Cassie tried to deny it. “No, I think I’m just stressed out.”
“Haven’t you ever liked someone before, like, really liked someone?”
Cassie gazed blankly at Tori.
“Oh. My. God,” was all Tori said.
Cassie sat up and looked around the beach. She spotted Micah across the sand, talking to Danica. Danica seemed pretty upset, probably due to the whole shark incident in the water. It looked like Micah was maybe trying to comfort her. He had his hand on her arm. She had her head on his shoulder. Oh. Now they were hugging.
Tori had seen it, too. “Oh, yeah, and then there’s that,” she said in a low voice.
“I didn’t know they were so . . . what’s the word . . . familiar,” Cassie said slowly. She was feeling a new weird thing now, a shivery falling feeling, like her guts were about to spill out all over the sand. She looked away.
“Well, sure,” Tori said quietly. “Of course they’re familiar.”
“What do you mean?”
“They were together last summer,” Tori explained gently. “When they were both campers here.”
“No,” Cassie said.
“Yes,” Tori said.
Cassie hung her head. It didn’t make sense why something like that—something in the past—would matter so much to her, but it mattered, it did.
“Don’t be so upset,” Tori said. “It’s obviously over. Look how he’s standing, keeping some distance from her? He’s so over her, obvs. Nothing to worry about, see?”
“Okay,” Cassie said, trying to see this, though she couldn’t see it at all. “And I’m not upset.”
“Whatevs,” Tori said with a wink, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
“I’m not,” Cassie insisted.
A shrill whistle sounded out from the direction of the pool. Seeing a quite possibly angry swimming counselor waving at her to bring over the stopwatch, Cassie shot up. “Whoops, gotta go,” she said. And she bounded off, relieved to have somewhere to be, something to do, other than sit on the sand and wonder what was up with Danica and Micah.
I don’t care, Cassie told herself. Still, as she hustled back to the pool, she knew it would take a lot of convincing.
Five
On Friday, the surfing C.I.T.s were giving beginning surfing lessons to the younger campers. Micah remembered being a beginner well. When his family had moved from St. Louis, he’d figured surfing would be a lot like skateboarding: Just remove the wheels and substitute water for pavement beneath your feet. But there was more to it than that, and his first wipeout proved that. When he’d been learning to surf, he didn’t take lessons. There was no counselor-in-training—no anyone—to teach him what to do. He’d had to figure it out for himself. And now here he was teaching kids.
“But I can’t stand up!” Abby, one of the campers in Micah’s group, was complaining. She was belly down on one of the camp’s white surfboards, her hands gripping the sides so tightly, her knuckles were the same color as the board. She wasn’t even making an attempt to stand up.
The youngest group of kids at Camp Ohana were age nine. Abby wasn’t even one of the youngest: She was eleven. The surf counselors, Zeke and Haydee, had pretty much given up on her and left her in the C.I.T.s’ hands. Which meant that Micah and Danica, the other surfing C.I.T., would be the two to help her at least make a passable trip on a surfboard one time before leaving the island for the summer. But Danica wasn’t handling it so well. Poor Abby was miserable. Her face had gone puffy like she’d burst into tears.
“She’ll never get in the water,” Danica said dramatically to Micah. “Never.”
Working with his ex-girlfriend for the summer may not have been what he signed up for, but Micah had a way of putting aside the things he didn’t want to think about. He wasn’t going to make a big issue about it, no matter how awkward it felt, no matter how hurt he’d been when they broke up. He wasn’t going to dwell on the past.
“She’ll get it,” Micah insisted.
“Take her to the sand,” Danica said. “She can practice standing up on the board out there.”
One of the surf counselors, Haydee, overheard this and nodded. “Good idea,” she called over. “Reviewing the basics couldn’t hurt.”
So Micah pushed Abby’s board—with Abby clutching the edges with all her might—to the shore. Once on the sand, she loosened up a bit and no longer seemed about to cry. With the white surfboard face up on the sand, Micah had Abby practice starting on her belly and jumping up to a squat.
