Between Two Fires

^.^ Chapter 11 ^.^

"I did it!" I shout as Luca approaches, my smile must look painful from how wide it is. He is smiling earnestly now and claps his hands at my small victory. Without thinking it through, I throw my arms around him, giving him a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!!!" I feel his arms circle my waist in an automatic response before he tenses. Only then do I realize I am hugging Lucas. I, Cyan, initiated a hug with Luca – the guy I need to stay away from. My body tenses too and I pull away quickly, my face feels as red as my surf board. I mumble something incomprehensible and swim back out to where I caught the first wave.

I try a couple more waves and although I'm not able to do them all perfectly I manage to wobble a little less every time. My mind is focused on the hug instead on surfing but I do my best to focus on getting better. By the time Luca and I swim back to shore he is back to having a professional attitude.

I help him take the boards back up to the shack and I am surprised to find Trent still there, this time he doesn't have his work clothes on – he has blue swimming trunks and a white shirt on. He is talking to Ethan but stops when I approach.

"Hey Cyan!" His tone is cheerful.

I stop and place my board down beside me, holding it up. "Hey Trent!" I pause and add, "I thought you only worked mornings?"

"I did but I was waiting to see how your lesson went." To say I'm surprised is an understatement. I am about to answer when Luca buts in.

"If you are going to stay here and talk at least do it after leaving the board in the shed." His tone has is cold again and I can't help but wonder what his issue is with me. Even if I don't want to get close to him – it still hurts to have someone be this rude towards you. Picking up my board I follow him into the shed and place the board with the others.

I am already by the door ready to leave the shack when I turn around, the words tumbling out before I can stop them, "You know - I have no idea what your problem is with me, but whatever it is doesn't mean you have to act so cold towards me. I am not saying we have to be friends but you could at least act civil. Thanks for the lesson, I'll make sure to ask for someone else for the next lesson." Without giving him a chance to answer, I slam the door closed and make my way down the beach to my house.

I feel bad for not staying to talk, considering Trent had been waiting to hear how the lesson went. However, in that moment, all I could think about was getting as far as possible from Luca.

***

LUCAS' POV

I put the last of the Surf boards back in place. After Cyan had stormed out I had kicked the air in frustration – only instead of the air I ended up kicking one of the boards which caused a few of them to topple. This had, of course, just made my mood worse than it had already been.

She was so frustrating, why had she picked Australia– couldn't she have gone somewhere else?

You know you don't mean that. Ugh but still! She had the power to infuriate me and make me lose the control I had become used. I wasn't used to losing control of my emotions and I didn't like.

BUT WHY? It must be because she reminds me of my sister. She definitely didn't look like my sis-

I stop that thought before it goes any further. It had been extremely difficult to remain calm and distant beside her. Especially when I had felt her small, strong arms wrap around my neck in a hug. My mind and body hadn't known how to react, my muscles had stiffened and my arms circled her small waist automatically, returning the hug. Forgetting about that particular moment was going to be the hardest.