★★★
★★★
John B. rushed around the kitchen as he got ready to leave a few days after my run-in with Helen. He had to catch the ferry to go to a DCS meeting to talk about his legal guardian. I wondered if I should be going since I lived here, but obviously that would do neither of us any good.
It wasn't even an official situation, so I wasn't sure why I thought that was a good idea at all. I walked into the kitchen and John B. was shoving toast down his throat as fast as he could. "Woah, slow down if you want to keep that food down, dude," I advised, not wanting to clean up hurl this morning. "You're up early," he gasped between rushed bites, and I shrugged.
"Thought I'd go surfing," I said and walked to the fridge. I pulled out half of an orange I hadn't finished from yesterday and he nodded. "Keep control of your board this time," He chuckled. "Huh?" I asked, not sure what he meant until he gestured to my face. "Oh! Oh, yeah, how could I forget?" I asked with a half-hearted smile.
"It's healing pretty well, though," He said, and I nodded. "Oh, shit, I gotta run," He said and I said goodbye briefly as he rushed out the door. I felt bad for lying to him, especially after we agreed on being honest with each other when I started living here. I just didn't want him to worry about me, and he was the type to question me if I ever wanted to go anywhere ever again.
I went outside and saw Kie on the hammock, so I walked over to her, flopping down next to her. "Hey lady," she cooed, her hand going to my wavy hair and playing with it as soon as I laid down. "When'd it get so cloudy?" I asked and Kie shrugged. "There's a hurricane coming, I heard my parents talking about it at the restaurant yesterday," She said, and I nodded.
I was so thankful for Kie, she had gotten me a job on Figure 8 as a surf instructor, something I loved doing. I mostly taught Kook kids, but there were plenty of Kook teenagers who were signed up for the next few weeks, so I had that to look forward to, I thought with complete sarcasm. "Did John B. leave already?"
"Yeah, you just missed him. He was bugging about missing the ferry so he took off, but he'll be back in like three hours," I said. She nodded and closed her eyes again, relaxing her body into the hammock. I got up and let her chill out there while I looked for Pope. He was gonna go to the beach with me today, so I wanted to know when he planned on leaving.
I found him on the couch and I shook him slightly. He was dead asleep, but as soon as I touched his shoulder he jumped up, scaring me shitless. "Damn, Pope! Give a girl some warning," I chuckled, holding my heart. He slapped his face lightly, waking himself up, while I threw my hair into a messy ponytail.
"We goin'?" I asked, but before he could answer JJ burst into the house, "Going where?"
He wore a goofy smile and obviously asked to be humorously nosy, so I stuck my tongue out at him, a gesture he returned in tow. "The beach, I wanted to surf and Pope wanted to... I don't know, catch a tan?" I joked and Pope rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yeah, ha ha ha. I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, Ms. Pasty-Ass," He quipped. I shoved him lightly, "I'm tan enough," I said, which was true. Most of my facial tanning abilities translated into an overabundance of freckles, however, but my body was nicely tanned. "You'll never reach my level of milk-chocolate," Pope muttered, and I scoffed.
"No fair, I'm German," I said. "You're German?" JJ asked, clearly surprised a little, but I shrugged. "I don't know," I admitted with a chuckle and Pope jokingly put me in a headlock, ruffling up my hair. "Liars deserve this," He said matter-of-factly while I attempted to get him off of me. "I'm not a liar if I don't know the answer. It's like taking a test and not knowing the topic, you technically can't do anything but take your best guess," I said.
"Terrific point, Shakespeare, but the swell won't wait for your next sonnet, let's go," JJ urged, and I nodded, all three of us getting in the HMS Pogue. "Kie, you coming?" I shouted to her, and she looked up at us, examining the scene. "Yeah, I guess so," she sluggishly agreed, getting up and joining us on the boat. "That's the spirit," I said, just as lack-luster as her initial agreement had been. She hopped on board and immediately laid down again on her back.
"Someone's tired," I commented as she closed her eyes once again. "I was worked to my breaking point yesterday," She groaned, and I laughed. "I have to give lessons to some Kooks our age later today," I told her, and she fake-winced. JJ had gotten our boards onto the boat and Pope started it up after I untied it. We arrived at the docking point where we got out and walked to our regular surf spot, so I tied to boat back up and we all got out.
We got to the beach after hiking over the dunes and sliding down them with ease. Kiara took her shirt off and used it as a pillow, laying down on the said, and Pope pulled out a book as he leaned up against a rock. JJ and I took off running towards the water and we began to chase the swell. I caught a good wave my first try, but JJ wasn't so lucky, getting a flat one.
I rode mine in and he attempted for the second time to get one that worked for him. He eventually caught one and rode it, making me laugh as he made a face passing me. He was a character, that's what I liked most about him. JJ was humorous, Kie was passionate, Pope was intelligent, and John B. was brave. I loved all of my friends equally for these different reasons.
