When Kira arrived at school the next day, Luke was waiting for her outside the entrance. She was happy for the escort but wanted to try walking herself to class to test her memory of the layout. Luke let her lead, which resulted in two miss-turns and a five-minute tardy to class, but she had still gotten them there on her own, which was something.
In no time, Kira’s morning classes whizzed by, and she was sitting with her newfound friends in the cafeteria, feeling like she had an actual place in the school.
"Dude, Wonder Woman is definitely hotter than Catwoman," Luke said to Miles. The two had been in a heated debate since their teacher had mentioned comic books in chemistry class.
"No way man, Catwoman is totally badass and she wears a leather costume. Leather!"
"Okay, Wonder Woman wears a bathing suit, has super human stamina, and can fly," Luke argued, mouth hanging open in disbelief that they were even still talking about the subject.
"Catwoman has a whip."
"Wonder Woman has an invisible flying plane."
"Dude, leather plus whip plus hint of evil wins every time."
Dave decided to chime in with, "Luke, I think Miles has you there."
"Ladies? Come on, help me out." Luke peered over with puppy-dog eyes. A slight pout graced his lower lip.
"Speaking as a completely heterosexual female, I have to say that Catwoman is definitely hotter," Kira spoke up, hoping to end the completely absurd debate. "Now, here’s a real question—Batman or Superman? I have to go with Superman every time."
At that, Miles spit out his drink. "You have got to be kidding me."
Kira laughed and let the new debate continue now with male subjects who were of much more interest to her. But when Miles and Luke began spitting words at each other, most likely forgetting to breathe, she tuned them out.
Letting her gaze wander over all of the different groups around the cafeteria, Kira eventually allowed her eyes to slip out the window to the one person she was secretly searching for. But when her view landed on the misfits' table in search of Tristan, all four of them were looking at her. Jerome, John, and Diana held their gazes for a moment before looking away, but Tristan continued staring.
Kira’s breath caught. She didn’t understand or want their interest. Well, she secretly wanted Tristan’s but not the others. She smiled at him, trying to change his sort of gloomy stare for a flirtier one. But he just looked away, confusing her more.
Luke nudged her, pulling her gaze from the window. "Come on, it’s time to go to class."
They walked together, winding through the sunlit hallways, and sat down quietly until Mr. Bell walked in, flustered. Hastily, he started to lecture.
During class, Kira looked over her shoulder to catch all of the misfits staring at her once more. She held Tristan’s eyes again, only breaking contact when Luke tapped her shoulder to pass her a note. He sufficiently distracted her with funny notes for the rest of class, but the hairs on the back of her neck remained standing for the entire period.
"Luke, why do they keep staring?" Kira asked as they followed everyone out of the room.
"Don’t worry about it. It’s just because you’re new. I’m sure it will wear off soon."
But despite his reassurance, it didn’t.
Every day for the rest of the week, Kira was under scrutiny. The misfits would only look away when she finally turned to meet their gazes. Kira was confused, but more than anything, annoyed.
"I’m going to confront them," she told Luke after school let out on Friday afternoon. Her first week was complete, but she felt like things were only just beginning.
"Kira, leave it alone." He shook his head, exasperated with the conversation they had had every day this week. "The more it bothers you, the more they do it. They’re jerks. If you ignore them, I’m sure they’ll stop."
"I can tell from your voice that you don’t believe what you just said. Do you know what’s going on?" Kira made Luke stop walking before they reached her car, which was only a few steps away. She wanted to delve deeper into what Luke was obviously hiding from her.
"Nothing, it’s just who they are." He turned away, unable to meet her eyes, and continued his stroll.
"Well, we’ll see next Monday. If I catch them staring again, I’m going to talk to them. I’m not really one to stand idle when I’m annoyed."
"I’m starting to realize that," Luke said in a resigned voice and leaned against the trunk of her small car. "Do what you want to. I doubt I could stop you anyway."
Kira laughed. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Luke. We are definitely starting to understand each other."
