by Nella Tyler
I took her in slowly from head to toe with my eyes. By the time I made it back up to her face, she at least looked slightly nervous. I thought about going street crazy on her for a fraction of a second, but I wanted to walk out of here with at least a shred of my dignity intact. “You can tell Drake whatever you like. It doesn’t matter because I’m not going to hang around and be the reason he doesn’t succeed. At least, when I lay my head down in my cave at night, I can do it knowing that I did what was best for someone I care about. I’m not sure what you bitches use when you lay down on your designer sheets and I have to say, I don’t give a fuck.” I stepped towards the sink and they both took a giant step back like they thought I was coming at them with a knife. I just wanted to wash my hands. I didn’t want to give them another reason to call me nasty.
Chapter Sixteen
DRAKE
My father went on for half an hour about what I would do after the Laguna competition. I realized when he finally left the table that Summer had never come back. She was probably with my sister. God, I hoped Chrissy and the rest of the snobs at that table behaved themselves.
“Have you seen Summer?” I asked Chrissy when I got to her table. My mother was sitting and talking to Chrissy and Searcy.
“Not recently,” Chrissy said.
“Surely, she’s here somewhere. She wouldn’t just leave, would she?” Mother asked.
I looked back at Chrissy. Something in her face told me she knew more than she was letting on. “Not unless someone said something to make her feel like she didn’t belong here. You don’t know anything about that, do you, Sis?”
“Me? No, of course not. Why would you think that?”
Mother turned those piercing blue eyes on me and said, “Yes, Drake, why would you think that? Was there something in particular you were worried about someone using against her?” I’m sure if Sabrina told Chrissy about Summer, Chrissy had already filled Mother in.
“There is nothing she has to be ashamed of, Mom. Chrissy was asking her a lot of questions earlier, and she was pretty uncomfortable.” I gave my sister a look and she tried to give me an innocent one in return, but there was something there and I was suddenly worried. I kept my eyes on Chrissy as I said, “I just want to make sure that she’s okay.”
“I was simply asking her about herself. Why would that make her uncomfortable?” Chrissy asked with an eye roll. “Maybe she does have something to hide.”
I glared at my sister. It was obvious to me now that someone told her about Summer. She was taunting me. “No, she doesn’t. Excuse me.” I felt their eyes on my back as I made my way over to where Lance was sitting. I hadn’t spoken to him tonight, but it seemed like he’d done a lot of talking about me and Summer.
“Lance! I need to talk to you.”
“Sure, dude! Have a seat.” He sounded like he’d had one too many drinks already. He’s kind of an ass when he’s drunk.
“Alone.”
He reached up and touched the side of his still bruised mouth. “I don’t think so.”
I tried reasoning first, “Come on, Lance. This is me. We’ve been friends forever. I need you, man.”
“For what, Spence? Did you need me to go looking for the street urchin? She could be in any dumpster by now.” I reached down for him, and he pushed his chair back and stood up. The only thing that kept me from once again knocking him on his ass was my father’s face looking at me from just slightly behind him.
“What’s this about?” Lance startled at the sound of my father’s voice. He turned towards him and at the same time we both said,
“Just a disagreement.” My father somehow had the ability to restore us to the age of twelve on a whim. Lance is as intimidated by the old man as I am.
“Not here,” he had a tone of finality in his voice, asalways. What he says goes. “Where is your girlfriend?”
Confused about why my father was asking about Summer, I hesitated long enough for Lance to snort and say, “Probably in the bat cave by now.” Everyone at the table laughed. My father wasn’t amused. I just turned around and left. I heard my father call my name, but I didn’t stop. I will definitely hear about it sooner rather than later, but just then, I didn’t give a fuck.
