"Write a piece that opens and closes with the exact same line, but by the time the reader reaches the end, its meaning has completely changed." The beach was empty, as per usual. It was my favorite hiding spot for that exact reason. I usually just sat around in complete silence, besides the gentle rustle of waves or the breeze of the wind. Sometimes, I'd wander around looking for seashells. Most of them ended up being broken, but there were a few gems, like a hollow, rusty-colored one. I'd always collect them, put them in my special jar, and find a look-a-like in my seashell book. I thought my first day of middle school would be horrible. All the books I've read, the teens I met, and even my older sister said so. And it was, for first period. All I did was sit next to a bunch of annoying idiots while the teacher talked about rules and stuff. Then there was second period. I sat next to this girl named Alisa, who was sketching something in a notebook. While the teacher was talking about yet more rules, I asked, "Can I watch you draw?" "Oh- uhh... sure." The drawings in that notebook were beautiful. There were simple ones; a cat's head, a bunch of boxes with crosses, but there were also amazing ones, like a serious and hot-looking guy with a massive sword. Of course, I couldn't resist the chanse to compliment her. "Ohmygosh that looks so cool!" "Oh, really? Thank you." From that point forward, me and Alisa became the best of friends. We hanged out after school at a small local coffee shop. We shared our juiciest gossip. I started taking art electives just to hang out with her. Most of all, we hanged out at the beach. The first time I took her to the beach, it was about a week 'til summer break. I was sitting alone, as per usual, when I saw a mom and... Alisa? When Alisa spotted me, she exclaimed, "Ellie! What're you doing here?" "Oh.. I just hang around here often." Then her mother said, "Oh, Ali! Is that your special friend?" "Mom..." From that point on, we always spent our summer weekends at the beach. We looked for shells, and Alisa sketched them in her sketchbook. Most of the pages got wet from the waves, but Alisa didn't seem to care. She also showed me how to make sand sculptures. Mine always looked like piles compared to hers. She also talked about all the kinds of fish and coral and other kinds of creatures. (She said her dad was a marine biologist) Alisa would always try to get me to play in the water, but I was never fond of getting wet. It was 3 weeks before the end of high school. There was a note at my desk when I walked into first period. "Sorry that this is so sudden. I have to move." Oh. After school, I tried to go to the beach. Maybe she would be waiting. The beach was empty, as per usual.
