Chapter 1
Ryan- Age 9
“Can I go surfing when we get home?” I begged my mom daily to be in the water. I had this dream of making it big and living somewhere like the West Coast. I’d been swimming since I was two, and when I taught myself how to surf my mom gave up on the dream of me being a football star. My dad, not so much.
“Help me bring in the groceries first,” Mom called over her shoulder as she drove down Ocean Drive.
“You meeting your girlfriend there?” my sister, Emma, chimed in from the front seat.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I grumbled. “Besides, don’t you have some staring to do?” I crossed my arms over my chest. That shut her up. My sister had a thing for this guy that lived down the road from us. He’d moved in a few weeks before, and she spent her days watching him run down the beach. He was some football player that Dad was looking to recruit. Little did she know, she wasn’t as secretive about her crush as she thought.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Emma’s nose went in the air before she turned to stare out the window. “Stupid boys,” she muttered.
“How is Jess?” Mom quickly changed the subject back to me. She was good like that. I think she stuck up for Em because she was a girl, but I didn’t have anything to hide.
“Fine I guess.” I shrugged. “We don’t talk much at school. She kinda acts like I’m not there.”
“Un huh.” Mom laughed.
“What?” I glanced around, trying to figure out what was so funny. Mom did this all the time.
Jess and I met when we were six. She was out on the beach with her brothers. She’s the youngest in her family. They were trying to teach her how to boogie board, but she had other plans. She stood up on the thing, and face planted multiple times. I couldn’t help but laugh. Girls did dumb things sometimes. Anyway, when she stormed up the beach and threw the board at me, I knew we had to be friends. She was nice, and over that summer we learned to surf together.
My dad gave me a hard time because he played football when he was that age. He tried so hard to get me to play peewee ball, but I just didn’t want to. Being out in the hot sun loaded down with pads wasn’t appealing at all. Jess seemed to be the only one who understood that.
After Mom talked to Dad, he seemed to begrudgingly accept it too, but every once in a while, I’ll have to bolt to keep him from telling me no to swimming.
It was at that moment that my sister butted in again, “She likes you.” She grinned from ear to ear as I felt my neck redden. I didn’t think of Jess that way. She was cool, and we liked the same things, but I did not like her like that.
“Does not!” I yelled back. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Do too.” She stuck her tongue out at me.
“Do not!” I leaned forward and tried to hit her but Mom put a stop to it.
“Stop that, right now!” She glared at me through the mirror. After putting the car in park she cut the engine, “Help bring the groceries up, and then you can go to the beach. I bet Aaron will want to surf too.”
“He takes all the good waves,” I complained. My cousin was always snagging the good waves and making me look like a fool. At fourteen, he thought he was cooler than the rest of us. I laughed every time Emma put him in his place. They were closer than I was, but that never stopped him from picking on me.
“He’s with that girl he likes.” Emma rolled her eyes.
“What girl?” Mom was suddenly very interested.
“I don’t know. He has a couple.” She shook her head. “I don’t like the new one, though. All she does is hang on him.” Emma mock shivered as she made a gagging motion.
“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree I guess.” Mom sighed. I didn’t know what that meant, but Em rolled her eyes like she did. Mom was always saying things about us boys being just like our dads so I assumed she was talking about Uncle Cam.
“Hey, Em,” I grinned as we climbed out of the car.
“What?” she grumbled as she stared at me.
“I’ll do your chores tonight.” I smiled sweetly as I watched her give in. “Thanks.” I didn’t wait for her to answer. I already knew it was a ‘yes’. Emma had a hard time telling me ‘no’. We were always close, despite how much we argued.
I jumped from the car, grabbed my board from where it was leaning against the storage closet under the house, and took off for the path that led to the water. I didn’t pause when Mom yelled because I knew Em would cover for me, and when my feet hit the soft sand I saw her. There standing right where the water met the sand, was Jess.
Jessica- Age 9
I’ve been coming here the same time every day since I was six. My parents moved us here from California, and the fact that we were going to be living on the water was all that mattered. My brothers, Drew and Matt, had complained at first, but once they saw the waves, they let it go. They surfed, daily, and now I did too.
I met Ryan soon after we moved here. I’d been begging Drew that morning to teach me to surf. He’d laughed and said I was a girl, and wouldn’t be any good. He’d brought me out with a boogie board, and instead of listening to him I attempted to stand up on it. Let me tell you, boogie boards aren’t meant to be stood on.
I wiped out, hardcore, and Ryan saw the whole thing. When I’d made my way out of the water coughing and sputtering, he’d been laughing at me. I stormed up to him and chucked the board in his direction as hard as I could.
“It’s not nice to laugh at people!” I moved closer and kicked at the sand, sending it flying all over him.
“Hey!” he scrambled to his feet. “What’d you do that for?”