The car we had arrived in was still waiting out front. I wasn’t happy to see that, but relieved that I got her the hotel room or I could just imagine her walking all the way back to La Jolla. I had the driver take me back to the Indigo. This was not at all how I imagined this night. I knocked several times on the door of Summer’s room. I couldn’t hear so much as a sound from inside and if she hadn’t been wearing a dress and four inch heels I wouldn’t have put it past her to walk all the way back to La Jolla. As it were, I knew that she was smarter than that.
“Summer, I know you’re in there. I have a key card, but I’d rather you open up for me so I don’t have to use it.”
She pulled open the door. She was dressed back in her shorts and tank top and she had her pretty hair braided to one side. “I’m going home,” she said.
“Okay, I’ll have the car take you. But can we talk first?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. Thank you for everything you did for me today. But I think we proved tonight that I don’t fit into your world, Drake.”
“Fine, then I’ll live in yours. Please don’t walk away from me, Summer.”
She took my hand and led me over to the couch. I took that as a good sign. We sat down and I found out quickly that I was wrong. “Since the day I met you, Drake, I’ve let myself imagine things and want things that I will probably never have. Being homeless isn’t so bad once you accept your lot. But when you start pining for what everyone else has-”
“You can have what everyone else has. I can give it to you,” I interrupted.
She smiled gently at me and continued, “I don’t want you or anyone else to give it to me. When and if I get it, I want it to be on my own merits, so when I have to stand up to bitches like the ones I did tonight, I have a foundation to stand on.”
“What bitches? Who did you have to stand up to? What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter. The point is that they weren’t really saying anything that wasn’t true. I am homeless, I do live in a cave, and I did let you spend way too much money getting me ready for this gala tonight. I got caught up in the fairytale. Now, we both need to get back to reality.”
“I don’t want reality. I want you.”
She stood up. “I’m going home, Drake. Please don’t follow me. I really appreciate everything you’ve done, but I’m going to take it from here. You go win your tournament and your sponsorship and have a great life. You deserve it.”
I had never had to do more than give a girl a smoldering look my entire life to have her eating out of my hand. I never asked one to stay that wanted to leave. I knew I could replace any girl in a heartbeat.
Something about Summer was different from the beginning, however, and I had no idea what it was. What I did know is that if I thought it would do any good, I’d be willing to beg her to stay. Like I said before, she’s not into the drama. When she says something, she means it. Panic was setting in, though, so I said, “Please don’t do this, Summer. We can figure this out if you want to be with me.”
Without so much as batting an eyelash she said, “I don’t. Take care, Drake.” And then I watched her walk out of my life.
*******
Two days before Summer’s big contest was supposed to take place, I was getting ready to paddle out to some killer waves stirring up around Black’s Beach. I had almost made it out when I looked up and saw Lance standing above me holding his board. My first instinct was to kick his ass, but I ignored him instead. I started paddling out as he lay down on his board and followed me. Before we made it to the swells he said, “I’m sorry. I’m an asshole.”
“You’re a fucking cunt.”
He winced. “Okay, I’m a cunt.” He knows how badly I hate that word. It was the only one strong enough to describe h
ow I was feeling, though. It had been five days since Summer walked out of my life and I had only seen her once since. She was surfing in the cove and her little pain in the ass bodyguard was with her. I had tried to talk to her, but she packed up her stuff while her watchdog growled at me and she left. “Man, I was drunk…”
“That’s a shitty excuse for ruining your best friend’s life.”
“I was still pissed off from you slugging me.”
“You had that coming.”
“I was worried you were going to screw up the rest of your life over a hot piece of ass.”
“Fuck you! Summer was…is more than that and I tried to tell you that, but you didn’t want to listen. You told the biggest mouth at that fucking gala everything about her that she didn’t want them to know and they used it to humiliate her. It was like fucking high school all over again. You all make me sick.”
“You’re right. I should never have told Sabrina anything. I know she still has the hots for you. She wasn’t going to just sit back and let you be with a girl who is twenty times hotter than her. In Chrissy’s defense, though, I think she really felt bad…”
“Chrissy? What did Chrissy have to do with any of it?”
