Catching Waves

by Stephanie Peters

  Kai’s hand strayed to his scar when he read that last piece of advice. He wondered if his father had ordered him from the water the day he was cut because he was afraid a shark would smell Kai’s blood. The thought made Kai shiver.

  The next site he pulled up contained first-person accounts of attacks. Kai swallowed hard when he read about surfers who had been bumped off their boards by six-, seven-, and eight-foot sharks. The site had pictures of boards bitten nearly in two; one showed a razor-sharp shark tooth still embedded near the board’s tail fins.

  That site led him to another, written by a surfer named Raymond Phelps. Raymond had been the victim of a shark attack more than fifteen years ago. The site opened with a disturbing photo of the surfer actually being attacked. The photo was grainy, taken by an amateur photographer standing on shore. Even so, it was painfully clear what was happening in it. Raymond’s arms and head were visible above the water — as was the tail of a large shark. The water surrounding the figures was a sickening mixture of white spray and red blood. Amazingly, Raymond had survived the attack, thanks in large part to a woman who had been surfing nearby.

  That’s when Kai saw that there was, in fact, a second surfer in the photo. The image of the attack was so arresting that Kai hadn’t noticed her before. When he did, he sat bolt upright. The female surfer’s right arm was wrapped in a bloody bandage, but that’s not what had startled him. Even though the poor photo quality made it hard to see her face clearly, Kai was positive the surfer was Sunny Pierce.

  12

  Kai searched the article, praying Raymond had named the female surfer at some point. He found what he was looking for at the end. Raymond hadn’t known the woman who had helped him; in fact, it was only when he was recovering in the hospital that he learned she was a talented surfer known only as Sunny. After helping him to shore, she had vanished. Despite many years spent trying to find her, Raymond had never been able to locate her.

  A line at the bottom of the Web page noted that the article had been posted within the past year. It also gave an e-mail address where Raymond could be reached if anyone wanted to comment on his story.

  Kai felt a surge of excitement. With one simple e-mail message, he could reunite Raymond and his rescuer, thus putting an end to Raymond’s fifteen-year search! Not only that, he’d learned that Sunny Pierce and Sunny the shop owner were, in fact, the same person.

  Kai fished around in the desk drawer until he found the scrap of paper with the Seaside Surf Shop’s Web site address. He copied down Raymond’s e-mail address then called up his own e-mail account. He typed Raymond’s address into the recipient box. In the message box he wrote, “Hi, you don’t know me, but I know the woman who rescued you from the shark. To find her, check out this Web site!” He typed in the shop’s address then hit “send” and logged off again.

  And now, he thought gleefully, to tell Dad that Sunny is working a few blocks from where his office is! He shoved his chair back and hurried from the room in search of his father.

  Mr. Ford was stunned when Kai told him of his discovery. He made Kai show him the Web site with Sunny’s picture. He asked Kai repeatedly if he was “absolutely, positively certain” the woman in the picture was the same one who owned the shop.

  “It’s her, Dad,” Kai answered again and again. “See that bandage on her arm? I bet the scar I saw was from that cut. It looks like she got hurt that day.” He grinned broadly. “Man, I can’t wait to talk to her about it! She sure will be surprised when she finds out we know who she is!”

  Kai expected his father to join in his delight. Instead, Mr. Ford was silent. He frowned slightly, as if deep in thought. Then he shook his head.

  “Kai, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea for you to tell Sunny what you found out.”

  Kai’s eyes bugged. “What? Are you kidding me? Of course I’m going to tell her! I’m going to tell everyone I know! I’m going to write about it for the school magazine, too!”

  Mr. Ford caught his son by the arm. “Kai, stop and think for a minute!” He dropped Kai’s arm and started pacing. “Sunny Pierce has kept her past secret for a long time. Don’t you think if she wanted people to know, she’d tell them herself? After all, her background as a world-class surfer would certainly help bring customers into her store.” He puffed air out of his cheeks. “Besides, we don’t know the whole story, do we?”

