5 The missing girl

Neyla was enjoying her Saturday afternoon without a single care in the world while checking her phone, enjoying the breeze of the beach, and listening to the worries of her friend.

"So... This weird thing happened to me the other day..."

"I see..."

The sea was always something that would help them calm down and think things with more clarity, and right now, one of them really needed to calm down.

"So this guy who's been talking to me lately suddenly decided to ask me out a week ago..."

"I see..."

Neither of them could actually swim, but listening to the sea was something that the two would often do in order to relax, so coming here every week was a tradition for them.

"And I told him I wasn't sure on what to say... So I asked for some time to think about it, and he asked if I could give him a reply later today..."

"I see..."

It was the perfect spot to open up and listening to one's troubles.

"But the thing is... Even after all this time, I'm still not sure on how to reply! And I have to meet him soon today and it's making me all nervous and- Neyla?"

"I see... I see..."

Although... Perhaps 'listening' wasn't the most accurate word.

Her friend, a young lady in her early teens was starting to glare at Neyla while the woman herself just continued to play with her phone as if her life depended on it.

"Neyla, are you listening?"

"I see... I see..."

"So anyway, I think I'm gonna drop out of school, start a band with a group of polar bears, get a tattoo on my tongue and sell my left arm to buy a chainsaw..."

"Oh, please... As if a chainsaw would cost a full arm... You would just need your hand at best..." Neyla replied while still having her eyes glued to her phone.

"So you are listening!!" her friend yelled.

"I am listening, I just really don't care..."

"Neyla?? Come on, I'm facing a crisis!!"

Neyla rolled her eyes, "What crisis?? Someone asked you out... Just say yes or no... Oh, shoot, I lost a life!"

"Could you put that down for a second!!?"

"Ugh... Fiine, mooom..."

"Come on... I really don't know what to do... I'm not sure if I like him that way..."

Neyla rubbed her chin, "Honestly, it feels like that is already an answer itself... But for the sake of argument... Let's try to think about it a bit..."

"O- Okay..."

"Is there anything about him that you like?"

"Well..."

The friend, a young lady with long black hair, sapphire-blue eyes, and near pale skin so white that resembled the color of snow, dressed in a yellow sleeveless shirt and short shorts, took a few moments to ponder while the two of them enjoyed a nice shadow under the tree.

"He is always nice to me... He always opens the door when I enter a building, he always offers to pay for snacks when we hang out, and offers me rides when I need to go somewhere... Plus he always says that I look good no matter what I put on..."

Neyla finished hearing all of that and began to arrive at her conclusion.

"Whoa... May... You're... Kinda of a dumbass, aren't you?"

"Eh!?" May gasped.

"I mean... The hell am I supposed to do with this information? The guy that wants to go out with you is spoiling you? What's next? The sky is blue? The world is round? The Star Wars franchise is being milked to hell and back? Give something I can use, woman!"

"Oh... I- I see..." May mumbled while shrinking on her chair. She began to blush at the fact she felt someone trying to be nice just to get on your good side was something she did not consider.

"Tell me what he's like when he isn't trying to impress you..." Neyla continued, "What do you two usually talk about, what are his hobbies, what are his friends like, what does he like to do for fun? You can't decide if you like someone if you don't know that person."

"Y- You're right..." May nodded while looking down.

She stared at Neyla who was sitting by her side on the sand, a young lady around her age with short brown hair, a white shirt, a blue shorts, focused entirely on her phone even after going to the beach but still looking like she was enjoying herself.

"I think it's still too soon to make a decision... I'll ask him for some more time so we can get to know each other better..."

"Sounds like a plan..." Neyla replied.

"But, huh... Could you do me a favour and come with me?"

"Eh...? Why...?"

May began to blush one more time, "I'm not good under pressure... What if I say no and he tries to insist?"

"God, you're hopeless..." Neyla sighed as she realized she would not be able to finish her game today, "Fine, whatever... When are you two meeting?"

"In about an hour, right at the bridge..."

"Cool... Text him and tell him to come early..."

"Wh- What? Why??"

"You already know what you're gonna say, arent you? Then let's just get this over with..."

Neyla didn't understand what the problem was but after taking another look at May's face she realized that this situation was still troubling her and thus, trying to force it out would probably not help too much.

"Or... We can just wait... No need to rush it..."

May began to smile, "Thanks, Neyla!"

"No problem..."

Time passed and once the moment had finally arrived, the two moved to the bridge so that May could give the proper response.

A boy soon arrived. Just like them, he seemed to be around fifteen years old, wearing an open shirt signaling he was also ready for a day on the beach. Fittingly enough, he also had tanned skin and blond hair.

May started to shake upon his arrival, still not completely sure if she would be able to settle things in the best way possible, but she decided to simply place her trust in Neyla and follow her advice.

As for Neyla herself, she decided to observe things from the other side of the bridge, acting as a reminder in case her friend needed a little bit of courage.

"I'm glad we could meet again..." the boy commented.

"Yeah... Same..." May responded.

Neyla gave a good look at the boy. She wasn't someone who judged people by their appearances, but even she could tell that he was an extremely attractive person compared to the rest of the guys at their school. She began to wonder if she should have given May a little push to give the guy a chance.

