At approximately 3 in the morning, I'm awake in my bed, staring at the ceiling on my bunk bed. Being in the middle of summer, things are considerably hot, even at night.

Worst of all, New Jersey weather is humid. That's one thing I don't miss about it.

As I lay there on that bed, I was asking myself a series of questions: why was there a bite mark on that man's neck? Why did they kill him so brutally? And if it was so bad that even Dannis was afraid, what possibly could've killed him?

I soon realized that asking such questions was futile, so it was best I finally slept.

After only 4 hours of sleep, I'm awoken by my father.

"Michael," he said as he shoved me, trying to wake me up.

"Get up. We have something to discuss."

I rubbed my eyes, annoyed at having to wake up so early.

"What is it, Dad?" I asked.

"Come, I want to show you something. Quick," he said.

I eventually got up, barely awake and frustrated at his request. As we go downstairs, he points at the news which is on the TV.

"After hearing reports from the residents of Crystal Bay, law enforcement was called out to investigate a scene that left one particular lady distressed. Here is what she has to say." the reporter said as it followed with footage of the wife from last night speaking about her experience.

"My husband... my husband was killed." the lady wept on national television.

"It was awful. He didn't deserve it. He was the sweetest man I ever knew, and his life was taken just like that." the camera cut back to the reporter.

My father turns down the television, "Last night there was a murder which took place locally, so I called up my partner about it to see if he was there at the case." he looks at me sternly.

"Michael, what Dannis told me, has made me very upset with you. What the hell were you doing there, my boy?" he said.

The tension in the room was intense. How was I going to explain this to him?

"I-I don't know Dad, I was hanging out with Adrian when he said I could join him. I mean, he went with D-Dannis once, so he trusted me." I nervously addressed.

My father walked towards me, clearly angered by my actions, "Do you know what this means?! Not only could you jeopardize my job and my partner, but you decided it was a smart decision to waltz into that house and witness a murder?" he yelled at me.

He grabbed me and started shaking me, "What did you see, Michael? What did you see!"

Suddenly, Jack comes through the front door and quickly intervenes in the argument, "Hey, get the hell off him!" he yelled at our father.

My father let go of me, turning to Jack, "Of course you'd defend him. You and your... silly shenanigans! When is it about time you grew up?!"

Jack put his arms around me and led me out of the house through the front door as he turned towards my father, "Screw you, Dad."

He shut the door behind us and led me to his second-hand Plymouth Road Runner, a car he cherished.

As we drove away from the house, unsure of where the destination was, Jack said to me as he was driving, "Sorry about that. Dad can be a bit of a prick sometimes, am I right?"

I shrugged, "I guess. What I did wasn't okay, though." I said.

"Yeah, I heard what happened. That must've been pretty rough. How are you holding up?" Jack asked.

"Eh, okay. Could be better. I could barely sleep because of it. Hopefully, it doesn't become a problem." I uttered, hoping this was just a passing moment in my life.

"You and me both, Mick. You and me both..." Jack said.

As we drove up the hill, Jack parked on the grass that overlooked the entirety of Crystal Bay, shielded by trees on each side.

"This is it." as he closed the door.

I also left the vehicle, closing the door behind me. I walked over to him, leaning over on the car next to him.

"Wow, it's beautiful," I said.

Jack turned to me, smiling, "I know. You haven't been up here before, have you?"

I shook my head.

Jack looked back into the distance, "I usually come up here to blow off some steam. Forget about life, just by myself. Relax..." he exhaled.

"Even people like me need some alone time sometimes. Being around my crowd, well, it gets daunting. Loud music, fuck the pigs, the government, everything."

I turned to him, curious about what he meant, "The pigs? Who are they?"

Jack chuckled, "Oh, you don't know? They're the police. Hate 'em with every fiber in my body. Dunno, they just don't do shit for us. And when we need help, they turncoat and run away like pussies."

I asked him about last night's incident, "But what about last night? Aren't the police going to do something?"

Jack rolled his eyes and looked at me, "Come on Mick, you can't be that naive. They're not going to do anything. All that'll happen is an unread report from the officers on site and get swept aside, like all the other cases that they've ignored."

"This is why America is in the state that it is right now. All we have is a corrupt police force that shoves people around and does everything but protect and serve. That's why I love causing trouble because I get a thrill from wasting their time." Jack assured.

We both look at Crystal Bay, observing the town from afar.

"This place would look pretty at night," I said.

Jack opened his car door to reach something, "Here, want a beer?" he offered.

I look at the beer and back at him, "But I'm only 13."

Jack chuckled and winked, "Yeah, and? I was drinking these bad boys when I was your age. Besides, it's illegal for me to drink at 17 anyway, so may as well join me in the fun."

I hesitantly grabbed the bottle after he removed the cap and drank it.

