Free Vampire Beach: Legacy by Duval Alex

friend. He’s Sienna’s friend. He just proved that. And he shouldn’t have needed to prove anything!
    ‘Study time!’ came a voice from behind him.
    Jason turned to face the voice and saw Adam heading toward him, with Michael Van Dyke, Aaron Harberts, and Kyle Priesmeyer from the swim team.
    Adam jumped in the shotgun seat of the Bug. Harberts and Priesmeyer took the backseat. And Brad and Van Dyke piled into Brad’s Jeep. ‘Well, get in,’ Adam called to Jason. ‘This heap isn’t going to drive itself to Venice.’
    ‘How does going to Venice help me pass French?’ Jason asked as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
    ‘It doesn’t,’ Harberts told him. ‘But it does help you pass Fun, which, from the looks of you, is a subject you also need help in.’
    Jason got it. The grapevine really did work fast. They all knew what he was going through with Sienna. Harberts and Priesmeyer probably didn’t have the whole story, but they still knew something had gone down and that Jason wasn’t happy about it. And this trip was their way of showing support.
    ‘Drive,’ Priesmeyer ordered. ‘Brad and Van Dyke are already pulling out of the parking lot.’
    Jason drove. ‘So where exactly in Venice do you want to go?’ he asked as they flew down PCH.
    ‘Is there more than one destination?’ Harberts asked. ‘The boardwalk.’
    ‘I actually haven’t been there yet,’ Jason admitted.
    ‘You really do need help,’ Harberts said. ‘There are more hot girls on rollerblades at the Venice boardwalk than anyplace else in the entire world. And they usually wear very little clothing.’
    Jason didn’t care about that – not unless one of the girls happened to be Sienna Devereux – but he kept his mouth shut. You didn’t tell a car full of guys that the only babe you wanted to see was your girlfriend. Your ex-girlfriend. Your very platonic, only-speak-in-public friend.
    ‘This is the exit,’ Priesmeyer announced. ‘Go left. Ocean turns into Pacific, and that slams right into the boardwalk.’
    Jason followed Priesmeyer’s instructions and pulled into a medium-sized parking lot near one end of the boardwalk. He took the spot next to Brad’s Jeep.
    ‘I’ve got to eat,’ Van Dyke said. ‘We’re hitting Sausage Kingdom first. No argument.’
    ‘You’re not getting one from me. My dad actually sent me to school with leftover ten-alarm chili today,’ Adam answered. ‘I’m running on empty.’
    Van Dyke took the lead, weaving through the crowd on the boardwalk, which was really just a sidewalk running right along the beach. Jason tried not to stare at the insanity that bombarded them from all sides. He tried to remind himself that he was a native now. But, good God, that guy had an albino boa constrictor wrapped around his neck! The thing was so big, its tail almost touched the ground. And it definitely wasn’t stuffed because its slick black tongue kept flicking out of its mouth, tasting the air. Who did that? Who walked around wearing a killer reptile as a necktie?
    ‘I can’t believe the grain of rice stand is still open,’ Brad said, gesturing to a little sidewalk stand. ‘Why would anyone want to get their name written on a grain of rice in the first place?’
    ‘Look, it’s the roller-skating, guitar-playing dude,’ Priesmeyer said. ‘You can’t make your first trip to the boardwalk without seeing him,’ he told Jason. ‘The guy’s a local legend.’
    ‘A legendary freak,’ Van Dyke put in, watching the guy in the flowing robe skate past, strumming away.
    ‘Van Dyke used to be afraid of him,’ Brad explained. ‘He literally wet his pants the first time he saw the guy.’
    ‘I was four,’ Van Dyke said. ‘And I grew up in the Heights. I’d never seen anything like him. I thought he was an evil wizard.’
    ‘Oooh. My favorite henna tattoo chick is working the booth today. I’ve been fantasizing about how it would feel to have her do one of those Hindu designs on my head. I’m