Sunrise

by Melissa J Morgan

  Even after Cassie stopped surfing, she still found herself getting up around the same time. She didn’t even need an alarm clock; her body was just used to it.

  After her first night sleeping in the C.I.T. bunk with the other girls, Cassie opened her eyes at the crack of early as usual. Within minutes, she’d slipped out of the bunk and was on the sand, hand over her eyes, bathing suit on, looking out at the water. The sun was a brilliant orange, just beginning to rise. The swells were a good height. It was a perfect day for surfing. Not that Cassie was going to take advantage of it this morning.

  She’d brought a board to Ohana, of course—how suspect would it have looked if she hadn’t? But so far her new yellow board had stood there, poking out of the sand, untouched. Cassie left it where it was and started for the water. She’d swim, she figured. That’s what I’m here to do this summer . . . swim, she thought. No problem, right?

  But before she got even two feet in the wet sand, a voice was calling after her.

  “Cassie, you forgot this!” She saw Andi running up, carrying both her own wakeboard and Cassie’s yellow surfboard up over her head. Andi reached Cassie’s spot in the sand and bent over, breathless. “Hey,” she said. “Good idea to get up before everyone else. You don’t mind if I join you, do you?”

  “No, totally not,” Cassie said.

  “You weren’t going to surf on the camp boards, were you?” Andi said, wrinkling her nose. “They’re so gross.”

  “Nah,” Cassie said. “I just forgot my board, I guess.” She took it in her arms—it was so much heavier than she remembered.

  Andi waded in the water, and Cassie followed, up to her waist. “So,” Andi said.

  “So . . .” Cassie responded. She did not want to have this conversation. Last night she’d said enough about what happened to last the whole summer. And, besides, sharks were one topic of conversation that was best avoided while out in the water.

  But Andi had something else on her mind. “So spill: How was it with Charlie? Is he a good kisser or so-so or what?” Seeing the look on Cassie’s face, Andi added, “C’mon, you were in that supply closet with him for, like, ever! I want details.”

  Cassie laughed. She couldn’t help but think of Charlie’s confession in the closet—how she knew he would have much rather been in there with Andi. “There’s nothing much to tell, really,” Cassie said. Though there is, there is! she thought. But I promised Charlie I wouldn’t.

  “That bad, huh?” Andi said.

  “No!” Cassie didn’t want to say anything bad about Charlie. He was actually pretty sweet and cool. “No, I mean, I didn’t get the chance to find out. He has his eye on someone else. Lucky girl.”

  And that girl happened to be standing next to her in the water. All Cassie had to do was ask, and she could find out for Charlie what Andi thought of him . . .

  But Andi’s attention was suddenly elsewhere.

  “Ohmygodohmylookatthatwave, I’m going for it!” she shrieked, paddling ferociously. She caught the wave on her wakeboard and rode it into the distance. Cassie, for her part, sat straddling her surfboard, watching.

  At least she was out on the water, even if she was just sitting there. In just a few hours she’d be assisting the swimming counselors with the campers. Hopefully all swimming instruction would take place in the pool at first. And no surfboards would be involved. But with Andi here, she didn’t want to show what she’d been hiding last night. She’d ride a few waves, no biggie. Then she’d go on in, shower, get changed, and start her first day at Ohana.

  Besides, Camp Ohana was on a part of the Kona beach not known for surfing. The waves here were small, for beginners. She was up for small now, so in a way it was perfect.

  Even so, she let a good wave pass her by. Then another. She just sat astride her surfboard, watching them go.

  Then she saw a really good one. She saw Andi catch it for a short time, then go under. Now it was headed Cassie’s way, there for the taking. She began to run on instinct. Without thinking she was paddling for it, gaining speed, just at the point when she should jump up and ride it to wherever it took her . . .

  But she didn’t jump up. She hesitated, and the wave rose over her and was gone.

  Andi was nearby, turned in the other direction. Cassie sure hoped no one saw her bail like that.

  Then she spotted a figure in the distance, another surfer she hadn’t noticed before. The figure started paddling closer. It was Micah.