He put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against the car, and smiled. The playful mood finally returned to their conversation, the way it always did. "Hey," he said, as though suddenly remembering something he forgot to tell her. "You have to come to the beach with us tomorrow. Apparently, it’s a school tradition. The entire senior class goes to Folly Beach and has a sort of picnic-type event."
"Sounds great."
Kira jumped from his grasp and dug through her purse for her car keys. When she found them, they said their goodbyes, and Kira stepped into her car, more than ready for a mellow Friday night with the family.
The next morning, Kira 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, Kira 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 Kira 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, Kira 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. Kira 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. Kira 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 Kira, 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, Kira 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 throug
h 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. Kira 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.
"Kira, 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," Kira said while sitting down on the towel they had laid out for her. "Who wants food?"
"Me!" Her friends chorused in unison.
Kira 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." Kira 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 Kira 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 Tristan, 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, Kira turned away. Experimenting, she looked back and met each of their eyes, catching them in the staring act yet again.
"This is ridiculous." Kira 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 Tristan 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.
Kira 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," Tristan spoke up before Diana could, tilting his head as he pondered her.
Kira couldn’t imagine what about her had caught their interest so much, and she was beginning to not even like Tristan’s 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."
Kira didn’t like the way he looked at her—with a glimmer of malice in his eye. And even staring at Tristan 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."
Kira 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?
"Kira!" 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, Kira 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. Kira 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 Kira into the ocean. "Well, maybe not a natural, but it’s really not that difficult."
Kira 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? Kira 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? Kira 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, Kira!"
With as much power as she could muster, Kira 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 Kira 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. Kira 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 Tristan 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 n
ature of the waves. She was totally captivated by it.
"Kira, here comes a set." Dave brought her back around and she started paddling again.
This time, Kira 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, Kira 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.
Kira looked back at Tristan, 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, Kira 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.
Kira saw the set approaching and, like Luke had said, let the first and usually smallest wave go by. She started paddling for the second one and felt the acceleration when the wave latched onto her. Quickly, Kira lifted her upper body, smoothed her foot along the board until it came perpendicular to her knee, flung her left leg to the front of the board and stood as quickly as she could. She waited to lose her footing, to slip off of the edge, but that moment never came. She paid close attention, never letting the board wobble too much and trying to hold her own against the water rushing her toward the shore.
This is exhilarating, Kira thought. The excitement mounted with every moment that she didn’t fall and with every increase in her speed. When she finally felt herself slow down and saw the sandy beach through the water, Kira threw her hands up in the air, leaped off her board, and jumped up and down, splashing water everywhere.
Luke and Dave rolled in on the third wave, only seconds behind her. Luke picked her up and spun her around while Dave slammed her hand in a high five. She looked over at Tristan again and caught the grin curving his lips. Maybe he had been rooting for her all along, she mused.
"That was awesome," Kira said with a beaming smile.
"It really was, now let’s grab some food." Luke turned toward the towels with a hopeful look that silently prayed Emma and Miles hadn’t emptied out the cooler.
"What? Food? I just got the hang of this." The boys looked at her with sad baby faces. "Okay, you guys go eat, I’m going to try for a few more waves."
"You sure?" Dave asked, and Kira could tell he had finally warmed up to her. A day in the water could do wonders.
"Go, go. I’ll be in soon." She shooed them along and then threw herself back on her board to paddle out past the breaking waves. As she caught the next wave, Kira knew she had the technique down. She rode in perfectly and paddled out for more. After a few turns on the small waves, she decided to try for something bigger.
Tristan sat alone in the water, closer to the pier where the waves had been breaking earlier and getting larger. Some part of Kira wanted to prove to him that he was wrong, wrong in judging her based on stolen glances and wrong in making fun of her. Kira could feel his eyes on her as she paddled closer. And maybe she was being too self-assured or was too fueled by the anger he had sparked in her, but Kira knew she had to try to show him something about her that he hadn’t already assumed.
Kira never met his stare. She didn't want him to know how much his presence affected her, so instead she looked out at the horizon for the next set.
