study break [O] ●

[Anthony Vaughn]

The sun burned hot in the very center of the sky as the young redhead made his way across the beach. The sand was uncomfortably warm under his bare feet, however, he hadn’t wanted to get any his shoes. Speaking of those, if one looked, they would find them on the opposite end of the beach, laying a little too close to the ocean for comfort. Right beside them, one would find a shirt and a pair of socks as well. The boy who was currently walking had a glisten to his skin, and his hair stuck to his face. His shorts were sopping wet, and his skin was slightly pink. It would be very clear to anyone that he had been swimming – though swimming had been a mistake. Despite the fact that the air was warm and the sun was shining, the water was still uncomfortably cold. His little swim hadn’t lasted very long at all, and he was left regretting the fact that he had decided to spend his ‘day off’ on the beach instead of somewhere more fun.

Not that he could go to many places, though. He had told his mother that morning that he was walking to school, and she had been too distracted to question him. Truthfully, it was simply toward the end of the week and he was tired to attending class. Quite unfortunately for him, however, it was rather obvious that he should be in school. He’d had his mother and truancy officers called before, so he tended to avoid highly populated areas when he skipped class. A soft sigh was heaved as he turned to face the ocean. He bent fluidly to pick up a rock, and his arm arced as he sent it flying into the water. He was bored, but at least it was better than school.

--
OPEN

[Piper Howell]

Wisps of ocean air rushed and crashed over sea waters ushering waves further up the beaches. The tides were shifting, yet this news seemed not to touch the young figure standing knee deep in water just ahead of Tony. Androgynous save for long black hair braided back into one long fish tail, the figure was short, young looking, but in pants, a t-shirt, and a red baseball cap, from this angle, it was questionable at best as to which it was. Male or female? Very few guessed right off the bat which Piper was when she wore such clothes. She liked it that way.

Unassertive eyes regarded the enormous sea barrier with only a mild interest, yet discontent set upon the girl’s features. Restless, she was restless. There was no way out by land, and from what she had heard, no way out by sea. They had been trapped in Georgia for what felt like years (even if perhaps it had been a year at most by then) and she was feeling restless again. It was hard not to when a freedom ruled life should have let her travel more. She longed to go through the states, to see what she could see. She longed to at the very least go back to Europe and go see things she had already seen. Here was too boring, too stagnant, and that scared her more than Piper would ever know.

It was sonly when the splashes of a rock bounding upon water echoed in her ears that Piper realized someone was there. Whipping her head back to stare towards the beach once more, the young woman stared for a moment at the “equally” young man not too far off. She could see even from there that he was younger, but her façade kept her at a certain “age” regardless. Turning around fully, she offered a surprisingly large smile and waved an arm up. “Hi! she called lightly.