The beach

The next morning, linda was jarred awake by a booming alarm, dragging her out of that perfect place between being asleep and being awake, when everything seemed so serene. She flopped her hand on the clock to shut it off, stretched her muscles, and then rolled over to see sunbeams filtering through the yellow sheers on her window.

Beautiful, she thought, still trying to hold on to that limbo.

After a few minutes, she was finally awake enough to stand and start preparing for the beach. Flinging the curtains aside, linda let the sun warm through her before heading toward the closet to find the perfect bikini and cover-up combo. The white bedazzled two-piece might be too flashy, and her new brown one didn’t really go with her hair, so linda decided on her new kelly green bikini that would definitely flatter her hair and maybe even her eyes. She threw on her favorite beach cover-up, a pink and green polka-dotted strapless dress she picked up last summer, and flip-flops to prevent from seeming too fancy. After a look in the mirror, Linda decided it was New York chic meets low-key beachy.

She had told Luke she would bring a picnic basket, eager to let some new people taste her food. After making a killer pasta salad and cold cut sandwiches with her special sauce—a hint of mayo, a hint of mustard, and a little something secret—she was ready to go. Linda walked outside, waiting for Luke to pick her up, and was shocked to see a huge pickup careen around the corner with Dave and Miles lounging next to surfboards in the bed of the truck. Linda opened the paint-flaked passenger side door to a giggle-fest between Luke and Emma, and hopped in beside them.

"What is going on in here?" she asked. "Something I should be telling Dave about?"

"Nothing, nothing." Emma finally calmed down enough to breathe, but her face was red from laughing so hard. "One of those things that’s only funny if you saw it."

"What? Come on, I have to know."

"For a minute, in the rearview mirror…" Luke coughed to keep a new round of laughter at bay. "It looked like Miles and Dave were making out." He and Emma broke down again.

"Do I need to drive?" Kira said in a jokingly condescending voice.

"No, no, I got this." Luke composed himself and revved the engine.

The drive to Folly Beach didn’t take long, especially with linda, Luke, and Emma singing country at the top of their lungs while Miles and Dave stuck their heads through the back window to occasionally join in as back-up singers.

When they arrived, linda was amazed at the quintessential surf town she had never known existed just a short drive outside of Charleston. Beach shacks and inexpensive hotels lined the shore, while surf shops and local restaurants called in most of the crowd.

They parked and practically ran down the rickety wooden boardwalk that led them through the dunes and onto the sand. The long flat beach was already lined with students from their high school. Some held not so discreet brown paper bags with bottle rims poking out, while others had coolers masking mixed drinks.

Dave, Miles, and Luke dragged their surfboards along the beach behind Emma who was scouting a location. Linda followed, soaking in the view. Fluffed clouds softened the bright blue sky, which faded into the deeper blue waters of the ocean before her. She let the sun warm her skin, itching to lie down on a towel and not move for hours. A little in the distance, jetting past breaking waves into the deep ocean, she saw the famous Folly Beach Pier.

"Linda, come on." Emma waved her over to the small square of sand the group had claimed. She quickly moved through the maze of towels to meet her friends.

"Sorry," Linda said while sitting down on the towel they had laid out for her. "Who wants food?"

"Me!" Her friends chorused in unison.

Linda opened up the picnic basket she had packed and handed out the sandwiches. After leaning her elbows back on the squishy sand to look at the view, she sighed. "Man, this is the life."

"I’ll second that. This sandwich is incredible. What did you put in this? Drugs? I can’t stop eating," Luke marveled and Miles seconded with a grunt, since his mouth was completely full.

"I was talking about the view and the weather, not the food, stupid. The sun feels so great, especially after the first week of school. The tension is literally melting from my body." Linda dropped back down to her towel to soak it all in. The sun had always been her favorite thing. Feeling the heat and warmth it radiated always gave her a sense of inner-peace. She had spent many afternoons in Central Park while living up north, but nothing could compare to the feel of the sand scratching your toes, the sun prickling your skin, and the surf rolling in your ears.

And then linda felt it, that tingle at the base of her neck that told her something was wrong. She opened her eyes to look around and saw that Evans, Jerome, John and Diana were walking onto the beach. They looked away when she caught them staring, and Kira finally broke. In school, it was one thing, but ruining her perfect moment of relaxation went way too far.

She watched while they walked along the shore and took careful glances in her direction. When they sat down, yards to her left, linda turned away. Experimenting, she looked back and met each of their eyes, catching them in the staring act yet again.

"This is ridiculous." Linda stood, dusting the sand off of her legs, and marched over toward the misfits before her friends even had time to realize she’d left. Four eyes watched her carefully as she swiftly dodged people and came to a stop at the edge of the bright blue towel Evans lounged on.

"Okay, what is your problem with me?" She flung her arms wide, searching for some answer that made sense.

"You exist," Diana spoke coldly.

Linda was shocked and she flinched. It wasn’t the response she had expected. "And what about my existence is so terrible that I can’t turn around without you guys all staring at me?"

"Not terrible, intriguing," Evans spoke up before Diana could, tilting his head as he pondered her.

Linda couldn’t imagine what about her had caught their interest so much, and she was beginning to not even like Linda watchful eye. But then again, she couldn’t help noticing the outline of a six-pack etched in his pale skin and how the sun made his eyes look even bluer. It wasn’t so bad…

"You’re completely ignorant of everything," Jerome said in a deep, rumbling voice. "It’s…alluring."

