KEY:
Parts in green type are written from Sara's point of view.
Purple type=Meg's viewpoint.
Blue type=Casey's viewpoint.


PART ONE
"Thank you for honoring us lifeguards."

I applauded for my boyfriend, Casey Mitchum. See, he's a lifeguard, and this statue that they built was honoring them. (It's about time somebody did this for them.) I was with my sister, Meg, who is a good friend of Casey's. After his speech, he took a bottle of champagne, and he whacked it against the base. A portion of the base crumbled off, and inside there was something unusual. It looked like... an arm?

"Oh, my gosh, the statue broke," Meg said.

"I know. I wonder why," I replied.

The mayor of Sunset Beach started to look for the construction workers. People were starting to worry. While the mayor was gone, the rest of the statue crumbled. When the dust settled, we knew why the base had been so unstable. There was... I couldn't see very well... a body? Oh, my God, who in their right minds would bury a body in a statue? Meg and I took a closer look at the face. It was... Tim?!?! Oh, my gosh, I thought, Tim Truman is dead. He was a friend of my family's; we'd known him for years. Who killed him? Meg, my parents, Casey and I were shocked at this. After we had stopped crying (for the moment), we tried to analyze who would do this to him. While we were trying to figure this out, my cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Sara? Listen, it's Maria. I don't have much time." Maria Torres-Evans, who was Ben Evans' first wife. My sister was supposed to be his second wife, until Maria showed up. It's a long story. I don't want to get into it now.

"Maria? Are you okay?"

"No. Listen carefully. Keep Meg away from Derek."

"Derek? He's alive?" Derek is Ben's evil twin brother, who tried to kill Tim and killed one of Ben's closest friends, plus many other people. He almost killed Meg, too. We thought he had died, but...

"Yes. He's pretending to be Ben, and he and Tess killed Tim, and they're going to kill me... and Ben."

"Where's Ben?"

"I don't know. But keep Meg away from Derek. He wants to kill her, too."

"Maria, where are you?"

"I... I don't know. Just keep Meg safe. And Benjy. Keep him away from his daddy."

"Ben?"

"Derek."

I gasped. "Maria, where are you? We're coming to save you."

"No! Tess is going to kill you if you do."

"But why is she doing this?"

"They--" The call got disconnected.

"Maria? HELLO?" I said into the phone.

"Who was that, Sara?" Casey asked.

I looked at him. "Casey, you, me, and Meg have to talk. Now. It's important. Just don't let Ben see us."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it." So we got Meg, and locked ourselves in Lifeguard Headquarters.

"Sara, what is going on?" Meg asked.

"Okay. Maria called me."

"Maria? But why?" Casey asked.

"I know all the answers to everyone's questions. Meg, I know why Ben is acting weird."

"Why?" Meg wanted to know.

"Because he's not Ben. He's Derek."

Meg gasped in horror. "But... he's dead!"

"He isn't. I mean, why would Ben do stuff like this? Why would Ben kill Tim?"

"What? You mean, Derek killed him?"

"Yes. Him and Tess."

Casey and Meg were bewildered.

"They're going to kill Maria and Ben, too. And you, Meg."

Meg was horrified. "How do you know all this?"

"Maria told me. She's in danger. We've got to help her."

"But I thought you didn't like her."

"I was wrong about her. Apparently, it was Derek and Tess who were working together. And she said something about Benjy being Derek's son."

"What?" Casey asked. "But... Oh, I get it. When Ben had a paternity test, his and Benjy's DNA matched because Ben and Derek are identical twins."

Meg had tears in her eyes. "I tried to warn Maria, but she didn't listen to me. Now look."

"We've got to save them. Maria, Ben, everyone. I have a plan," I said.

We were on the run from Derek, because he knew that all three of us knew the truth. He was going to kill us. That's probably why they killed Tim, because he knew too.

We went all over the country. We went to my hometown, Ludlow, Kansas; we went to Florida, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Nevada, all over. Ricardo Torres, Maria's brother, was with us, because he wanted to save his sister. Also, he was a cop. He could arrest Derek and Tess.

