Chapter 4

"Adam! Where's my good board?" Collin yelled. He flung himself
down the stairs, searching for his favorite surfboard.
"I don't know, man." Collin's older brother, Adam, yelled from the couch in the living
room. "Can you like, not talk to me right now, Tony’s whoopin' my butt at Halo."
Collin gawked at his used-to-be-hero-until-he-graffitied-the-half-pipe-at-the-best-skate-park-in-Hawaii-and-put-his-name-on-it-and-got-fined.
“Oh, I'm sorry that interrupted your dissapointing game of Halo, when I’m going to surf
with a surfing-prodigy that just so happens to be a HOT GIRL, and I can't find my board!" Collin stormed up the steps.
"Jeez, what's his problem?" Tony muttered.
"Well. You know Collin. He always freaks when he loose that stupid board." Adam said.
"Yeah." Tony sighed. "Or it’s the girl."
Adam shrugged. “Most likely.”
Collin tumbled down the steps.
"Where did it go?!” he screamed.
Adam glanced at Tony. "Should we tell him?"
Tony smiled a devious grin.
"Tell me what? "Collin whipped around. What did they do?
Tony paused the game and turned around on the leather couch.
“Dad chucked that board yesterday.” Adam said.
Collin leaped back with shock. Then anger ripped through him.
"What?” Collin growled through clenched teeth.
"Yeah…” Tony said flatly.
“Are you kidding me?!” he screamed." This can't be
happening! I use that board at every single competition!" Collin had no idea what had gotten into him.
Tony and Adam laughed.
“Collin, jeezes, calm down, we put it in the back room.” Tony assured him. The twins looked at each other with laughter easing up their throats.
Collin blankly stared at them.
“You guys are dumb.” he said monotonously.
Tony and Adam looked at each other and shrugged.
Twin telepathy also leads to equal stupidity. Collin thought.
* * *
"Ugh, stupid twins.” Collin panted. Collin saw Sarah sitting right against the waves, but on the shore still. Her emo-ish layers fell around her face, and the surfboard was leaned up against her calves.
"Hey!”
Sarah jumped."Oh, hey!”
Collin whipped his hair to one side. "So we're surfing?"
Sarah quick-glanced at the ocean, then back at Collin.
"If you like low tide. " Sarah smiled.
Collin laughed. "Oh… So when does high tide come back?"
Sarah shrugged."Um...I think at around 4:30."
Collin rocked back on his heels.
"So what took you so long? " Sarah giggled.
“Uhh.. "Collin stuttered. “My alarm didn’t go off. " Collin imaginary-slapped himself. HORRIBLE excuse.
Sarah laugned. “You need an alarm to get up at 10:00?" She sighed. “I’m an early bird.”
Collin sat down next to Sarah. "Like, how early of an early bird?"
"Well...” Sarah began."I woke up this morning at like, 7:30 without an alarm."
Collin felt his jaw drop open. "7:30?!"
Saran nodded.
"That's insane!" he exclaimed.
Sarah shrug-giggled. "So what do you want to do? High tide's not coming till 4:30."
"Uh... "Collin said." Do you want to skate?"
"Yeah, but the park's closed."
"Why?"
"I have no idea." Sarah said. Lets ask Derek."
“Who’s Derek? Collin asked.
"My older brother.” Saran stood up and started walking. Collin chased after her. “He’d
know."
Collin followed Sarah into her house, and they tip-toed into the living room. A guy with black boy-scene hair with blue highlights was sprawled out on a cream leather couch. Wild ‘n Out was blaring on the TV.
Sarah walked over and shut off the TV.
The guy shot up. "Hey, I was watching that." he said lethargically.
Sarah glanced at Collin with a smile.
"Sure you were." she said.
Collin laughed. They seemed close.
"Hey. Derek, do you know why the skate park’s closed?”
Derek scruffled his hair. “Um, wait, which one, the one over by that funky little surf shop?"
Sarah blinked.
“The one by Meghan’s bay.”
"Yeah! That's it. " Sarah said.
"Oh yeah-Percy told me about this."
"Wait." Sarah interrupted.
Collin sat on the loveseat. This could take awhile.
“Is he the guy who works at Mike's?"
"Yeah."
"The one with the dreads?"
"Yup."
"Oh he’s awesome!" Sarah sparkled. "He helped me pick out my board for Oahu."
Collin's head jerked up.
"You did a competition in Oahu? "he said a little bit louder than he had to.
Sarah nodded.
"What place did you get?"
"2nd, I think."
Collin felt something in his head click. "Dude. I remember seeing you! Was it the Junior Roxy Pro at North Shore?"
Sarah smiled and her eyes widened."Yeah, that was it! "
They both laughed.
Derek glanced at Collin, then Sarah. "So. Anyway." He stood up."I heard that some one graffitied, like, the entire thing, so they're bringing people in to clean it up."
Collin's heart quickened. If Adam was causing trouble already...
"Dude, serious?" Sarah said. “That’s so dumb. I mean, people graffiti skate sparks all the time. A skate park really isn't good if it doesn’t have graffiti.”
Derek and Collin laughed.
“I know. Percy was pissed off."
"What, that someone graffitied it, or that it's closed?” Collin asked.
"Yes." Derek said flatly.
Collin smiled to himself, but felt really stupid for asking such a pathetic question.
"So how long do you think it'll be closed?” Sarah said.
"Um... " Derek whipped out a huge blender. "You guys want smoothies?"
"Yeah sure." Sarah said.
"Probably from 5 days to a week… I honestly have no idea."
Collin shifted his feet. He felt like a third wheel and had no idea what to say.
"Hey, whose wicked awesome board is that?" Derek said.
Collin glanced back where Derek had been looking. That was his wicked awesome board.
“Oh. That’s mine.” Collin said.
“Dude. What kind is it?”
Collin stopped. Crap. He made his own board.
“Uh…I made it myself-“
Derek abruptly fell on the buttons of the blender, forgetting to put the lid on top. Fruit exploded everywhere. “Ah!” Derek yelped. Juice splattered all over them.
“DEREK!” Sarah shrieked.
Through the whizzing of the blender, Derek and Collin’s muffled laughter and Sarah’s occasional shrieks could be heard.
Derek ripped out the cord from the wall.
Collin started laughing and wiped the pink goo off of his face. Sarah giggled and smiled. She looked pretty, even WITH fruit juice all over her face.
Derek panted. “Dude, you MADE that board?!” He breathed heavily again. “I thought it was a ‘Wake Up’.”
Collin laughed and glanced at his board again. “Yeah, a lot of people think that. My dad taught me and my brothers how to build boards, and we owned a shop in Oahu.”
“That’s awesome.” Derek said. “I’m Derek, if you didn’t already figure out.”
“I’m Collin.” He wiped more juice off of his face. “We moved from Oahu to here, and we live next door.”
“Cool.” Derek said. “We should surf or skate sometime.”
“My brothers skate/surf too. Adam and Tony are twins-they’re 17, and Nicky’s 21.”
Derek whipped a wet rag on the island counter and started wiping up the juice. “How old are you?”
“Fourteen.”
“I’m thirteen.” Sarah giggled.
Sarah and Collin’s eyes locked. Her eyes flipped to the blender, then back to Collin.
Collin nodded. “Do it.” He mouthed.
Sarah smiled, then ran over and slammed her hand on the buttons on the blender.
“SARAH!” Derek yelled over the roaring of the blender and as juice splattered everywhere around them. Collin laughed with adrenaline racing through him.
This was bound to be a good summer.