I was biased towards Kie though, seeing as she was the only girl, and we hung out a little bit more than me and any of the boys, but I spent my time with all of them. I caught another wave, and then another one, and another, all back to back. I was glad the swell was so good today, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to surf until after the hurricane touched down.
Finally, I wiped out, which thoroughly entertained JJ, but I made no mistake, I splashed him so hard that saltwater shot right into his mouth, making him sputter. I realized that he was obviously going to come back for revenge, so I started paddling away. He came after me, but I was already on the sand by the time he caught up. I smirked at him, and he groaned after not having gotten me back. "Sorry you suck," I joked, and he put up finger guns to defend his ego.
After surfing and hanging out at the beach for a few hours, they dropped me off in Figure 8 where I gave lessons on the beach. I coordinated with Pope to pick me up afterwards, so I hopped out of the boat and headed to where the lessons were going to take place.
I stuck my board in the sand and walked over to the small beach shack that was set up for these kinds of activities. I went inside and put the clipboard on the counter so people could sign in when they got here. It was a small group today, but when I read the names, I was not excited.
Rafe, Topper, and Kelce, the Kook assholes, were on the list, along with Sarah and a girl named Wheezie. I sighed but knew this was inevitable. I bet they didn't know who I was, though, so maybe there was a silver lining. I waxed one of the boards in the shack and waited for everyone. Soon, the group filed in. I saw the teenagers first but noticed a young brunette behind them. That must've been Wheezie, I decided.
When they all filed in, I asked them to sign in, one by one, which they did. I looked up as everyone signed the paper and when everyone had, I went outside the surf shack. Sarah and Wheezie were by the shore talking to one another while Kelce and Topper compared board sizes. Rafe walked up to me, however, and smiled a smile that left me feeling unsettled.
"I know you from somewhere," He stated, and I begrudgingly shot a smile back. "It's a small island," I said. He wasn't the type of person I'd like to make conversation with, so I sighed, hoping he'd get the hint that this was awkward.
"What's your name?" He asked, and I groaned internally. "Stevie," I said plainly, not wanting to encourage him to start speaking again. "I'm Rafe," he said, and I nodded. "I know," I said, pointing to the clipboard still on the counter. "...Right," He said uneasily. Then, he snapped his fingers, his eyes widening. "You're friends with those Pogues, aren't you? I've seen you all at the boneyard," He concluded.
"I guess you have," I said with a shrug, and he rolled his eyes. I tried to walk around him, but he took a step in front of me. "I know you're kind of new to their group, considering I've just started seeing you hang out with them now, but they're a bad crowd," He said, and I took a step back, shocked at his demeanor change.
"Hello? I don't even know you, what is your big concern with my well-being?" I asked, and he scoffed, "I'm not concerned, I'm just telling you. Trash belongs with trash. You fit right in." His tone turned nasty and sour way too fast, but I had had enough of his entitled attitude. I walked away from him, offended by his words, but not wanting to display my feelings.
"Okay, everyone!" I said with an enthusiastic clap, getting the group's attention. "We all got boards?" I asked, and they all verbally confirmed that they did. I saw Rafe lean towards Kelce to whisper something while still looking at me, resulting in a laugh from Kelce, but I tried to ignore him. I instructed the group to put their boards down on the sand, and when they did, I went back to the shack for supplies. I handed each of them their own chunks of Sex Wax to wax their boards with, and when everyone was done, they gave them back.
We practiced getting up on the board and balancing for the first class, but they all went in the water after, being the hard-headed know-it-alls that they were, which meant I got to watch all of them wipe out immediately. It was fun for me, at least, but they all left the water cold and miserable. "See you guys next class," I said at the end of our two-hour session. They had four more classes to go, part of the 5-day program my boss had explained to me.
They all started to leave, but I noticed Rafe hung back. "God," I groaned, ", what now?" He crossed his arms at me, scowling. "Remember what I said, sweetheart. You're worthless. You're lucky they even let you step foot in Figure 8," He said.
"Thank you, Rafe, thank you. You're a real classy guy," I said with a sarcastic slow clap as he backed away from me. Before he turned around though, I flipped him off, which seemed to be the biggest mistake I had made all day. His face contorted from butthurt to fuming as he stomped back over to me, kicking up sand in his wake.
"Don't you ever disrespect me like that again," He said in a low, bold voice, grabbing my wrist and squeezing it. I wasn't scared, more pissed off, but he was standing his ground. I said nothing, but my mind screamed FUCK OFF. He finally let me go, leaving me rubbing my red wrist and question what the hell had just happened.
I just couldn't catch a break.
★★★
Ok, stress. I had like a completely different chapter written out for this, but as I was finishing it and re-reading it, I decided I hated it and it was stupid. This isn't a huge improvement, but it's something for going forward.