“Run out of air down there, Al?” She asked, laughing. I lunged at her, pushing her down under the water with me, then bobbing back up to breathe.

            “You whore.” I joked. She gasped, mock offended, and pounced at me again. I grabbed her around the waist, stopping her from shoving me below the ocean again, and she wrapped her legs around me to keep from falling under herself.

            “You’re my bestest friend, you know that?” I smiled, about to say something, when a seagull cawed and dove down close to our heads, forcing me to fall backwards into the bluish-green waves. We both penetrated the water seconds later, laughing and shaking the water from our faces.

            “What the hell?” I said through laughs, leading her out of the water and back to our blankets. I tried not to focus on the way her wet bathing suit clung to her body, the way the loose strings dangled down her back, just begging me to untie them. We sat down, joining the group under a crimson and yellow umbrella.

            “What were you two doing under the water?” Tina joked suggestively. I grinned, a smart ass comment almost out of my mouth when another caw sounded from above my head. I looked over at her, both of us smiling.

            “What is with these birds?” I asked, looking up at a swarm of them near our site.

            “Hey, Al, you said you had something you wanted to talk to me about earlier.” She said, bringing up what I had been thinking about all day, and pretty much for the past few months. I opened my mouth to answer, to ask her if we could go somewhere else to talk, when another bird made it’s screeching sound and flew low overhead. They wouldn’t let me talk, and I would never be able to tell her. The birds calls rang in my ears, multiple caws and closer together now, deafening me to anything anyone else was saying. Why didn’t anyone else notice how loud they were? Could anyone help me?

 Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw!

            “Shit! Alice, wake up!” Tina stood over me, shaking my shoulders, rocking my whole body. I sat up quickly, holding my head. “Oh my God, are you alright?” She asked, holding a wet compress to my head. I gulped, feeling sick, and hot. It was way too hot. My mouth was too dry to form words, so I just nodded weakly. “Hold on, I’ll get you some water.” She disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a glass. I drank from it, grateful for the slight burning sensation that moved down my throat.