the 'brook action threads

Although she'd seen the beach back in Connecticut, it had always taken hours to get there. But as soon as Mandy had ended up in California, she'd convinced Alana to move as close to the beach as possible, so she could spend her free time just out on the sand. She absolutely loved it.

And when Alana was busy on Mandy's day off, she quickly found an excuse to head straight to the beach, rather than find someone else to hang out with. Chances were she'd find some hot surfer guy to spend a day or two with, anyway.

But when she reached the warm sand, she didn't bother going to the waves; instead, she settled for playing in the warm sand. Sitting cross-legged in the sand, she scooped some sand closer, planning on building a sandcastle. It was a little childish, sure, but she figured she had a childhood of not playing at the beach to make up for. Besides, she just loved the feel of the sand, always warm despite the weather.

"What the hell are you listening to?" Alana asked, making a face as she looked at the computer set up in the corner. Mandy had set it to start playing a song she'd found the night before, that really only appealed to her because it was sung in Russian. It was kind of boy band-ish, and had it been in English, she probably wouldn't have given it a second chance, but she had a weakness for all things Russian. Which really kind of sucked cause she had no idea what was going on -- she'd lost her only translator, and she wasn't going to get him back.

Looking up from where she was flipping through a magazine, Mandy shrugged. "I don't know how to pronounce it."

"It's crap," Alana decided, getting up from her spot on the couch to turn the music off, and put on some Escape the Fate. "There we go. That's music," she decided, looking pleased with herself, as though she'd just given Mandy a lesson on what good music was.

Mandy frowned slightly, but let it go. Maybe Russian music wasn't exactly "good", but it was the only time she heard anyone speaking - or singing, whatever - Russian any more. And sometimes, when she was having an Emo fit, she felt better listening to it. But she knew better than to try to tell Alana all that. The other girl wouldn't understand, she'd only say that there was better music suited to a bad day.

Standing up, Mandy grabbed her MP3 player off the little end table next to the couch. "I'm gonna head out for a quick run," she decided, not bothering to listen to Alana respond. At least then, she could listen to her crappy music in peace, without having to worry about it irritating Alana. "Be back whenever."