02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (8 page)

He turned his attention back to formal wear
but couldn’t be satisfied with my party dresses. He started
frantically sketching a new design as I left to go rinse off my
wetsuit. I’d seen him like this before; Cruz was going to be
singularly obsessed until he made something amazing for me to wear
to Evie’s. I was a lucky girl.

Lying in bed that night I thought about the
water rushing by as I flew across the face of the wave. I was so
incredibly happy while I surfed, and I knew that it must have
something to do with my mother. But what was so bad about that?
Just because I liked playing in the water didn’t make me any more
likely to want to spend all of eternity with a fish tail.

I resolved to find a way to make Ethan
understand. Pulling Charlie into the crook of my arm I drifted off
to sleep listening to his rumbling purr.

CHAPTER FIVE

Kimo

It was finally Friday afternoon, and I had a
bounce in my step as I walked to art class. Things were looking
good. Shayla was keeping her mouth shut about our dangerous day and
I had plans to go surfing with Ethan first thing on Saturday. I
took a table in the back and Ethan came rushing in to join me.

“Where have you been all day?” he said,
inspecting me closely.

“Just studying,” I replied, although
truthfully I had been avoiding him. I was afraid he could somehow
look into my eyes and simply know what I’d been up to.

He took my hand, intertwining my fingers with
his. I looked over at him, “My Aunt Evie’s having a Christmas party
next Saturday, do you want to go?”

“Sure,” he said with a smile, and then
leaning in close, “So I get to meet the famous Evie?”

“She wants to meet you… I mean, she’s heard a
lot about you,” I blushed, “Cruz is so excited he’s making me a new
dress. Evie’s parties are always pretty amazing.”

“Sounds like fun,” he said as he took hold of
my leg under the table.

“Megan and Cruz are coming too, and we
thought we could all stay at my apartment that night.”

He scooted closer and whispered in my ear,
“Sounds like even more fun.”

It had occurred to me that an overnight trip
with Ethan would be putting us in an awkward position. He’d stayed
overnight before, but it was in a desperate attempt to keep me from
sleepwalking to my doom, and the circumstances had been too scary
to be overly romantic. Ethan took keeping me safe very seriously,
and made it clear that he wasn’t using the situation as an excuse
to get into my bed– even though that’s where he always ended up
sleeping by the morning’s light.

He was my first boyfriend, my first kiss, and
I was hopelessly inexperienced. I heard the other girls at school
talk casually about “hooking up” but it could never be that way
with us. We were in love, and that made everything more intense–
more risky somehow. He was patient, and I knew I could trust him,
but he was human. I kept wondering if it was normal to be so
cautious. I needed to talk to someone who could be objective.

The teacher cleared his throat noisily behind
us and we sat up self-consciously. Mr. Briggs was a great art
instructor, a patient and level headed man who had witnessed our
relationship develop from the beginning. I suspected that he had
always seen the sparks that flew between us more clearly than the
teenagers that surrounded us.

“Let’s focus on our work,” he said under his
breath, and we scooted apart awkwardly.

When we got to the parking lot there was a
commotion over by the Mercedes.

“What the...?” Ethan said as we came
closer.

I could see Kimo’s head over the crowd that
was gathered around him. He was signing autographs and people were
thrusting magazines at him. His crew of fellow surfers were waiting
over by a van. I knew if he saw me he would bring up my surfing
yesterday, and I swiftly pivoted back towards school. Too late.

“Marina!” he called out, his voice booming
across the parking lot.

I cringed, slowly turning around to see him
advancing on me.

“Hey girl, I foun’ you!” he said with a broad
smile, looking at me and over at Ethan, who looked stunned.

“Uh, hi Kimo,” I said, nervously, “This is my
friend Ethan.” Kimo nodded at him and turned his attention to
me.

“We needta talk fore I blow town. Can I hava
minute?” he said, running his words together in an interesting way.
He gestured towards the van. There was a crowd gathering around us,
whispering and staring. I wanted to disappear.

“OK, but I have to get going,” I turned to
Ethan, “I’ll be right back.”

