I shook myself, pulling myself from the trance seeing Zane again had put me in. I willed my thoughts still as they swam a million miles an hour in my head. "How's your mamma?" I managed to ask as I worked on finishing the transaction. Julie seemed to still, the eyes of his friends wandering to him.
I know I didn't ask anything that wasn't warranted. Zane grew up here. He and I had been best friends when we were little but he often went by Julien instead of Zane because he said he liked it better. We were like siblings, joking and being crazy and wild. I remember one time we had dared each other to see how many crabs we could hold without getting pinched. Like little ninjas, we snuck down into Tortuga and were found hours later with crabs attached to us by our hair and fingers. We had been grounded for weeks after that.
Julie's mama got sick our second day in third grade. It wasn't anything crazy, and everyone had expected her to pull through. Yet, his pop picked up the entire family and moved somewhere up north. I never really got to say goodbye. No one had heard from them in years after they skipped town. Most just imagined that they left to get better treatment for his mama. That much I could understand. What confused me most was how Julie cut every kind communication with me and my family when he went. It was if they dropped off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again. But, in all consideration, something must have worked out because here he stood before me. When you took into account everything that had happened, you wouldn't expect him to ever come back to Sharktooth Crest, huh? Me either.
It was a mystery. Our little town had moved on though, quick. We never usually lost locals. The beaches here are like magnets. Once you get close enough, it's hard to break away. But they did. He did. Interestingly enough.
My gaze met his and he seemed to shrink underneath my watchful eyes. "My mother died just soon after we left Sharktooth."
I blinked, taken aback. "Really? Everyone held onto the hope that she would get better treatment wherever you guys went." I huffed, setting down my arms on the counter, leaning forward. Julie leaned away. "Speaking of, where did you go?" I asked the question that everyone had been wondering for years and had never gotten any legitimate answer to. Everyone had running theories when it first happened. From going to Ninjago City or a small snowy forest or even to a remote island. Some thought that they just dissapeared. Though, the last one proved false when they were never registered as missing persons.
Green bean leaped into action, pulling Zane and his friends back a bit. "I am so sorry to rush this lovely reunion, but we need to get home soon." He flashed me a quick smile to which I frowned, not believing his charade for a second. Yet, I didn't bother to call him out on it, instead opting to watch them leave.
I waved a gentle goodbye, watching as the mystery boy left once more.
I flung on my flip flops, ready and raring to go. Finally, finally my shift was over after a long grueling day of selling sappy tourists anything and everything. A weight was pulled from my shoulders and I was free. I ran down the stair, practically sliding down them from my crap flip flops. I had worn the poor things out. The poor shoes had been shmooshed under my feet for almost 7 years and I had no plans of retiring them anytime soon. The soles were thinner than a strand of hair, the bottom layer peeling off in chunks but they had seen places, baby. I wasn't going to give that up anytime soon.
I entered the threshold between the stairs and our little garage area where we kept our own surfing gear. My dad was a big advocate for diving and his silver metal tanks lined the walls. He had often taken me when I was little, but now I had been taken more by surfing. Don't get me wrong, being able to breathe underwater and exploring ship wrecks and seeing the coolest sea creatures was amazing to say the least. It just had never struck my fancy as it had my dad's. So, instead I took up surfing. I had been surfing as long as I could walk, forced to do it when I was a child. Then I didn't care for all the falling and flopping and the limp noodle arms you would have after a good paddle. I gave it a few years, and bam I was hooked. Hook, line, sinker, whole fishing pole. I reached for Ol' Reliable, a medium length board. She, yes a she don't judge me, was a peachy color with white flowers and rimmed with a lovely green. I had picked her out one birthday when dad said I could have anything from the shop as my gift. Of course, as a fresh 12 year old, I dove immediately for the flowers. Typical. But, no matter because she had stuck with me all these years.
I yanked my coverup over my head, managing to get my head stuck for a moment before yanking it off and tossing it in the sand. The sun was just beginning to think about setting, a warm golden light settling over the sand. It was the time of day where people switched from bathing suits to cover ups, from sitting on beach chairs to lying on towels to look at the stars begin to peek out. The crazy beach activities of throwing football or playing tag or building sand castles were exchanged for looking at the clouds for shapes or walking down the beach with someone you love. But, what most didn't know was that it was prime surf time. Well, any time I wasn't working was prime surf time.
A few others were on the beach along side me, a couple and their child going for a stroll. An older gentleman playing fetch with his dog. I narrowed my eyes as my gaze rested on a familiar group.
Are you kidding me?
