Brian looked back at her lovingly, tangling a hand in her hair as he leaned in to give her a kiss. He ran his hand up her back and then down her thighs as the intensity of the kiss increased. Lila wrapped her arms around Brian’s neck looking into his eyes.

“I love you,” she murmured softly.

“I love you too,” Brian returned as he laced his fingers with hers squeezing her hand tightly.

Lila leaned back against him, burying her head in the crook of his neck. Closing her eyes, the two lay in utter silence. Lila could hear the rhythmic beating of Brian’s heart with each breath he took. She ran her hand delicately across Brian’s chest aimlessly tracing and repeating patterns.

“Look at that,” Brian said motioning with his head. The pair watched as Nick walked awkwardly to Jessica. Nick ran a hand through his hair – a telltale sign of nervousness.

“Remember when we used to be like that?” Lila asked with a smile. The memory of the first day Brian asked her out was still fresh in her mind. She remembered how she had practically gone through cardiac arrest when he asked her out. Her eyes shining, she turned her attention back to Jessica and Nick.

Suddenly Lila’s eyes became cloudy as she thought of what Justin had done to her friend. She thought of all the pain and sorrow he had put her through. Jessica had been so innocent then. Somewhere along the line though, Justin had taken that innocence from her. It was gone forever. No one had been able to help her regain it. In her heart Lila truly believed that Nick could help Jessica. He would never hurt her the way Justin did. He cared about her too much. Lila could see it in his eyes. She just wished that Jessica could too.

Jessica was totally engrossed in the latest novel she had begun reading. She loved to read. It was an escape from reality for her. It allowed her to forget all her problems and focus on someone else’s for a change.

A cool breeze rustled through the air, the wind accidentally turning a page of her book. In annoyance, Jessica pushed it back down. Distracted, she skimmed the page trying to relocate her last sentence. As her eyes ran over the page she caught sight of a figure approaching. Nick. She quickly returned her eyes to the page in pretence that she was actually reading.

She watched from the corner of her eye as Nick drew nearer. Suddenly he stopped and looked in her direction hesitantly. Instead of turning around and fleeing though, he set his jaw in determination and carried on. He stopped a few feet away from her and stood awkwardly staring for a few seconds. “Hey Jess,” he said quietly.

Jessica looked up from her book. “Hey yourself,” she replied shyly. She snapped her book shut quickly. A little too quickly in fact. She placed her book gingerly in the sand. She brushed a few solitary grains of sand from her towel, smoothing it in the process. “Wanna sit down?” she inquired quietly, her heart pounding as she awaited his answer.

“Let’s take a walk instead,” Nick suggested with a smile. Jessica nodded her head in agreement as she slowly rose to her feet. No! her mind screamed. He’ll hurt you just like Justin. For a second, Jessica contemplated rejecting Nick’s offer. Strangely, she was so compelled and intrigued by Nick that she managed to ignore all of her mind’s reason. “Let’s go,” she said quickly before she had a chance to change her mind.

They began walking with no real destination in mind. Neither knew where they were going. They walked in silence, too enraptured in their own thoughts to even speak. They strolled side by side along the shore as the cool water lapped at their feet.

As they walked, catcalls were issued as Jessica walked by accompanied by dreamy stares in Nick’s direction. The stares and lurid comments went unnoticed though. The two of them resembled something out of a movie. They were a perfect match.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better today,” Nick said breaking the silence.

“Thanks,” came Jessica’s reply. If only he knew. Nick didn’t know though and he probably never would unless Jessica told him. She wasn’t ready to talk about it again. Not now and maybe not ever.

“It’s been a long time Jess. How’s everything going with you?” Nick asked cautiously. He was unaware of it himself, but he was trying to ease the topic of conversation over to Justin.

“I’m fine,” Jessica replied trying to convince herself. She didn’t need to look at Nick to know that he didn’t believe her. He knew something was wrong.

She took a deep breath exhaling loudly before everything spilled out of her. “I’ve been through so much recently,” she whispered. “Sometimes I wonder whether I’ll ever be able to get though all of this on my own. I’m so scared,” she said, her voice quivering as she spoke. She stopped herself from divulging anymore information. She was amazed and slightly taken aback about how easy it was for her to talk to Nick. It scared her that he had such a power over her. She realized that it had been the first time in months that she had let down her guard and let someone in. Why am I doing this? Why am I telling him all this? He can’t help me. No one can.

In her heart, Jessica was perfectly aware of why she had delved into her emotions with Nick. It was something in his eyes. Something in them was so strong and compassionate; they willed her to tell him everything. They willed her to break down that false façade she had worked so hard to build up around herself.

Elizabeth shook violently, her tears mixing with the sand as they fell. Her body shuddered with each heart-wrenching sob. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. AJ wasn’t supposed to leave me like this.

She lifted her head from the sand momentarily. She breathed deeply, the air burning her throat as she swallowed. She stared out at the vast placid water ahead of her. Suddenly, her mind flashed back to a few minutes ago. She could vividly see the emotion on AJ’s face. He was so hurt. She had never meant to hurt him so badly.

AJ had been the only guy that she had ever truly cared about. Before AJ, she had been lost on her own. She had felt so alone, so isolated from everyone else. AJ had filled that gap though. He had introduced a whole new world to her. Subconsciously, she had known for a while that she didn’t love AJ. She felt something strong for him, but it wasn’t love. It never had been. AJ had showed his affection for her in many ways, but she had never truly felt loved. She always wanted more. She kept her feelings pent up inside her though because she had been afraid. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to survive without him.