I followed Kimo out towards his van. His
buddies all greeted me with knowing smiles and wandered off,
leaving us alone. Kimo leaned against the van and looked me up and
down.

“You sure don’ look like a surfer girl.” I
looked down at my outfit, realizing Cruz had me dressed up like an
urban sophisticate.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I
asked dryly. He threw back his head and laughed, his deep voice
carrying across the parking lot. I looked out into a sea of faces
watching us.

“Look,” he said, “Your surfing is da kine!
You gotta think about qualifying and coming on tour.”

He reached into the van and pulled out a
folder of papers. He handed them to me with a grin.

“You should check this stuff out and go for
it,” he looked at me with admiration, “I neva seen a chick take a
wave like you do.” He shook his head, smiling, “Man, look at you–
gonna have sponsors fighting all ovah you!”

I blushed, “Um, thanks, but I don’t
really–”

“Lemme take you out tonight and tell you all
’bout it,” he asked, looking at me with the same direct gaze I
remembered from yesterday.

“No thanks, I can’t.”

“That your man over there?” he nodded towards
Ethan, but kept his eyes locked on mine.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said with a little
smile.

“Too bad,” he smiled and held out his hand,
“Think about it. My numbas in there, call me if you change yo
mind... ’bout anything.”

I shook his hand and he held onto mine a bit
too long, “Marina, stay clear of dem aggro locals at the point.
No-good jerkoffs, hassling girls,” he shook his head angrily at the
thought.

“Thanks,” I smiled and turned to go.

“I’ll be back in a cupla months...” he called
after me.

I walked over to the Mercedes without looking
back. Ethan was waiting with a tense look on his face as I tried to
figure out the best way to explain what happened yesterday. I could
feel everyone’s eyes burning on me as I walked up to him and took
his hand.

“What’s that?” he asked gruffly, looking at
the folder in my hands.

“Some stuff about surfing... could we go
somewhere and talk?” I looked around at all the surfers watching
us, “
Please?
”

“I have to go to work,” he said without
looking at me. His voice sounded strangled, “We can talk in my
truck.”

I followed him over and climbed in, rushing
to explain, “I went surfing with Shayla yesterday after school and
we met those guys.”

“Where?” he asked, looking at me
intensely.

“Some place called the point.”

“Shayla took you out to the point?” his voice
was starting to get loud.

“Calm down,” I said, “Nothing happened.”

I saw him take a deep breath, “Marina, that
place is dangerous. People
die
surfing there!”

I nodded, thinking about the huge surf
terminating in jagged rocks, “I can see why... and the locals are a
bunch of jerks too.”

“Did you go in?”

“Yeah– the waves were huge yesterday!” I
shivered with happiness just thinking about it.

“And you surfed them?” he looked at me like I
was crazy.

“I’m a lot better than I was the last time we
went,” I said defensively, “If you’d go with me sometime maybe
you’d see.”

“How did you meet Kimo?” he asked with a
tense voice.

“He introduced himself to us,” I replied.

“Do you know who Kimo is?”

“Shayla said he was some famous surfer guy.
She told him we were from Aptos. I didn’t talk to him. I was busy
surfing.”

“What did he want?”

“To give me this stuff,” I held up the
folder.

“Can I see?” I handed it to him. He leafed
through it and looked at me, eyebrows raised.

“Entry forms?” He looked at them, stopping
when he got to where Kimo had written his phone number and “call
me” on the back of the folder.

“He said I should come on the tour,” I
explained.

“I don’t think that’s what he was after,” he
looked upset, “Did he ask you out?”

I hesitated, “Yes.”

“What did you say?” his voice was tight.

I scooted over close to him and reached up to
kiss his ear, “I said no.”

He sighed and turned to meet my lips. I could
feel him relax as we kissed. He reached up to stroke my cheek and I
opened my eyes to meet his.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I thought about the near miss and took a deep
breath, “At first it was fun… listening to the water, trying new
things on some really big waves. Then I nearly hit the rocks and I
realized I was being reckless. I thought about the time you got
hurt and about what you’d think. So, I told Shayla we had to go and
asked her to not say anything. I had no idea Kimo would come
looking for me... I didn’t say anything because I thought you’d be
mad... I didn’t want to get you all upset again.”