  “What do you mean?” Kai asked.

  “We don’t know why she stopped surfing, Kai. And frankly, I’m convinced it’s none of our business.”

  “But —”

  “No buts, Kai. Don’t stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

  “What about my article for the magazine?” Kai wanted to know.

  “You can write about shark attacks without mentioning Sunny, can’t you?”

  Kai nodded glumly.

  “Okay, then,” his father said, his voice no longer as stern. “That’s that. I’ll let you get to it.”

  Kai sat back down at the computer and stared at the article on the screen. He was about to close it when his gaze happened upon the e-mail address at the bottom of the page.

  Uh-oh, he thought as he remembered the e-mail he’d sent. I guess telling Raymond where to find Sunny wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  13

  Kai slept poorly that night, plagued by nightmares. In one, Roger was chasing him through the ocean, surfing on the back of an enormous shark that had jaws filled with daggers. “You ruined my day, now I’m going to ruin yours!” the actor yelled as the shark snapped at Kai’s legs. Another dream found him floundering in knee-deep water behind Sunny Pierce, who kept begging him to leave her in peace.

  He awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. The pain had subsided by the time he got to school, luckily. He was walking down the hallway to his locker when he heard someone call his name. He turned to see Vaughn hurrying toward him.

  “Hey, Kai,” the other boy said in a low voice. “Listen, I thought I better warn you about something. You know that surf competition we’re in this weekend? Well, guess who was asked to be one of the judges?”

  Kai gave him a blank stare.

  Vaughn looked around then leaned in closer. “My cousin, that’s who!” he whispered hoarsely. “Seems he ducked into the surf shop when he ran from the beach that day. The owner let him hide in her back room until the crazy fans went away. In exchange for her help, Roger volunteered to be a judge.”

  Kai groaned. “Oh, great. I guess I can kiss any chance of taking home a prize good-bye,” he mumbled.

  Vaughn gave him a long look. “Well, you know you only have yourself to blame.”

  Kai blinked. “What do you mean?”

  “Kai, I like you, but you have a bad habit of invading people’s privacy sometimes. I mean, if you hadn’t been so bent on figuring out who Roger was that day, you wouldn’t be worrying about him now, would you?”

  The bell rang. Vaughn headed off for his first class, leaving Kai to stare after him.

  Two people in the past twenty-four hours had told him he was nosy. The realization that they might be right brought his headache back full force.

  The rest of the week passed in a dull blur for Kai. He sat through classes, did his homework, and worked on his article. He went surfing a few times too, but he didn’t bother to practice his tricks. After what Vaughn had told him about Roger being a judge, he had all but decided to pull out of the competition.

  He checked his e-mail every night too, wondering if the message he’d sent had made it to Raymond. It hadn’t been returned to him as undeliverable, so he guessed that it had. Then Thursday night he got an answer.

  To the person who sent me the surf shop address, thank you! I haven’t reached Sunny yet, unfortunately, but I plan to show up at the competition she’s running. Perhaps I’ll see you there, too.

  Kai closed down his e-mail and put his head on the keyboard. Terrific, he thought.

  On Friday, he delivered his magazine article to Ms.
Kerns. She asked him to stay while she read through it. When she was done, she laid the paper on the desk and fixed him with a thoughtful look.

  “This is quite good, Kai,” she said finally. “Informative and interesting.”

  “Really? Uh, thanks,” Kai said.

  “In fact,” she went on, “I think you would make a fine addition to our magazine staff. I know surfing is very popular with a lot of our students. What would you think about writing a regular column on the local surf scene?”

  Kai looked at her in surprise. “Me? Be a writer?” he said. “I don’t know.” He thought back to the time he had put in researching and writing the article. He realized that even though he had dreaded the assignment at first, once he’d gotten into it, he’d kind of liked doing it. “I guess I could try,” he said slowly.

