurt Nelson!" Allen yelled.
"Which one was he?" Clare smirked.
"You know too well!" Allen growled. Clare just rolled her eyes at him, she wanted to mess with him but she had to beware of the outcome.
"Look, I've moved on and it seems that Nelson has too" Clare declares.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Allen asked. Clare just snickered at him.
"Do you know what sirens are?" Clare asked him. Allen nods, knowing what is about to go down. He didn't want to face the truth about his beloved friend.

"How do you think Mae got here?" Clare asked him.
"Mae? How do you know her?" Allen asked.
"That's not the point right now" Clare leaves again the frame of the doorway. Allen stares at her not saying anything. "Are you implying that he's a siren?" He asked her.
"I'm not implying I know. I watched him go in the water" Clare admitted to him with a smirk.
"That's sick!" Allen spat at her.
"But now you know"
"So now that he's a siren, he won't remember us," Allen said.
Clare mocked, "aww, well that's too bad."