Ever since Alfie had played peewee league, the football field had been his happy place. It was there for him in times of triumph or when he just needed to let off steam. The cheering fans and the clack of pads fueling him and giving him clarity. But lately, Alfie had been craving the quite and was up before the crack of dawn, taking full advantage of the seclusion of the campgrounds for his morning run. The former quarterback was on his way back when he jogged towards a picnic table taking in the vastness of the California sky and settled himself on top of it. His forearms were pressed to his thighs as he looked out into horizon catching his breath. It wasn’t until he heard footsteps coming from behind him that Alfie tore his eyes from the skies and turned towards the source of the sound. “Hello?” 

Kinley was surprised that she was invited to the group of friends camping trip; however, she jumped at the opportunity almost immediately and was excited to get away from the beach life and enjoy the campground instead. Her family hadn’t ever went camping as her vacations mostly consisted of traveling out of the country to some glamorous city overseas where her parents could mingle with other rich parents while the kids did whatever they wanted, both legally and illegally. She had gotten up early due to not being used to sleeping in a tent and decided to walk one of the trails to watch the sunrise only to come across one of the group members who she hadn’t interacted with yet. A soft smile graced her features as she approached him and took a seat next to him on the picnic table. “What are you doing out here alone?” the female questioned as her brown hues gazed over at him. 

Kinley returned the smile back to the female as she accepted the antibiotic ointment and bandaids. A soft laugh fell past her lips at the other’s words before nodding her head. “Oh yes. I always find myself getting into some serious situations where injuries happen more often than not, so I’ve just learned that it’s best if I carry the needed items just in case,” she explained with another soft laugh before rubbing her lips together. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Shiloh,” the female replied before nodding her head in acknowledgment to what she was saying about the beach house. “Yes, okay. I knew that you looked familiar, but I didn’t want to sound crazy if I was completely mistaken. I live in the beach house a few doors down, that is correct,” Kinley stated as she pointed over to her own beach house. “It’s a group of you guys, right?” she questioned. “I think I’ve seen you all together once or twice,” the femme added.

Kinley laughed in response to the male’s words about trying to be scary for her and only shook her head lightly. “Oh no, you don’t have to do that. Thank you for offering though, that’s really kind of you. Me and this person go way back as I tend to swipe some items from their store every so often,” she explained with a casual shrug as if that was normal. The female was very honest and didn’t see the point in lying. “I’m glad that you’re good though. I’m perfectly okay as well. No injuries on my end. Are you really? Maybe we can go for a bike ride someday? It might help you with your pedaling,” Kinley suggested teasingly. “I’m Kinley, by the way,” she introduced herself as she offered him a hand to shake.

Kinley closed her eyes for a few mere seconds before collecting her thoughts after almost hitting the male before nodding her head to his question. “Yes, I’m okay. I’m super sorry about that,” she replied as she gazed over at him and offered him a small smile. “I was kind of running away from someone, and I wasn’t paying too much attention to where I was going. I didn’t mean to interrupt your casual stroll,” the female said as she cleared her throat slightly. “I didn’t hit you or anything, right?” Kinley questioned as her brown hues did a take over his body to ensure that she didn’t injure him. “Who knew bikes could be so dangerous,” she added lightly. 

Kinley took a deep breath as if to calm herself from almost making contact with the stranger before making eye contact with the floating red balloon that was drifting in the air away from them. A small laugh fluttered past her lips as she turned her attention back to the male before casually shrugging her shoulders. “Me too because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t make a very good one. I would get so annoyed with having that much makeup on my face at all times,” she teased with another laugh before running her fingers through her unruly locks while nodding her head in response to his question. “Yes, I’m okay. Are you okay?” the female questioned as she glanced over his entire being to make sure that she didn’t see any visible injuries that might have came from her getting too close to him. “I’m sorry about that. I should probably watch where I’m going when riding a bike,” Kinley said as a grin took over her features. “Are you from around here?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. The femme hadn’t seen him around before, but she thought that she had seen him with the group of friends that recently started vacating the beach house but didn’t want to sound like a stalker if she brought that up right off the bat. 

Kinley immediately placed her bike down on the sidewalk and made her way over to the other female who had tripped on her feet and fell backwards onto the hard pavement. Worry instantly danced upon her features as she watched the other get back up and rubbed her lips together slightly. “I’m so sorry about that. I should have been paying better attention to where I was going,” she replied genuinely as she swung her backpack off of her shoulders ( an accessory that never left her side; her life was practically inside this bag and held important and not so important items for the female ) in search of her first aid kit that she always kept with her. The female had learned the hard way when it came to injuries and not having the needed supplies with her, so she developed the habit of always having the needed items with her just in case she ever required them. “Here, I have some antibiotic ointment and some bandaids to tend to those scrapes,” Kinley offered as she handed the items over to the other female. “I’m sorry again,” she added as she gave her a small smile. “I’m Kinley, by the way,” the femme introduced as she tucked some hair behind her ear.

Kinley had arrived at her summer residence that was located in Huntington Beach a few weeks ago and noticed the beach house several feet away had a group of friends staying in it. She had never seen them before from the past summers that she had stayed in her own beach house that her parents bought her a few years ago. It was their gift to her for staying out of jail for a solid year ( a hard task to complete but she did it nevertheless ). The female hadn’t had an opportunity to introduce herself and welcome them to the area, but she figured that it would happen in time as she had the whole summer to make conversation with them and potentially recruit them to take part in some exciting ( potentially illegal ) activities. Kinley always lived life on the edge without a care in the world and was always curious to see how far she could push the limits of other people.

She was currently riding her bike at a high speed throughout the town in order to get away from a local resident ( they have known each other for years mainly due to the female continuously stealing items from their store; that being the only form of interaction between the two ) who was chasing her out of their shop. The femme glanced back to see if the owner was close to her but noticed that they had stopped running and was heading back towards the shop after not being able to catch her. A victorious laugh fell past her lips as she turned back around to see where she was going only to spot one of the members from the group that was staying at the beach house a few feet down from hers getting into her pathway. “Shit, watch out!” Kinley yelled as she turned her bike to avoid making contact with them as the tires skidded along the pavement. She quickly turned her focus on the other person to make sure that they were still in one piece. “You good?” Kinley questioned.