Chapter 3

Sarah lay in bed that night with a throbbing headache that 3 Advils and Chris Brown's amazing voice couldn't get rid of. The sounds of the waves, which normally put her to sleep, sounded like a huge monster ripping their finger nails down a chalk board. Sarah was going to explode if she didn't do something about it.

She rolled over for the fifth time and looked at her blue lava lamp clock. Only the time was on, but it was enough to make the war going on inside her head twinge even more.

1:22 am.

Great, she only had about 9 hours of "sleeping" left to do.

The cause, she thought, of her skull-destroying headache, was the smart-aleck boy-next-door who she only knew for 20 minutes, and was already driving her to insanity. What was up with him? Why was he so cocky? He had three older brothers, so it probably ran in the family. Collin seriously was pushing Sarah's buttons; there was something about him that made her want to beat him and beat him up at the same time. He was utterly cute, though.

Oh my gosh, I have to get to sleep! Sarah screamed in her head. Her head ached more, and there was nothing for her to do but close her eyes so tight, that she would stop the headache dead in it's tracks.
But no matter how hard she scrunched her face together, her head still pounded.

"DEREK!" Sarah yelled. Her shriek echoed in her head along with the pulsating pain.
After about 18 seconds, Sarah heard repetitive thudding towards her room. Derek abruptly barged into her room with a baseball bat in his hands, still in his boxers.
"What, what's wrong?!" he panted.