  Of course. Why does he catch me in all these embarrassing situations? she thought. So not fair.

  And of course her heart was beating-beating-beating as he approached. She tried to calm it, not sure why this kept happening whenever he was even remotely nearby.

  “Hey,” he said. He came up beside her and took a seat on his blue board.

  “Hey,” she choked out. He made her feel so not-herself, so strange. She looked out at the sky instead of at him. But the sun was coming up bright and hot and she couldn’t look straight at it or else she’d go blind. So she had to look at him. She just had to. That’s what she told herself, anyway.

  “Have fun last night?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she said. She could have probably continued this conversation all in monosyllables without even trying.

  “You seem pretty popular already,” he said.

  “What?” If he meant everyone attacking her for quitting the surf team, that’s not exactly what she’d call popular.

  “I meant with Charlie and Ben,” he said. Then he caught the look on her face. “That was a stupid thing to say,” he added.

  “I don’t like them if that’s what you’re asking. Is that what you’re asking?”

  “No.”

  “Oh, okay. Never mind then.”

  The lapping of the water was all that could be heard. For one tiny second, Cassie wanted the ocean to swallow her.

  “Actually, yeah,” Micah said, “I guess I was just going to warn you about Ben. If you had a thing for him, I mean.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Then I guess I don’t need to warn you . . . Not that you seem like someone who couldn’t take care of herself.”

  “Thanks,” she said quietly.

  She stretched out on her stomach so she could dip her arms in the water. It was strange to just dangle there in the ocean, after what had happened. But she kept still. She willed herself not to start seeing shadows in the blue-green abyss below, not to freak out. See? She was perfectly fine out here. No worries. None at all.

  “So Ben’s a player, huh?” she said a little too loudly, trying to keep her mind off all the water below and around her in every possible direction, everywhere.

  “You didn’t hear it from me,” Micah said.

  She put her cheek to the board and turned to look at him and not down into the water. He was on his stomach now, too, stretched out on his board. She met his eyes and held them. They were deep brown, so deep she couldn’t pull away even if she tried.

  Cassie wanted to ask him if he was a player. Someone as cute as he was . . . he had to be, right? But she couldn’t ask that. She didn’t know why she cared anyway. It’s not like she liked him—she wasn’t the kind of girl to fall for a boy so fast. It had never happened before and it probably never would.

  Weird, though, that she couldn’t keep her heart in check when she looked at him.

  Just then, a good wave came down the pipeline, straight for them. Micah motioned toward it and kept back, as if to say, It’s all yours.

  But she shook her head, and put a hand to her rib cage as if she had a swimming cramp. “Go for it,” she called to him over the rush. And he did. And while he was up on it—he had good form, riding it hard—she took the opportunity to paddle out of the deep water, back to shore.

  That first week, as a swimming C.I.T., Cassie was helping the counselors with the campers’ swimming qualifications. There were two swimming counselors—Alexis, with close-cropped hair that was dyed pale blond, and who was so good of a sw
immer that word was she’d almost gone to the Olympics, and Lucas, a dead ringer for Adam Brody, who was coaching the campers to leap off the diving board into the huge Camp Ohana pool.

  Cassie’s fellow swimming C.I.T., Neil, wasn’t much of a talker. This Thursday, all he’d said so far to Cassie was the usual aloha. She could see him across the gigantic pool, in the shallow end, showing the butterfly stroke to some beginning swimmers. Cassie was working with the sprinters in the deep end.

  Cassie used to hate pools—she didn’t understand the concept of them when the ocean was right there, filled with all the water you’d ever need. But this week she’d been perfectly content to spend time in the pool, rather than out in the endless ocean just steps away. There was something about the pool’s contained rectangular shape, its blue-painted walls, the fact that it had walls . . . that just made her want to stay afloat inside.

  Of course, the swimming counselors had other things in mind. “Hey, Cassie,” Lucas called, “we need one more stopwatch so we can time the laps for the swimming qualifications—could you ask Haydee, the surf counselor, if she has an extra?”

