Chapter Two
Bobby was disappointed when I told him I had to take him for his surf. He was even more disappointed when my mom said I would have to take him tomorrow as well. He tried to hide it but I still saw it. So my mom packed us extra cookies in hope of cheering him up and sent us on our way.
+ + + +
I cringed internally when we got to the beach. It was packed with people surfing and playing volleyball on the sand, tanning and eating and swimming. They were everywhere. I pushed my sunglasses up into my hair and worked on getting Bobby's surfboard off the top of my car. It took a while but we managed it in the end. Bobby put the thing under his arm while I grabbed my bag and our towels before making our way to the sand. I peered out at all the people. "Is there a more quiet place than this?" I muttered.
My brother shrugged. "Me and Dad sometimes go to the next bay. It's just around the rocks. The waves are a bit messier but it's way less busy."
"You cool of we go there then kiddo?"
"Yeah that's fine."
I ruffled his hair. "Great, you're the best. Let's go."
We ventured beyond the big boulders and sure enough, we came to another bay. It was far less busy much to my pleasure. I laid out my towel and pulled out my book then flopped down into a comfortable position. "Of you go then kiddo, do what you gotta do."
He looked uncertain. "I've never surfed alone before."
"Hey hey, you'll be fine, you don't really need me, do you?"
"I guess not," he replied quietly.
"Good then. There are plenty of people out in the surf anyway. Go have fun buddy and try staying close so I can see you."
He smiled. "Yeah I will then, no problem."
Bobby started to trot towards the ocean as I smiled in delight. I put my sunglasses back on and pulled out The Great Gatsby. I read a few pages before scanning the water, I instantly spotted Bobby in his bright red rash shirt not too far out from the shore, paddling in some small waves. I could easily see the grin on his face, which was cute. After watching him for a while, I went back to reading my book. I munched on an apple and delved deep into the pages.
I was three chapters in when I hadn't realised how much time had passed since I last looked out for Bobby. I quickly glanced up to see if I could find him, the amount of surfers in the water had dropped since we got here so I thought it would be easier to spot the familiar red rash top.
I scanned the water twice but I didn't see him once. That's when a small surge of panic rushed through me. I gulped nervously and took of my glasses. Standing up, I started to walk closer to the water, keeping my eyes peeled for my kid brother. As I got nearer to the water, the more panicked I got. With each passing step, there was no sign of Bobby and more signs of my growing fear. I walked until the water was up to my knees. "Bobby!" I yelled helplessly into the waves. "Bobby where are you?"
I kept calling his name but got no answer in return. I even asked a few small kids playing in the shallows if they'd seen him. They hadn't. A bunch of surfers came out of the water and I asked them too but they claimed they hadn't seen anyone of the description I gave them.
I kept roaming the water with my eyes, calling my brother's name frantically. Sour bile had risen in my throat but I pushed it down. I started to make my way east through the water, splashing the water as I hastily treaded through the ankle-deep shallows. Every single worst-case scenario passed through my mind and before I could stop it, tears began to trickle from my eyes. "Bobby!" I screamed once again as I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
"Clara?" The familiar voice answered a little off to my right.
I whipped around and sure enough, Bobby was standing on the sand with some stranger. Relief poured through me as I went bounding over to him, my vision slightly blurred. "Bobby! Where have you been?!" I fell at his knees and wrapped him in a tight embrace. "I've been looking for you for ages." I pulled back and held him by the shoulders firmly. "You scared me half to death. Don't you ever to that again, okay? God I told you to stay where I could see you!"
"Clara I get it okay. No need to cry."
"I thought you were dead or something. I looked out and I couldn't see you so I panicked." I hugged him again for good measure. "I'm sorry, I'm such a bad sister”
"Damn right you are," said a voice with a unique accent.
I looked up abruptly, wiping my wet eyes quickly and saw the stranger Bobby had been with. Although, I realized he wasn't a stranger when I got a proper look at him. I realized he actually went to my school.
"He could've got seriously hurt out there," he added on. "The waves are too messy for nine year olds to surf on their own. He was being thrown about like a rag doll. You're lucky I had enough sense to bring him in."
I awkwardly stood up and cleared my throat, putting my arm protectively across Bobby's shoulder. "Well, um, thank you. I appreciate it."
He shrugged. "No problem."
I patted my little brother's shoulder. "Say thank you to Noah, Bobby."
When I realised what I'd said, I went as red as a beetroot. With wide eyes, I turned to Noah, who was giving me a very amused look. "You know my name?"
"We go to the same school," I mumbled after delay. "Everyone knows the one New Zealand kid that came at the beginning of the year. You're all anyone talked about."
