The day was quiet; everything felt still. Gabe looked out into the ocean bored and alone. The warm breeze surrounded him in the sweet smells of summer. It was a nice day to do nothing. Gabe sat on the cliffside reading a book for his school work. With every passing moment, Gabe appreciated the simplicity of the task.

Gabe thought about summer and what was to come after that. He didn't want to live a boring life but that's all he had ever known. He didn't want to work a dead end job for the next thirty years but where else will he get money. Gabe quickly pushed all theses thoughts away. He didn't want to think about it or anything anymore. He laid down. Looking up to the sky praying that he could be happy, one day.

After about an hour of reading, he started to hear loud clanking noises. At first he pushed it off. ”It's nothing more than some rocks clinking on shore.”A few minutes passed, and he couldn't just ignore it anymore. He walked a few yards away from where had been sitting and found the dirt trail that lead down to the water. The trail was a thin line, barely half a foot wide, you would never notice it just passing by. Gabe eventually found his way to the bottom.

To his surprise, the sound wasn't some trash or rocks, it was a girl. The girl was clearly struggling. Her sundress had gotten stuck on the rocks while she was tidepooling and now the tide had began to come in. Gabe oblivious to manners, went over to her and unhooked the girl. The girl hadn't even noticed Gabe yet until he was inches away from her face. After she had processed that he just had helped her, she looked a little confused and said “Thank you.”

The girl paused for a moment and than spoke again, “I'm not sure how I got stuck but thank you.” Gabe nodded and started to walk back towards where he had been reading.

“Wait hold up,” the girl said chasing after him. “I’m Nina,” she said gasping for breathe, “I’m new in town if you can tell. I’m staying with my Aunt by the high school. My parents said it'll do me some good to get away from New York for the summer.”

Gabe looked the girl up and down, she definitely wasn't from California. She has bright blue hair and an extremely white complexion, as if the sun had never touched her skin. She looked like she was the same age as Gabe, maybe even a little older. Gabe smiled politely and started to walk away again. He simply wanted to go back to reading. When Gabe was half way up the trail he noticed the girl was following him.

She looked at him with an innocent smile, “Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I just don't know how to get back to the top.” Gabe looked at her, “It's okay, I can show you the main road.”

They walked in silence together for a moment.  “S-so where did you say you were from?” Gabe said stuttering a little. “New York, New York. Ya know the big apple? Usually I would be feeling really homesick right now but I like the pace of California. It's different.” Nina looked at Gabe kindly. “Oh, thats cool. I always heard that everyone in New York was really aggressive and pessimistic but not you. You're different.”

As soon as they got to the main road and the dusty parking lot, Gabe could tell which car was hers. It was a slime green Jeep wrangler with neon pink fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. As Gabe presumed, she walked over to the ridiculously colored Jeep.

Nina looked at Gabe smiling, “You coming? You helped me, the least I could do is buy you a Coca-Cola.”

Gabe usually would have said no but he couldn't say no to a coca-cola, especially on a day like this.When they got to the old gas station on 21st street, Nina pulled up to the side of the building. There was no concrete, just a dusty dirt ground surrounding the rust bucket of a gas station. As they walked inside they could feel the temperature of the atmosphere change from a hot dry air to the cool air conditioned room. Gabe showed Nina where the Cokes were and then they walked up to the front. “Hi Ron, how are you?”

The older man at the counter smiled so hard you could see where he was missing teeth. “Well gosh, I’m fantastic just another day in paradise. How's the fam doing kiddo?”

Gabe and the man chatted more for a minute, until the man noticed Nina. “Well, who is this young lady?” “I’m Nina,” she replied shyly.

“She’s new in town. We just met today, i've been showing her around”

The man nodded, “Well, that's might kind. you better bring her to that cliff you're always sitting on.”

“Actually that's where we just came from, but I think we are heading back there now.” Ron smiled, “Well, you two have fun now.”

As they walked out Nina looked at Gabe, “Hes nice, How do you know him?” Gabe kind of chuckled to himself and told Nina all about how he used to work for Ron during the summers when he was a kid.

“I would have worked for him again this year but he thought it was best if I took the summer off, since its my last one at home.”

“Oh. okay that makes sense,” Nina responded. “I like him.”

Nina and Gabe flew down the highway back to the cliff side to watch the sunset. It was one of the only fun things to do in town.

Pulling up in the dirt parking lot, Gabe could feel his lungs filling up with the dirt that had began to fly around them like a sandstorm. He coughed and look at Nina goofily, she smiled.

Walking back to the spot Gabe had claimed as his own, Gabe thought to himself. Nina was this random girl who became his friend so quickly. He had always done everything solo style and now, suddenly, this flamboyante girl had came into his world. He had never shown anyone his special cliffspot, he never thought a pretty girl of all people would want too.

Gabe looked to her, memorizing every detail of her face. Her chubby cheeks that formed dibbles when she smiled. Her rosy lips that are as plump as a pear. The cupids bow that connected her perfect lips to her small round nose. Gabe wonder what this girl was even doing, she was far too pretty to even be seen with him. They were walking hand in hand now, when did this even start and why? Gabe had so many questions he wanted to ask her but everytime she looked at him with her carefree smiled, he felt content. He knew it didn't matter because they were happy. Nina laid a small picnic blanket on the ground and pulled the Coca-Cola’s out of her bag. When she handed Gabe the drink, he stared at the condensation and watched almost every drop of water slide down and hit the ground below.

“What are you doing,” Nina said with her head tilted slightly. Gabe sat down quickly next to her, “oh, nothing, sorry.”

It was 8:10 Pm. the sun had just taken its first dip into the cool ocean, carefully testing the icy water with its toes. The clouds began to light up with streaks of orange and pink. With every second the sun sank, the color in the sky became more vibrant, until it was gone. The sky had changed from light and bright to Purple and dark so quickly that as soon as it began it was over. Nina was laying on Gabe’s shoulder sleepily, her eyes fluttering, dozing off every now and then.

When Nina had officially fallen asleep Gabe pulled out his book. Trying to take advantage of the little light still lingering on the horizon. As he was reading he realized, the day was quiet and everything was still but he didn’t feel lonely. He was content.