He looked down, “Whoa.” He turned and tipped
my chin up to look into my eyes, “I don’t want you to be afraid to
be honest with me... I want you to trust me.”

“I trust you.”

“Promise me you’ll always tell me the truth,”
he said with intensity.

“I promise,” I said.

He smiled, his blue eyes amused, “I’d come
looking for you too.” He kissed me again.

“Will you still take me surfing tomorrow?” I
asked anxiously.

“I’ll be there in the morning.”

I woke up on Saturday with a start. I put a
swimsuit on under my clothes and hurried towards the kitchen,
looking out the front window. I got a little jolt of adrenalin when
I saw Ethan’s blue truck and was thrilled to walk into the kitchen
to find him there with Abby, waiting for me.

“Good morning sleepyhead!” she said warmly.
Ethan and I locked eyes and smiled at one another. I gave both of
them a kiss on the cheek and poured myself a cup of coffee.

“What do you two have planned for today?”
asked Abby as she flipped through the newspaper.

“Surfing!” I said with enthusiasm.

“Isn’t it kinda cold?” Abby said, looking out
at the blustery day.

“It’s not supposed to rain until tonight,” I
said, “And wet suits are really warm.”

“Dutch is coming over to make us dinner
tonight so try and get back early.”

I gulped my coffee and pulled Ethan up by the
arm, “Let’s go!”

Ethan laughed, “I guess we have to go right
now.”

“Be careful!” Abby called after us.

We loaded my board and bag in the truck and
climbed in the cab.

“Can we go somewhere with big waves?”

He chuckled, “How about medium?”

I rolled my eyes at him, “Let’s just go!” We
started driving, and this time went north, continuing up the coast
past the point where Shayla had taken me. Ethan pulled his truck
into a gravel lot at the top of a steep bluff. We could see down to
a rocky beach with some good sized waves breaking pretty far off
shore.

Ethan looked out across the water and back at
me skeptically, “The surf looks pretty big today...”

“Good!” I said, bolting for the door.

“Whoa– hold up! Eat something,” he pulled a
bag with some bananas and granola bars from under the seat.

I sighed, and leaned back, taking a bar from
him, “Thanks.”

“How many times have you been out on your
short board?” he asked, watching with amusement as I scarfed it
down.

“Twice,” I said.

“And the second time was at the point?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you should be alright here,” he seemed
worried, and hesitant. I saw a flicker of doubt cross his face. For
a moment I was afraid he’d change his mind and take me home.

“I’ll be careful,” I used the most soothing
tone I could muster, “I promise.”

I was itching to get going, and when Ethan
was finally ready I sprang out of the cab and grabbed my bag. I
flew out of my clothes and was struggling to zip up my suit when
Ethan came around the truck.

“Let me get that,” he said, and I turned my
back to him. He pulled up the zipper, stopping short to kiss the
back of my neck before zipping it all the way up.

“You know what?” he murmured in my ear, “I
wanted to do that on the day of your first swim lesson… You looked
so cute standing there, all shy.”

I looked up with a smile and kissed him,
“Let’s go!”

We picked our way down a switchback trail to
the beach, Ethan’s hand firmly on my wrist. I waded in and paddled
out past the waves, Ethan staying near me protectively.

I felt another instant wash of relief, like
coming home at the end of a long journey. I sat up on the board and
scanned the area. The blustery weather was keeping people out of
the water, and we had the spot to ourselves. Wind was making
whitecaps on the water, knocking the tops off the waves and
stirring up the sea-foam. The surf was big, but still half the size
of the beautiful cresting waves at the point. Laying down on my
board, I closed my eyes to concentrate.

“Aren’t you going to surf?” Ethan asked,
coming up alongside me.

“I’m waiting for the right one.”

I could hear him chuckle as he watched me
gather my focus. Then I felt it, and I started to paddle out. It
was bigger than the ones we swam through, the first of a set I knew
would be great. I maneuvered into position and caught it at the
perfect spot for where it would start to curl.