Chasing Aloha

by Nikki Godwin

  It makes me sad that I let her down. She was tied up in the middle of that whole administrative leave ordeal at Drenaline Surf until they could figure out who the true culprit was. I’m certain Vin let her have her job back, but I wish I could apologize to not only her but her boyfriend too. Miles deserves an apology. He was always the innocent bystander who got sucked into Topher’s games and apparently mine as well.

  “You okay?” Leilani asks, bringing me back to Hawaii and out of California. “You seem like you’re a million miles away.”

  “Not a million,” I say, reaching down for a tiny piece of plastic. It’s amazing how easily I can spot these now. “Just California. Thinking of all the people there who hate me now.”

  “Don’t do that,” she says, bending down to pick up a bottle cap. “In time, things will change, even for them. They’re still reeling from the whole thing. Eventually, they’ll learn to forgive too. Even Colby Taylor.”

  We stroll along, talking about her plans for college and how she’s only going to please her parents because she actually wants to work at Surf-N-Swells with her brother. As we clean up, a group of kids with surfboards walk by and one in particular waves at me. It’s Tao, his dark hair standing out among the blonde kids he’s walking with. He holds up his board, a proud smile on his face. There’s a Hurley sticker and a bright green Surf-N-Swells logo with an orange hibiscus flower sticker.

  “That’s the kid I helped find a board for the other day,” I tell Leilani. “I was nervous about helping him at first, in case he knew who I was, but he didn’t react, so maybe he’s too young to know. He knew about John John Florence, though.”

  She laughs. “I dare you to find a Hawaiian child who doesn’t know who John John Florence is,” she says. “He’s a legend now. Two-time world champion? He’s a superstar of the sport.”

  He was also Topher’s favorite surfer. He always wanted to be better than his idol, to get on tour and compete against the best of the best. Even with all that’s happened, I hope he does. I hope he wins a world title, and I hope it happens at Pipeline so I can hide out in the crowd and watch it happen in person. I can already see Miles chairing him up the beach, American flags flying all around them.

  Someone shouts in the distance, and Leilani and I both spin around to see what’s going on. There’s a commotion in the water. And then I see it spike up above the waves. A lone board with a Hurley sticker, an orange hibiscus flower, and the words Surf-N-Swells in bright green.

  “Tao!” I shout, ripping the gloves from my hands and running toward the water.

  The ocean engulfs me instantly, my shirt clinging to my body like an extra layer of skin. I hear nothing as the water rushes into my ears. I blink a few times before duck diving under a wave and propelling myself forward with Spartan warrior strength. I pop up long enough to look around and grab another gulp of oxygen. The board rocks around in the water.

  I duck back under, scanning the water for Tao. A panic settles into my chest, reminding me of the night Topher wiped out and went under. I froze that night, scared out of my mind that I’d never find him in the dark waters. But Haley was there that night. She was able to channel the calmness before a storm and find him.

  Right now, I don’t have Haley, but it’s daylight, and I do have Vin’s nickname for her – sunshine. I focus and swim ahead, letting my eyes absorb the glittery particles of water as the sun beams down, casting a spotlight under the sea. I spot his surf leash and paddle toward him.

  I latch my arm around the kid’s waist and pull him to the surface. He chokes out, spitting water, and gasps for air. I don’t have time to say anything to him because a flock of surfers have surrounded us, helping pull him above the water and onto someone else’s board. I try to catch my own breath as they carry him into shore.

  “Are you okay?” a voice asks, but I don’t turn around because I know my sense of sound is off right now. The water makes my ears ring.

  “Kale!” the voice shouts. “Man, are you okay?”

  A hand lands on my shoulder and I glance back. It’s my cousin. Makana. The same one who looked away the other night and pretended not to know me. Now he’s inches away, staring back at me with the same dark eyes we inherited from our fathers.

  “I’m fine,” I say, looking toward the sand.

  “Paddle in with me,” he says. “You probably need to go to the hospital too. Just to make sure you’re good. I’ll drive you.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” I tell him. “I’m okay. I just want to make sure the kid is. I mean, he’s the one we all ran into the water for anyway.”

  Makana inhales. “Kale, I didn’t run in for the kid. I ran in for you,” he says. “I thought you were on a suicide mission. You remember when we were kids and we used to watch Lilo and Stitch and boycott other Disney movies because this was the Hawaiian one and it was made for us? Ohana means family, dude.”

  The sun streaks across the ocean, as if symbolically bringing me from the dark side back into the light.

  “And family means no one gets left behind,” I say. “You want to drive me to the hospital to check on Tao?”

  Chapter Fourteen – Leilani

  After an hour in the waiting room, Makana and Kale both jump up at the sight of Tao. His hair is drenched, but the kid is smiling as if the Pacific Ocean didn’t just try to rip his life away from him. He walks over to us with his parents, who apprehensively thank Kale and then Makana for helping out today. Tao asks if he can talk to Kale for a moment, so Makana excuses himself to talk to some of the other surfers and lifeguards who are hanging around. I start to walk away with them, but Kale latches onto my hand.

  “How are you feeling?” he asks Tao.