Sarah sat up. "Hold on, let me take in the moment." she said. This was way too great to be true. She felt a giggle crawling up her throat, then all of a sudden, burst into hysterics.

Derek set down his bat. "Okay, did you just scream at 1:35 in the morning to laugh at me?" he chuckled.
Sarah swayed. "No..." Her laughter finally died down. She felt the headache coming back, and more severe than ever.
"I have a throbbing headache and it won't go away. And the crème brûlée didn't help either." Sarah whined.
Derek's eyes shot at Sarah. "You ate my crème brûlée? That took me 2 hours to make!"
"Yeah." Sarah said flatly. "And it was really good too. The burnt sugar was amazing."
Derek sat on the end of Sarah's bed. "You probably shouldn't have eaten sugar right before bed." he said. "Especially with a headache."
Sarah flopped back onto her pillow. "I kinda figured that out."
"Yeah..." Derek stood up. "Here." He tossed his iPod Video onto her abs. "Listen to 'Hello Seattle' by Owl City. And think about good things." He turned around and walked out the door.

"Oh and by the way."
Sarah looked up.
"You left your skateboard at Mike's. I picked it up for you. You're welcome." he turned around and walked down the hall.
"Thanks Derek, I love you!" Sarah yelled.
"Love ya too." Derek yelled back.

After 3 repeats of 'Hello Seattle' Sarah was in a deep sleep, wondering what the heck was going to happen tomorrow when Derek found out she ate his Eggplant Parmigiana too.

Chapter 2.

Collin gazed out into the glittery ocean. He had to admit, the place was beautiful. Oahu was gorgeous too, but St. Thomas was truly an exotic sight.

“Wow, is it like, low tide or something?” Collin joked.

Collin turned to look at Sarah. She had long brown hair that was tied into two French braids, and bright green eyes. She was tiny, but she looked strong. Like a girl you wouldn’t mess with.

“Haha, yeah. We came out at a bad time.” she looked around. “We should come out tomorrow.”

Collin just couldn’t figure it out. Sarah was just so… cool. But he didn’t know her that well, so he didn’t want to make an assumption. Maybe she was some spoiled diva athlete? He decided to yank his eyes away from her and look back onto the ocean.

“Wanna go skate?” Sarah’s voice suddenly asked.
He looked down at her.
“Skate?” he said dumbly.
“Wow, Horowitz, you’re real lucky to have me here to let you know what skateboarding is when you’re a skateboarder yourself.”
“Well I didn’t know what you were talking about.”
“What? Did you think I meant rollerblading or whatever?”
Pause.
“Rollerblading?”
“Yeah, the sissy sport for people who have no guts.”
“Okaaaay…”
“I know, I know, I killed the joke. I tend to do that a lot, so get used to it. Let's go Kahuna.”
Collin spun around on his heel and chased after Sarah.
“Why do you gotta call me Kahuna?”
Sarah whipped around. They were almost chest-to-chest.
“Well, Coll-in. I call you Kahuna because you think you’re Mister ‘La-Di-Freaking-Dah,’ and you don’t know who you’re messin’ with. I’ll SHOW you how this girl rides the waves.”
Collin stared sharply into her eyes.
“Oh, so you’re hungry for competition?”
Sarah crinkled her nose. “I don’t need competition. I’ll blow them away anyway.”
“So I see what I’m dealin’ with. A diva prodigy who can’t be humble with her greatness.”
“What are you talkin’ about, Horowitz?”
“Heh, I’ve dealt with a lot of these. Sometimes, to give a prodigy humility, you gotta show ‘em what it’s like to be Number Two.”
Sarah’s mouth dropped open.
“Number Two?”
Collin nodded. “You’ve never experienced Number Two, have you?”
“No…I’ve always been Number ONE.”
“Well be prepared, ‘cause you’re in for a WILD ride.”
Sarah cocked her head to the side.
“Are you saying-”
“You know what I’m saying.”
Sarah scoffed.
“What, you got something stuck in your throat?” Adrenaline shot through Collin’s body. Where did THAT come from?
“No! I’m just surprised how sure you are about this.”
“Why, are you?”
“Heck, yeah!”
“So you wanna get your game face on? Let’s do it. Tomorrow morning. High tide.”
“Alright you are SO on.”
“Just remember; you’re messin’ with a pacific surfer. I’ve ridden practically tsunamis.”
“Heh, I don’t care! Surfing is skill and balance, not guts.”
Collin stared at her.
“Yes it is.” They both said laughing.

