When he reached the spot, he took a deep breath, dived under the murky water and swam down. He saw someone below the surface and pushed himself to go deeper. He reached the person and wrapped an arm around the person's chest. With swift kicks, he made his way back to the surface. 

Breaking through the surface, he gulped the air in as he pulled the person's head above the water. He realized it was a girl. As she started coughing, Frank offered reassurances. "It's all right. You're all right. I'll get us back to the beach. Just relax." 

The girl nodded her head as Frank wrapped his arm around her chest. He made his way to shore where a group had gathered and was watching. 

Frank was almost to shore when Joe came out to him. Joe took the girl from Frank and carried her back to the sand. As Joe set the girl down, Frank kneeled beside her as she continued to cough. 

The girl looked up and Frank realized it was Rachel. She softly said, "Thank you." 

"No problem," Frank said. "But what happened?" 

"I got out too far and got a cramp," she said looking at Frank. "I would've drown if it wasn't for you." 

"Someone would have seen what was happening and helped out." 

"Thank you again, Frank." 

"What did you do now?" a voice asked angrily. 

Frank and Joe looked up to see Melissa and Matt standing there, glaring at Rachel.  

"I almost drown," Rachel said softly looking down. 

"Yeah, right," Matt said. "It was probably a stunt to get everyone's attention." 

"It wasn't a stunt," Rachel mumbled. 

"Stop lying!" Melissa snapped. Melissa was almost six feet tall with long blonde hair and blue-green eyes. "It was a mistake to invite you. We should've known you would ruin the party." 

Rachel got to her feet, ran through the crowd and left the beach. 

"It's time to crank up the party," Melissa said happily. 

The crowd moved back to the activities as Frank and Joe got to their feet. Callie and Vanessa moved over to them. 

"What was that all about?" Callie asked. 

"I'm not really sure," Frank admitted. "But it's easy to tell that Matt and Melissa don't like Rachel." 

"Rachel's nice," Joe said. "She shouldn't have been talked to like that." 

"I agree," Frank said. "But we shouldn't worry about it. We're here to have fun." 

"That's right," the other three chorused and they rejoined the party. 

***** 

Later that night, Frank and Joe were at home They had stayed late at the party since they were having such a good time. 

Frank was sitting in his room with his English book open. He wasn't tired and figured he's get some studying in. Even though he tried to study, he thought about the incident at the beach. He tried pushing it out of his mind all day, but couldn't. 

He knew Rachel was in trouble in the water. He thought, but why were Matt and Melissa accusing her of pulling a stunt. It doesn't make sense. I know they don't like Rachel, but why? Rachel is nice and doesn't deserve to be treated this way. Matt and Melissa's behavior is confusing. Why are they so hateful toward her. 

Frank got off his bed and made his way downstairs. As he reached the first floor, he heard movement in the kitchen. He wondered who was in there at that hour. Making his way into the kitchen, he saw the refrigerator door was open. Joe stood up. 

"What are you doing?" Frank asked softly. 

Joe looked up. "I'm hungry." He closed the door and dropped a jar of mayonnaise on the table. 

"Be quiet or Mom will have our hides." 

"Mom is fast asleep." Joe sat down at the table and looked up at him. "Why are you up?" 

"I'm not tired." 

"You should be after everything that happened today. Do you have something on your mind?" 

Frank leaned against the counter. "I keep thinking about what happened between Matt, Melissa and Rachel." 

"What about it?" 

"The conversation was out of the ordinary." 

"I don't think there was anything wrong with it." Joe stared at him. "Are you trying to dig up a case? If you are, there's nothing there." 

Frank remained quiet. He wasn't sure about that. He felt there was something, but he couldn't put his finger on it. 

He let out a breath. "Just be quiet so you don't wake Mom." 

"I'm always quiet," Joe said with a smile. 

"Right," Frank said sarcastically and left the kitchen heading back to his room. 

As he made his way upstairs, he wondered if Joe was right and that he was trying to dig up a case. He thought, it's a good possibility. I guess I shouldn't worry about it. 

***** 

It was late the next morning and Frank was in the driveway washing the van. He was working on the drivers side when he heard his name called out. Turning, he saw Rachel standing there. 

"Hi, Frank," she said. 

"Hi, Rachel. How are you doing?" 

"Much better." 

"That's good." 

"I'm glad I ran into you." 

Frank dropped the sponge in the bucket. "Is something wrong?" 

"Nothings wrong," Rachel said wiping her mouth with a napkin. "I just wanted to thank you again." 

"I was glad to help." 

"I appreciate it." 

"I do have a question for you." 

"What's that?" Rachel asked. 

"You can tell me to mind my own business, but I was wondering if Matt and Melissa are always mean to you." 

"They are and that's how they've always been." 

"Why? I don't see a reason for it." 

"There is one." 

"I don't see it." 

"Matt and Melissa are my cousins." 

"I never knew that." 

"Few people do." 

"Why do they pick on you then?" 

"It's something for them to do. It's been that way my whole life." 

"Wait a second. All of you are seniors. But Matt and Melissa are not twins." 

"Matt was held back a grade in middle school. That's how we all ended up in the same class." 

"It must be tough being all together." 

"At times, but I try not to let it bother me." 

"Cousins shouldn't be mean to one another." 

"They won't stop," Rachel admitted. 

"Hi, Rachel." 

They turned and saw Joe standing on the porch. 

"Hi, Joe." 

"How are you doing?" Joe asked. 

Rachel looked at the ground. "Fine." She looked at Frank and he could see her cheeks were pink. "I'll see you at school." 

"Bye," Frank said. 

Rachel turned and jogged down the street away from them. Once she was out of sight, Frank turned to Joe who asked, "Why did she take off so fast?" 

"Don't know." Frank moved back to the van and grabbed the sponge in the bucket. 

Joe moved to the van and leaned against the hood. "You two were having an interesting conversation." 

"She came by to thank me." 

"That was nice of her." 

"Yeah." 

"Frank?" a female voice asked. 

They looked at the porch and saw their mother, Laura, standing there. "Frank, you have a phone call." 

"I'll be right there." Frank looked at Joe and tossed him the sponge. "Finish up." rank made his way inside grabbing a towel to dry his hands. He saw the phone on the table. "Hello?" 

"Have you heard the news, Frank?" It was Callie. 

"What news?" 

"It's all over the TV and radio." 

"What?" Frank asked. 

"There's a severe car accident. Several cars crashed at the beach." 

"Why is the accident so important?" 

"A lot of students from our school were involved." 

"Callie, tell me what happened." 

"From what I've heard, several cars lost control and there was a big accident." 

"That does seem unusual. Joe and I will see what's going on." 

"All right. I'll talk to you later." 

"Bye Callie." 

As Frank set the phone down, he wondered what was going on. He exited the house and saw Joe was finishing up by rinsing the soap off the van. 

"Hurry up. We need to go." 

"Why?" Joe asked shutting off the hose. 

"There's something we need to check out. 

Joe finished with the van and moved the hose back to the side of the house. Frank climbed in the driver's seat and started the engine. A moment later, Joe was in the passenger seat. As Frank backed out of the driveway, Joe asked, "Where are we going?" 

"Turn the radio on and listen." 

Joe turned the radio on and heard the announcer speak. 

"Anyone wanting to take Shore Road today should take an alternate route. An accident involving about six vehicles has forced Bayport police to close the road until further notice. That is all the information we have at this time. Now, onto sports..." 

Joe turned the radio down as he said, "We need to figure out what happened."