Kira saw the curl, saw it break early against the pier, and paddled with all the strength she had left. When the wave got closer, she knew it was too big for her to handle and almost wanted to back out, but Tristan was still watching her. The wave picked her up and pushed her faster than she had ever gone before. When she tried to stand, her board nosedived with the speed and Kira fell headfirst over her board and into the water. She flipped underwater a few times, the strain of her board pulling her forward until she finally broke the surface for air.
After a gulp, the next wave crashed and she was thrown under again. She caught her breath for a moment of relief before the third wave in the set smacked her, and she had nothing left to fight. The wave pushed her under, and her board smacked her forehead.
Pain flashed. And then nothing.
She was sinking. Her board tugged, pulling her underwater.
And then Kira fell into darkness.
"Kira, come on." She heard the command in his deep voice, but couldn't respond. "Kira, wake up."
A hand slapped her in the face, once, twice, a third time and then her eyes shot open and she tried to breathe, but her throat was stuck. Someone flipped her to her side as she began coughing, and finally she spit up what seemed like a gallon of water. Kira lay down again and closed her eyes, wanting to sleep.
"Kira!" One more smack landed on her face. "You have to stay awake."
She opened her eyes and saw the blurry outline of a boy with dark hair and pale skin. "Tristan?"
"Hello."
She saw the corner of his mouth curve upward despite her uneasy vision. "What happened?"
"You were being stupid," he drawled. Kira started to remember the wave and wipeout, and then her anger brimmed back to the surface.
"Only because you were being an ass," she grumbled. He just laughed.
"Come on, try to sit up." Tristan curved an arm around her back to help lift her up.
She noticed, at that moment, that they both wore only bathing suits and she was basically sitting on his lap. Kira tried to discreetly look at his chest, which was quite chiseled, and then she noticed the nice bulge of a bicep in his arm. Kira let her eyes wander a few moments longer until Tristan picked her up far enough for the pain in her head to finally hit. She groaned, put a hand to her brow, and curled into his body a little more.
"Ow."
"Yeah, your board got you pretty bad."
"I know." Kira was starting to get annoyed by his habit of stating the obvious. She pulled her hand back for a moment. "Crap! I’m bleeding."
He stared at her hand, which was covered in running red liquid, until she put it back to her head. Kira noticed he was staring again, but this time at her wound. He leaned in closer, inspecting it she hoped.
After a minute, she couldn’t take it. "Tristan, tell it to me straight. How bad is it?"
He jerked as if she had interrupted him mid-thought. "Oh. It’s nothing. You’ll be fine. Might need a few stitches."
He sat her up on her own and moved back a foot.
"Thanks…for helping me, I mean," she said, not sure where to look, eyes landing on his face and then staying there. A few different emotions pass over his features until he finally settled on the half-smile she had started to like.
Tristan grabbed a shirt from the unguarded towel next to him, looked at it, looked at Kira, and shrugged. He put it to her head, told her to hold it there, and helped her stand up.
"Get away from her." Luke’s voice boomed from behind. He barged in, pushing Tristan to the side.
"Chill out, Luke. I didn’t do
anything."
"I don’t care. Leave," he commanded, voice angrier than Kira ever remembered hearing.
"And if I don’t want to?" Tristan asked. Kira knew he was saying it more to test Luke and less because he really needed to stay.
"Then…" Luke paused, clenching his fists and looking around. Then he promptly punched Tristan in the face. For a moment, Kira thought she saw a flashing light, but she quickly realized it must have been the sun, which had previously been silhouetted behind the two boys. Tristan fell over and rolled once on the ground.
"Luke! Stop it. He just saved my life."
"Come on, Kira." Luke tugged her hand. She glanced back at Tristan, who just nodded to her, and followed Luke. "We have to take you to the hospital."
She didn’t mention the punch, wanting to wait for a good time. Instead, she went with her friends back to the car, listened to them talk about trivial things to distract her, allowed Luke to carry her into the hospital, and tried to process the heavy thoughts churning in her head.
Chapter Three