From his spot on the sand, he could see Danica and the counselors continuing with the surf lessons. Some of the beginners were making real progress. He saw a nine-year-old from New Jersey take a wave and ride it halfway down the beach, a little shaky, but still impressive for the first time. He waved at her and she shrieked in excitement.
“You must think I’m such a loser,” Abby said to Micah. She was flat on her stomach and had stopped even trying to practice the squats.
He crouched down to talk to her. “I don’t, not at all,” he insisted. “It just takes some getting used to, being out on the water.”
“But you—I bet it came easy for you.”
“You want to know what happened my first time out? I fell flat on my back and my board landed on top of me, like this . . .” He mimed the disaster, probably looking like a downed crab. “It’s a miracle I didn’t drown.”
“No!” Abby said, cracking up. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“Oh, I’m serious,” Micah said. “I wouldn’t lie about that.”
When he stood up, brushing sand off his back, he saw Cassie looking his way. Their eyes met and then—as if she’d touched poison ivy—her gaze slapped back in the total opposite direction.
“You want to try the water again?” he called down to Abby. “Right there at the shore, by the tides?”
“You’ll stay with me?” she prompted. She looked up at him with big brown eyes.
“I’ll stay with you,” he assured her, “until you catch your first wave and start surfing without me.”
“Okay,” she said reluctantly. They carried the board out to the very edge of the ocean. Micah let it float and nodded to let her know she should take her place on it. She did, gripping it tightly on the sides. But that’s all she did. She was frozen again.
Haydee waded up and smiled down at Abby. “How’s it going?” she said.
“I’m getting there,” Abby piped up. “I’ll get up on this thing before the end of the summer, I swear.”
Haydee patted Micah on the shoulder and then caught sight of Cassie in the distance. “Abby, now look over there. Have you met Cassie? Do you know she won the under-eighteen North Shore contest her first time out? And I bet her first time surfing was a struggle, too.”
Abby looked out toward Cassie. So, of course, did Micah.
Cassie and her swimming group seemed to be finishing up. Whistles were blown and they headed out of the water. Cassie started wading toward shore. As she did, Haydee waved her over.
“Cassie, this here’s Abby. She’s about to take her first wave today. Any advice?”
Cassie smiled at Abby. “Just have fun,” she said. “I used to forget that when I was surfing, but that’s always the most important thing.”
Micah saw the look in her eyes—a flash of sadness maybe. Then it was gone.
“See?” Haydee said to Abby. “Once you loosen up and have fun, you’ll be thrashing these waves in no time. Plus, you have an awesome teacher.”
“Micah is a good teacher,” Abby said.
“I have an idea,” Haydee said. “Cassie, how’s about you join us? You’re not officially a surfing C.I.T., but you’re always welcome to join our activities, I hope you know that.”
“Oh no, it’s okay,” Cassie said. “Micah and Danica have got it covered.”
“The offer’s open,” Haydee said. Then she caught sight of one of the campers nose-riding a wave without falling off. The boy was balanced
on the front end of the surfboard—the nose—while it rushed forward on the motion of the wave. “Go!” Haydee cried. And she swam back to help the other kids get on the boards.
Micah and Cassie stood there awkwardly, with Abby on the board between them. “I should really go,” Cassie said. “I’m not a surfing C.I.T., so—”
“No one cares about that,” he said.
“No, really, I should go,” she said. She took a few steps toward shore.
“It’s hard to have fun,” Abby said at that moment. “When you’re scared you’re gonna drown, I mean.”
Cassie stopped and turned. “You won’t drown,” she said to Abby. “Especially not with Micah here helping you.”
Abby braved a smile. “Yeah,” she said.
Then Cassie seemed to change her mind. “But I could help, too. If Micah doesn’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” he said. “Abby, we’ll get you up on that board in no time.”
Abby grinned.
