John woke up early, as his habit was. Thomas was going to come over in two hours so John had enough time to enjoy his breakfast and the newspapers that were lying in the lobby. At that moment he finally fully realised where he is – of course he had read American newspapers before, in the internet, but now they were there in paper. He didn’t know whether he was excited or terrified.

   After he had read everything that was important he saw he still had time, so he continued to the letters to the editor. It was horrible – how could people be so stupid? Letters to the editor were always bad, but here in the States they seemed even worse than back home. He smiled to himself – his mission seemed more important than ever. If he could change the opinions of even a couple of these simple people he would feel it was a year well spent.

   While he was reading, Thomas walked shyly in from the door. He checked the time but Thomas was just early, he didn’t have to stress about being late. He greeted him and indicated him to sit down while he finished a text about guns and freedom with a sigh.

   “So, what do you think of the United States so far?” he smiled at his friend.

   “I love this place! I walked around a bit last night, I mean, this city isn’t obviously ideal for walking around, but it’s all so… American! The people, the accents, and they look at you and almost greet you when you pass them on the street! I thought it was just a cliché, it’s crazy to realise it’s actually real. What about you? Did you do something last night?”

   “No… Not really. I just relaxed a bit, travelling is so tiring. I arranged the car for today”, John said, as if it would’ve been a big effort. He felt like he had failed some kind of test, he had not experienced the new world at the very instant of his arrival. How had Thomas figured out something to do right away? How had he had energy to go anywhere after the nine-hour-flight?

   “That is such a good idea, I’m glad I met you, I’m not 21 so I can’t rent a car by myself. I could’ve joined someone at the hostel, but this is so much easier”

   “Yep. The car should be here in about ten minutes, we could go by my room so that I can grab my things and a coat”

   “You won’t need a coat, it’s so warm in there, but you should definitely take at least your swimming things, we could go by the famous Manhattan Beach after seeing the sights”

   John thanked silently his intuition that had made him take his swimming trunks as the last thing just before leaving home, it would’ve been mortifying to have to admit that he hadn’t thought about it. It was embarrassing enough that Thomas had had to remind him that they were not in England and that it was in fact quite warm out there. It highlighted the fact that he hadn’t made it out of the hotel after he had arrived. Well, he collected himself, at least he was going now. They would see all that was worth seeing, and he would drive and it would be great. He hadn’t missed that much yet. He had a year here, for christ’s sake, he didn’t have to hurry.

It was a nice day. Thomas knew a lot of interesting places and John drove them there using his cell phone GPS to find his way around. They ate in a Hooters restaurant, Thomas kept grinning at the waitresses and John laughed at his boyish excitement but couldn’t deny the attractiveness of the women either. However different the boys were, they got along perfectly well. The day ended at the Manhattan Beach.

   “This is life! I’m so glad I’m here”, Thomas sighed happily with a cup of iced hazelnut latte in his hand.

   “It is, I agree. This is comfortable. Do you have something more to do for tomorrow, I have the car still?”

   “Hey, cool, we could go drive to the mountains!” Thomas said. He wasn’t looking at John – there was a couple of beautiful, tall girls lying on their backs just a few feet away from them and Thomas was hoping the nearest of them, a blonde with huge sunglasses and a simple blue bikini, would return his gaze.

   “Are you hoping they would join us there?” John grinned at Thomas.

   “Oh… Maybe… You know, the more the merrier and…”

   “Okay”, John stood up and started towards the group of the girls. “Ladies, my friend and me are planning to go driving to the mountains tomorrow, would you like to join us?”

   The blonde took her glasses on and clearly checked John, his face and his body, before looking at the others. They were still, but apparently some kind of communication passed between them, because the blonde turned back to John.

   “We’d be stuck with you for the whole day, how can we know you’re not going to take us somewhere and murder us? But why don’t you sit with us so that we can see what kind of guys you are”

   John gestured to Thomas, who looked a bit shy but changed into a confident posture while walking towards the group.

   “Hello girls! How can we call you?”

   It was a fun night, though it led to such a hangover that after all not even Thomas and John felt like going to the mountains. John was over 21 and could buy drinks to the whole group, which were then consumed in a safe, hidden place on the beach. They found out the girls were also travelling, though they had only come to Los Angeles for two weeks to lie on the beach. They were Europeans. Thomas was seriously flirting with the blonde, but with no specific success.  John enjoyed more the company of a slightly older brunette girl, who was a university student from somewhere in the eastern Europe. The girls were from rich backgrounds and their parents had bought them the trip to inspire the following year of studies and work. Before the night was over, the slightly more drunk Thomas had got to a touching-kissing phase with the blonde, who to John seemed more amused than actually attracted. For some reason John didn’t really feel like doing anything, so when the brunette started to indicate she was hoping for something, John told them all that he was going home.

