Surf Camp

Chapter 3

Stall- Slowing down by shifting weight to the tail of the board or putting a hand in the water.

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it."

"C'mon, was it really that bad-?"

"Yes. It was. End of conversation." I stopped in mid-stride to avoid a mound of dog poo on the sidewalk.

"You could at least tell me-"

"It was bad, horrible, inferior, unsatisfactory, absolutely shoddy. End. Of. Conversation." I glanced at my best friend, Ava, whose petite, short figure was struggling to keep up with with my long strides across the sidewalk.
It's not my fault I have long legs...

Being friends since third grade, I knew her incredibly well, and she was most certainly the exact opposite of me. Peppy, chatty, and positive, capitan of the cheer squad.

Sigh.

"Jacks, are you even listening to me?"

"What?" She rolled her eyes.

A brief silence followed, which was rather suprising, considering that Ava's mouth never really shut.

Suddenly, my stomach grumbled reminding me I hadn't eaten since, what I now call 'The Incident'. "Where do you want to go for lunch-" I started.

"Omg!" she cut me off.

"What is it now?"

"Look!" She said bouncing up and down.

I turned to look at the road we were walking along,"What's so exciting about a path of cement?"

"Do you not see him?"

I shielded my eyes against the scorching summer sun.

An ice cream truck was pulled over beside a curb next to two teens. A lightbulb went off in my head.

The guy's in my chemistry class...

"They go to our school, big deal." In this part of Southern California, nearly everyone went to Oak Valley High. In fact, if you didn't recognize someone, that would be a surprise. The guy wore a tank top, showing an uncomfortable amount of chest, and his arm swung around a giggling girl.

"Do you not know who that is?" She whispered, while her eyes still glued to the guy.

"No, and quite frankly, I don't care. Now, where should we go for lun-"

"That's James Barsetti. The one who dated Claire last year," she waited expectantly for some sort of reaction before continuing, "They broke up at the beginning of the year?"

"So who's that next to him?"

"Jennifer Doubowski. They started dating just before summer started."

She sighed as she drew a hand through her hair, a habit. I was about to bring up the subject of lunch again when James turned toward us briefly, his eye catching Ava's. He smiled and winked at her, oblivious to Jennifer, which he was obviously on a date with. Ava blushed and gave a small wave, looking like she was going to faint. Jennifer shot a death glare in Ava's direction, before tugging on James' sleeve.
I huffed an annoyed grumble before gripping Ava's arm and dragging her along the sidewalk.
Does she want a death wish or something? We have enough enemies already...

"He saw me!" Ava squeeked as soon as we were out of eye-shot.

"Can you not? I'm literally going to puke on you right now."

"He actually winked!" She said, ignoring me.

I mentally face-palmed.

"I think he recognized us!"