Free 02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales by Derrolyn Anderson

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