   Obviously at that point he realised he was driving and that even though he didn’t feel like snogging, he was most definitely drunk. But since he had left the group already he didn’t want to go back. So he went to walk the beach forth and back to clear his head a bit. He didn’t know how well it was controlled here, the drunkenness while driving, but he didn’t feel like getting arrested on his first day. On the other hand, that would be kind of cool, he thought. At least it would be an adventure. But he didn’t want to crash to someone and die anyway, and he was a bit afraid of that as well. After nearly two hours of walking he felt his head was clear enough to not to seem drunk and not to crash to anyone. He left and luckily didn’t meet any police officers on his way. Before he fell asleep he realised he hadn’t asked for the number of the brunette. In fact, he didn’t even know her name. Oh well, he didn’t actually really mind.

   The next morning was a lot better because of all the walking, but it was still bad. He managed to drag himself to the breakfast early, but on returning to his room he fell almost immediately back to sleep. Around midday he finally forced himself to wake up and call to Thomas.

   “Hurts!” Thomas answered to the phone.

   “I agree. No mountains?”

   “Definitely no mountains. But maybe beach? Alice is going”

   “With the brunette?”

   “Yes, though she was a bit annoyed at you for some reason I can’t remember”

   “I would have thought so. Sure, beach. I’ll pick you up in an hour or so, where’s your hostel? And how did you make it back there anyway?”

   “Uhh, I didn’t. I slept at Alice’s”

   “You slept at Alice’s? Did you sleep with Alice”

   “Let’s talk about it later, okay? I’m now at a Starbucks next to the 5th Avenue. Can you pick me up from there? I’ll need a couple of new coffees before I can go anywhere”

   “I’ll come there soon, I need coffee as well”

   “See you soon!”

   “Wait, is Alice…” John started, but Thomas had already ended the phone call.

   It turned out, that Alice was not. Thomas had left early, sneaked past the sleeping girl and the other girl from the same hotel room. He was a bit ashamed of the night.

   “I was really drunk, I mean really, and I put myself forward way too much. And then I realised I couldn’t get home. I mean, I could’ve taken a cab, but somehow I was afraid that the taxi drivers would report me for being underage and drunk. So after a bit of begging she agreed that I could sleep in their room. I obviously thought of something else as well, but she apparently didn’t. She told me I’m too young and too drunk and pushed me to the floor. She was laughing, though, so I guess she wasn’t angry, only not interested. And she told me they’d be at the beach today as well, doesn’t that mean she wants to meet me again”

   “It might also mean that she’s declining our offer to go to the mountains”

   “That’s true…” Thomas sounded disappointed.

 

   “Well, I guess we’ll have to find out! Take your coffee, let’s head to the beach”

   “I don’t know…” Thomas sounded unconvinced, but John basically dragged him out of the café.

   They drove to the beach. The girls were nowhere to be found, so they settled back to the place where they had been the day before and enjoyed the sun. At some point Alice came there, looking lot less confident without the other girls. In the direct sunlight she also looked a lot younger, and John wondered whether she was at all older than Thomas.

   "You left the other girls home?" John asked when Alice had come to the talking distance.

   "yeah, they didn't want to come. Laura was annoyed at you, seriously"

   "Oh, apologise for me. Not that I'd really want her around. She was the brunette, right?"

   "You didn't find out her name? No wonder she was annoyed"

   "Nope. But you came, that's a score for Thomas, right? I heard about your adventures"

   "Nothing happened! What did you say to him?" Laura turned to Thomas looking furious.

   "He said nothing. He, what if I go and get us all ice-cream, and you can catch up with each other. What do you want?"

   John got their preferences and walked away. When he looked at them from the ice-cream stall he saw them lying next to each other, Alice giggling and leaning closer to Thomas. He took just one ice-cream for himself and went for a walk, wanting to leave the cuddlers together. He did not really know what to think about them - on one hand he was happy for his new friend, on the other he was afraid he might lose the one friend he had gained here. He was in a way sad he had maddened the brunette because if she were here he would at least have someone to talk to. For the first time here he felt completely alone, and way too far away from home.

   He returned to the towels half an hour later, after having fetched the other two ice-creams. It seemed like Thomas and Alice hadn't noticed his absence. He was preparing to leave to go driving around, but Thomas smiled at him and asked him to stay and Alice was so eager in her pleads as well that he stayed for a bit and actually had fun, even though he felt a bit out of place with the two of them. In the afternoon he told them he'd go for a ride before returning the car. The lovers seemed unconfortable but indicated they wanted to stay on the beach together. He smiled and told them it was fine. That way he could go wherever he wanted without making compromises. He said goodbyes to both of them, having silently made the decision to head to San Diego on the following day. Thomas told him he'd send him a message if he would be coming over as well. They parted with positive feelings.

   John drove around inhaling the scenery before going back to the hotel and giving the keys to the receptionist. He went to the hotel restaurant to have dinner before heading to his room and packing up his stuff. He was going to get a cab to the bus station on the next day, take a bus to San Diego, hopefully find a place with a wi-fi where he could find a good hostel and settle there for an undefined amount of time. He was hoping great things of San Diego, indeed.

   His plan worked. By the afternoon next day he was in the wonderful, sunny southern city, in a cute if a little too cozy for his taste hostel and too tired of the effort to do anything but to go for a jog on the beach and get something to eat before he went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a good day, he was sure of it. And so would be the days to follow. Because who could resist the sun, the beach and the laid-back attitude of the city so close to the Mexican border?