They both turned around and started walking back to the houses.

“Mr. ‘La-Di-Freaking-Dah’?” Collin chuckled.
Sarah laughed. “Shut up!”
Collin smiled. “You sure got a way with words, I’ll tell ya that.”
She giggled. “I know.”
Collin was amazed how quickly her diva side switched to a sweet, sensitive side. Surfing was something to call her own. I guess that’s what being the best did to her, Collin thought. Made her competitive and kind of diva-ish. Collin smiled.

“See you tomorrow Kahuna. Bright and early.”

Collin turned around.

“Oh yeah… It’s on.”

Collin strided back to the house.


This was the beginning.

Of what?

Chapter One

Sarah had always loved the water. The cool spark as she ran into the ocean, a wave taking her to shore... Just the feeling won her over. She loved everything about it; the smell, the look, the feeling, the sound... She treasured it.

She also loved the way it tasted. Not a huge gulp of water, but when she licked her lips after catching a wave, she loved the tingly sensation that shot through her jaw. Sea water was always like therapy to her, and she loved just having the ocean in her presence.

Everything appealed to her about it. The sounds of the waves stampeding towards the shore, (well. At low tide, it was a calm rush that swept against her ankles.) The smell of salty, fresh water, the feeling of sand seeping through her fingers, or a wave pushing against her shoulders. It enamored her.

One of her favorite things about the ocean though was the panorama. At sunset, the view would melt Sarah's insides and it felt like goo was running to her feet. The rusty sienna of the sun in the middle of the pink sky glowed over the glittery waves that smoothly eased towards the shore.

Sarah couldn't get enough of it.

She was always at the beach. Surfing, swimming, running, training... She was always living it up on the shore. Sarah was always a beach girl.

And she would be forever.

***
Sarah heard a huge thud come from outside that sounded like a car trunk slam shut. She jumped about 15 feet into the air. What the heck was that? She slipped on her DC's and practically sprinted downstairs.

"Where ya headed, Sarah?" her older brother said.

The kitchen smelled delicious. A warm aroma of Nut Pilau filled the room. Sarah's brother's specialty always made her lungs quiver when she inhaled the delicious scent.

"Hey, are you going to Mike's?" Derek asked.
"Well, I wasn't planning on it, but now that you mentioned it..." Sarah looked at her Bongo watch.
"Okay, can you get the wax-"
"For the boards I know."
"Okay, and while you're at it, can you see if they have the new trucks in yet." Derek turned around to face her and he wiped his hand on a washcloth.
"Trucks?" Sarah pulled a Hollister sweater over her head. It was brand new, and it still smelled musky yet refreshing, just like the store.
"For my skateboard."
"Oh duh." Sarah answered. She yanked open the screen door, grabbed her skateboard and ran out.
"See ya later!" She yelled.

Sarah pushed herself forward with her left foot. All the guys she knew that skate/surfed, always made fun of her for skating funky-footed. She always just laughed it off. Because, hey, she was the best, so why did it matter?

Sarah was a lucky girl. Being as good as she was. She wouldn't say that she was lucky though. Because anyone can be extraordinary. She just...well... rose to the occasion. Sarah remembered when she was a little girl, when her father used to surf with her. He taught her everything that she knew. He made her extraordinary. He was more than a father to her; he was somewhat like an older brother. He had looked out for her and guided her, but he was always fun and did totally different things that other father's would have done, like skateboarding and surfing. Sarah still sometimes grieved about how he got killed from a tsunami the other year, while in Japan for a surfing competition. She missed him a ton.

Sarah suddenly stopped her thoughts dead in their tracks when she saw a moving truck in the driveway of the house right next to hers. Was that the slam that she heard from her room? No one had moved into her street for a while. She pushed herself onto the drive way.

It was amazing; a three story house with 4 columns in front of the glass door. The stairs leading up the front door were made out of what looked like marble, but were actually just cement. The drive way was on Sarah's left side, leading up to a garage that could stuff 4 most-likely-Ferraris into it. The Walkers used to live in it, but moved about a year ago due to family in another area of the country. Sarah was surprised that someone was here to move into it.

Just then, a boy walked down the driveway with a surfboard under his arm. He was a babe like no other. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and he wore white swim trunks that hung just below his knees. And he was wearing sandals. Not the geekyy ones, but the Hollister model ones. He had blonde, emo-ish hair and tan, flawless, skin. He was tall, but not freakishly tall, and he was ripped. He looked like an Abercrombie model. Just 4 years younger.

