Free Mad About the Boy by Suzan Battah

supposed she might have scared him when she said how bad she was at balancing. But Chris was very patient, guiding her in each step and helping her to use her body to stand. Even on the sand she felt off balance and ended up toppling over a few times. Sand flicked everywhere, even into his face, and he started ducking when it looked like she was about to fall.
    “Your feet are too close together,” he finally said. “That’s why you can’t balance. And think positive. If you think you’re going to fall, you will.” He watched as she stood on the board, wobbling a bit with her arms outstretched in the air, trying to keep upright.
    She thought she looked more like a trapeze artist than a surfer. Julia turned to give him a glare, her hands on her hips.
    “I told you I’m hopeless.”
    At the same time, he burst into laughter. “That looks better.”
    Ignoring his encouragement, she sat down facing him. She felt defeated and was almost ready to give up, until he playfully flicked some sand at her. With a challenge in his eyes, he declared, “You’re not hopeless. You just think you’re hopeless. Let’s try it in the water. The surf is great today for a beginner.” He got up, dusting the sand off and pulling her up. He bent down to grab the board and she found herself trailing him toward the water.
    The waves were calm, swelling and rolling perfectly. He chose a spot away from the swimmers in the open water. He got off the board, allowing her to sit and feel the ocean.
    “There’s a small wave coming,” he pointed out.
    Julia was unsure of what she should do. Moving too quickly, she lay down on the board and then tried to jump up, vaguely hearing Chris call out her name. Her first attempt at catching a wave ended up with her completely flipping the board, almost knocking Chris out with it. She came up spluttering water and coughing, feeling as if she might have drowned.
    “Are you all right?” He swam over to her, pulling her board behind him.
    His look of worry made her burst into fit of giggles. His strong arm pulled her up to keep her from going under again. She puffed, trying to regain her breath from the experience. She had one arm around Chris, the other grabbing the board. “I told you I couldn’t balance very well!”
    “Julia, get on the board,” he gritted out. “Are you all right? Did the board hit you?”
    “I’m okay.” She bobbed around. This was the most exciting thing she had done in a long time. And flipping the board wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be.
    “Do you want to go in?”
    “No way, I’m having fun. I want to do it again. It almost felt like I was going to stand. I was nearly standing on the board!”
    Chris snorted. “You weren’t even close. I think we should go back. If you hurt yourself…” He was debating about what to do in his mind and seemed to be certain of heading back in, she could see it in his eyes and sure enough he did. “Get on the board, Jules. We’re going back.”
    Chris easily hopped on the board, waiting for her to take his hand. She frowned, half-climbing up on the board. He rolled his eyes at the way she was attempting to get back on the board, his hand coming to her bottom to push her up.
    “I’m fine, really. I was close to drowning, but otherwise, that was really fun,” she said with a fresh burst of laughter. “Let’s try again.”
    He didn’t look too happy. The frown that creased his brow looked like it would stay there as a permanent fixture. She smiled hesitantly, kicking her feet. He gave in.
    “Can you at least be careful, wait for a small wave, no a bump of a wave?” Chris begged.
    The next few attempts were less dramatic, though she went under several more times. Chris had to swim over to save her from drowning once or twice. But then she got better at falling off without risking her life. Some of his surfing friends paddled over in an attempt to help with guidance. Chris sat with one of his friends on his board,