“You know what I used to do?” Cassie said. “I’d try to stand with my eyes closed. Just the standing part. It sounds crazy, I know, but that’s when you think you’re gonna fall. Once you’re up on the board it’s like you’re flying.”
“Really?” Abby said. She looked from Cassie to Micah, then back to Cassie again.
“Yeah, really,” Micah said.
It took some convincing, but soon, with her eyes closed and Cassie and Micah each holding one of her hands, she was able to jump up to her knees. They let go and she even rode a wave that way, opening her eyes halfway. “It is like flying!” she cried.
“We’ll get you standing in no time,” Cassie said.
“I don’t know . . .” Abby said.
“Don’t be scared,” Cassie said. “The waves are good today. It’ll be an easy ride.”
Abby was now sitting upright on the board, floating in the water. But sitting was better than lying down—it was a huge improvement and a big start. “What’s the worst thing that ever happened to you?” Abby asked Cassie. “I mean when you were surfing.”
Cassie met Micah’s eyes. He wasn’t sure how much she’d say.
“I had a big scare once,” she said. “It was really nothing.” Here she looked at Micah, as if daring him to fill in the details. He didn’t. “Only, I was scared after. Really scared. Like something awful happened. It’s still freaky to think of going out there.” She stopped talking then, as if she’d confessed too much. She was watching the waves in the distance, the ones too far out for anyone to be riding.
“Really?” Abby said. “You were scared?”
“Anyone can get scared,” Cassie said. “Maybe it would help me out if you showed me how it’s done.” She gave the water a splash and smiled at Abby. “Nothing to it, right?”
Abby laughed, but there was a look of determination on her face, like she wanted to show both Micah and Cassie that she could do this before the day was over.
Abby made more attempts to leap up on the board. She went for a few small waves, didn’t catch any, but she’d certainly loosened up—which could only help. And then there was the moment when Abby found herself on her feet, coasting toward shore. Sure, the water was only knee-deep, the wave she was riding was barely a ripple, but she was doing it. Both Cassie and Micah whooped in encouragement.
“I did it! I did it!” Abby cried. One of her friends approached her on the beach and she hopped off to do a full reenactment of her first big wave.
“Impressive,” Micah said to Cassie, once they were alone. “Too bad you’re not one of the surfing C.I.T.s. You’re good at this.”
“Oh, I didn’t do anything,” Cassie said. “You were the one teaching her all morning. Besides, Danica’s the girls’ surfing C.I.T. No worries.” There was something in her voice that made Micah see she wouldn’t fight for it. There was also something in the way she said Danica, like she had done it only to get his reaction.
They gazed at each other for a long moment. All around, were kids splashing and laughing and completely not paying attention to the fact that the two of them were standing there with nothing to say.
“Anyway,” Micah said, breaking the silence, “you’re good with the kids.”
Cassie opened her mouth, about to say something, when Danica paddled up on a surfboard. She sandwiched the board between Cassie and Micah and stopped.
“What was that about?” Danica said, nodding toward Abby onshore.
“Did you see?” Cassie said with obvious delight on her face. “Did you see her take that wave? It was awesome!”
“I saw,” Danica said. “I saw you teaching the class when you’re not even the C.I.T. here. What, you think me and Micah can’t handle it? You think just because you’re supposedly some big pro you can splash around here, taking over my job?”
“Danica,” Micah said. He couldn’t figure out her problem with Cassie. It was like having another surfer around made her think she had to have a throwdown.
“I was just talking to her,” Cassie mumbled. “No big.”
“No big? No big!” Danica’s green eyes were blazing. Micah had never seen her act this way before. “I know you think you’re the best thing since ever, Cassie, but if I get a shot at that inter-camp surf contest in Oahu, I’m going to show everyone that I can win. What’ll you think about that then, huh?”
“What surf contest in Oahu?” Cassie said.
“The huge, gigantic competition with all the camps all over Hawaii surfing against each other?” Danica said loudly, like Cassie was dumb.
