Ruby needed Lee at first. To find a way in, and to gel with the group. Now that she had almost completely mixed in well with the other two, she didn't need Lee anymore. The fact that Lee was just an egoistic masochist nut job, must have also helped Ruby take her decision to get rid of him.

May Flower was always involved in holding major events to attract crowd. They would hold competitions and games like a bake sale, beauty pageant for men and women from all universities across the whole country, puppy parades, cultural fests, sport sports events and so on. A major portion of collections from such events went to charity.

One such event was the annual surf festival that was to be held the very next week. The nearest beach was a small one, but during the festival all surf enthusiasts would gather and spend three days and two nights. It was targeted mainly on the tourists who lived in the country. They would come carrying their surf board. On top of enjoying the sport, they also enjoyed having an audience who would watch them in awe.

There would be live music, dance, variety of food, countless number of contests and lots of games. Lee was always open to chilling and he didnt need much convincing. It was Ruby that Sara found was difficult to convince. But once she told her about the live performances, obvious weakness, Ruby had agreed. The girls had discussed and decided all plan, went on a massive shopping spree, good enough to last three days and stuffed everything into their bags.

The four set off around five in the evening to the beach. They wanted the hot sun to make way to a rather cooler weather, but also watch the beautiful sunset. Five seemed like an apt time.

This time again, Lee drove. Laksh shared the backseat with Ruby. Throughout the ride, the two girls made jokes and clicked selfies. Sara was glad that someone was keeping Laksh distracted, and away from her. On the other hand, it was clear that Lee didn't like back seat commotion, even one bit.

After parking the car, Lee began unloading the luggage. That's when he noticed the extra guitar. When Ruby came to get her bag, he began his quesioning.

"You brought your guitar?" Lee asked her. "Yeah. I can see that you did too," answered Ruby.

"I plan to perform," said Lee, his voice rising again.

Ruby sighed and almost pleaded, "Lee, I just want to enjoy this weekend without any drama. We all are. Please don't ruin it for us."

Her voice really was tired. She took her luggage and dragged it behind her as she walked away.

The breeze from the sea was quite strong that day. Their hair disturbed their face and the fabric of their dress clung to their body on one side and fluttered away from the sea on the other, as their feet dragged through the fast cooling sand.

Ruby and Laksh walked ahead, while Sara and Lee followed from behind. Sara thought of the last time they were at the beach. She remembered how sure she was that the two won't last. She sniggered.

Walking ahead, Ruby laughed at something Laksh had said.

"I want to smack her head," said Lee.

"Are you going to resort to violence now?" asked Sara. Lee ignored her and said, "I hate even seeing her face. I don't understand why she needs to stay in our group. Let's just kick her out."

Sara sighed. She fixed a long strand of hair that fluttered onto her beautiful face, and said, "She fought her way in. She is smart and she has proven it. And about what happened between you too, well... Can you blame her? She was dating you!"

Lee clicked his tongue, annoyed.

"To be honest, I see a lot of myself in her. She has the potential to be me, if guided in the right direction."

At this, Lee looked at her incredulously. She continued, "Which is why, I'm not losing her from the group."

"What if I ask you to pick one, her or me?" Asked Lee. It took Sara a second to realise that this wasn't a joke. She had snickered at first, but then looked at him and said, "Oh. You are serious! Don't ask a question you don't want to hear the answer to."

They walked towards the stalls where a lot of the crowd had gathered. The stalls were arranged in a large rectangular manner. In the middle there was a single large rectangular shed, decorated with cushions on the floor, twinkly lights in the roof and small tables arranged at equal distance. Groups of people, possibly friends, huddled in circles on the floor, chatting, laughing and playing games. Laksh later told her that she had recognised a few students from the university. Sara didn't know any of them.

Ruby and Laksh had stopped near one such group. Sara noticed that it was for obvious reasons. Sitting amidst the group of people was a boy, who was playing his guitar. After listening for a few seconds, Ruby took out her phone and started filming him. When his song had ended, the crowd around him cheered, which Laksh and Ruby joined in. Lee just stared at her with contempt.