  Cassie turned toward the ocean, searching for Haydee. The surfing counselor’s distinctive pink-streaked ponytail could be spotted at once, far away from shore, bobbing up and down in the waves. She was out in the deep waters, sitting astride her surfboard with some campers from the surfing class gathered around.

  Seeing how far out they were, Cassie mumbled, “Can’t, uh, Neil go ask?”

  Lucas gave her an odd look. “Just swim out there, okay? No rush, just see if she has an extra.”

  “Sure,” Cassie said. What else could she tell the counselor? Hi, I know I’m supposed to, like, know all about swimming and stuff, but I’m scared of the ocean, so could I hang out in the chlorine instead?

  And it wasn’t even as if she was scared of the ocean. More like if she could avoid it, she would.

  So she did it quick. She ran across the beach and waded into the waves. As she did she caught sight of a group of boys nearby—aged ten or eleven. They were huddled together on their boards, splashing, laughing. Danica, their surfing C.I.T., was there, too, coasting on her surfboard. Cassie wasn’t being paranoid . . . but it did sort of appear that they were looking in her direction.

  “Shark!”

  Cassie froze. Did they say that for real or was she hearing things?

  “Help! Shark!” She was sure she heard it that time. When they saw her looking, they burst into laughter, giving them away. Danica covered her mouth to keep from laughing. She looked straight at Cassie, as if this was a joke all on her.

  The boys were just kids. Cassie didn’t know whether to blame them or Danica.

  “Just kidding,” one of the boys yelled to Cassie. But they were still cracking up.

  “Not funny,” she called back.

  “Oh, don’t take it so hard,” Danica called. “It was just a joke.” She paddled over to Cassie. “Can’t you take a joke?” Danica said.

  Cassie was determined not to show what she was really feeling. She forced herself to act blasé. “People shouldn’t really yell shark in the ocean,” she said, trying to sound matter-of-fact. “It’s like basic surfing ethics.”

  “And you would know all about that, I suppose,” Danica said. “Seeing as you’re a pro and I’m not.”

  Cassie fumbled for a response. Danica had a way of catching her off-guard, making her even more unsure of herself than she already was.

  Haydee paddled up on her surfboard at that moment. “Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with that, Danica.” Nearby, the boys were being whisked out of the water—it looked like they were being punished.

  Cassie felt numb. And stupid, really stupid. There was also this big part of her that wanted to just get out of the water, and fast.

  “Did you?” Haydee said to Danica.

  Danica took a moment—Cassie wondered if she’d lie—then said, “It was a joke.”

  “You should know better,” Haydee said coldly. She did not look happy.

  “Um, Haydee?” Cassie interrupted.

  Danica’s eyes held Cassie’s, a questioning look on her face. She thinks I’m going to defend her, Cassie realized.

  But what Cassie said was, “Haydee, you don’t have an extra stopwatch so we can time the swimmers, do you? Lucas asked me to ask you.”

  “Sure, take mine,” Haydee said, giving Cassie the waterproof watch hanging from around her own neck.

  Cassie could just feel Danica staring daggers at her as she waded to the shore.

  She didn’t have to swim far out into the ocean, but still, Cassie decided to take this opportunity for a short break. Lucas did say it wasn’t a rush. She could see Tori on the sand, lounging on a beach towel. As a camper, Tori had a ton of activities to go to that Cassie wasn’t a part of, so they didn’t get to see as much of each other as they’d hoped—but this afternoon happened to be Tori’s swim activity. In fact, she was supposed to be in the pool getting ready for the swim qualifications at that very moment. Instead, she was lying on her back, ELLEgirl magazine forming a tent of shade over her face.

  Cassie ran up and kicked her leg to wake her. “Tor, do you want to do the swim test now? I’ll time you.”

  From under ELLEgirl came a groan. Then a mumbled response: “I’m reading.”

  “Where are the rest of the pinaos?” Cassie asked about her bunkmates.

  Tori lifted an arm and lazily pointed toward the pool. “I told them I’d meet up later. I’ll take the swim test when they make me. You’re not coming over here to make me, are you?”