A few weeks ago, Elizabeth had realized that she wanted desperately to experience love. She was tired of being alone and feeling empty inside. She wanted someone to share herself with. She needed someone who could share her soul with in a way that she had never been able to with AJ. She longed to know how it felt to have someone wrap his arms around her and tell her he loved her and truly mean it.

By now, her tears had ceased but the dull aching pain in her stomach still existed. AJ was the only guy who ever meant anything to me and I hurt him, she thought wistfully to herself. I have to find him. I have to tell him I’m sorry. I need to make him understand somehow.

Elizabeth rose to her feet slowly, stretching her sore muscles carefully. She took one last forlorn look at the pier before she trudged away from it slowly. She walked shakily, unable to feel the ground beneath her. She passed the masses of people unaware of their inquisitive stares. She walked along the shoreline, her feet splashing loudly in the water. Elizabeth walked for what seemed to her like an eternity. Every step she took was long and uncertain. She was so disoriented that she hadn’t realized that she had actually set off in the opposite direction and circled the length of the whole beach.

As Lila and Brian’s familiar faces came into view, she searched for AJ. She ignored their stares as her eyes scoured the crowd. She drew nearer to them, her attention focused on the masses of people.

Lila saw Elizabeth and knew something was wrong right away. Her eyes were red and her face was blotchy and tearstained. The wind had blown her hair haphazardly around her face. Elizabeth walked with her shoulders hunched and her face down. Lila broke away from Brian, hurrying over to Elizabeth.

“Liz! What happened?” Lila asked breathlessly. Elizabeth didn’t respond. She didn’t even look up to meet Lila’s eyes. Lila placed her hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “Liz. Are you okay?” Lila asked again. She didn’t need to hear Elizabeth’s response to know that she wasn’t all right. She knew something had to have happened between her and AJ.

“Where’s AJ? I need to find him,” Elizabeth asked ignoring Lila’s questions. Her eyes roamed the beach again, looking for him. He was no where in sight. Elizabeth felt Lila’s reassuring arm on her shoulder. She looked at Lila tearfully, fighting hard to control the tears which stung relentlessly at her eyes.

“What happened?” Lila asked gently.

“I hurt him so badly,” Elizabeth replied hoarsely.

Lila enveloped her friend in tight a hug. “He’ll come around sooner or later.” Out of the corner of her eye, Lila saw Nick and Jessica approaching Brian. Jessica’s face was masked with worry as Brian filled them in on what he knew of the situation. Jessica and Lila made eye contact and from Lila’s facial expression, Jessica could tell it was bad news.

Elizabeth and Lila broke apart. Elizabeth exhaled deeply, the aching pain in her stomach getting worse. Where is he?

Jessica noticed the break in the conversation and began walking over to Elizabeth. As she drew nearer, she noticed Elizabeth eyes were rimmed with red circles and her usually rosy complexion was dull and lifeless.

As Jessica neared the girls, she could see the fresh tears brimming in Elizabeth’s eyes. She gave Elizabeth a sympathetic look and a short hug. “Are you okay?”

Elizabeth nodded vaguely in response. The girls knew that it would take her a while to get over AJ. He was so special to her. It wouldn’t be easy, but they would help her through it somehow.

Together, the girls walked silently back over to Brian and Nick. The group stood in awkward silence for a while. Nick and Brian were unsure of what to say. Jessica had filled them quickly in on the situation, but they were still unsure of the exact details. They stared at each other, each silently willing the other to say something first. Finally, Nick managed to muster enough courage to ask Elizabeth if she was okay.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, but something caught her eye far off in the distance. It was AJ. She could see his familiar outline so clearly even from far away. Elizabeth wanted to run over to him, but she couldn’t. Her legs just wouldn’t move. Forgetting all else around her, she watched intently as AJ slowly inched his way towards them.

AJ stormed angrily down the beach, Elizabeth’s words resonating in his mind. “I can’t do this anymore. We can’t be together,” repeated it’s self over and over.

How could she do it? He had loved her so much. AJ thought back to all the intimate moments the two had shared. The images became distorted in his mind as he realized that none of them had meant anything to Elizabeth. Why had he fallen in love with her in the first place?

Rage and pain consumed his body as he roughly picked up a lone stone. Oblivious to the gaping stares of others, he hurled it into the water. It skipped across the surface of the water before plunging into it.

AJ wanted to do more than just throw rocks. He wanted to yell, to scream, to curse out loud. Yet, he remained silent. To AJ, yelling and screaming seemed like an admission of guilt. Admission to the fact that he had been guilty of neglecting Elizabeth and guilty of not telling her just how much he cared about her sooner.

AJ fumed silently as he walked. He kept his head bent down. His eyes were shaded from the sun by his sunglasses. “AJ!” he heard a familiar voice. Looking up he saw Brian and Nick jogging towards him.

“You okay bro?” Nick questioned.

“Fine,” came AJ’s curt reply.

“AJ,” Brian started but was cut off.

“I’m fine. Drop it. Let’s get out of here.”

Brian and Nick trailed behind AJ as he stormed towards his car. Suddenly, AJ stopped. He almost turned around in the opposite direction when he saw Elizabeth standing flanked by Lila and Jessica on either side. She looked so sad. AJ shook his head and continued walking showing no remorse for her.

Elizabeth watched as AJ drew nearer to them. She wanted to say something but she couldn’t. Her throat was dry and her tongue felt like cotton in her mouth. She watched, horrified, as AJ brushed past her rudely without saying a word. He continued in the direction of his car without even looking back.

She struggled to hold back the tears that stung at her eyes. She wanted him to yell, to scream to curse. Anything but silence. Silence was the silent killer. It was deadly.
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