That night, after dinner, they had returned to their stay quite late. It was past midnight and they were extremely tired.

"I'm gonna go freshen up first," Ruby said as soon as they entered their room. Due to the surf festival, there was a scarcity in rooms, and all four had to share a single room.

Laksh and Sara sat on the bed while Lee fell back onto the bean bag. He groaned as he stretched his body and immediately stopped when he saw Sara glaring at him.

"Keep it low or outsiders might think you are being taken advantage of in here by three girls." Lee ignored her.

"Tonight was fun," said Laksh as she stretched. "Yeah right," Lee murmured.

"I hope tomorrow will be even better," Laksh added. "Sure," Lee said with unhidden sarcasm.

"If you are going to be grumpy throughout the festival, you should just leave," Sara couldn't take his attitude anymore.

"Why should I leave? Ask her to leave!" He retorted.

"Argh! Just stop you two!" Laksh interjected.

The other two remained silent for a few seconds.

Then Lee asked Sara in the most polite voice, "Did you uh... bring any of that stuff with you?"

"What stuff?" Asked Sara her eyes on her phone.

"What do you think?" Said Lee raising his voice in annoyance.

Sara looked up at him and raised an eyebrow before she said, "Tonight? Really?" She couldn't believe he'd take that stuff without any company, because Sara and Laksh sure as hell wouldn't accompany him.

Lee shook his head. "No. I want her to take it," he gestured towards the bathroom.

"Oh my god!" Laksh felt a bit disgusted. "You just need some sleep Lee." Sara threw a pillow at him to shut him up.

They slept through the next morning, waking up quite late. When Sara had woken up in between she found that Ruby was not in the room. Her next instinct was to find Lee. She was relieved to find him sleeping soundly, so she returned to sleep again.

When she woke up later, Ruby was back in the room. She wanted to ask where had Ruby been, but then she realized that she didn't really care.

After dressing up for the beach, they returned to the stalls again. Lee was like a ticking time bomb that day as well. Today his reason was that Ruby was also carrying her guitar, just like he was. HIs plan was to play his guitar, grab some attention, some girls if he could and be the star of the day. He didn't like that Ruby had decided to play too.

"I don't want to share my limelight with her," he said to Sara. "Share your limelight? I think she will steal your limelight," she replied. Her response did not make him feel good. On the other hand, Sara realized that Lee really did think quite high of himself.

The same group from the previous day were huddled in the same spot. The four joined them, quietly joining them from behind, listening to them play. They were quite warm and welcoming, and invited Lee and Ruby to play something, seeing guitars in their hands. Before Ruby could even move, Lee had taken the centre and began. Laksh felt a bit embarrassed while Sara smirked at his neediness.

Lee played Blackbird by the Beatles. Contrary to what one might think, considering his jittery behavior regarding playing his guitar, Lee was pretty good. Once he was done, the crowd cheered for him. This had instantly raised his mood. There was a clear light on his face after it ended. He enjoyed the attention because like once Sara said, it was the only thing he knew he was good at.

But then it was obvious that they'd ask Ruby to play, as she too had showed up with her guitar. And she was ready. She sat down comfortably and sang Shallow by Lady Gaga, playing her guitar beautifully. Much to Lee's disappointment, and Sara's prediction, Lee was unfortunately easily forgotten after Ruby's performance.

After the crowd had dispersed for dinner, it was past eight and it was rather dark. The lights from the stalls and the decorations of the surf festival illuminated the shore, rendering it rather beautiful.

As the four walked through the beach that evening to watch the sea and the wind, Sara noticed that Lee's face was red even in the dark which had nothing to do with the strong cold wind. His grip on his guitar was tight and his knuckles, white.

"Just let go," said Sara hoping to calm him down. "No," he murmured. But she couldn't even imagine what had happened next.

It was like he was waiting for someone to ask him to calm down, so that he could act upon his instincts.

Lee threw his guitar onto the sand and ran towards Ruby who was walking ahead with Laksh. He pulled her guitar out of her hands in a swift move, and broke it over his knee into two pieces.