Tyler laid out his towel on the beach. He was alone. He felt peaceful. He sat on his towel and stared out. Lake eerie. It sure looked like an ocean to him. He watched children try to fly a kite. Other kids tried to build a sand castle. It sure was a nice day. He felt a tap on his shoulder. Not another fan. It was a girl dressed in all black. She didn't look happy as he expected. She looked depressed. Her eyes were red from crying, and he could see the tears on her cheeks. She handed him something. It was one of those Pop! Collectible action figures of himself. He stared at it. He never actually had one of his own.
"Why are you giving me this?"
"Because I don't need it anymore."
She sat down next to him.
"My name's Kayla, and I hate my life." There was a long pause.
"I know that feeling."
"I want to leave. End it. Like Friend, Please. Except I have no friend. Nobody is here to stop me."
He reached around her shoulders. "I'm here. I'll be your friend." He hoped that this wasn't some ploy for attention. Tyler wished he could say he knew that it wasn't, but he had so many fans go overboard. Someone tried to break into his house. Two teen girls crashed a wedding he and Josh were attending. Someone grabbed Jenna and tried to kiss her. Some people were just crazy. But he could sense her genuine sadness, her want-to-end-it-all feeling.
"Y'know, that music gave me hope. It did. I felt like it was just us. A small circle of people who understood. Then you got bigger. And it was everyone again. It was like a few special beads were mixed in a bucket of ordinary ones. Now I can't find someone who cares. Because no one is seeking refuge anymore. We all just decide to die. There's no hope anymore." There was a long silence again. Tyler thought to himself. Before he could break the silence, Kayla did.
"Well, I better go. My parents have probably already called the police."
"Wait!"
She ran off. Tyler laid down and stared at the toy. He thought about what the girl said. She went away from the water instead of to it, so he wasn't too worried. He got distracted and watched kids bury another kid. He watched kites fly in the sky above him. He thought of them almost like vultures. He looked out into Lake Eerie. He saw a wet head of honey blonde hair and an arm stick out of the water. Kayla. He could hear the sirens.
Tyler was glad he dressed as he did. Swim trunks. He ran into the lake and began swimming as fast and he could. He pulled up Kayla's dead weight. He pulled her to the sandy shore of the lake. He slapped her back and tried to do cpr, he knew she was dead. Blood leaked out of her mouth. He stopped doing cpr and just held her. He held her tight. She was alive just a few minutes ago, and now she's gone, forever. Never to return. The sirens caught up with them and before he knew it, he handed them her dead body. He payed back down oh is towel. The action figure was buried in a little bit of sand. He grabbed it and stared at it. Wind knocked it over.
Kayla Greene. That's what it said on the feet. He repeated her name.
"Kayla Greene." He stared at the sky and cried.
WHY!? WHY DID HE LET THIS HAPPEN! SHE CAME TO HIM! AND IT WAS HIS DUTY TO KEEP HER ALIVE! And he failed. He packed up and left. He kept the figure with him though. He put it on his dresser as a reminder of what happens when you're careless. At least that's how he felt he was.
