http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/710/index.xml News, sports and entertainment from MyrtleBeachOnline.com en-us Copyright 2008 MyrtleBeachOnline.com 24 Hours 60 06/21/08 04:31:10 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys online@MyrtleBeachOnline.com http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/710/story/295278.html http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/710/story/295278.html Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:37 EST Four friends huddle against the other blocking the frigid wind slicing through wooden slats on the Garden City Beach pier. They came in pairs from their homes in Socastee and Surfside Beach for a walk to ease off-season boredom. "There's nothing to do. Thursday night," Robbie McKinney hisses angst through a scarf looped over his face. "The bars don't even get good until tomorrow." Trista Gerbrick shivers beneath a hoodie while Chris Corbett and Ann Mellies dig their hands deeper in pants pockets. Their friendship circle unfolds into a boy-girl line, shoulder-to-shoulder and flat against edge of the pier. Their backs are turned from the invading lights and possible conversations with a clump of fisherman on the end of the pier. Their words are whispered and each sentence seems to be punctuated with synchronized nodding from the line. Less than 15 minutes later, they lock arms and walk in step like an unrehearsed chorus line back toward their cars off Atlantic Avenue. Sealed in a friendship cocoon, they peel off each other passing oblivious to smiles facing them inside the warm arcade at the end of the pier. "What did you say we're doing tomorrow night?" Gerbrick ask the group.