  Ms. Kerns smiled. “Excellent. As it turns out, I already have your next assignment.” She handed him a piece of paper. Kai nearly choked when he saw he was holding an announcement for the surfing competition.

  “This contest is taking place on the beach tomorrow,” she said. “I’d like you to cover it for our next issue.”

  Kai knew he couldn’t refuse. How could he, when he’d just said he’d do it? Besides, she’d probably want to know why he wouldn’t take the assignment; even though he had his reasons, he didn’t think she’d appreciate them. In fact, she’d probably advise him to deal with the situation head on —grown-ups were like that. So instead, he folded up the paper and stuck it in his backpack.

  “I’ll be there,” he promised.

  14

  The next morning, Kai woke up with a knot in the pit of his stomach. The surf competition was scheduled to take place later in the morning. He spent the time before it wondering whether he should simply drop out, observe the contest from the shore, and write the article based on what he’d seen. But if he did that, he’d have to explain to his father why he was dropping out. Plus, if he did stay on land, he stood a good chance of witnessing something he wasn’t sure he wanted to see anymore, namely, the reunion of Sunny and Raymond. And what if Roger spotted him lurking in the dunes? For all he knew, the actor was still mad at him, maybe angry enough to have one of his bodyguards throw him off the beach!

  What a stupid mess, he thought miserably. And it’s all my own fault. Vaughn’s right. If I’d just minded my own business, R. William wouldn’t have been run off the beach. Who knows what kind of grief my e-mail could cause Sunny and Raymond?

  Kai felt like a heel. If he could have turned back the clock, he would have. But he couldn’t, and in the end he decided that if he had to be at the contest he might as well surf. So by mid morning he loaded his board into his father’s truck and together they headed for the beach.

  A large section of the beach was roped off. Signs around the area announced the competition as well as the presence of R. William Masters, movie star. Spectators were invited to stay and watch but were asked to steer clear of the surf until the contest was through.

  Mr. Ford set up beach chairs and an umbrella while Kai joined the check-in line. The line was moving slowly, giving Kai time to scan the beach.

  A decent-sized crowd had gathered. Still, Kai picked out Roger right away — the movie star would have been hard to miss, surrounded as he was by fans clambering for his autograph. Kai could hear the actor talking loudly and laughing.

  Guess he’s okay getting attention today, Kai thought.

  He spotted Vaughn next. His friend waved then jerked a thumb at his cousin and shrugged as if to say, “Go figure!”

  Kai continued to search the other faces on the beach. Although he’d never actually seen Raymond — the water in the photo had obscured his face — he thought he might be able to guess who he was by his age or his eagerness to find Sunny. But he didn’t see anyone who fit that description.

  Suddenly, Kai found himself at the front of the line — and face-to-face with Sunny. She smiled warmly at him.

  “You’re Kai, right?” she said.

  He nodded.

  “Okay, you’ll be in the second heat. That’s in about forty-five minutes. Go ahead in now and take some practice runs to get a feel for the day’s surf, if you like, but come on out when you hear the horn. And good luck!”

  Kai thanked her then retrieved his board and swam out into the surf with the other competitors. The waves were fantastic and large with long, rolling curls. Kai wanted to kick himself for not working on his tricks the past week. But he hadn’t, and now he had no one but himself to blame if he stunk up the water with poor surfing.

  Ten minutes later he heard a long horn blast. He left the water with the other surfers and walked up the soft sand to where his father sat. Mr. Ford waved him into an empty chair and handed him a pair of binoculars.

  “For checking out your competition,” he said, lifting his own set up to his eyes.

  The contest started five minutes later. Four surfers bobbed in the lineup. The horn sounded. In a flash, all four paddled like mad for the first wave. According to the contest rules, the first one up won possession of the wave. In this case, that honor went to a small girl in a bright green and black wet suit. She guided her board back and forth across the wave — nothing fancy, but controlled and smooth, Kai thought.