  “No, but I should,” Cassie said. Then, to show just how serious she was, she sprawled out on the sand beside her cousin, resting her head on the corner of the towel beside Tori’s. “You do know how to swim, don’t you?” she teased.

  “Of course,” Tori said.

  “Then what’s the deal? You get in the pool. You kick and paddle, kick and paddle. You reach the end, I tell you your time. That’s it.”

  Tori wasn’t paying attention. A boy from her division was coming out of the ocean, his hair wet and dripping down his face, his eyes on Tori. “Hey, Tor,” he said as he passed her towel, still dripping.

  “Hey, Eddie,” she said.

  A look was shared between them and then the whole interaction was over.

  Tori relaxed again on the towel, a blissful smile on her face.

  “Who was that?” Cassie said.

  “My boyfriend twenty-four hours into the future,” Tori said, smile widening.

  “What?”

  “That’s Ed, from California. I call him Eddie. In one day, two at most, he’ll be my boyfriend,” Tori said, like she could predict the future.

  “Who are you?” Cassie cried. “Where do you get that confidence? Is it from this?” Cassie shook the ELLEgirl, like some kind of magical romantic wisdom would fall out on the sand. Instead, a subscription card dropped out.

  Tori patted the sand for her Dior sunglasses, then set them on her nose. “I dunno. I know he likes me, and I like him, so what’s the drama? We’ll see what happens.”

  Cassie shook her head. “If dealing with guys was that easy, I’d have had a boyfriend by now.” Then she stood up and tried to pull Tori to her feet. She was sure that the swim counselors were most definitely noticing how long she was taking to get the stopwatch.

  But Tori wouldn’t budge. “I’m not up for a swim right now, k?”

  Cassie put a serious look on her face. “These aren’t sympathy pains, are they?”

  Tori met her eyes for a long moment before bursting out laughing. “What, like, we’re so totally connected, so if you avoid the ocean I do, too?”

  Cassie nodded.

  “No, I’m not afraid of the water, Cass,” Tori said with all seriousness. “I just don’t feel like being all sporty today. I want to chillax on the sand with my sun and my fashion mag. And here I thought being related to the swim C.I.T. would get me out of these lame tests. Not ha
ppening, huh?”

  “Not forever,” Cassie said. “You know, it’s a wonder we get along at all. You hate sports; I love sports. You love fashion; I wouldn’t know a Mike Jacobs original if it fell out of the sky and landed on my head. How are we even related?”

  “Marc Jacobs,” Tori said from behind her glasses. “And you like Marc Jacobs—remember that shirt I let you borrow the other night? That was a Marc Jacobs.”

  Cassie didn’t answer. Now she was a little distracted.

  “Remember?” Tori said. “Cass, what’re you looking at?”

  Cassie, had she the words to tell her cousin, would have explained what, or rather who, she had her eyes on. But there were no words. She’d forgotten the concept of words.

  Micah had walked up and was now standing beside her. She couldn’t seem to remember having such a thing as a tongue.

  Micah spoke for her. “I said hey,” he said. “And hey there, Tori, how’s it going?”

  Tori sat up. Cassie could see her taking in the whole deal: Micah being friendly, Cassie turning to stone. Then he was gone, with a wave. And Cassie could breathe again.

  “What just happened?” Tori said. She pulled Cassie back down to the sand with her. “Did you have a mini-stroke or something?” She felt Cassie’s forehead and cheeks. “Do you have malaria?”

  Finally Cassie found a word. “No,” she said. “I was trying to figure out what to say to him and I couldn’t think of anything and I just clammed up, I guess.”

  “You guess? You guess!” Tori shook her head. “Wow, Cass, I had no idea you were so completely socially inept with boys. This is, like, way more serious than I ever realized.”

  Cassie let out an incoherent shriek and put her head in her hands. “It’s not that bad,” she mumbled. “I just feel so funny when I see him. Like I can’t catch my breath or something—it’s so weird.”

  “Cass, that’s what happens,” Tori said gently, “when you like someone.”