It's Like Monopoly, But Physical.

Chapter Nineteen.

Chapter Nineteen.

The beach is a lot farther away than I thought. By the time I get to the beach it's surrounded in dusk, except for a few street lights, lighting up the parking lot. The sound of waves crashing onto the shore, already calms me. Along with the salt in the air, relaxing every muscle and bone in my body. I walk closer to sit right in front of the water, but see a man's figure sitting, watching the water and the motion of the waves. Just looking at the backside of him, I can't tell who it is. You've got to be kidding me!

"What the hell is this!" I shout.

His head slowly turns to look at me, letting me know that I was indeed right. It's Van, you know what, I think I'm going to call him Vance. Since I'm still mad at him, it's only the right thing to do. After all, I am the only one who calls him Van, so it doesn't really matter.

"Vance, what are you doing?" I ask. "You're supposed to be at your grand-"

"Yeah, and they live in that beach house over there," Van replies, his words a little slurred while pointing towards a small house with a front porch light on. There's something in his other hand though and I can't quite make it out.

"Well, you need to go back inside," I tell him, putting my hands on my hips.

"Abby, it's a free beach, you can't just tell me when to leave," Van says.

"Really? Because I think I am," I say. "Now leave!" He shakes his head and drinks something from a tall clear bottle. "What is that? Are you...drinking?"

"Yeah, found it in my grandpa's liquor cabinet, it's horrible, want some?" he asks, holding it out to me.

Why not? My life is pretty much screwed up, I might as well enjoy what's left of it. I take the bottle and gulp a long hard drink from it. I pull back and start coughing. Okay, that was a little too strong. "That's disgusting," I tell him.

Van starts laughing. "Come sit down."

I walk closer and sit in the sand, but not close to him. I'm still really mad at him. I hand the bottle back to him.

"Are you still mad?"

I nod. "I um, told my mom, and Darren and I made her tell our dad."

He shoots a look at me. "I told you not-"

"Yeah, well, I stopped listening to the pointless people in my life," I snap at him.

Van looks away from me while asking, "So what happened?"

I take the bottle from him and take a really long drink before answering. "My dad left, he's staying at a friends, and I'm pretty sure that they're splitting up." I pause, handing the bottle back to him again. "I've never seen my dad so mad, you know?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shake my head. "No and especially not with you."

"Hey, I tried calling Kyle, but he didn't answer and he always answers. What's going on with him and the guys?"

I shrug. "They aren't talking to us because we're fighting."

Van sighs. "Everything falls apart when we aren't together. Not that we're uh, together, because you know, we aren't, and that's totally, not...um, I'm going to shut up now."

"Thank god."

"So, are we going to stop fighting?" Van asks quietly.

I shake my head. "No, Vance. There aren't even words to describe how mad at you I am."