STRANGER DANGER

EMMY MENDOZA'S POV

I was so shocked at his words that I didn't know what to say. Maybe that's why he continued.

"I'll probably hold my breath. I keep wondering how long I'd have to do it for until- you know- I don't have breathe anymore."

The soft smile on his face and the lyrical cadence of his voice were the reason why it took me a full five seconds to realize that what's- his-name had just told me...no, 'described' to me in full detail, exactly how he planned to take his life.

I sucked in a deep breath.

"You are crazy," I blurted out.

His smile widened.

Then, he frowned. Then, he sighed.

I was angry.

"Nobody should tell a total stranger who -for all you know, has issues of their own- the things you just told me," I said furiously. "But you know what? Go ahead," I told him, waving at the ocean.

"Put your fantasy," I highlight the word with air quotes, "to the test. I'll call an ambulance for you."

He chuckled, and I was further enraged. I hated when people started laughing while I was being serious. This was serious.

"By the time you're ankle-deep, the water is probably starting to affect your blood circulation. Knee-deep and each step becomes harder to take. You're most likely to trip and fall if a strong wave rolls in. Don't even get me started on the force of impact. You want to know how long you can hold your breath for? Use a goddamn stopwatch! By the time your head is underwater and you run out of breath, water is going to rush into your lungs. Salt water. It's painful and there's nothing peaceful about it and if- just if- you get saved by someone other than me- because there's no way in hell that I'm dragging your ass out of the water- boom! You're brain-damaged. There's no cure for that. Either you die a painful death or you lose brain activity!"

At the end of my tirade, I had to take a deep breath. I couldn't believe I was wasting so much energy on an idiot.

"I'm not afraid of pain," he said smugly, and I laughed bitterly.

"Yeah? Prove it. Live. Life is pain on its own."

With my parting remark, I started to walk away. I was already dialing for the ambulance.

With quick strides, he caught up to me. He caught my hand and took my phone. He chuckled when he saw the emergency number displayed on the screen.

"Don't worry, stranger. If I'm going to go in, it's not tonight."

He glanced in the direction of one of the neighboring villas, and sighed heavily once more.

In the darkness, partially illuminated by moonlight and electricity from the nearby houses, I could see the shadows that crossed his face.

"I made a promise to try," he said.

He started to walk away...with my phone still in his hand.

"Hey! Crazy! Give me back my phone!"

"I think I'll hold on to it. I don't trust you not to call the ambulance," he shot back, without breaking his stride.

I quickly jogged after him.

"I live here, you know," I told him. "There are other phones I can use- and I will use them to call the ambulance anyway- just to make trouble for you, if you don't return my phone right now!"

That stopped him in his tracks. My lips curved smugly. I stretched out my hand before him, and wiggled my fingers impatiently.

"Fine," he finally said. His reluctance was obvious in the rigid clench of his jaw.

"I'm trusting you not to call the ambulance. Don't make any trouble for me, stranger," he warned, placing my phone in my palm.

"See? This is what you get for telling random people stuff like that. Now, I can blackmail you or sell the information to the highest bidder," I told him, now that my phone was back in my possession. "Stranger Danger is real, crazy."

"You have given me much to think about," he replied solemnly. I saw his lips twitch, like he was trying not to laugh. As if he thought I was the weird one.

"It's what I do," I replied in the same smug tone. I was a creature of pride.

Wait.

Were we flirting right now?

It felt like we were flirting.

Granted, he was easy on the eyes, and tall. So tall-but I didn't want to flirt with a crazy dude I just met at the beach...a crazy dude that just told me his beach suicide fantasy. I didn't even know his name!

Not that it mattered.

"Hmm." He eyed me with sudden curiosity. "Have we met before?"

"I don't think so," I quickly replied. "And believe me, dude, I have no intention of ever meeting you ever again. Not till you get psychological help or something."

"I already have a therapist," he said drily.

"Get another one," I quipped back.

He opened his mouth to say something, then he closed it back and shook his head. For some reason, I was tempted to stick out my tongue at him.

Emmy. Stop. Now. I stopped myself from descending to kindergarten levels.

"Good night, Crazy." I turned on my heels and walked away. For the last time that night.

'Forever,' I told myself.

"Aren't you going to ask for my name?" he called out after me.

"No need!" I yelled in response, without looking back. "I'm never going to see you again!"

And I really did hope I never saw him again.

Guys like him, they could be good-looking and charming, but they were also mentally unstable and broken beyond repair.

They needed someone to save them. Some girls were ensnared by the possibility that they could be the ones to fix them. But girls like me, we were barely fixed ourselves.

I had issues of my own and I wasn't equipped to save anyone- much less a guy like him.

I was troubled by this encounter...I was troubled by him. Fortunately, I didn't forget to take my shoes.

D. J SERRANO'S POV

I walked back to the villa, still smiling from my encounter with the stranger.

...Stranger.

I'd call her that when I see her again.

Stranger Danger...

I chuckled. Yeah, right.

Enrique and Lalanita were sitting out on the back patio. They didn't hear me approaching.

"How are things with you, Rico?" Lalanita asked.

She never called my brother by his full name- my father's name.

"Good, I guess." Enrique replied distractedly.

He had a lot on his mind.

