A day at the beach

[Amice Beckett]

It was a strange sort of weather for the beach, but having lived beside the sea for the entirety of her life, Amice liked to make the most of her surroundings. She had caught a bus down to the stony seafront with her big brother Joseph, and her big sister Ellen. Muriel was too young to go with them, and their parents had instead dropped her over at one of the neighbours houses to play with her friends.
The sea was calm and fizzing in the cold sunlight. There was a slight warmth when the gentle icy breeze settled down, but for the most part, Amice was thankful she had her nice thick scarf.
The siblings stood by the ocean, picking up pebbles and launching them into the sea.
"Bet I can skim one," said Joseph, snatching up a flat one and hurling it at the ocean: It bounced four times before giving out a gentle 'plop' as it sunk below the shallow waves. "See."
"How do you do that?" Amice asked, shaking her head at her brother's skill. It was unusual for her to be outside at this time of day on a weekend, but she was having a positive day, keeping her mind free of unhappy thoughts.
"Come here, I'll show you." Joseph took Amice by the arm, handing her another flat pebble, and positioning her arm to mimic his technique. ".. And you just sort of.. Whoosh!" He guided her arm out and Amice let go. The pebble bounced across the waves. One.. Two.. Three..
"Wow!" Joseph beamed encouragingly, "good one! Almost give your big brother a run for his money! Hey, Ell, do you want a go?"
Ellen sat on the tail end of her long black coat. It matched her make-up. She gazed up at her brother with a vacant expression. "Nah," she shrugged, laying back against the beach and staring up at the thin layer of clouds, "it's for kids."
Amice rolled her eyes at her sister; the girl had gone all funny and 'grown up' since she'd started going out with Connor from year nine. He was supposedly the coolest kid in his year, but the one time Amice had met him, he'd referred to Bernie as a 'smelly waste of space', so her opinion wasn't exactly the highest.
Amice continued to throw stones into the ocean, loving the sound of them sinking. She hadn't even noticed another girl with pink hair was on the beach.

 

[Professor Geovanna Adler-Cade]

With sixteen children to look after, keeping an eye on everybody was not an easy task. Being one of the eldest, Geo knew Mary Lawrence would be comfortable if she wandered off to explore the city she'd grown up in. Afterall, she always came back, and she'd be in a brand new country by herself in less than a year. Geo had spent the last of her weekly pocket money at the donut stand on the Brighton Pier, and munching on the sugary goodness she made her way down towards the seafront, carefully balancing on all the loose pebbles.

She sat, not too far from the waters edge, enjoying her snack and occasionally pausing to lick her fingers clean. Her dark blue eyes stroked across the scene in front of her. She was surprised at just how many people would continue to come here given the cold temperatures the place was becoming. Brighton was known as London by the sea, and she figured that lots of people must come here on holiday. But why, she wasn't sure.

As she was finishing off her last donut, she caught sight of a small group of children skipping stones about 30 feet away. She would miss her so-called siblings once she'd moved, but hoped at least a few of them would join her in the years to come. She smiled to herself, and gave a small chuckle to herself as the youngest girl managed to throw a stone. That was a mistake. Geo started coughing, not quite able to free herself from the last piece of donut that had now lodged itself in her throat. As her eyes started to water, she mentally cursed, and continued to splutter.​

 

[Amice Beckett]

Amice, who had been quite unaware of the pink-haired girl up until now, heard a coughing and spluttering a little distance away. She turned to see who it was and caught sight of someone who looked around her age (though admittedly better dressed than herself in grungy tracksuit bottoms and her brothers woollen jacket). It sounded like the girl was choking or something.
Amice, not being one to stand by and watch someone suffer, even if they were a stranger, hurried over to see what she could do.
"Are you alright?" she called ahead of herself, arriving at the girl's side and slapping a hand against her back, hoping to trigger some sort of ejection reflex like they did on the telly.
"Joseph!" Amice called back to her brother, "bring the water bottle!"
Her brother scuttled over with a plastic bag filled with sandwiches, crisps, and drinks. He passed his sister a sealed bottle, and she handed it to the girl. "Don't worry, we've not had any out this one. It might help." She held the water bottle out to the girl.

 

[Professor Geovanna Adler-Cade]

As the girl she'd been staring at starting to run over to her, Geo had somewhat mixed feelings. Honestly, she had no need for water, and she would fine in just a moment, it was more the shock that had caught her off guard more than anything. It was however always good to have people's attention. Geo took the bottle and pretended to take a large swig. "Much better" She replied, grinning her pearly white teeth at the girl and her brother. "Sorry" She took her sleeve and gave the bottle a quick wipe. She wasn't too fussed about hygiene but she knew some people wouldn't enjoy the thought of a few germs.

"You're very considerate" She mentioned, handing the bottle back. "I'm sorry to have disturbed your game" Geo stood, crumpling the now empty donut wrapper into the smallest ball possible to fit in her pocket. "Mind if I have a go?" She asked, not waiting for an answer.

She walked closer towards the sea front, her black trainers getting slightly dampened from the salty sea water, and picked up a smooth thin rock. Leaning back with her right hand outstretched behind her, she flung it hard into the sea, and watched it bounce no less than six times before it decided to plot into darkness. She turned on the spot, to look back at her new aquaintainces. "I've not done that before" she grinned truthfully, pleased at her first attempt.​