K A D E N

"Sundays we close early, paydays on Friday. Any hooliganism will be dealt with by reductions in your paycheck. Understand?" My new manager explained curtly, while I wondered who still used the word 'hooliganism'.

"Your shift starts now and ends an hour after midnight." He seemed like he wanted to say more but decided against it and turned on his heel, disappearing through the door we'd just come out of and muttering something along the lines of how desperate he must be for hiring so many teenagers.

Once he was gone, I turned my attention to my co-worker who seemed none the pleased to see me.

"Jason." I inclined my head towards him in a greeting as I came up beside his tense friend.

"Hey. . ." He said slowly. "You work here now?"

"Need the money." I shrugged.

"Right, of course." He turned back to Phoenix. "I better get going. See you later."

She opened her mouth to say something but instead offered a tight smile. After Jay had gone, it was just the two of us. And an insufferable silence.

The third invisible party shouldn't have bothered me but it did. It clawed annoyingly at me until, finally, I swallowed my pride and said, "I was an asshole. On your birthday too and I'm sorry."

Nothing.

"Would it help if I got down on my knees and begged?"

She paused for a second but still nothing.

"If we're going to be working together, might as well clear the air now." I bargained.

This time, I actually got a response. "You don't get it."

"What else do I have to do to get you to forgive me?"

"It's not that."

"Then what?"

"I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself."

"That makes perfect sense."

Instead of shooting me down with a sarcastic comment of her own, she merely shook her head and sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

I never got to ask her what it was that I was unable to understand because just then a customer came in. Leaving her to serve the man, for the rest of my shift I focused on cleaning up and refilling the empty cup of the girl sitting in the far corner.

By the time it came to closing up, the floors were so clean that I could see the colour of my eyes reflected in them and the girl was long gone. I hung up my apron just as Phee reached for her jacket, avoiding my gaze. Again, it shouldn't have bothered me but there was something about it that got under my skin.

My manager came out for the second time that day with the keys, locking the doors of the Blitz and the three of us parted ways with him grunting a farewell. I went to the adjoining parking lot and got out my own set of keys. And it was a good thing that I'd driven that day because as soon as I got in, a slight drizzle began. That drizzle then turned into a full on downpour, making the air inside the car humid with the hot air.

My windows started to steam up and the rain pelting down made it difficult to see. Luckily for me, the roads were fairly empty, not many shops open or people out. Except for one familiar figure.

She was huddled under a bus shelter, wringing the water out of her hair and wiping the droplets away from her face. I slowed down to a stop in front of the shelter and rolled down the window.

"Get in." I called out.

She looked at me and then around, probably hoping for the bus to arrive, but then gave in and got into the passenger seat. She shook off her drenched jacket, letting it pile at her feet as I let the hot air out.

"Thanks." She said quietly, relief evident in her tone to be out of the cold.

This time around, it looked as if she wanted to block out the silence, fiddling with the radio and stopping at the first music station she came to. The sound of heavy metal filled the air between us, almost so loud that I didn't hear her as she gave me directions to her place.

The journey there brought back memories. One street in particular, that leaned towards the edge of the town that had an alleyway where I remembered running errands for Dante. The exchange was simple. A small package for an envelope. I guess I should have noticed the problem then, when the envelopes got lighter.

"Kaden?"

"Yeah."

"You just missed it."

I shook my head and reversed till we were back in her driveway. I remembered coming here in another lifetime. A different person sitting in the passenger seat.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine." I said, running a hand over my face.

"Well, thanks again." She got out and was halfway to her door when I noticed her jacket was still on the floor.

"Hey, you forgot something." I called out grabbing it by the collar. As I was doing so, something fell out of one of the pockets.

I frowned, picking it up. It was some sort of newspaper article, half of it now slightly damp but the writing was still legible.

"Kaden." I saw the tip of a pair of boots but it was too late. My jaw hardened as I read the header in big bold letters and a couple lines underneath. I'd gotten to the fifth line when I stopped. There was no need to carry on because every word was already engraved into my head.

Scrunching up the piece of paper, I looked up at Phoenix who glanced at me in unease. Just as a test, I took a step forward. She didn't take a step back as I expected but held my gaze for the first time that day.

I leaned in so I was just a breath away from her ear. It had all become so much clearer. "I understand now."

She shivered. "It's not like that."

"Then what?" I said blankly. "What is it like?"

She bit her bottom lip but otherwise stayed silent. The crushed article in my palm felt like it was burning a hole through my skin. My fist curled tighter around it, as if that would dissolve the paper.

"I'm sorry." She said in a quiet voice.

It was in that moment that I wondered who else knew about me. Who else threatened to dig up my past and possibly even expose it for the whole town to see. The first person that came to mind was Noah. He'd been acting more strange than usual of late.

So I handled the situation as I would have then. Relaxing my clenched fists, I began to back away.

"Stay out of my business, Phoenix." I said in a low voice.

Then I walked away.

-

"What does this do?" Sam asked, picking up a purple coloured wire by his feet.

"No idea." I shifted so as to get a better grip on the antennae of the television that I was currently trying to fix. So far, the hundred year old piece of junk wasn't cooperating.

