[ K A R A ]  "Kara, if you go... you're gonna lose me, forever," Those were the last words that Cole said to me before we parted ways. No matter how much I wanted to believe that it wasn’t true, I knew it was true. He meant what he said. In the fight for Ryder and I’s happy ending, I had lost my best friend. When I got home later that night, Ryder saw the look on my face and he immediately knew that something was wrong. With a worried look on his eyes, Ryder got up from the couch, walked over to me, and cupped my face in his hands. “Hey, have you been crying?” he asked softly. “Baby, what’s wrong?” I didn’t want to tell him. I didn’t want him to worry about me or change his mind about us. So I just shook my head and said, “It’s nothing… I just saw lost puppy

[ R Y D E R ] I kept my fists on the guy's collar, glaring daggers at him, but he wasn't backing down.  "What are you gonna do, Ryder? Hit me on the nose like that kid Gabe?" he said and my fists gripped his shirt tighter in response. "How'd you know that?" "When she told me about him, I actually felt bad for the guy. Clearly, he was the better man, don't you think?" "Look man, I don't know who you think you are—" "I'm her friend. And I love her," he cut me off again, and I swallowed at his words. "If you really care for her, Ryder, you wouldn't have put her through all that," "And if you're really her friend, Cole, you'd have supported her decision no matter what," I spat back. "Kara and I love each other. As her friend, you should just accept that," I thought I made myself clear,

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *O N E Y E A R L A T E RSOMEWHERE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *[ R Y D E R ] I heard somewhere that before you die, you would see your whole life flash before your eyes.I think I just saw that.There were bits and pieces of everything in my life. I saw flashes of memories of playing with my mother when I was young. I saw the first day of elementary school, the day when we found out my mom got sick, the day I won my first surf championship, that night I went drinking cheap beers with my buddies at the beach, and then there was Kara.I remembered seeing her smile. We were sitting at our secret beach, watching the stars, and she gave me this smile that was so perfect, I swear she had melted my brains out.Then I remembered the first time we met, she was standing in front of my garage. Her chocolate brown hair was blowing gently in the wind, and she just looked at me, not saying a word. But h

[ K A R A ]  "Shit!" I heard that voice again. Then I felt two strong arms grabbed my body and I was quickly being pulled up into the cold, dry air. I jerked my eyes open and I saw… Cole, holding onto me. He looked so distraught. "Cole..." I murmured. "Shit!" he cursed again as he frantically reached for a towel and wrapped my body with it. I looked down at the water below and it was dark red. I just realized what I had done. In a matter of seconds, Cole swiftly carried me out of the bathroom. He laid me down on the bed, grabbing whatever cloth he saw on the floor and tying them unto my wrist for added pressure. When he was done, he lifted my hand up above my heart and quickly ran off to the living room to get the first aid kit. He was scrambling like crazy. Then he came back almost instantly and sat right next to me on the bed. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OAXACA, MEXICO * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [ R Y D E R ]  I never thought that fish tacos would save my life. It was quite the story. It went something like this, once upon a time, there was a man named Pedro Gonzalez who owned a small taco shack by the beach. He made the meanest fish tacos, the best I ever had in my life. Every morning I went out to surf, at around 6 or 7 AM, and I usually came back to the shore at around 12 PM. I would make my way to Pedro's shack and order two plates of fish tacos for lunch. And I did the same thing every day for a month now. Pedro wasn't a man of many words. He didn't speak English well, and my Spanish was... well, I knew ‘hola’ and 'gracias', but that was about it. But Pedro knew me, or at l