"Beautiful, isn’t it?" It was Nick.
"Nick! You scared me!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. But isn't the ocean beautiful?"
"Yes, it is beautiful. I love the ocean. That's why I wanted to come spend the summer here. My last free summer before...."
"Before what?"
"Oh....nothing! Nothing, at all."
"Why do I have the feeling that you aren't tell me everything?"
"Probably because I'm not. I'm just not ready to talk about it right this second."
"OK. I wont push you."
"But remember you can talk to one of us." Another voice came from the floor beneath the couch that Nick and I had been sleeping on. Brian.
It wasn't until then that I noticed that Aaron and Angel had been moved and that I had been lying down. I was also covered with a blanket. The twins were still asleep on another part of the couch. It was just Nick and I.
"Thanks you guys. I know that we don't know each other very well, and that we have just met but I feel like I've known you guys forever. I'll keep what you said in mind, Brian. When I'm ready to tell you guys about what is going on you two will be the first to know. OK?"
"Fine with me. Brian?"
"OK by me, too. Now I know its early but I am wide awake and I need to move. Who wants to go on a walk on that beach?"
"Me!" Nick and I said at the same time. We laughed and Nick got up. He held out his hand and I took it. He then pulled me to my feet.
"Thanks! C’mon lets go before the others wake up." Brian said.
Before we left the house I had made the guys grab sweatshirts. All they had on were T-shirts and that wasn't going to cut it on the Oregon Coast. "This isn't like Orlando and Tampa. These beaches are cold! But they are beautiful nonetheless." Brian had given me a sweatshirt to borrow because I didn't have anything to keep me warm.
I don't know why but I had a feeling that I was going to get along with the two of them the best. The three of us walked out the back door and on to the deck. We then walked down the steps and right into the sand.
Once we were out on the sand, I had one on each side of me. "So tell us a little about yourself, Faith," Brian prompted after a few minutes of walking silently.
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"How about we start with your age and where you grew up."
"OK. I'm eighteen. I grew up here in Oregon. But I didn't live in the city. We lived in a town called Lake Oswego. It is just out of the city."
"Do you have any siblings?" Nick asked this time.
"Actually I do. I have four older brothers. David, Sean, Seth, and Shane. I am the baby of the family. David is 29, Sean is 28, Seth is 26 and Shane is 24. I get alone the best with Seth and Shane. They are the only two still speaking to me. They're the only two people in my immediate family that are speaking to me."
"Your parents aren't speaking to you either?" I shook my head to answer Brian's question.
They looked at each other and then back at me. "Why not?" they said at the same time.
By then we had come to an outcrop of rocks and I started to climb them. The guys followed close behind. I soon found what I was looking for. Some place to sit and watch the waves crash against the shore. The perfect place to tell my tale.
"OK I think I'm ready to tell you why my parents wont talk to me. Are you guys ready?" They both nodded.
"But before you start, can I ask one question?" Brian inquired.
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead."
"Well, actually it is a couple of questions. Number one: Does it have something to do with your health?"
I had to think 'bout that one. Being pregnant sure did effect your health. "Yeah, it does."
"OK. Does it have anything to do with why you didn't feel well that Sunday in Kentucky?"
"Yeah it does. It's the reason I was sick."
"And the last one. Should Nick and I have any reason not to become attached to you this summer?"
"No! There is no reason that we cant be good friends. Great friends!" Then I realized what he must have thought. "You guys! I'm not sick! I don't have a disease. But there is an explanation to all of it." I was beginning to lose my confidence.
They noticed me hesitate and they both moved to sit down in the sand next to me. "Its OK. Tell us Faith. If you want us to, we can keep it a secret from the others."
"You would?" They both nodded. "Oh, thanks so much you guys." I gave them both a hug. "OK, now on with what I was going to tell you. About a year and a half ago I met a guy named Jake Gordon. He looks a lot like you and he was the sweetest guy. But one night, about four months ago, he got drunk. Well, basically what happened was...."