The hordes of people made him feel uncomfortable as if everyone that passed by stopped to gawk. He hated that he was handsome by post standards and that he personified California in the color of his hair and the strong yet surfer thin physique. But he was the only man he could be - himself. He emptied the tip jar at the front of the burger shake and thanked the young girl that worked with him, handing her half of the cash and pocketing the rest. She barely looked at him which was an every day occurrence, but he spoke a few kind words and made his way into the warm summer evening. A soft breath of relief left his lips as his reached down and pulled off his boots and sock and slipped off the wooden boardwalk and into the sand just beside it. 

He'd lived here his whole life and yet never felt he fit anywhere. He had plenty of friends and remaining the center of attention much to his dismay at school, but life was good. He let all thoughts slip from his mind and walked away from the noise and swarming crowd. A few scattered groupings of teenagers mingled along the edge of the beach with small fires burning to keep them warm from the oceans breeze, but they interested him not. A young woman with long red hair moved to step onto the board walk just in front of him and he quickly admired her figure, but chose to stay back, knowing that if he spoke to her he'd be inviting her into his life and he wasn't capable of doing that. There were things about himself that didn't make sense and he couldn't explain any of it - so why invite someone in to shut them out?

"Exactly," he whispered as lightening struck across the black sky.