“Summer didn’t tell you?”
“No, what did my sister do?”
“It was still really Sabrina. She drug Chrissy into the ladies room to talk about Summer. It turns out that Summer was in there and heard them. I guess she tore Sabrina a new one, but you know her. That bitch is convinced she’s God’s gift to the world. It doesn’t matter what anyone says, she’ll find a way to turn it around. She said Summer came at her like a wildcat. Chrissy says Summer was pretty damned composed, considering. If Chrissy hadn’t been there, I’d be willing to bet the story would have been even crazier.” I turned and started paddling back to the beach. “Where are you going?”
“To fire Sabrina.”
“She has a meeting with Catalyst in three days… Laguna is next week!”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
Chapter Seventeen
SUMMER
“Hey, Summer, you got a package.” Ace was yelling at me from the entrance to our hideaway. He already knew what kind of mood I was in. I wasn’t sure why he wanted to fuck with me. I’ve been up pacing since before sunrise, worried about everything from what I’d look like in my shitty little bikini to a shark attack. Anything and everything that could go wrong and keep me from losing that competition was inside my head. Before I could say anything to Ace, Bennie yelled back,
“Leave her alone, Ace. She’s getting in the mindset for the big win today.” Since I told Bennie I wasn’t seeing Drake any longer, his mood had been almost euphoric.
“Okay, so what should I do with her package?”
“Seriously, Ace, give that shit a rest. It’s not even fucking funny,” I told him.
He stepped inside and held a black neoprene surfing suit up to him. It didn’t reach across his chest and it only came down to his knees. “Okay, but I really don’t think this is for me.”
“Fucking rich bastard.”
Bennie mumbled that, loudly. “Let it go, Bennie.” I tried to keep a straight face as my heart swelled to twice its size. Drake bought me a suit. It had to be from Drake. I didn’t have any other fairy godmothers. I grabbed it from Ace and held it up against myself. I couldn’t contain the smile. I could see Bennie scowling out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t even mentioned to Drake that I was worried about being the only one there without one. He’d just known. As I hugged it to my chest Bennie said,
“I thought you haven’t talked to that rich boy.”
“His name is Drake, don’t call him ‘rich boy,’ and I haven’t talked to him. He was teaching me, he obviously knew I didn’t have a suit. It was a kind thing to do.”
“You’re going to keep it?”
“Do you have any idea how fucking cold that water is?” He didn’t answer me, but I heard him make a choking noise when Ace handed me a small canvas bag and said,
“There’s more.”
I took the bag and started to look through it. Realizing I had an audience, I took it over to the back corner and sat down with it. There was a can of Sex Wax and cloths to wax my board with, a leash that had to be six feet long, a black compression t-shirt, and a pair of board shorts. I couldn’t believe he did all of this and although I knew Bennie was right and I really shouldn’t keep any of it, I was going to keep it all. Suddenly, the anxiety I was filled with over this competition was replaced with a sense of anticipation and something like peace. I felt more confident than I had up to this point. I felt like I could really do this – and then I can change my life.
“If you’re going to make it for check-in, then we should get going.” Bennie was standing over me and the look on his face wanted to suck the happy out of me, but I wasn’t going to let it. I smiled at him, dropped my new things back in the bag, and stood up. He had my board. I picked up the wetsuit and tucked it underneath my arm.
“Good luck, Summer.” Phoebe had come up behind me. She was on her way out to her corner. It was business as usual for the rest of the crew today. I realized then just how ungrateful I’d been lately. I hugged Phoebe and when I pulled back I told her,
“Thank you! If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have even been able to enter this contest.” Phoebe’s take on her corner paid my entry fee. I’d been so caught up in Drake and what I was going to do, I’d forgotten to give credit where it was due.
She pushed me back and with a smile she said, “Stop it and go kick some ass – I expect my money back.”
I giggled, giddy with adrenaline all of a sudden. “I’m ready,” I finally said to Bennie.