We finally made it to Seattle. That's where Tess Marin claimed to be from, where she had met Maria and where Benjy was born. We went looking for Ben, because Ben had gone to Seattle and Derek had come back. We tracked him down at this one house, and the owner was working for Derek. Casey knocked him out, and we split up. Meg and I got the basement, and we found Ben locked up there. So we started hollering that we had found him and we went looking for the key to his chains. Ricardo had them. He had taken them from the guy who lived in the house. He freed Ben, and the five of us were making our way out when Derek and Tess showed up, with Maria in tow. She was barely conscious. Ricardo ran to save her, but Derek held up a gun. Ben kicked it out of his hand, and the two of them struggled. Casey was helping Ricardo take Maria from Tess, but it wasn't working. Suddenly the gun flew up in the air, and I caught it.

"Shoot Derek, Sara!" Ben shouted.

I couldn't tell which was Ben. I mean, identical twins were fighting with each other. Meg whispered, "Look for the one with the scar on his leg." They were both wearing shorts, because it was like, a million degrees out, and I saw Derek's scar. I aimed, but it was hard because they were moving around. Finally, I just shot, and luckily, it hit Derek. And he was dead.

"Derek!" Tess screamed. She let go of Maria and looked at us. "Who did this to him? I demand to know!"

Sara spoke up. "I did it, Tess. I saved all our lives."

"Oh, now you've done it, Sara." Tess held up a syringe. "Say goodbye to your wonderful life. Soon you'll be right as rain." She started towards her.

"NO!" my sister screamed. "Casey! Meg! Help me!"

I rushed to save Sara, but I couldn't reach her in time. Casey couldn't see what was happening because he and Ricardo were trying to revive Maria. But he turned at the sound of his name, just in time to see Tess inject Sara with something that made her go out cold.

"Sara! Wake up!" Casey and I ran to Sara. "Who did this?" he demanded.

"Tess did it," I said.

Angrily, Casey turned. Tess was attending to Derek, and Ben and Ricardo were still trying to revive Maria. The syringe was lying on the floor, and he picked it up. Since we were in the same room as the washing machine, he found some bleach and filled the syringe with it. He creeped up on Tess, who didn't know Casey was behind her, and injected her with the bleach. As quick as lightning, he filled the syringe again and injected her a second time. Soon Tess was out. And I didn't think she'd be back.

"Maria's coming to," Ricardo said.

We all rushed to her. Well, except for Casey. He was still at Sara's side, trying to wake her.

Maria saw Ben and screamed. "Derek, get away from me. Where's Ben?"

"Maria, this is Ben. Sara killed Derek," I said.

"Sara? She actually listened to me?"

"Of course. You were in trouble. She wanted to save you."

"Where is she? I need to thank her. And you too, Meg," Maria said. "You warned me about Derek, but I didn't listen to you. I'm sorry. Where's Sara?" Maria looked around, and she saw Sara lying on the ground, with Casey kneeling beside her. "What happened to Sara?" she wanted to know.

"Tess injected her with something," I explained.

"Where's Tess? She--she's evil," Maria said.

"Casey injected her with bleach, after he saw her inject Sara."

"Oh, okay. Where's Benjy? He's going to be okay, now that his parents are dead."

"You mean, Derek and Tess were Benjy's parents?" Ricardo asked.

"Yes. She rubbed it in my face many times."

It was dead silent then, until we heard Casey, pleading. "Sara, please wake up. Don't leave us. I need you. We all do." We all rushed to her side.

I looked at my sister. "Sara, please. I need you. Casey needs you. You can't leave us. Please." Tears were streaming down my face. "I can't lose my sister, Casey."

"I know, Meg." Casey looked at his girlfriend. "Sara, please wake up. Do it for me. I can't lose you. Not again." His eyes were glistening. "You're the best thing that's ever come my way. I can't lose you again." Sara still wasn't responding.

"Um, guys, we better go. That guy may wake up soon," Ricardo pointed out.

"No," Casey argued. "Not until Sara wakes up."

"Casey, listen. That guy? He's working for Derek. If he comes to and sees us here, he's going to hurt us all."

"Okay, fine," Casey said, "but we're not leaving without Sara." He picked her up and carried her out, and we left Derek and Tess lying there, side by side.

"Where am I?" I asked.

I looked around. I was in a van, and I was lying down on the backseat. There was a blond guy sitting next to me, and a dark brunette woman sitting in the middle seat. An English man was driving, and in the passenger seat was another woman. "What am I doing here?" I asked.

"Sara! You're alive! Thank goodness," the blond guy said.

"Who are you?" I asked him. He was kinda cute, but I didn't even know him.