"Lalanita, how did things get so tangled?" he asked suddenly. "All my life, I've always believed that things would be better when Dad was out of the picture. I thought D. J would finally get a real chance at being happy and that Mom...would be safe."

Our grandmother listened as Enrique's voice turned angry. "But just see the mess I've made of things! D. J is the opposite of happy and Mom...she's gone, Lalanita. I can't fix that."

"And what about you?" Lalanita inquired gently. "Rico, what about you?"

"Lalanita, I'm fine."

My grandmother as replied, "How can you be fine when you haven't been living life? Does your happiness not matter as well? You should be married by now! Or at the very least, there should be somebody in your life- anybody! I understand that you still have feelings for Veronica-

"Lalanita, not this again-"

"Rico Jose Serrano, it's been over seven years already. Go and find her!"

"I can't-"

"Why not?" Lalanita's incredulous tone rang out.

"I just can't!"

"Rico..."

"Veronica chose to walk away from me. From us. And I've stopped wondering about her. I don't even know why you still bring her up!"

"Rico..."

"No-"

"Will you let me finish?"

"What she did..." Enrique's voice tightened. "What she did was unforgiveable. And even if I found her- even if she magically turned up in front of me right now and begged me to take her back, I still wouldn't. So, just drop it, Lalanita!"

"So why haven't you moved on, then?" She asked calmly.

"I don't know what you mean. I've been with many women since her," my brother pointed out defensively.

"Oh yes, you've had many women. I don't dispute that, Rico," Lalanita stated bitterly. Exasperatedly.

I tried to stifle my smile.

Our grandmother disapproved of my brother's girlfriends- bedmates and mistresses, who never lasted more than a couple of months at a time.

"Yet, you've never let any of them get close to your heart. Maybe because Veronica still has a hold on it?"

My brother didn't bother denying it. Anyone who really knew him knew it; Veronica Martinez was Enrique's first and only love. She was the standard the rest of his flings could never hope to beat.

"Until you resolve your feelings towards her, you'll never truly be free of the past, or your father," Lalanita added wisely.

It was then that I decided to take my leave. To give them their privacy. The irony of the thought- the hypocrisy of it- wasn't lost on me. I had already invaded whatever privacy was there to be had.

It was Lalanita's insinuation that had really driven me away.

Even if Enrique managed to resolve his feelings for Veronica, he still wouldn't be free of our father.

And neither would I.

Dad was like a tattoo etched upon our hearts.

EMMY MENDOZA'S POV

"Where have you been, Emmy?" my mom, asked as soon as I walked through the door. I was still holding my shoes in one hand.

"Out."

I didn't bother looking at her, or stopping as I made my way upstairs to my room. She followed me.

"I know Sara brought you home forty minutes ago. Where have you been?"

"At the beach," I said curtly.

I was tired already. All I wanted was to eat, and then sleep.

"At this time of the night? I thought I told you not to go to the beach at night, Emmy! Anything could have happened to you."

I was already at the door of my room. I turned to face her, raising a brow.

"You're overreacting," I said.

"You never listen to me!" she complained.

She made a move to touch me. I took a step back. Her lips tightened in anger as she withdrew her hand. I pretended not to notice her displeasure.

"I listen to everything you say, ma."

I was being sincere and she knew it.

I had no choice but to listen.

When she told me she was getting married, when she told me she was selling Emilio's to her new husband...when she told me I was getting two step-sisters and a new brother...when she brought me and Inigo to live in Highlander Estates and changed our school... listening was all I could do.

I wanted to say I hated my mother. But I didn't.

Not really.

Maybe that was why it hurt me to see the renewed resignation in her eyes, as she stared at me in disappointment.

"You're joining us for dinner tonight," she stated curtly, leaving me zero room for negotiation.

I shrugged.

With a defeated sigh, she left my room. I watched her retreat down the stairs. I noticed the way her knuckles whitened as she held on to the railing, and I fought the urge to call her back... to tell her that I...I didn't hate her.

Jose Hernandez was a decent man. His daughters were...tolerable.

What I hated was her infidelity to my dad.

"Just stop hurting her," someone said, startling me. That was the second time tonight that someone was creeping up on me.

I jumped.

"Jeez! When did you two come up the stairs?" I eyed my step- sisters suspiciously. And why hadn't I noticed them? I was still disturbed by that crazy boy I'd met on the beach.

"Your mother hasn't done anything to deserve your behavior. Stop making her miserable," Noelle said.

"You're being an ungrateful bitch!" Merry added more passionately. "Mom and Dad do anything you ask and you still treat them like shit!"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "My, my, what a filthy mouth you have," I sneered sweetly.

Merry had the grace to look slightly chastened. I drove my verbal pins deeper under her skin. "All the better to get in trouble with, Merry. Go ahead. Insult me. I can't wait to see what your parents have to say about that."

"I can't wait for you to move out of our house," Noelle announced. Then to her sister, she said, "Come, Merry. Let's leave Miss Grumpy pants alone."

"You still have to see me at dinner!" I called after them.

So, the twins couldn't wait to get rid of me. I wasn't surprised. They had always made their feelings about me very clear.

'Soon,' I promised myself. 'Someday soon, Emilio's would be okay, I'll go off to college like Inigo and maybe- just maybe- I wouldn't have to depend on anyone ever again.'

I had just one year left. Just one more year to go.