I tossed my head back in a grumble before hoisting up my board and giving a gentle jog to join them. Julien and his gang had settle on a giant sheet, a hard cooler stuck in the middle of them, emptied out. The remains of take out courtesy of Tortuga were tossed about if a dog had gotten a hold of the food. A rabid dog. A crazy rabid dog.
I smiled as I neared the group, Green bean noticing me first. Surfboard guy elbowed Julien which I pretended not to notice. "Fancy seeing you here." I commented, placing a hand on my hip.
I also pretended not to notice Surfboard guy ogling me in my bathing suit. Nya, the only one other than Julien whose name I knew, kicked him hard. He snapped out of it and I relaxed a bit. "Tortuga as good as you remember, Julien?"
Ginger looked as lost as a stray puppy at my comment though Zane didn't seem to find it off putting. He only nodded and gave me a gentle smile. Green bean must have picked up the slack, catching my attention. "It was really good! I could eat their food forever."
"You should go in and do dine in. They have turtles everywhere. You could even see Timmy himself." I baited, raising my eyebrows.
"Who's Timmy?" Ginger spoke up, looking intrigued.
"Timmy is one of the largest turtles on this side of Ninjago. He lives at The Tortuga." Julien spoke and I nodded, a bit surprised he still remembered that. Well, of course he would. Who could forget Timmy.
"I don't think I caught any of your names..." I commented, trailing off a bit. Each one happily obliged and I had to work overtime to ditch the stupid nicknames I had created for them in my head. I repeated them back one by one just to double check.
I pointed at Ginger. "Jay."
Green bean. "Lloyd?"
Surfboard guy. "K...."
"Kai." He offered with a wink.
"Got it." Burly. "Cole. And Nya." Last but certainly not least. "Gnarly."
I plopped down in the sand among them, laying my board over my legs. The group was closely knit and I felt almost out of place. Okay, really out of place. I had never seen a group so comfortable around each other before. No cliques in middle school could compare to this one right here. When a break in the conversation opened, I shot my shot. "So how do you guys know each other?" I met Julien's eyes as I asked, tilting my head oh so subtly.
Jay was the one who launched into a explanation. "Well, it was all because of one old man-" Nya slapped a hand over his mouth and gave me a smile.
"We met at school. This dimwit is talking about one of our teachers, Wu. He's really close with us."
"That's sweet. Good for you. Middle school must have been easy, huh?"
Let's take a break right here for a second. I know what you're thinking. I know. But, Sharktooth Crest is a town that would rather focus of business and beaches than the fact that Ninjago needs saviors almost every other month and thus the Ninja made an appearance. It was common knowledge of everyone but the residents of Sharktooth that those who sat before me were just that: the saviors of Ninjago. Sharktooth didn't know, nor were we ever told. It's not something that we bothered with when the beaches here were as magnetic as they are.
Cole shrugged, leaning back on his palms. "Sure, as easy as middle school could ever be."
I held up a hand, stopping him there. "Don't even remind me of middle school. It was a nightmare." I turned to Zane and looked at him through narrow eyes. "It would have been nice to have a few friends in my years." I shrugged, standing. "I would love to stay and chat more but the ocean calls."
I scrunched up my nose before tilting my head as my gaze settled on the board I had sold Kai earlier that day and another I recognized. "Feel free to join." My gaze caught Julien's. "Wanna show them how to do it, Julie?"
I sat perched on my board, legs dangling into the water. Behind us the waves crashed and roared, foaming up. My hair was slicked back and sticky with the salt water. Zane was off to my left, Kai on his far side. The poor sap had been trying his best to show off, to no avail. Multiple times he had faceplanted into the choppy surf or just even slipped off the board from his attempt to stand. The rest of the crew sat close to the ocean, calling and cheering us on whenever we paddled to catch something. The ocean had fallen still for a time, nothing rising on the horizon for us to ride. In the meantime, I swished my legs about, stirring up the chilly sea water. "Why didn't you ever say anything when you left? Like everyone expected to at least hear something. A call, a letter. Gosh, Julien. A smoke signal would have been an improvement from what you and your folks pulled." I felt my face burn a bit from anger.
"I did not have a choice." He muttered, not turning to meet my gaze. "I am very sorry it all happened the way it did."
"You did have a choice. You could have called any time, yet you have the audacity to just show up again one day unannounced? And just pop into my dad's shop like you didn't know it was ours?"
Julien sighed and he turned to give me an apologetic look, soggy blond hair falling in his face. "I am sorry. Truly."
I bit my lip to pull back a snarky remark before turning back towards the shore and paddling like no tomorrow. The wave rose up underneath me and I shredded it like no one was watching.