Mao's motto had always been to ignore bad, icky sad feelings and eventually they would go away. But he was discovering more and more lately, that it just wasn't working like it used to. Everything was piling up, and unlike his sand pile, it wasn't that easy to just smash it all away. His cocky bravado had always been a mask for his insecurities, but these days they were getting too big to hide. He was feeling small, insignificant, helpless, and most of all, lonely.
"Yeah well, that's me!" His tone was sarcastically merry, with the slightest quiver. "I'm just desperate to be friends with assholes and idiots!" He laughed that weird little laugh that had been coming out of him more often lately, shaking his head. "Probably because I'm one too, right?"
He stood up with an air of disgust, patting sand off his shorts. "Fuck this. I'm going swimming." He didn't wait for Luke's response. He ran out of his flip flops towards the water, splashing through to his knees before bravely just throwing himself in despite the cold.