Sam watched me, stretched comfortably across my one of my few possessions which was a beaten down bean bag. It was due to rip any day now. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"No."

"Why don't you just get a new one?"

I pulled out another wire and tossed it aside. "Because money doesn't grow on trees, Sam. You gotta work for these kinds of things."

Speaking of work, my decision to join the Blitz was a spur of the moment thing. Only recently I'd required a new living space. Away from my parents, away from people in general. The new place wasn't too great and I had to dip into my savings a little but it was enough to get me by for the moment.

Despite the interior of the house, I still had a nice view of the sea and the beach wasn't too far. One of the things that I had forgotten about Stonecrest was its sandy shores. It was a popular tourist point in the summer and anyone else that happened to be passing by.

"Is it working?" I turned to Sam, unable to see the screen of the television.

"Move it around a little." I did as told with the antennae. "Almost. Hold on, to the right. . . a bit more, yes. Yes, boom! It's working."

I sighed in relief, securing the signal and releasing my aching arms before dropping onto the springy couch. Along with the tv, the old tenants had left behind some of their furniture which meant I didn't have to bend over backwards to buy new stuff. On the whole, I'd managed to bag a good deal and considering that I was still contemplating on whether to go to college or not, this place may very well become permanent.

"Why bother taking your stuff to the other house when you could've brought it straight here?" Sam joined me on the couch, throwing his legs up to get comfortable. He wasn't supposed to be here yet he still was.

"Because I wasn't sure about this place yet." I explained. "Complications with my mom and besides, I don't even have that much stuff."

That reminded me of my parent's reaction when I'd told them I was moving out. My mom was resistant to the idea at first but whether it be my dad or some other reason, she finally came round. My father was much calmer, even offering to help me with my stuff but I refused, knowing that his busy work schedule meant that he would have extremely limited time to do anything really.

I knew that none of this would have been possible if they didn't trust me. The fact that they did, made my heart swell. We'd come a long way from this time last year.

"Hey, you have a pool back here." Sam called out.

I followed his voice towards the back of the house and sure enough, there was a pool there. Empty of water and holding leaves and branches. It looked like it hadn't been used for years.

"A little clean and it'll be good to go." Sam said, looking impressed. "And then we can focus on throwing your housewarming party."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Not happening."

"You're such a party pooper. I mean, look at the potential." He gestured around him. "No parents. No rules. Think of all the chicks you could get with digs like this."

"I'm not interested." I clarified.

"Are you gay?"

"No."

"Then. . . why would you pass this chance up?"

I said nothing, then rubbed my temple and headed to the kitchen with him in tow. Now my next big concern was not starving to death but oddly enough, when I opened the cupboards, I found a couple of tinned pineapples. Looking at the best before date, I tossed one to Sam and kept one for myself, then realised I didn't have a can opener.

"How about we just get ice cream?" Sam suggested once he noticed the situation.

And that's what we did. Instead of going to the shop, we heard the ice cream van and saw it parked next to the beach. The queue was long, holding moms and dads and kids. A few seagulls screeched above our heads as we waited at the end. The waters were calm today, gently swaying from side to side. Families were dotted around on the sand, sunbathing, building sandcastles or eating ice cream. I wasn't surprised that it was packed on a day like this.

All of a sudden, I felt something hit my calf and when I looked down, I saw that it was a ball.

"Kick it back!" A boy with blue hair called out.

So I did. He kicked it back to me and came over to where I was. He seemed to be around ten or eleven but held an uncanny air of maturity about him. Plus, he had blue hair. "You kick better than my sister. Want to play?"

I agreed good heartedly, having nothing else to do and leaving Sam to wait in the line. Playing soccer in the sand was different than playing it normally. For one, there was the major possibility of getting sand in the eyes, whilst helpful in leaving your opponent visual impaired for a few seconds it wasn't so good when it happened to yourself. And secondly, it was very easy to cheat.

At first, it was just the two of us. Blue haired boy and I played a few rounds, with him winning the majority of them. Unlike Noah, the kid was more modest, waiting until the end to rub it in my face than doing it in between every round. Eventually Sam joined us, empty handed as he'd gotten fed up for waiting so long for ice cream.

"Might as well work up an appetite." I patted his back in sympathy but his gaze was focused on something across my shoulder.

"How the hell did he get one?"

I looked back to see blue haired boy with an ice cream in his hand. His soccer ball was secured under his armpit as he licked it. He wasn't alone.

"Pay up, loser." The girl held out her palm and looked expectantly at the boy who just stared at it like it was a foreign object.

"Leave him alone, Kat." This time, I recognised the voice. Phoenix came up towards the two of them with two ice creams in her hand just as the blue haired boy tried to make a run for it but ended up tackled to the ground by Kat. Naturally, his cone fell onto the sand in the process.

Sighing, Phoenix only then noticed we were there. Her mouth parted open when her eyes landed on me but was soon wiped away when the feuding two barged into her, making her drop the other two ice creams.

"Look what you've done, Ethan. Happy now?" Kat accused icily towards the boy but he only glared back.

