"nicole, c'mon," mikey whines pulling me downstairs. i heard a commotion and saw chunk with data surrounding brand, who's tied in his chair with his exercise equipment.

"oh this is priceless," i say laughing along with mouth at the sight.

"that's gonna hurt if you stretch it too much brand, try not to let it pinch your nipples," i laugh running after the boys who are springing out of the front door. i snatch brands baby blue rain coat off the rack to wear before leaving him in solitude and the sweet sound of cyndi lauper.

"nicky! don't you dare walk ou- nicky!" i hear him call after me but i was already running down the steps and getting my converse covered in mud. it's a good idea to wear these shoes over my keds for today, mikey plans on biking far away.

"mikey! my bikes at my house," i call out looking towards it.

"well hurry and get it, we'll wait," he tells me. i run to my house that was diagonal from the walshes and grab my bike quickly from the garage.

i stop in my tracks when i see two girls from school at the end of my driveway. heather and melanie.

"uh, excuse me," i say trying to walk past.

"wait, nicky," mel calls to me.

"what?"

"wanna go dress shopping sometime? for the dance?" heather asks me while smiling. did the school poison the water supply today? why was heather gebb asking me to go dress shopping?

"why in the world would i want to do that?"

"you're going to the dance right? with richie?"

"no, i'm not. i swear if richie is going around saying i said yes and embarrassing me," i say as i narrow my eyes.

"no, we just heard he's going to ask you, and we assumed you said yes. he does like you a lot," mel tells me while looking at heather. they share a look that can be defined with a clear lipgloss. hold up a clear lipgloss as analogies for looks and that's the one they gave each other.

"noted, and i said i didn't want to go with him,"

"so what? are you going to get mikey to take you or something? i don't even get why you hang out with all of those boys," heather says to me frustrated. i turn to see the gang waiting at the curb, conversing with each other.

"they're my best friends, and this is fun and all but i've got to get going!" i call to them, hurrying to ride off. i make my way down the slightly damp sidewalk to them as fast as i can.

"what'd they want?" mouth asks pointing his chin at the girls.

"they wanted to, and i quote, 'go dress shopping for the dance'," i say to them grinning widely.

"girls," mouth groans as we all turn to bike down the road. the rain stopped just a bit ago and the sun peaks through the tall and green trees.

"oregon's not so bad, huh," i call out to chunk with a smile.

"you bet!" he calls back from behind me. chunk and i are the slowest bike riders in the gang. i'm mostly viewing the scenery around me and chunk's mostly complaining about whatever's on his mind.

mikey's in the front with mouth yelling over the wind about whatever we're supposed to be doing.

mikey's got some sort of a map attached to his bike basket, as he's holding the rock he found into the air.

"whatcha doing there mikey," i yell to him.

"looking for the three rocks to fit the doubloon," he calls back. he's smiling, he thinks he's the group leader doesn't he. i speed my bike up to get to the front and look around for the rocks he's talking about. they've got to be along the cliffside or beach.

i turn to the right as we bike along the coastal highway and see a big sharp rocks with two medium sized ones.

"there!" i yell pointing and pressing on my brakes. mikey stops fast as well, almost falling off his bike.

"that's it! way to go nicole!" mikey cheers stopping as well. we stand along the road just staring at the rocks.

i zone out once mouth starts speaking spanish and math gets involved. all i see is the wooden, dark restaurant sitting on top of a hill. i follow my friends as they count and walk towards the building.

"hey guys, i don't know about this one, and i'm feeling a bit hungry," chunk says looking to the building with me.

"i have to agree with chunk on this one, look at it. ,"

"," mouth tells me.

"don't tell her what to do," mikey says in a nonchalant response, still counting his steps with data.

"yeah, don't tell me what to do," i tell him, sticking out my tongue at mouth. mouth pays me back with a roll of the eyes.

"just because you two like each other," he mumbles inaudibly but i got what he said.

"jerk," i say, thumping him on his head.

"well? i'm not wrong," he replies. i'm too focused on fighting with mouth that i don't realise that we're stopped at a rock.

"you're planning on going in there?" i ask mikey with bewildered eyes.

"it's fine, it's just a like an old, country cafe, sort of," mikey tells me with his smile. he advanced forward allowing everyone to follow his suit.

"oooh, fancy," i reply rolling my eyes, following them onto the steps.

"wait a minute guys, there's someone there," mouth whispers harshly. i look over to the restaurant and see two men in trench coats.

"sixty and forty, an even hundred. leads right to the old restaurant. the rich stuff has got to be there," mikey whispers.

"i don't know mikey. hey and it's getting late. and what's a summer place doing open in the fall?" chunk nearly shouts.

"shut up chunk! you'll get us caught if you keep yelling like that!" i hiss, waiting until they all started towards the cafe. i latch onto data's arm and follow everyone towards the front porch.

the boys continue to fight with each other, the gang vs. chunk's antics.

"chunk, can it will you?" i snap at him, causing the conversation to take its end, only as chunk runs to the cooler on the side of the building.

i peer into the window above mouths head to try to get a good look at what's going on in there. i don't see much through the thick dust.

"knock on the door mikey,"

"knock?! it's a food place, we don't need to knock!" mouth replies to me with squinted eyes.

we all push open the door and stand looking at a man carrying a bunch of garbage away.

"guys! guys! bullet holes, bul-"

"chunk! i said can it! stop with all of your stupid myths, now's not the time!" i yell at him, again. i'm mostly yelling at chunk out of fear, not anger. he's calling the strange men murderers in front of their faces, and if they were murderers i wouldn't want them onto our case.

"this place is a summer restaurant? looks like it hasn't been open for ten summers," mouth says looking around the room.

someone comes stomping over to us and towers over us, by only a few inches.

"how long have you boys been at that window?" they question, looking straight at data and mikey.

"hey! and girl!" i claim, looking away right after it slips my mouth. sometimes i feel as if i'm mouth himself the way things just leave my lips. it really depends on the person you are though, if you look popular you're going to be intimidating, if you look like a reject i'll feel right at home with talking to you.

"long enough to see you need about four hundred roach motels in this place," mouth says causing us both to laugh.

"yeah, along with some beds for the bugs. man what's up with all the dirt," i say looking at the dirty room.

a man yells in frustration on the other end of the room, before looking up mid-sentence towards us.

he walks over and speaks to the person in another language.

"mouth, is that spanish?" i whisper to him.

"no, i have no idea what it is,"

the man looks back to us and asks if he can take our order.

"you got steak?" i ask before being shoved a little by mouth.

"water's fine," data tells them.

"five waters then? is that all?"

"no! i want veal scallopine-"

"shut up!"

"i want fettuccine alfred-"

quickly, the lady grabs him and holds him in an armlock.

"all we serve here is tongue!" she tells him bringing a knife to his mouth.

i stare in wide eyes and watch before she lets him go.

"five waters coming up," she tells us before walking away.

as we wait chunk tries to tell us his story about the bullet holes on the ORV but shuts up when the lady comes back with our waters. our brown waters.

mouth grabs two instantly and peers into them.

"this supposed to be water?"

"it's wet isn't it?"

mikey asks for the bathroom and gets the result of downstairs. i watch as he leaves the room.