  The kid shrugs. “Like I just drank too much water,” he says. “But the doctor said I’d blow it all out eventually over the next few hours. Kind of gross, but I guess it makes me a real surfer now, right?”

  I laugh and nod my head. “The first time I wiped out, I had no idea what to expect after my brother helped me back to shore,” I say. “You’re already a step ahead of where I was. You’re prepared for the grossness.”

  “I lost my board,” Tao says, hanging his head. “I really liked that board too.”

  “You know what?” Kale says, pulling away from me and kneeling down to look at Tao. “I have some old boards that are too short for me now, and they’re just sitting around at Nanna’s house, so maybe, if you want, you could come by and get them. You know, practice boards until you’re ready to buy another one.”

  Tao looks up, his eyes as bright as a hibiscus flower. “Seriously? You’d do that?” he asks, his voice soaked in excitement. “Dude, you’re the coolest person ever. I knew the forums were wrong about you.”

  “Whoa,” I say before I can even stop myself. “You knew who he was this whole time?”

  Tao nods, like it’s absolutely no big deal that Kale’s the most trashed surfer on the gossip sites and surf forums these days. “I mean, yeah, it’s Colby Taylor, you know? He’s actually my favorite surfer, but I said John John because I didn’t want to offend you or anything.”

  Kale laughs. “None taken, kid. Colby’s one of the best in the business.”

  “I won’t lie. I was nervous when I met you,” Tao says. “But when you first came back, these guys were talking about you on the beach, and that guy over there, the one who was sitting with you, he was there. He’d been playing volleyball with them.”

  I glance back over at Makana. He’s always been friends with Keiko, but I haven’t hung out with him much. I always knew he was Kale’s cousin, but he’s a little older than me, so we never ran in the same social circles.

  “He’s pretty cool, though,” Tao says of Makana. “I’ve seen him surf a lot. He lives down the street from me. He told those guys that people screw up, and… how did he say it… we aren’t our mistakes? I don’t know. It sounded like he knew what he was talking about, though, and I figured if he’s cool with you, you couldn’t be all that bad. He
was right.”

  After Kale writes down his Nanna’s address for Tao, the kid disappears with his parents with the promise from Kale that he’ll share some surf sessions with him. I don’t know who will benefit more from them, though.

  Epilogue – Kale

  The house is quiet when I wake up the next morning. I gather the quiver of old boards from the garage and clean them up before the sun ever rises. Keiko waves at me as he strolls in from his morning surf, which is a first considering how many times I’ve seen him around and he’s pretended I don’t exist. Maybe his sister has finally rubbed off on him.

  I grab a bar of wax and take the boards into the kitchen so I can wax them before Tao comes by to get them. Kapuna sits at the table with a bagel and cup of coffee. An extra mug sits across from him.

  “You’re up early,” he says to me. “Are these the boards you’re giving Tao?”

  I nod and sit across from him but don’t reach for the coffee. “Kapuna, I need to tell you something,” I say, uneasy about hurting his feelings. “I hate coffee.”

  But he laughs. “Took you long enough to say it,” he says, shaking his head and smiling. “I knew you hated it, but I told your Nanna you’d drink it anyway because if Kapuna gives you coffee, you drink coffee.”

  His laughter still rattles me. I stare at him, as if he’s manic. “I was being polite,” I say. “You’re right. If Kapuna gives you coffee, you drink it. You’d done so much for me. Risked so much. It was the right thing to do.”

  He studies me. “And now?” he asks. “What made you decide that now was the time to tell me you don’t like coffee?”

  “Because…that’s not who I am?” I stammer over my words.

  “Exactly,” he says. “You’re taking your life back. It only took you a few weeks, but look at you. You’ve been working to pay off your debt. You have a job. You helped save someone’s life. Not to mention that pretty girl next door, right? You’re showing the world who you really are, and I’m proud of you.”

  I smile. “Even if I hate coffee?”

  “You want to know a secret?” he asks. He leans across the table and whispers. “I’m not a fan of coffee myself, but it’d break your Nanna’s heart if I ever told her. You know, it’s just… this is the right thing to do.”

  With that, he picks up his coffee cup and sips, and for the first time in years, I feel like I’m finally home.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my sister, Emily, who helped me discover Tao when I was stuck on my plot. Thank you to the Drenaline Surf family just for being you. Thank you to the surfers who are legends in their own rights. Thank you to John John Florence and Gabriel Medina for making the surf world more exciting than ever before, even though I always have been and always will be #VaiMedina forever.

  About The Author

  Nikki Godwin is a Young Adult author. Her books are usually about surfers, musicians, or M/M romances. She can't live without Mountain Dew, black eyeliner, and music by Hawthorne Heights. When not writing, she internet-stalks her favorite bands and keeps tabs on surf competitions. Her favorite surfer is Gabriel Medina. If you ever get her started on surfing or music, she'll never shut up. You've been warned.

  Drenaline Surf Series:

  Chasing Forever Down (Drenaline Surf, #1)

  Rough Waters (Drenaline Surf, #2)

  Always Summer (Drenaline Surf, #3)

  With You Around (Drenaline Surf, #4)

  Drenaline Surf novellas:

  Chasing Swells (#1)

  Chasing Aloha (#2)

  For more books and information, visit www.nikkigodwin.net