"We love because He first loved us." – 1 John 4:19
Cole pedaled until his calves were burning and his forehead dripped with sweat. He decided to coast the remaining few blocks home as a cool-down. But something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to see a familiar cherry-red sports car parked at the gas station across the street. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. Sure enough, it was her—Taylor Rosalind.
Cole quietly crossed the street and coasted to a stop in front of her car. Resting his elbows on the handlebars of his bike, he gave her a half-smile and said, "Hey."
Taylor glanced up, her eyes widening in realization when she saw him. "Hey yourself," she said, a smile creeping up on her face. After returning her gas pump to the machine, she walked over and gave Cole a light peck on the cheek. "So what's new?"
"Nothing, really."
"Mm-hmm. I can see that look on your face."
"What are you talking about?"
Taylor planted her hands on her hips and gave him a look.
"No, really," Cole said, feigning innocence. "What's wrong?"
Realizing she wasn't going to get anything out of him, Taylor stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Cole's waist. "I can tell when something's on your mind," she said.
Cole's insides began to stir. He reminded himself that he carried no obligation towards her.
"Tell me, what's really going on?"
"Nothing." Cole resisted the urge to kiss her, but it was becoming increasingly harder by the second.
"You know, my annual party is coming up soon."
"Which one?"
"The end of summer bash."
"Yeah...about that." He had to force the words out. "I might not be able to make it."
"What?" Taylor pulled away, slightly offended.
"Tay, listen, I know this is your biggest party of the year—"
"Of course it is!"
"I just don't think I'll be able to make it."
The news hit her like a slap in the face. She looked horrified for a second before quickly getting her act back together. "Oh," she said softly, resting her hands on Cole's shoulders.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine." There was an awkward silence, and she almost pulled her hands away. "Why can't you come?"
"It's a long story," Cole admitted. Even though his handlebars were separating them from touching completely, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Trust me."
"That's the problem, Cole. How can I trust you if you never tell me what's going on?"
"Tay..."
"You're going somewhere, aren't you?" she murmured.
"Maybe."
"Where?"
Cole paused, but he figured it would make no difference to tell her the truth. "The gang and I are going down the coast. It's just a quick surf trip."
Taylor mulled his words over in her mind for a few moments. "Are you sure you're going?" she asked.
"It's not set in stone, but there's a good chance I am."
She sighed and folded her arms over her chest. "You're going with that Alana girl, aren't you?"
"Well, duh, she's part of the gang."
"She's a joke. I don't know why you even hang out with her."
Cole smirked. "What's it to you?"
Taylor didn't reply, but let out an angry huff.
"I knew it—you are jealous."
"Because I see the way you look at her, Cole! It's like you're obsessed or something."
"Why would I be obsessed with Alana?" The question was phrased perfectly, but it tasted foul in his mouth.
"Whatever. I'll talk to you later, Anderson."
Cole raised an eyebrow. "So now we're on a last-name basis?"
"Only with you, babe." She returned the nozzle to its pump before slipping inside her car. Cole watched as she slipped a pair of sunglasses over her eyes, put the car into reverse, and backed away. He couldn't get over the feeling that every time Taylor walked away, she left him wanting more.
Blaine pushed open the front door and automatically made a beeline for the fridge. "I'm home!" he called.
Mr. Anderson appeared in the doorway a few moments later. "You're eating chicken?" he asked as Blaine dug into the leftovers.
"Yeah," he said with his mouth full.
His dad laughed and shook his head. "I thought you just ate lunch."
Blaine merely shrugged.
"So how did it go? You said it was a meeting?" Mr. Anderson asked, genuinely curious. He rested his elbows on the countertop.
"Cole hasn't told you about it?"
"Cole isn't home yet."
"Oh." Blaine paused for a moment, then resumed eating his chicken. He crossed his ankles as he leaned up against the refrigerator. "Well, apparently Alana and Koa have been thinking about taking a surf trip down the coast. It would be just the six of us, and we would be gone for about two weeks, maybe more."
"Really."
"Yeah, really."
"It sounds great, but what about food? Gas? Transportation? And you would need a whole lot of money."
"That's what we've been talking about." Blaine licked his fingers and stuck the remaining chicken back inside the fridge. "Cole stormed out of the restaurant after Alana suggested he should use the Volkswagen."
Mr. Anderson raised his eyebrows. "I'll admit that van is pretty old, and it does mean a lot to your brother—"
"Maya would bring her family's campervan too. That's where we would sleep."
"And I'm guessing you would all chip in for gas?"
Blaine nodded. His father stroked his chin for a few seconds, deep in thought. "I don't know when you guys plan to leave, but you and Cole are free to go. It sounds like a fun surf trip."
Blaine grinned, but only for a moment. "Sweet! But...?"
"But what?"
"I can tell you're hesitating."
"You're right; I am." His dad sighed and pushed off the countertop. "Don't get me wrong, Blaine, I trust you completely. It's your brother I'm worried about."
"He doesn't even want to go."