"Don't you remember? It's me. Casey. Casey Mitchum...?"

"Casey? No, I don't remember." I racked my brain, but nothing came.

The brunette woman turned around. "Sara, thank God you're alive. We all thought Tess had taken you out for sure... What's wrong, Casey?" she asked the blond guy.

"She doesn't remember me."

"What? Sara, don't you remember Casey?"

"No! Why does everyone keep asking me? And who are you?"

The woman looked take aback. "Sara, I'm your sister, Meg. Meg Cummings."

"So my name is Sara Cummings. Right?" "Yes," Casey said. "At least you know what your name is."

"Okay. How are you related to me, Casey?"

"I'm--I was... You and I are boyfriend and girlfriend, Sara."

"Oh. What happened to me? Why can't I remember?" I wanted to know.

"I think it's what Tess did to you."

"Who's Tess? What did she do to me?"

Casey asked the driver, "Ben, how much more do we have until we get back to Sunset Beach?"

"A while. Our next break will be in about 5 hours."

"Okay, thanks." He turned to me. "I'm going to explain everything to you, so that you know what's going on." Okay, I figured, we have a while.

"It all started about 6 months ago..." Casey began.

PART TWO
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
There are some references here that reflect my taste. For example, Casey is not really friends with Miguel from Passions, and Sara doesn't really like 98º. (Actually, I'm not totally sure on that, but...)

"... and that's basically how you wound up here," I said.

Sara looked a little overwhelmed, but I think she got it. "So Tess injected me with something, and when I came to, I didn't remember anything?"

"Yes. I think the same thing happened to Maria." Maria had told us that she had started to remember and why she couldn't remember her missing five years.

"Maria. You mean the woman in the front seat, right?"

"Yeah."

This was really depressing. I mean, Sara didn't remember me. I think I know how my friend Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald feels. (He lives in Harmony, Maine. He wrote me and told me that the girl he really, really likes has amnesia too.) But I promised myself I was going to help her in any way I could. I was going to help her remember me.

After we had gotten back to Sunset Beach, I stayed with my sister at Surf Central. I felt an instant connection with Meg. One day, a few weeks after our ordeal, she woke me and said, "Sara, we have to open our shop."

"What shop? We have a shop? How cool!" I exclaimed.

"It's called Sunset Sisters. We run it."

"Maybe if I see it, I'll have a memory flash. Can I open shop?"

"Sure." Meg gave me the keys. I saw the keychain, and it said, "Sunset Sisters." I started to feel weird, and I remembered something. Some guy was giving it to me. But it wasn't Casey. He told me we had broken up and then gotten back together, so I guessed it was in between then. The guy said something like, "For your opening day, you keep this with your keys and remember me."

"Thanks, Jude," I said. Jude? Who was he?

I saw Casey and some other African-American guy standing in the background, and they were talking. I could see that Casey was not happy about this. And then it was gone.

I was standing there, looking disoriented. "Sara," Meg said, "are you okay?"

"Yes! Meg, I remembered something!"

"You did? What is it?"

"I remembered when Jude--whoever he is--gave me the keychain for the keys. Who's Jude?"

"Jude Cavanaugh? He's the head of the Liberty Corporation. You went out with him a few times when you and Casey were broken up."

"Oh."

"Sara, this is great! I bet, soon, you'll start to remember a lot more."

"I hope so." We left for the shop.

I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking, and some rude guy bumped into me. He got really mad and pushed me. I shoved him back. Soon we were in a shoving match and people were trying to break it up. I think they knew the guy was trouble. After a while, they finally managed to pull us apart, but the force was so great that I fell off the pier. I screamed for help. And suddenly I was remembering something else. It wasn't that clear. Casey was there, and... All of a sudden, everything went black.

I was at work, watching the beach, when suddenly I saw someone fall off the pier. She screamed, and soon fell into the water. But she didn't surface. I knew it was time to go save her.

I swam out to where she had fallen, and I found her. She didn't seem to be conscious, so I got a raft and laid her on it. When the water got shallow enough, I picked her up and carried her to shore. She was coughing, so she was okay. But I knew her. It was Sara. How did she fall off the pier?

She was opening her eyes. "Someone help me! Stop it, Tess! Stop it! Casey! Meg! Help me!" She seemed to be struggling, but there was no one struggling with her. And then I realized that she probably hit her head, and she was remembering what happened to her right before she was injected. Her amnesia was gone.

