night—but I can't help it. I need the high I get when I'm riding a wave.
Making quick work of paddling out, I can barely see the waves, but I can feel them. The bonfire provides a small amount of light that lets me see what's coming if I squint really hard. Finally, I paddle into the movement of the water and just as it starts to take me down, I hop up on my board.
My whole body feels lighter as I ride the wave. Like nothing can get to me. Like my problems aren't real. Like everything is going to be okay. And in the water, all of that is true. I'm standing on top of a board but it feels like I'm on top of the world.
A scream pulls me from my euphoria just in time to see my board heading straight for a chick who looks no older than I am. Her eyes are wide with fear. I cut to the side to avoid hitting her, but my balance never stood a chance. The wave takes me over and crashes directly on top of me and my board.
I tumble in the water for a few seconds until I can get to the surface, but no part of me panics. I've been in this situation enough to know what to do. When I manage to stand up, however, my heart drops. The shore break must have been strong enough to snap my board in half because the other part of it is washing up on the beach while the back half is still strapped to my ankle. Fuck.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” the girl shrieks.
Do I fucking look okay? “Are you out of your mind? What the hell were you doing out there?”
I snatch the other half of my board up and turn around. A blonde girl no taller than five foot two stands in front of me. It doesn't take a lot of light to see that her eyes are the kind of blue that reminds me of the water back in Hawaii. If I wasn't so angry at the current condition of my surfboard, I'd probably acknowledge how gorgeous she is.
“I just needed to clear my mind, so I thought I'd go for a swim,” she explains shyly, rubbing her arm and looking down.
I roll my eyes. “Didn't your mother ever teach you not to swim in the ocean after dark?”
That seems to strike a nerve, because the sullen look falls right off her face and is replaced by one that threatens to put me in the ground. Her hip juts out to the side, and her eyes rake over my body, as if she's sizing me up. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd stand up in a fight with this chick. She may be little, but she looks scrappy.
“Lennon!” A girl around the same size with long, brown hair comes over and eyes me suspiciously before grabbing her friend's arm. “Come on. Colby's waiting in the car.”
The blonde—Lennon apparently—hesitates, and a part of me wonders if she really does plan on trying to square up, until she scoffs and walks away. I can't help but watch as they disappear out of sight. Once they're gone, though, I remember my board.
I move closer to the fire and use the light to inspect the damage. It's not even a clean break, meaning there is no fixing it. It's as good as a pile of junk now. Bryce and Jayden come over with fresh beers in their hands, but when Bryce sees the board, he drops his. It spills out into the sand.
“Dude, party foul,” Jayden scolds him, until he notices it as well. “Fuck. What happened?”
“Some dumb bitch went swimming in the middle of my path. I managed to swerve out of the way in time, but it fucked up my board.”
Bryce sighs and looks at the pieces. “That sucks, man.”
“Yeah,” I grumble. “You're telling me.”
Jayden hands me his beer. “Only thing to ever come close to surfing is getting drunk.”
I snort sarcastically, but he may have a point. If I can't surf away the chaos, I may as well drown it in alcohol.
LIGHT SHINES IN THROUGH the window of Jayden's room and lands on my face. As soon as I open my eyes, a sharp, stabbing pain shoots through my head and has me hissing. I pull the pillow over my face in an attempt to drown out the morning, but it's no use. Today,