It was a good thing that Bennie didn’t talk on our short walk to the part of the beach where the contest was being held. I used the time to get myself more pumped up and by the time we got there, I was almost certain that I would be the one walking away with the ten grand…almost.
The beach was as cluttered as I expected it would be, but the sight of all of those spectators gave me anxiety. There were sponsor tents and kiosks selling everything from sex wax to surf clothes. The air around us smelled like suntan lotion and was laden heavily with both sea spray and excitement. I looked out into the water at the orange and red buoys floating and bobbing up and down. The buoys map out the swells, supposedly. Drake had told me more than once that the buoys lie and that he doesn’t put any stock in what they say, for the most part. He said the best indicator of the force of the waves was how long it took the first one to knock you on your ass.
We made our way to the registration tent and while I stood in line, I took stock of my competition. There were ten of us signed up to compete. A group of really young kids with stickered up boards stood off to the side talking in a language I didn’t really understand, but I could spot the one who would be competing. He was trying to look cool, but the tiny bead of sweat above his lip and the tremor in his hand gave him away. Just behind me in line were two old timers. These were the guys who reminded me of Grandpa, only they had only dreamt of glory and never obtained it. Just in front of me were a couple of teeny-bopper females in colorful bikini tops and board shorts. They giggled a lot and theirs was a language foreign to me, as well. Then there was the one big guy who looked like Drake. He was built like a tank and you could see the aggression in his eyes. He might not be a professional, but he had been surfing most of his life. He was ready to rip and hungry to win. Watching his swagger made the anxiety begin to creep back in and it threatened to smother that newfound courage I had this morning.
It was finally my turn at the registration desk. “Summer French,” I told the girl. She dug through the pile until she found my paperwork, crossed my name off a list, and handed me a big yellow number. This was where Bennie and I parted ways. He gave me a hug before I took my stuff and walked down towards the point. My number was five, which meant I had to stand here and watch four others go before me. The a
nxiety was taking over now and my entire body was shaking. I found a spot in the sun and took out my wax and cloths to begin to wax the board. I swiped at it awkwardly at first, until I finally closed my eyes and pictured Drake’s face as he showed me how to do it. I began to move my hand in slow, rhythmic circles and within minutes, I had gotten into a rhythm and a calmer state of mind. This was my chance and I wasn’t going to blow it. I was going to be someone someday and it started right here and now.
While I waxed the board, the opening ceremonies went on and the sponsors lauded their products. When it was finally time to get started, I put the wax away and carried my board over to where the other contestants sat and watched. The first guy, one of the older ones, almost immediately got sucked into a swirl. There was a bit of panic on the beach until he finally popped up about thirty yards out. He looked more disappointed than hurt or afraid. I felt bad for him. The attendees rushed out to help him and number two got busy getting ready as the first was brought to shore.
Numbers two and three, both younger guys, rode their waves, but their balance was off and neither of them looked totally comfortable with it. The ocean didn’t give number four much to work with, but he did well with what he had. He was the big guy who had worried me so much so I felt a little guilty about being relieved. Unless the other older man, the two teenage beauty queens, and the last two young guys were phenomenal, I still had a chance.
I walked out towards the water dressed in my new wetsuit and with the six foot leash attached to my board. I felt my toes tingle from the cold as I waded out into the water and lay out on my board. The wetsuit was amazing. The rest of my body didn’t feel the cold at all. I heard the whistle and began to paddle out. I closed my eyes once more and listened for the sound of Drake’s voice in my head, telling me to have patience and wait for the wave to come to me. He’d told me more than once that surfing was all about timing. My grandfather used to say the same thing all the time. As I paddled out, I could see a wave building off to my right. I was getting tossed around and pushed backwards by the current. I dug in deeply the way Drake taught me. He told me that I should visualize the ocean as a solid thing and grab ahold of it. Once I had a hold on it, all I had to do was pull myself up and over the top.