"Stop it." Phoenix said, as I offered her a hand to help her out of the sand. She took it to my surprise, sharing a look that I didn't understand. "Thanks."

"I know how to fix this." The blue haired boy, Ethan, declared. "We'll play a game of soccer and the losing team pays for the ice creams."

We all looked at each other in collective agreement. "I'm down for free food." Sam stepped in, giving me a wink.

Ethan ordered us around, appointing everyone into teams. At first it was the boys, Ethan, Sam and I, versus the girls, Phoenix and Kat, which she was quick to point out.

"Scared you're gonna lose?" Ethan stuck out his tongue which made her glare harden.

"I will bury you." She threatened. It took a while but I did remember her. She'd grown a lot in the two years I was away. Looking more and more like her older sister now.

The game was going fairly well, both teams equally as strong, though it did look like Kat was doing all the work on the other side when disaster struck. Kat managed to trip over a piece of driftwood and having been running barefoot, cut her foot.

She grit her teeth and stood back up but it was clear she was unstable. Phoenix and I helped her over to a nearby rock where she tried to get back up.

"You're not going anywhere." Phoenix pushed her back down into a sitting position as I examined her foot.

"It's not deep, but you'll probably need a plaster." I told her.

"See, I'm fine."

"No."

"I'm not going to let him win." She crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. "And no offence Phee, but you suck at playing soccer."

"I'm offended." She deadpanned just as Sam and Ethan joined us.

"What happened?" Sam made a face at seeing the blood on Kat's foot.

"This means we win. Yes!" Ethan interrupted, completely oblivious to his sister's injury.

"No, you don't. If I can't play, then you'll have to give over one of your players to make it fair." Kat ordered, glaring down at him until he gave in.

"Fine." He said, turning to his team and deciding which one of us he was giving up. Before he could, I volunteered.

"I'll go." Patting Kat on the knee, I got up to join Phoenix as we prepared to restart the game.

"Don't screw up." Kat yelled. I could see that the competitive streak ran through their family.

Ethan shouted orders once again and we all got into position. "At least try to hit the ball." I muttered to Phoenix.

"The only balls I'll be kicking are yours if you don't shut up." She bit back, eyes focused ahead.

I chuckled. "Just apply that confidence in the game and we'll be good."

We lost. On multiple occasions, Phoenix mistook my calf for the ball and instead ended up kicking that. At least that's what she told me. But then I saw her secretly smirking to herself later. And as it turned out, it was me having to pay for everyone's ice creams. But a deal was a deal and I respected that.

"What flavour?" I asked Phoenix.

"Strawberry." At my horrified expression, she laughed. "Just kidding, mint please."

"Better." I handed her the cone and we both headed back to where the others were, settling down a few metres away from them. I could tell the air between us was still stiff but after the last couple of hours, it seemed to ease a little.

I knew what was on her mind before she asked her question. "Are we going to talk about what happened the other night?"

"I'd rather not."

She nodded. "For what it's worth, I already knew. I was just making sure, you know."

"Do you believe everything you read?"

I didn't miss the hesitant look that crossed her face. "There's what I read and what I believe. Which are two different things."

"It's going to take more than that to convince me." I leaned back on my palms. "But you haven't run in the other direction, yet. Why?"

"What's in the past is in the past, right?"

"Right." My lips quirked up into an almost smile.

For a while, a calming silence settled over us. I heard children's screams of joy, the gentle movement of the waves, Kat and Ethan's slight bickering and Sam laughing at the pair of them. When I turned back to Phoenix there was a smudge of ice cream on the tip of her nose.

"You have something on your. . ." I didn't get to finish because just then a ball came hurtling towards is, hitting smack bang on Phoenix's wrist and knocking the ice cream out of her hands.

Everything after that happened in slow motion. Sam's mouth fell open as he muttered, "Shit." To himself. Phoenix slowly stood up, a picture of fury on her face which I couldn't take seriously since she still hadn't noticed the smudge on her nose. She looked kind of adorable in a way.

Kat and Ethan shouted at Sam to run and because I felt sorry for the guy I tried to give him a head start by halting Phoenix for a few seconds. Except when I tried to get up, I found that my shoelaces were tied and ended up toppling over. On top of Phoenix. We both landed on the sand with a thump. She let out a quiet groan as I registered what just happened and braced myself on my forearms.

I swore an array of colourful words before asking, "Are you okay?" My face was incredibly close to hers that I could see all the tiny details. Like the tiniest smattering of freckles lightly dusting her cheeks or the way her minty breath hitched for a second or the blush creeping up her jaw.

"I'm okay." She said in a voice that was an octave higher than usual.

I freed one hand to remove the ice cream from her nose which was still miraculously intact but ended up using it to brush the hair out of her face before rolling onto my back. From there on I began untying my shoelaces whilst keeping an eye on the trio that were currently clutching their stomachs in laughter.

"I say we just charge right at them." Phoenix muttered into my ear even though we were too far away for them to hear us. She brushed the sand off her shoulders, eyes fixated on the enemy and looking like a determined bunny that I couldn't help keep the grin off my face.

"Sounds like a plan."