“You shouldn’t laugh. It’s not nice.” I scowled and he laughed harder.
“Why’d you stand on it?” he pointed to the discarded board.
“I’m gonna be the best in the world.” I crossed my hands over my chest.
“You need a surfboard first,” he shrugged.
“I’m working on it,” I muttered before glancing back at my brothers. They were working on some trick out in the water. “Those are my brothers.”
“If I get a board do you think they’d teach me too?” He watched wide eyed as Matt finally landed the trick.
“Sure.” I grabbed my boogie board and turned to go back to the water.
“My name’s Ryan,” he shouted as I reached the water.
I turned and waved back, “Jess.”
“It’s about time you showed up.” I scowled at Ryan when he stopped beside me. We’d promised to meet here an hour ago. I’d already caught a few waves, but it wasn’t the same without him.
“Mom made me go shopping.” He panted as he attempted to catch his breath. “I left Em with my chores. I’m gonna get it when I go home tonight.”
“So you’re getting punished for me?” I turned to face him and adjusted my surfboard.
“Eh.” He shrugged. “You’re worth it.”
I smiled as I dragged my big toe through the sand. Ryan said some of the sweetest things at times, but he could be a jerk too.
“So are we doing this or what?” I tipped my head to the side.
“Oh yeah.” He nodded before he knelt down to attach his leash cord.
“Great.” I grinned, “I need someone who can keep up.” I jogged out to the water, leaving him there to catch up as I started paddling out past the breakers.
Once I got out far enough, I sat up on my board and waited for him. Ryan was always slower than me. I like to think that maybe he wants to be behind me so he can stare, but I’ve never been able to catch him doing it. He’s cute, but he’s never acted like he thinks of me as more than a friend. One could hope, but I’m starting to give up.
This boy at school in my class likes me. His name is Josh. He’s been sharing his lunch with me, but I haven’t told Ryan yet. I was planning to wait, but now I don’t know.
“What’s your hurry today,” he huffed as he turned his board so he was floating beside me. We were facing the beach and I saw his cousin Aaron come out. “Great,” he groaned. “Maybe he won’t see us.”
“I doubt that.” I giggled. I liked it when Aaron joined us. He was even cuter than Ryan, and he was older. Sometimes his friends came too. I watched as he stood there on the beach, staring out into the water. He lifted his hand to shade his eyes before he smiled and came running on our direction. “Too late.” I laughed just as a nice set of waves started rolling in. “I get the first one.” I shoved at Ryan before paddling into position.
I didn’t wait for him to respond. I’d always been the girl to go after what I wanted. My brothers helped me with that. Even at nine I knew how to pick a wave that would give me a good ride. I had dreams of moving back to Cali someday and eventually making my way to Hawaii, where the big boys surfed. I wanted to be the best, and I had the drive and determination to do it. I just needed to keep pushing myself.
We spent most of the day surfing, but as the afternoon turned to evening exhaustion started to set in. Aaron had gone off with some girl that caught his attention, and Ryan and I were just bobbing around in the water. We hadn’t said much to each other all day, and when I glanced in his direction I wondered if he ever thought of me the way I thought about him.
“Wanna hang out tomorrow.” I stared at the beach from my perch on my board. Ryan was floating beside me.
“Sure.” He sighed. “What time?”
“I’m free all day. I was thinking we could swim in your pool.” I nibbled my lip. I’d bought a bikini like the girls my brothers date wear. I knew I couldn’t surf in it, and I wanted to wear it for Ryan.
“The pool?” His face twisted as he looked over at me. “That means my sister will bother us.”
“I just thought it would be something different.” I shrugged. The truth was I’d much rather be out here, but I wanted Ryan to look at me the way Aaron and my brothers looked at girls. I’d never tell him that, but if it was going to happen, it wouldn’t be while we were surfing.
“We can come out here.” I smiled and swallowed the disappointment. I tugged at my rash guard before lying down on my board and paddling toward the beach. I needed to get home. My parents would send Matt or Drew out to look for me if I didn’t, and they knew how I felt about Ryan. They’d say something and ruin it for me, and I was not going to let that happen.
“Where you going?” Ryan called out.
“Home. Dinner’s going to be ready soon, and Josh is supposed to call me.” There I said it. If he liked me, that would bother him.
“Why?” I heard him start to paddle after me. I waited until I got to the sand before I answered him.
“We’ve been talking at school. I think he wants me to be his girlfriend,” I shrugged. “He said he’d call me tonight. I need to get home so I’ll be there when he calls.” I tucked my board under my arm and started walking down the beach in the direction of my house.
I watched out of the corner of my eye as Ryan stood there shaking his head. I couldn’t tell if he was jealous or not. I guess I’d find out soon enough. I wasn’t going to wait on him though. At the rate we were going, I’d be waiting forever.