Cassie shrugged. She had no idea there was even a contest in Oahu.
This seemed to enrage Danica even further.
“Danica, chill about the contest,” Micah said. “Haydee said Cassie could help out with the surf lessons if she wanted. And Cassie’s good with kids. We should thank her. Did you see Abby ride that wave?”
“I said I saw,” Danica said.
A sharp scream pierced the area.
All three C.I.T.s turned in alarm to see where it was coming from. On the beach, a girl from Cassie’s swimming class was crying hysterically, holding her foot.
“Oh no,” Cassie said in a low voice.
“Yeah, you’re great with kids, Cassie,” Danica said. “The one who’s screaming isn’t one of my campers—she’s yours.”
But Cassie didn’t hear that last comment because she was running toward the girl. So was Emmy, the lifeguard on duty. Micah started over, but Danica pulled him back.
“You like her, don’t you?” Danica said.
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb. Cassie, who else?”
“What do you care? You broke up with me almost a year ago.”
“About that . . .” Danica started. But before she could finish, Emmy was calling out to everyone on the beach that the girl had only cut her foot on a shell. The horror-movie screaming was over and the girl had graduated to pouting now. Micah could see Cassie helping the girl to her feet, letting her lean on her shoulder.
“I should go help. She’s probably taking the girl to the infirmary,” Micah said.
“Whatever for?” Danica said. “The kid can hop on one foot, can’t she?”
A whistle blew and the surfing activity was over. The C.I.T.s were to gather the kids in the group and herd them back toward the beach, then clean up.
After all the kids were safely out of the water, the two surfing counselors approached Danica and Micah. “We’ve got some news,” Haydee said.
Zeke cleared his throat like he was about to speak. He was usually the quiet one of the pair, but he seemed almost animated at this piece of news. “This’ll get you stoked,” he said. “Ohana’s having the surfing expo early this year.”
Micah recalled the expo from last year and how all the C.I.T.s and counselors practiced their surf skills like mad, hoping to impress the judges. Everyone said the contest was rigged—the guy who won the top surf prize was the guy who had always won the top surf prize. But he wasn’t here anymore
—he was too old to be a C.I.T., and he hadn’t come back to be a counselor. That meant the top prize was wide open. Micah had to go for it this summer.
“How early?” Danica was saying. “I don’t get much practice in at home in Florida during the year—the summertime, when I’m here at camp, that’s my only real time to surf. You guys know I need time to practice before the big contest. This is my first shot to win it.” She was acting like the whole thing was a setup only for her.
“Well, it’s been moved up,” Haydee said. “We’ve got some pro surfers coming to judge both the boys’ and girls’ contests and their schedules made it so they couldn’t come at the end of the summer . . . You won’t believe what the prize is.”
“We’re stoked,” Zeke said. “But we’re not telling.”
“So when is it?” Danica repeated.
“Next weekend,” Haydee said. “On Visiting Day.”
Danica let out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes.
“What, you’re not stoked?” Zeke said.
“Dude, why does everything have to make me stoked?” Danica snapped.
“Are you stoked?” Zeke said, an eyebrow raised at Micah.
“Yeah,” Micah said. “I’m up for it.”
Zeke nodded, apparently satisfied at his stokedness. “Just wait’ll you kids see the prizes, you’ll be—”
“Stoked. I get it, Zeke,” Danica said.
Zeke shrugged. “Just sayin’,” he said.
Micah had never heard Zeke say so much in one sitting.
“Danica,” Haydee said, “what’s up with you? This is a great opportunity. The prize is killer. You’ve had this attitude all week—this is not the Danica I know.”
Danica’s face softened a moment. She met Micah’s eyes. “I am stoked,” she said quietly. “I just want that first prize. I want it more than anything, you have no idea.”
“That’s the Danica I remember,” Haydee said. “Because if this attitude is some problem with the two of you working together, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care if you’re broken up or not. None of that matters out in the water.”
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