"Really? Is this all because of his van?"
It might have something to do with Alana, too. The words were on the tip of Blaine's tongue, but he only said, "I don't know."
"You know him better than me."
"But it'll take both of us to convince him to go."
Mr. Anderson frowned. "I'm your father. I'm not sure if I should be convincing him to go on this surf trip. It is a little risky, you know."
"I get that. But you also have authority. Cole blows me off every time I try to talk to him."
Mr. Anderson smiled sadly. "True..." He thought for a moment. "All right. I'll see what I can do."
Blaine let out a relieved sigh. "Great."
With a fresh smoothie in one hand and her phone in the other, Taylor headed upstairs in her bikini to do some tanning on her parent's roof patio. That, and she needed some time to think. After plugging in her phone to its speakers, she turned the volume up and settled back into a pool lounger. She slipped on a pair of sunglasses and closed her eyes, allowing the warm sunrays to hit her already tan skin.
Though she appeared as cool and collected as could be, in reality Taylor was anxious. She ran her conversation with Cole over and over again in her mind, trying to come up with some way to prevent him from going on that dumb surf trip. Who would want to cram into a car with five other smelly teenagers anyway? Surfing had never appealed to Taylor, and she couldn't understand why Cole was so hooked on the sport.
She knew she had that boy wrapped around her finger, and she wanted it to stay that way. A surf trip with Alana was exactly the thing to pull Cole away. Taylor frowned. She knew that girl meant something to Cole, but he wasn't the type to have feelings for someone. And Alana was such a tomboy. Taylor gave a little huff. Besides, there was Alana's hair—always stringy, always salty. Taylor shuddered just thinking about it. Alana couldn't possibly be a threat.
Taylor crossed her legs and settled back against the lounger. She knew there were other girls besides Alana—girls who Cole had dated in the past. But she didn't mind if Cole dated other girls, because in the end he would always come back to her.
Yet there was a possibility that all that could change. What if Cole did really move on one day? The thought had never occurred to Taylor. She realized, with a sudden pang, that Cole meant more to her than she'd originally thought.
Reaching for her phone, she immediately began tapping out a list of things to pack. Money, tank tops, shorts, food...
Jake whooped as Blaine executed a perfect railslide, skated a few feet over to the bowl, and dropped down in one fluid motion.
"Sick!" he exclaimed. "I should've brought my camera. We would have such awesome footage."
Blaine used his momentum to skate back up to ground level. He laughed and wiped the sweat off his brow. "Yeah, we definitely would."
"You look tired, man."
"Tired is an understatement."
They both laughed and took a seat on the bench to watch a new group of skaters enter the park. "It's a bummer the waves are flat," Jake sighed.
"Hey, look on the bright side—you got to skate with me."
"That's the bright side?"
Blaine rolled his eyes. "So what's your take on the surfing safari?"
"I asked my parents last night. They said I could go, but my mom was kinda reluctant. She doesn't want my kid brothers to burn down the house while I'm gone."
Blaine laughed. "Doesn't she stay at home to watch them?"
"Well, technically she works from home, so it's more like I'm the babysitter while she's in her office."
"Oh." The guys fell quiet as a couple girls, skateboards underneath their arms, walked past the park. "Hey, she's kind of cute," Blaine said.
"The blonde or the brunette?"
"Both, I guess."
"They're such fakes."
Blaine laughed again. "You don't even think they're mildly cute?"
"You can totally tell they're not skaters. Why are they carrying their boards when they can ride them? And who even skates in flip flops?"
"Dude, I'm asking about you their looks, not their skating ability."
Jake shrugged. "Doesn't matter."
"Because there's someone else on your mind?"
Jake turned to face his friend. "What are you getting at?"
"You didn't answer the question." Blaine smiled triumphantly.
After a pregnant silence, Jake's face fell. "Is it that obvious?"
"It's really obvious."
He sighed.
"So...ask her out," Blaine suggested.
"It's not that simple. Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"Of course I won't. But I can't stop my brother from teasing you about it," Blaine warned. "Cole's a loose cannon."
"I noticed," Jake said, rather dryly. "The real question is, do you think those girls are cute?"
Blaine grinned. "Let me put it this way—if I had to choose between a cute girl or the bowl in front of me, I'd choose the bowl." He jumped onto his skateboard and dropped into the in-ground pool, wasting no time in carving across the smooth surface.
"Hey, I would say I'm with you, bro, but then I'd be lying."
"That's okay," Blaine called out as he skated around the bowl. "I don't think Maya would want to hear you say that anyway."
The muffled giggles of Jake's younger brothers could be heard through his closed door, so he turned to face his window and strummed another chord on his guitar. He hummed to himself as he strummed the opening to Banana Pancakes. The words to the first verse soon came to mind, and Jake sang softly as he began to play.
Suddenly, from the opposite end of his bed, his phone screen lit up. Jake paused midway through the song and glanced at the screen. He smiled when he saw that it was a text from Maya. Setting down his guitar, he picked up his phone and dialed her number.