"Sara, I'm right here," I said.

"Casey!" She flung her arms around me. "Thank you so much for saving me from Tess," she said.

"Sara, Tess is gone. That was weeks ago."

She looked around. "How did I end up on the beach?" she asked, disoriented.

"It's December now, Sara. You've had amnesia for a few weeks now."

"You mean, I forgot you? And Meg? I could never forget you."

"Well, you did. It hurt."

"It wasn't as if it was my fault, though."

"I know. I'm so happy you're back, Sara."

"I'm glad to be back. You know what, Casey?"

"What?"

"I love you." She smiled at me.

"I love you, too, Sara. I always will." I hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. And she smiled.

Everyone was telling me how they'd missed me. Especially Casey. And my family. My mom and dad were so happy that I was back Now they could bug me and I'd know what they were talking about, they said.

It was almost Christmas time, so we were putting up decorations. Casey was helping us out. He was putting up mistletoe. (Ahem.) I was decorating our tree, and Meg was putting little wreaths all over the place. With the five of us working together, we went pretty fast. And it was pretty cool not having Tim there, bugging us. Stop it, Sara, I thought, he's dead.

"Earth to Sara," a voice interrupted.

I turned around. It was Casey. "Good morning to you, too."

I smiled. "What were you thinking about, Sara?"

"How good it feels not having Tim here bugging us." I grinned.

"Sara, you're bad. You know he's dead."

"I know, but I can't help it."

"You know what? I feel the same way." He grinned, too. I laughed. Suddenly he stopped and said, "Sara, look up."

I did. There was something hanging... was it mistletoe? I thought so. I turned to Casey and kissed him.

"Ahem," my dad said.

Casey and I looked at him. "We have work to do, you guys."

"But we're done!" I said.

"You're not done bussing tables, young lady. Now go. You can have a break later," my dad shot back.

"Okay, fine," I grumbled. "Casey, I'll see you later."

"Sure. 'Bye, Sara."

"'Bye, Casey." I watched him go.

I walked out of the Shock Wave and right into Michael Bourne. He's another lifeguard, and also a licensed physical therapist. You don't find that many people like that. Plus, he's a really good friend of mine. And he's engaged to Vanessa Hart, another good friend of mine.

"Hey, Mike," I greeted him.

"How's it going, Case?" he responded.

"Great." I smiled.

"You're smiling. You haven't done that much lately... Hey, did Sara get her memory back?"

I nodded. "The first person she asked for was me."

"Hey, that's great news. I could tell her amnesia depressed you."

"Thanks. Hey, Michael, now you have to return the favor."

"Which one?" I am known for doing many favors.

"The one where you proposed to Vanessa."

"What are you saying, Casey? Are you--?" Michael looked at me.

"Yeah. I'm going to propose to Sara."

"Don't you think you're going a little too fast? You guys just got back together a few months ago."

"But Mike, I've almost lost her four times already. I can't lose her again. It's just too hard for me."

"Four times? Please point them out."

"Well, first, I broke up with her. Then we got back together, and then Tess injected her with something that knocked her out," I reminisced. It wasn't nice remembering it, though.

"Go on," he prompted.

"And then, when she came to, she didn't remember me. And then she fell off the pier. The only good that came out of it was that she got her memory back."

"She fell off the pier?" Michael asked.

"Yeah. I have no idea why, though."

"Okay. So when are you planning to propose to her?"

"New Year's Eve."

"Do you have a plan?"

"I thought we'd probably take a walk on the beach, and then I'd bring my boombox--"

"Boombox? Why?"

"To play some mood music. I have to find a song that fits the mood perfectly. But listen. We're going to have a New Year's party at Surf Central, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm going to have to slip away for that, so you're going to have to cover for me when I'm gone, okay? Tell them I went to work or something."

"But how are you going to get Sara out of the party?"

"I'm going to take her with me. But I'm not going to tell her what I'm up to."

"Do you have a ring yet?" Michael asked.

"Nope. But I saw one that was really pretty. I think I'm going to get it. Plus I have to get her a Christmas present. But I have something in mind that I know she'll like." I looked at my watch. "Oh, I better go. I'm going to start getting Christmas presents now."

"And a ring?" Michael asked.

"Maybe. I'll see you later, Mike."

"Later, Casey."

"You'll see. Soon."

The next part:

• Christmas presents are given.
• Sara is in for a surprise.