Despite what most youth say about alcohol, I found beer to be quite tolerable. I drank that one with him, as he had his own too.

"Mom and Dad were talking about college with me." Jack brought up.

"You reckon I should go?"

I answered, "Education is important, why not?"

"But I don't care about school, I'd just go there to party and get laid," Jack said.

When he brought up sexual relations, I felt a little excited. It reminded me of what I was going through in middle school.

"Getting laid? I've been thinking about that recently." I said to him.

"Right. Who are you planning to, y'know, do?" Jack asked.

I was nervous to answer, but I was excited to share it with someone, "So, I've been having feelings for a friend of mine. It kinda started when I was 12."

Jack bumped my shoulder, wanting me to spit it out, "Come on, who is it? Just say it already."

I muster up the courage to say her name, "You know my friend, Lyn? I've known her since we were 10. I don't know, there's something about her that I like."

Jack smiles, "Man, this is so cute. I remember the first time I had a crush."

"I think I know Lyn. Isn't she that really sweet girl from your school?" Jack asked.

I nodded, too shy to look at him.

Jack looked into the distance, with his beer in one hand, giving me confidence, "Don't worry Mick, you'll get her. Because you're a go-getter. And I know it because you're the best brother I could've ever asked for."

I smiled at him and looked into the distance,

"Thanks, Jack."

Now at 9 AM, we both decide to hop back into Jack's car and go on a stroll.

"It's still a bit too early to go back home. Aren't you supposed to be at school, anyway?" Jack asked.

"I decided to take the day off after yesterday. Still a bit shaken from what I saw." I said.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I get it. You're better than me, I would've stayed home because I couldn't be bothered to go to school." he laughed.

"Look, how about I show you some cool places around Crystal Bay? I know this one arcade somewhere we could check out." Jack said.

I looked at him with surprise, "Arcade? I didn't know there was an arcade in Crystal Bay."

"Uh-huh. Get ready to get your ass beat!" Jack jokingly said as he laughed.

I laughed with him and put on my seatbelt, ready to enjoy the rest of my day with Jack.

As we approached the arcade, Jack noticed a familiar face exiting.

"Hey buddy, what are you doing here?"

The guy shoved Jack, yelling in his face, "Hey dickhead, you fucked my girl! Not cool!"

Jack shrugged and chuckled, careless about what he had to say, "Dunno what you're talking about, but I'm just gonna head in." he smiled as he walked away.

The guy grabbed Jack's shirt, pulling him back, "You ain't goin' nowhere, fucker!"

Jack turned around and shoved his hand off, yelling right in his face, "Yeah, maybe I did fuck your girl. And it was the best pussy I had. What are you gonna do about it, huh?!"

He threw a right hook at Jack, at which Jack dodged and punched him in the gut.

Here I was, witnessing a full-on fight taking place outside of the arcade that was gaining the attention of the street. All over that guy's girlfriend.

Oh, Jack, you operate in strange ways...

Fortunately, Jack managed to hold out until it was broken up by bystanders. He scurries away, angry, as Jack is having the time of his life.

"Yeah, get lost asshole! You know I'm just better than you." As Jack walked towards me.

"Sorry about that, got some real loudmouths tryna boss me around. Let's go into the arcade."

In the arcade, we spent the majority of our time fighting over who was better at each game. Our favorite was the augmented reality headset, featuring an immersive shooter experience against Xyloids.

"Woah, is this what Xyloids look like?" I said to Jack.

"Yeah, I guess. I wonder what it's like to talk to one. Probably weirder than trying to communicate with a cow."

I chuckled at how bad the joke was, "Hah, very funny... in fact, I'm gonna kill you for that." I turn to shoot Jack in the game.

"Aw, what? How's that fair? Team kill, team kill!" He yelled.

Surprise surprise, Jack came out on top. Probably because the game aimed to not shoot your team...

Tomorrow morning, after my talk with Jack, I felt today was the day.

The day that I finally showed my feelings for my best friend, Lyn.

All morning I was rehearsing what to say, staring into the mirror and checking myself, shaking off the anxiety.

When I left the house, I biked my way to school as usual. Passing the murder from two days ago, I see it's still sealed off and the police are still investigating. But there was no way the police were as corrupt as Jack made it out to be.

After all, he was an anarchist. Would you trust the word of an anarchist? I sure as hell wouldn't.

Turning up to the school, I see Lyn, Sam, and Adrian standing there, waiting for me as usual. The other two got along well with Lyn, but she got along with everyone.

Every time I was around her, I would get butterflies in my stomach thinking about the moment I was going to confess my feelings.

During lunch break, when I was speaking with her, she caught on that I was more nervous than usual, "Hey Michael, is everything okay?" Lyn asked.

I gulped and prepared to say it, my heart fluttering, "Lyn, I have something I want to say."

She smiled, "Sure Michael, what is it?"

I spoke, "I... I think I like you."