"Woah!" he said and jumped back. "I didn't see you there!"
Sarah instantly hated herself. "Oh. Sorry 'bout that." She tucked her skateboard under her left arm.
The boy flashed an insanely natural white smile. "It's okay. I'm supposed to be getting the boards anyway." he said.

Sarah gazed at all the surfboards and skateboards piled into the back of their red truck.

"You surf?" Sarah forced herself to ask.
"And skate and snowboard." The boy said while climbing into the back of the pickup.
"Sweet, so do I. Except for snowboard." Sarah said.
He pulled a board under his arm and gawked at her. "Dude, seriously?"
"I'm not a dude, but yeah, for as long as I can remember."
The boy laughed. "Your funny. I just think it's awesome that a girl skates/surfs. Good thing I'm not the only one besides by brothers. That would get boring."
Sarah smiled. He was extremely cute!
"I'm Collin." A tanned hand reached out towards her.
When Sarah shook his hand, her heart leaped.
"Ooh, nice grip. I bet you're competitive." He winked.
"Just a tad." Sarah smiled. "I'm Sarah.

Collin's eyes widened. Oh crap. Sarah thought. Another fan.
"Sarah Collier?" he said, cocking his head to the side.
Sarah shifted from her left foot to her right foot and nodded.
"Holy crap." he said.

"Dude, you're like, a surfing prodigy!" He practically screamed in her face.. "I'll formally introduce myself. Collin Horowitz, surfing prodigy." he said with a competitive smirk. His teeth were straight and white, but they looked natural, not like he got a ton of braces and headgear. His eyes were bluish green, and almost...pretty.
"Surfing prodigy, huh?" She asked with a hint of competition in her voice.
"Yeah we should surf sometime," Collin said. "You know... Pro-on-pro?"
Sarah laughed. "Why haven't I heard of you in the surfing world if you're such a pro?"
Collin walked over and yanked another surfboard out of the car. "Me, my dad, and my three brothers just moved here from Hawaii. We lived on Oahu."
Sarah shifted back and forth again. "Wow. Big waves there."
Collin chuckled. "Yeah, much wilder than the kiddie pool waves here in St. Thomas." he turned around and started walking towards the garage.

"You wanna come in?" he asked softly.
"Um... Sure." Sarah followed Collin inside.

Their house was more beautiful than Sarah remembered the Walker's being like. It had vaulted ceilings that were painted cream, and dark brown leather couches. Instead of wood, the counter and table in the kitchen looked like rows of bamboo tied together with string. It kind of reminded her of Japan or Hawaii. It was calming. A balcony sat on the back, and overlooked the ocean. The sun was setting just over the horizon. Wow, it's getting kind of late. Sarah thought.

"I know what you're thinking. It's a bogus house set up." Collin pulled an Aéropostle tee-shirt over his head.
"No, no, no, I wasn't thinking that at all! It's a really cool theme. I like it." Sarah said.
"Yeah, my dad loves Japan. He loves the waves there." Collin said.
"I bet they're huge too." Sarah's heart ached and she thought of her dad.
"Oh yeah. I did a surfing competition there."
"So wait, are you like, a Pacific surfer?" Sarah asked.
Collin looked around. "Yeah, you could say that. And you're the Caribbean surfer."
They both laughed. "So would you say Caribbean's better than Pacific?" Collin asked.
"Um..." Sarah smiled. "Yes."
Collin shook his head. "Nuh-uh..."
"Yuh-huh!" Sarah said.

Collin plopped onto the couch. "So... What do you people do for fun around here?"

Sarah gawked at him. "What do we do for fun around here? You moved here for 'what we do around here.'"
"Oh." He stood up. "You mean surf."
"Well, duh." Sarah looked up at him. "What, did you wanna see how the people in St. Thomas ride the waves?"
Collin laughed. "Oh please. I was born and raised in Oahu; these kiddie pool waves are nothing compared to the hurricanes I've ridden."
"Oh yeah?" Sarah figured it was time to get to know Collin Horowitz.

"Well, you're on Big Kahuna."

This blog is different.

It's a novel blog.

It's not about me.

It's another place, another setting, another girl, another life.

Bookmark this and live in another world.

Check in every week for another chapter and escape into the life of Collin and Sarah.


And may the best surfer win.

Click here to read chapter one