"So... Here's the thing..." May prepared to give her response, "I thought about what you said and..."

"Y- Yes..."

"Well... The thing is... I still don't think I know you that much... So I was hoping we could start as friends first... What do you think?"

At that moment May released a deep breath that she was holding, feeling like a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

She couldn't stop holding her chest and looking down while saying what she needed to say but once she finally did it, she began to feel like she could face anything.

That is... Until she lifted her head and looked at the boy's face.

"Just friends...?"

"Eh? Uh... Well..."

Once their eyes met, May's body began to shake for a whole new reason.

"After everything I did for you... You want us to just be friends??"

"Eh!? B- But..."

The boy began to glare at her, his fist starting to tremble, "Do you have any idea how much I did? How much I paid? How much I sacrificed myself?? Did you even consider the hard times I went through for you??"

A desire to flee from that place began to grow inside of her, "I'm... I'm sorry..."

He began to raise his voice and grabbed her arm, "You seriously didn't even consider my feelings at all, did you?? How could you be so selfish??"

"I'm sorry, but I never asked for you to do any of that! You were the one who-" she tried to pull her hand away but he refused to let her go.

His grip over her arm began to tighten, "Oh! So it's MY fault that I tried to be nice? It's MY fault that I tried to be kind?" he yelled while slowly approaching her.

'I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm scared!' May repeated in her mind over and over again, 'Someone, please, help...'

"If that's how it's going to be, then pay me back, right now! Everything you owe me!!"

"B- But I-"

"You can't, can you?? You have no idea how to sacrifice for someone you like!! The least you can do is be my girl-"

"Hey, knock it off..."

Both the boy and May froze at hearing those words.

Before either of them noticed, Neyla had arrived to stand between the two, grabbing his arm and putting it away from her friend.

"She gave her reply... Now live with it..."

The boy glared at Neyla, "Who the hell are you? This doesn't concern you!"

"I'm her friend, dumbass... If you're gonna scare her, you bet your ass it concerns me..." Neyla responded while glaring back at him.

She turned around to confirm that May was okay and noticed her rubbing her arm with teary eyes and shaking heavily. That sight made Neyla bite her lips and close her hand into a fist.

Even though Neyla wasn't a particularly tall lady, after all, even May was taller than her, and even though the boy was completely staring down at her, she was showing no signs of fear or worry, only anger.

"Get lost... This moron has no idea the lengths I went for her. We need to settle this between us..." the boy stated, showing that he was still pretty angry himself.

"Is this the so-called 'kindness' you spoke of? Cause it sounds more like you were just making investments..." Neyla replied.

"Excuse me??"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the entire point of kindness that you do it expecting nothing in return?"

"So I'm just supposed to forget everything I did for her? It was all just a waste of time?"

"I don't know, how about next time you try asking her what she wants instead of just deciding for her? You were the one who decided to do all those things."

"Why, you little..."

"If you're a real man, be responsible for your actions... She's not a prize that you can just buy with gifts and favors."

May could not believe how Neyla could say all these things without flinching. It took all her courage to go to the bridge today and talk with that boy, and even that she only managed to do it because Neyla was by her side. But Neyla herself was just saying everything that was on her mind without caring one bit about what anyone might think.

However, it seemed like Neyla was going too far, for the more she talked, the more the boy appeared to be losing his calm, as his body started to shake more and more, looking like it would explode at any point.

"Do you get it now?? We're done here, so get lost!" Neyla ordered one more time while continuing to stand in front of May.

The boy gave her one more look and began to speak, "Oh... Right... I do get it now..."

"Eh...? Wait, what are you-" Neyla shouted as he grabbed her shirt and her shoulder and pulled her to the edge of the bridge.

"I get that you were the piece of trash that filled her head with garbage!" the boy stated as he lost control of his anger.

"Are you crazy?? Stop!!" May screamed!

"Let me go, you psycho!!" Neyla ordered as she tried to fight back, punching him in the face, but the boy didn't even flinch and just lept glaring at her.

"This will teach you not to meddle into other people's business!"

The people around the three that were passing by finally saw the commotion and started to approach, but their presence only served to agitate the lad even more.

"Stay back!! Nobody comes any closer!!"

"Help!! Somebody!!" May began to cry for aid, but all the people were too afraid of doing a wrong move and causing the two to fall.

The boy was now standing on the edge while still holding onto Neyla.

"You wanna be arrested or something?? The hell are you doing??" Neyla yelled while doing her best to free herself from him, but the boy seemed to have completely lost his mind.

He raised his free hand and formed a fist, "This is all your fault!! If it weren't for you, I would've-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Neyla gave the boy one strike on the stomach with her knee, causing him to finally release her, but upon the shock, he ended up falling from the platform while trying to latch onto anything he could, and the closest thing next to him, was sadly still Neyla.

"Neyla!!!" May shouted in pure horror as she watched her friend dropping towards the sea.

Her body moved by itself and before she knew it, May had jumped after her in an attempt to save her life.

The three of them ended up falling into the water, and while the boy soon emerged shortly after, May and Neyla had completely disappeared as they continued to dive deeper into the bottom of the ocean.