Linda didn’t like the way he looked at her—with a glimmer of malice in his eye. And even staring at Evans shirtless wasn’t enough to keep her there much longer. "Look, I lived in Manhattan for five years. I’m hardly ignorant compared to almost everyone else who goes to our school, and I’m tired of this. Get over whatever it is you think you know about me, and leave me alone."

Linda walked away, hoping she had gained an upper hand and that they would stop. When she turned her head back around, they were gazing at the ocean, hoisting up surfboards, and ignoring her. She smiled, glad she had faced them, but also confused. What had Jerome been talking about? Why would he think she was ignorant when he had never even spoken to her before?

"Linda!" She stopped her unhappy thoughts and turned to Luke, who looked concerned. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I’d just had enough, like I told you before."

He nodded. "Come on, I’m making you surf with me and Dave. Go grab Miles’s board and meet us out there."

She quickly took off her cover-up and lifted the heavy board from the sand. "Thanks, Miles," she yelled after she turned and started walking toward the water. When she stepped into the waves, she instantly knew this would be a much more enjoyable swim than those she went on in the Hamptons. Instead of walking into freezing cold and almost paralyzing waters, this ocean was bathwater warm. Kira smiled at the change, already starting to appreciate the permanent move down south, and headed out toward her new friends, who she felt like she had known for a lifetime.

After jumping on the board and awkwardly paddling past the waves, Linda made it to Dave and Luke, who sat like pros with their feet dangling in the water and the nose of their short boards angled up into the air. Linda noted her own very long board, which hadn’t left the surface of the undulating water even though she sat on its back tip.

"Why is my surfboard so huge? I could barely lift the thing."

"It’s a beginner board," Dave spoke up now that the conversation was of real interest to him. "We only started teaching Miles about a month ago, and he’s taking a little while to get the hang of it."

"Don’t worry. I can tell you’re a natural," Luke chimed in and playfully nudged the edge of her board with his foot, almost sending Linda into the ocean. "Well, maybe not a natural, but it’s really not that difficult."

Linda nodded and listened to their detailed instructions carefully. She had never heard Dave speak so much. That alone was exciting as he told her exactly what she had to do. When the wave was approaching, paddle as quickly as she could, then make one last push right when it felt like the wave had complete control. Quickly put her palms on opposite sides of the board and push her chest up. Then, she had to move her right foot perpendicular to her left knee while still keeping most of her leg on the board for balance. Finally, the hardest part, she had to jump up by swinging her left leg through her arms in front of her other leg and then lift her upper body up while keeping her legs bent.

Easy, right? Linda tried to assure herself, but as she waited for a wave, she couldn’t stop the anxiety from building in her chest. How fast did these boards really go? Linda was no adrenaline junkie by any means, so to calm herself she tried to envision a Blue Crush scenario, in which she becomes a super hot surfer chick who woos a professional quarterback.

She was jolted from the daydream when Luke and Dave shouted at her. "Here comes a wave. Start paddling, Linda!"

With as much power as she could muster, Linda pushed her arms through the water, digging under the surface. One of the boys gave her a push, and then the wave was in control. She pressed up on her palms, moved her leg forward as quickly as she could, and promptly lost her balance. The board flipped, sending Linda crashing into the ocean.

She rolled around underwater, riding the wave in like the boys told her, and felt the strong tug of her ankle strap as her board and she went in opposite directions. Finally, the speed slowed and she was able to break through to the surface of the water to swim over to her board. Linda flopped her arms over the board, rested her head for a few moments, and then looked up to search for Dave and Luke. She waved to them, gave a thumbs up, and then jumped back on her board to paddle back out.

"I’m going to do this," she told them resolutely as she spun her board around, back toward the shore. Turning for a second, she watched Evans who had just stood up on a wave. He looked like such a natural, taking steps along his board to control speed and doing a few tricks despite the smaller nature of the waves. She was totally captivated by it.

"Linda, here comes a set." Dave brought her back around and she started paddling again.

This time, Linda did it by herself without a push from Luke, and got caught in the movement of the wave. After a few seconds, she toppled over, but this time it was when she tried to fling her foot to the front to stand. She paddled out after escaping the churning waters, already feeling the exhaustion in her arms, but not ready to give up yet.

After about ten more tries ending in belly flops, linda had about reached that point where she was ready to give in.

"I cannot do this," she told the boys after lying back on the board and resting her body. "It is physically impossible for me to stand up on this board." She crossed her arms, trying to maintain her balance while also looking stubborn. It was a difficult task.

"Come on." Luke prodded her with his finger. "Wakey wakey."

"No," she put on a five-year-old voice.

"One more try, I have a really good feeling about this one."

"Oh, fine." She sat up and let him spin her board around.

Linda looked back at Evans, hoping to spot him in action, and instead met his eyes, which had turned to match the color of the sky. He lifted the corner of his mouth in a half-smile, which she first thought was meant for her, until he turned to watch Jerome who had stood up on his board to do a pretty good impression of her last fall, which was a total body flip off her board as soon as she had attempted to lift her hands and stand. Spurned into anger, Linda decided to act. She had always thought that nothing was as good a motivator as furiously wanting to shove someone’s joke back in his face.

"Luke, I am so ready for this. Don’t push me into the wave. I just got that feeling where I know I am going to kick some ass." He took his hand off her board to let her try by herself.