  He was about to make a comment about the girl when he realized his father wasn’t looking at her. Or at the ocean, for that matter. Instead, Mr. Ford’s binoculars were trained on someone on land. Kai didn’t bother turning his head. He knew who his father was looking at.

  “Dad,” he said. “Why don’t you just go over to Sunny and introduce yourself?”

  “I would,” his father muttered, “but some other guy is about to beat me to her.”

  Kai quickly turned his own binoculars to that part of the beach. Sure enough, a muscular man was making his way across the sand to where Sunny sat. The man walked with a pronounced limp. Kai focused on the man’s bare leg. He wasn’t positive, but he thought he saw a jagged scar in the shape of a crescent — or the jaws of a shark — on the man’s calf.

  It’s Raymond! he thought. It has to be!

  Kai wanted to look away, but he just couldn’t seem to put the binoculars down. From where he sat he couldn’t hear their voices, but their gestures and expressions spoke volumes. It was like watching a silent movie.

  First Raymond tapped Sunny lightly on the shoulder. Sunny turned — and stood up so quickly that she knocked her chair over. Her hand flew to her neck, and she seemed to be struggling for words.

  Raymond appeared to be reassuring her. He picked up her chair, took her arm, and guided her back down to her seat. Sunny bent forward, head in hands, her long blond hair covering her face. Raymond crouched down next to her and continued to talk. At one point, Sunny looked up and shook her head violently. She pointed to the scar on her arm. Her face was laced with misery. Raymond talked some more, his movements calm and gentle. Finally, Sunny’s expression softened. Raymond smiled and to Kai’s great relief, Sunny smiled back. They stood and embraced.

  “I wonder what that was all about!”

  The sound of his father’s puzzled voice broke the spell. Kai lowered his binoculars. He was about to tell his father all he knew when suddenly the horn blasted again. The first heat had ended.

  “Hey, you’re up!” Kai’s father said. “Better get going or you’ll miss your chance!”

  Kai hesitated a moment then picked up his board and rushed into the surf. He promised himself he’d explain everything to his father later. Right now he had to put all his attention on surfing!

  15

  The water closed around Kai’s head as he duck-dove his board through a wave. He reached the lineup at the same time as the three other surfers. Together, they bobbed on the surf, waiting for the signal to start their heat.

  The horn sounded a minute later. Kai and the others paddled furiously, each hoping to be the first to catch the wave rising behind them. Kai thought he had it but then realized a bigger boy had beaten him to it. He san
k back into the water and returned to the lineup to await the next swell.

  When it came, he was ready. He stroked his way to the top. Another surfer got there at the same time. But Kai was closer to the lip’s curl. According to the rules, that gave him possession of the wave. The other surfer was forced to drop out.

  Each heat was fifteen minutes long. Kai figured he could catch at least five and maybe as many as seven waves in that time. He had to make the best of each one. So he decided to try his series of tricks right away. If he messed up, well, he’d still have other rides to try again.

  He pumped the board to gain speed. Then he shifted his weight to make the board turn back toward the wave. He rode straight up the face and flew over the lip. When he was in the air he grabbed his rails with both hands at the same time. Then he straightened and landed right on the lip with the tail of his board facing shore. Moments later he’d ridden from the lip to the trough of the wave and was cutting back and forth through the white water into shore.

  I did it! he said to himself, amazed with his own performance. I really did it! Adrenaline coursed through his veins. He spun his board around and flew back to the lineup for a second run.

  Unfortunately, his next ride was a disaster. First off, he chose a poor wave, one that turned to mush soon after he popped up. Then as he was trying to get up speed, the surfer before him suddenly appeared directly in his path. Kai had to bail in order to avoid hitting him. When he surfaced he saw a third surfer beginning a run. He realized that if he didn’t move quickly, he’d be in that surfer’s way!