The Penpal Project

Chapter 22

"Wait, say that again?"

"Save some waves for me, love," I repeated, reading off the letter with a smile. Brooke eyed me as a smirk grew slowly on her face. She sat up from painting her nails and said, "I know that look. You miss him, don't you?" I giggled and dropped onto my bed.

"Yeah, a lot."

"Girl, you're so lucky your penpal ended up being a cute famous British guy. Mine turned out to be some girl from a place in Brazil," Brooke said and with a shrug, she casually went back to painting her long nails a sky blue color. The aroma of nail polish was so strong that it gave me a stomach ache. Or was it the butterflies that I got every time I look at his letter? I sighed. I love it when he writes me letters. It's so cute and romantic. I've kept every single own of them ever since the day I was assigned the penpal project. I miss him so much. My mind floated off somewhere; remembering the time when we met in real life, the waves at the beach, how he tried to surf with me. Suddenly, Brooke's voice echoed through my thoughts.

"Girl! My nails are done! Let's to hit some waves!" I snapped back to reality; adjusting my focus to Brooke.

"Wait, what?" I asked in a daze. Brooke heaved a sigh and stood up. "You got it bad, girl. I said that my nails are done and we should go catch some waves." I stood up from my bed and set the letter down.

"Oh yeah, right. Okay, let's go." We ran down the stairs, grabbed our surfboards from where we last left them, and stumbled into my old truck. I started to head to my secret surfing place and I usually don't go there with my friends to surf. That place is special to me, it's like my second home. I don't want to open it up to public. It's a hidden place where I can let go of my troubles, cool down after an argument, lose myself from everyone else, or to just be alone. In some indescribable way, it's like flying. That hidden place on the beach is like my set of wings and I ride on the waves and just fly. But Brooke knows this. She knows everything about me; from my favorite ice cream flavor to my most embarrassing moment. She's been my best friend ever since I offered to share half of my sandwich with her in 4th grade. She's like my sister, so she's totally an exception. She's the only one that knows about my hidden surfing place and Matt as well. She was the first person I showed it to.

I turned the sharp corner and drove on the skinny path through the trees; the California sun peeking in through the leaves. Then sooner then we knew it, we were driving on the sand and into my other world. It was just as beautiful when I left it. The waves kicked up into the big blue sky and crashed onto the shore. The trees danced to the music of the breeze and fluttered its leaves. The sand was warm like over-the-counter hot chocolate as I stepped out of my truck. Brooke and I got our boards out from the back and ran to the ocean. As we got closer, the waves kissed our toes; welcoming us to jump in. Without hesitation, we ran into the water and didn't come out until the sun hung low in the orange sky. The air was getting cooler and so was the water, so we got out but didn't go home. We just waded on the sand and chilled out. While I was talking about Matt, Brooke was half listening and half texting at the same time. I got a lot of "uh huhs" and "yeahs" from her.

Suddenly, as I was just finishing a sentence, Brooke gasped and shouted, "Woah! I can't believe it!" I stopped talking and asked,"What?" Brooke dropped her phone and gave me the biggest smile ever.

"We just got invited to a senior beach party next Thursday!" My heart stopped and a firework went off in my head. "What! Oh my gosh! I can't believe it!" we both squealed.

"How did we get invited?" I asked gleefully.

"Well, I guess word got out that you're dating a British singer and Kelly Campbell, like the most popular girl in school, heard about it and invited me, you, and him to her party!" Brooke explained. We continued to celebrate and laugh, then Brooke added, "But we can only go if Matt sings at her party." Then it was as if in a snap, all of the happiest was sucked out of me and it took my breath away along with it.

"Wait....what?" was my only reply.