"Now I will totally believe that Hailey and Shawn are just friends." Dawn says scrolling through her iPad, catching up with the latest news. "But I still can't wrap my head over the fact that Justin Beiber and Hailey Bladwin are engaged! I mean, I was stan rooting for Selena and Jus-.."

"Will you please talk about how you're feeling right now?" I snap at her because I want her to let it out.

Dawn flinch a little and just stares ahead at the wall. She falls silent and then talk. "You know that I don't wanna talk about it, right?" she says in a slow voice which indicates that she is about to get angry.

But that doesn't stop me. "I know, that you know, that you need to let it out."

"Em, just leave it," she warns me but hell I don't stop.

"We are not leaving the room until you talk about this." I add more petrol to the already burning flames.

"Why don't you just quit it Emma. I said that I don't wanna."

There. The beast has finally been unleashed.

I flinch even though I probably expected this. But we both know that I'm right and this is really working out.

I reach out to her and stroke her caramel blonde hair, slowly, and gently.

"It's not working," she whispers but I know it is.

"It's okay not to be okay, Dawn." Now I tuck few strands of her hair behind her ear and she is slowly giving herself in.

This technique actually works. Trust me. It's a good way to let them know people are there for you and they are willing to listen to you. But they will only do that when you open up. You need to take that bold step and the rest will be completely alright.

Dawn finally surrenders and looks at me. "I just wish that I could have spent some more time with her. She was a great person and always supported me with everything. And now she's gone. I don't know what to say." Her voice cracks down a little but she doesn't cry.

I don't say anything. All I do is give her my undivided attention and silence. I nod my head to go on.

"I don't wanna cry, Emma. Call me crazy or lunatic, I don't want to."

I shake my head, "It's fine, sweety. People say that if we don't cry, it means that we are weak. But they don't know that my friend is an exception." I give her a soft smile.

She looks at me and that's when she breaks down. I pass her the tissue box and she snatches a multiple of them.

She finally calms down after the whole emotional roller coaster and gives me a stink eye. "I can't believe that you had used reverse psychology on me. I hate you so much."

"I love you too. But it worked out, right?" I wink at her.

"I hate to admit it, but it did," she looks at me sheepishly, "Sorry that I yelled at you".

"It's fine Dawn. I'm used to your childish fits." I wave it off.

"Hey! I wasn't throwing a fit." She points an accusing finger at me, "I was angry at you. You were being stubborn."

"Says the one, who is the queen of stubbornness." I reply sassily.

"Quit it, you drama queen," she playfully glares at me.

I shake my head and smile. This is what I missed about her. Hell, I missed her a lot. Sure, I do have other friends, but this girl is unique. They say that a mountain is admired from a great distance, and so is our friend. At first, I didn't get the meaning of it. But now I do.

In this generation, where even candids are fake, there are some people who are true to themselves and loyal to others. We can proudly give them the term 'best friends'. They come with a package filled with love, care, and with an aim to protect their friend. But also with a complimentary craziness, a pinch of weirdness, and also with an aim to spoil your goody-two-shoes- friend.

I'm brought back to my room with Dawn's booming voice. "What the damn hell!"

"What's wrong?", I ask her with worry etching in my voice.

"Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra are engaged? What's wrong with the world?!" she asks me bewildered with the flash news.

"Yeah. It's been trending a lot. And you don't know about it?" What's wrong with you? You are always the one to find out this kind of stuff and gossip about it," I look at her as if she had grown two heads.

"Well, cut me some slack. I was drowning in the pool of sadness. How could expect me to look it up and tell you?" She fires back at me. "Also, YOU are the one with all the gossip stuff."

"I am not," I defend myself even when I know that it's not gonna work.

"Oh yeah? Then who told me that Mr. Sinclair got left at the alter by his fiancée, and that's the reason why he is against the whole dating thing and tries to break up the couples in our school?" She retorts back at me.

I shift under her accusing gaze. "Umm..not me?", I ask her sheepishly.

Dawn shakes her head with a small smile playing on her lips and mutters 'gossip girl' under her breath.

"Hey, did you realise that we always get carried away from the stuff we are actually doing to some other stuff?" Dawn asks me with the realisation bomb hitting on her face.

"And you just noticed it now, in our years long of friendship?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Uh-huh. What were we talking about again?"

"Priyanka and Nick getting.."

"Oh, right!". With a disgusted look on her face, she says, "Time to leave the planet."

__________________

Me and Dawn catch up with all the stuff that has been happening past week. I tell her everything that happened in school, from silly jokes cracked in our classroom to the boys fighting at lunch hour, from cheating in our tests to all the drama between the girls I heard in the washroom, I fill in with each and every single detail to her.

It's evening past 4, and we both are casually walking around our neighbor hood. Dawn hates to walk and so do I. But sometimes, I feel like I need to appreciate the gift of the God around me. All the huge trees towering us, the scent of the flowers, the middle aged couple shouting at each other, the 60 year old grandpa lecturing a small kid who have hit the ball and broke the window, the owner letting his dog to poop at the sidewalk.

Oh, joy!
Got the sarcasm?

"What are we gonna do?" Dawn asks me as we walk with our joined hands swinging in the air.

"We are just gonna hang out with our friends," I reply.

She stops to look at me. "Oh god, I missed them a lot. But, wait. When did you invite them?"

"I messaged them an hour ago. That's the reason why we are going to the beach."

"And you were gonna surprise me. Aww Emma! I love you." She hugs me but I push her.

"Dawn, I told you already, and this was your idea." How the hell did she forget this?

She looks at me deep in thought. "It was? But why don't I remember?"

"Maybe you were drooling at some photo of Shawn." I start walking.

"Oh, yeah. I was watching this clip, where Shawn nailed the high note." She releases a dreamy sigh.

I roll my eyes at her. Typical of her.

We are just few meters away from the beach and i can already hear the waves hitting the shore. The sea breeze start hitting my skin and I'm already feeling refreshed.

We get down in the sand and find our friends already sitting by the beach, building sandcastles. We run towards them and Dawn is the first one to reach them.

"Hey, fellas!"

"Dawn!", my weirdos Kevin, Mason, Zach, and Sophia shout in a chorus with excitement etching their voices.

Here we go!

Hope you are enjoying it so far. I just don't wanna rush into the story quickly. I wanna introduce each and every character, their thoughts and mindsets, etc etc.

Vote and comment peeps!