She answered on the second ring. "Hey Jake. Sorry if I'm bothering you."
"No, not at all. What's up?"
"What's your take on this surfing safari Alana has planned?"
"I think it's great! My parents said I can go."
"Sweet, me too. Are you excited?"
"Totally."
Maya laughed. Her voice sounded angelic to Jake's ears. "Do you have any plans tonight?" she asked.
"Nope. I just finished dinner, so..."
"Do you, uh, want to go for a walk?"
Jake paused. He could distinctly hear Maya's breathing on the other end of the line. The sound of his brothers fighting reached his ears, but he ignored them and said, "A walk sounds nice. Where do you want to go?"
"How about we head from your house to the Promenade?"
Jake grinned. "That sounds great."
He imagined Maya's infectious smile when she said, "Perfect! See you in a bit."
"See you." Jake felt his fingers tingling as he set down his phone. Instead of returning to his guitar, he slipped on a pair of shoes and pulled on a light jacket. He waited impatiently by the front door until Maya knocked ten minutes later.
"Is it chilly out?" he asked as he stepped outside.
"It's not too bad. The wind makes it a little cold." Maya smiled up at him as he closed the door. They headed in the direction of the beach, winding their way through Jake's neighborhood until they came within sight of the ocean. It looked completely different at night. They could barely make out its dark, shifting surface under the glare of flickering lights on Ventura Pier.
They reached the Promenade a few minutes later. People milled about the different shops and various stands set up in the square. "That food smells so good," Maya said when she got a whiff of a barbecue grill.
"Do you want something to eat?" Jake asked automatically.
"Nah, I'm good. I shouldn't eat anything at this hour anyway."
"Tell that to all the people waiting in line."
Maya laughed, once again sending a thrill down Jake's spine, where it settled in the pit of his stomach. He edged nearer to her. They had been close friends since elementary school, and Jake couldn't deny there were some sparks between them. He just wondered when the right moment would appear.
"The sun should be setting in a half hour or so," he said casually. "Why don't we head to the beach?"
"Sure." Maya slipped off her shoes when they reached the sand, and before long they were laughing and running to the water's edge. Jake rolled up his jeans and let the tide pool around his ankles. As they kept up their light conversation and slowly worked their way up the beach, Maya intertwined her hand in his, and Jake couldn't keep a smile off his face. The blazing sunset in front of them only added to the amazing evening.
The pair took a seat on the cool sand to watch the last rays of the sun disappear behind the horizon. Jake rested his hand on Maya's and felt another jolt of excitement rush through him when she leaned her head against his shoulder. He smiled and rested his chin on top of her brown hair.
"I really needed this," Maya confessed.
Surprised, Jake shifted just slightly to better hear her. "What do you mean?"
"My parents...it's been hard."
"Oh." Jake knew that her parents had divorced a number of years ago, but divorce was a foreign concept to him. His mom and dad would never separate.
"My mom has been calling him more often," she continued. "My dad, I mean."
"Is that bad?"
She sighed. "I don't know. But it just doesn't feel right to me. He left us, and it caused my mom to lose some of her faith. And now she's back in contact with him."
Jake mulled her words over in his mind. How could he comfort her? What was he supposed to say?
"I'm sorry, Maya," he finally replied. "Maybe bringing your parents back together again is God's way of bringing your mom back to him. His ways are higher than our ways. And while we don't always understand what's going on, we can trust that God does."
Maya nodded.
"I'll be praying for your family," Jake said. "If you need anything, let me know. My parents would love to have you and your mom over for dinner."
She smiled. "That would be cool."
Jake's heart was at peace. What could be better than sitting on the sand, watching the last rays of the sun spread their light over the water, next to the girl of his dreams?
"I'm glad you texted me," he said quietly.
"I'm glad you called," Maya replied.
They sat on the shore until the sun vanished completely and an inky blackness took over the sky. Neither one said a word, and Jake listened to Maya's deep, rhythmic breathing contentedly.
Finally, Maya said, "We should probably head back."
Jake nodded and stood up, brushing the sand off his pants. They didn't hold hands on the way back to his house, but Jake was sure Maya felt the same way he did.
"I'll walk you to your house," he said when Maya turned to go down his street.
"Are you sure?" She smiled at him when he nodded. "Thanks."
"It's only a short walk away. I don't mind. And plus, it's kind of dark out here." He laughed, hoping to relieve some of the tension that had suddenly come between them.
When they reached Maya's doorstep, she paused with one hand on the knob and turned to face Jake. "Thanks for tonight," she said quietly. "It was great."
"We'll have to do this more often," he joked.
A fleeting look crossed Maya's face, and for a second Jake thought she had taken him seriously. So he was surprised when she suddenly stood on her tiptoes and planted a quick peck on his cheek.
"'Night, Jake," she said before slipping inside.
Jake stared dumbly at her closed door. He reached up and lightly brushed his fingers against the spot where she had kissed him. Then a broad smile stretched across his face, and he whispered, "Goodnight."