He quirked an eyebrow obviously enjoying my discomfort. "Well actually there's two of us, you're forgetting my kid sister. But glad to know news travels."
"Great. Well, we'll be off now. Thanks for getting my little brother."
I was about to take off when Bobby stopped me. "Hold on sis, I need to get my board. It's with Noah's, near his towel."
"Okay then, come on," I said grudgingly.
Together we made our way to Noah's towel in silence. The boards were lying in the sand so Bobby quickly picked his up. He grinned at Noah. "Thanks Noah!"
"No problem kiddo."
"Yeah thanks," I added on.
"Yeah sure Clara, just don't let it happen again," he said indifferently.
"Cool okay bye!" I said in a forced cherry tone before dragging Bobby along the sand.
After a few steps, I turned back around and saw Noah was still giving me that trademark smirk as if he knew I was going to turn around. I rolled my eyes and continued walking on.
Noah Trent was a senior like me. He came to our school last year from New Zealand and he quickly made a rep for himself. He got into the popular clique on the first day and had a girlfriend by the end of the week. He was now pretty much best friends with Emblem3, that famous X Factor band -- just another thing upping his cool factor. That's all I knew of him but according to Katie, he was pretty much untouchable. He only really cared about surfing, skating, partying, mates and having fun. Nothing else made the cut. Well unless you count the different girl, he was with every week.
And yes, he was totally gorgeous. He was tan, lean and defined. His hair was the perfect shade of brown that was always styled in that perfect indie comb over. He was every girl's dream. Any girl would do a lot just to have a chance with him. But like I said before, he was untouchable. No girl lasted longer than three weeks at the most.
+ + + +
I was slowly going insane. It was well into the night and Bobby would not shut up about Noah. Noah did this and Noah did that, Noah's so cool and I wanna be like Noah! I was ready to claw my eyes out so when my parents excused me from the table, I bolted up to my room instantly and locked the door. I was done with hearing how perfect Noah was because I knew he was far from it. I mean, he literally didn’t care about anything important, it made no sense to me.
School the next day was boring so I was super glad it was Friday, meaning I had the whole weekend to relax. Everyone was keyed up about senior year coming to an end; college and summer plans and futures, it put everyone on edge.
At lunch, I was sitting with Katie and Josh when I remembered I had some unfinished homework lying in my locker. I cringed and banged the table. “Sorry guys gotta bolt. I have some Science homework I haven’t done that’s due next period.”
I was gone before they could say anything.
The corridors were empty so I was able to run like a dork in privacy. It was somewhat refreshing considering my running technique was neither pretty nor athletic. My science paper was resting at the top of all my books so I grabbed it hastily and slid down to a sitting position on the floor. Pulling out a pen, I began to work through the questions one by one. Science wasn’t my forte. Really, I was only actually good at English and History, everything else I rather sucked at.
“I don’t know if it’s because you have no friends or you like doing homework alone at lunch time, but either way, it’s quite sad,” a familiar voice said to me.
I groaned inwardly and looked up to see Noah walking towards me, an amused expression covering his features. “No I do have friends, I just forgot about some last minute homework.”
Noah shrugged. “That’s remotely better. So how’s the kid brother?”
He was standing above me now so I had to look straight up. And at the sound of his question, I groaned for real. “God, he’s fine. He won’t shut up actually. Won’t stop going on about how amazing you are.”
“Ah that’s dope,” he replied with a small goofy laugh. “He’s a good kid aye, knows a few things about surfing.”
“Yeah, it’s a big thing between him and my dad but dad is busy at work right now so he has no one to go with,” I said conversationally, not really caring I was practically telling him my life story.
“Well I’m going for another surf after school with my sister, he’s welcome to join us,” he replied casually.
I cocked my head to the side, intrigued at his offer. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah I am. Just bring him to the same spot at about 4,” he grinned and started to back away. “I’ll look out for him better than you did.”
“Oh thanks, just remind me about how I almost killed my brother,” I said sarcastically.
“I’ll see you and Bobby at 4.” He winked, catching me off guard before turning around and waltzing off.
I stared after him in awe, thinking to myself in puzzlement. Did Noah Trent just wink at me? I mean, two days ago he didn’t even know who I was and know he was winking at me?
Then I remembered Katie’s words of him being untouchable … Of him only being with girls for no more than a few weeks. This weekend marked a new week.
I was Noah Trent’s new conquest
+ + + +
Pic of Noah on the side. (holy fuck he's gorgeous i love him)
Tell me what you think so far! What do you expect to see between Noah and Clara? What do you want to see?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter xo
P.S go read @drewtastic we all dope m8