Chapter 7

                                    

                                          
Julian 
 
I put my phone away and walked back to where I had last left Isla. I feel a little bad for leaving her there without saying anything when my dad called. I made sure to keep the call short, and yet I felt as though I had left for a really long time. 
 
When I get to our spot, I find Isla packing up her things in her bag. I walk over to her with my eyebrows scrunched together and ask, "Are you heading inside?" 
 
Her head snaps in my direction, and she seems shocked to see me as she says, "Oh, Julian. I didn't know you were coming back." 
 
"No," I say, holding up my now-locked phone. "I'm sorry I had to take the call, but I'm back now." 
 
"I thought..." she trails off, looking down at her bag instead of making eye contact with me. Her shyness reminds me of when I was out surfing with her a while ago, when I showed off my surfing skills with her. I think that was the first time I ever felt carefree without even having to be self-conscious. It's true that surfing is my favorite hobby, one I enjoy doing at all times. She plays with the strap of her camera as she says, "I thought that you would be late because you were— You seemed stressed when you answered the phone call." 
 
"Yeah, my dad," I start, but then swallow the feelings I didn't want to think about yet. "My dad just called to make sure I was safe." 
 
She looks up at me, suspicion written all over her face as she says, "Is that all?" 
 
"Um," I lick my lips, not knowing how to answer her. In the end, I decide to be vague as I say, "No, he was under the assumption that I would be going home now, and when my mom told him otherwise, he wanted to call to confirm it with me. He, um, he wants me home." 
 
"Oh," Isla says, and then opens her mouth for a second before thinking better of whatever she wanted to tell me. She gives me a light smile as she says, "I was just wondering if you would be okay." 
 
I gesture to myself with a hand and say, "Okay." Then I grab her bag and take it away from her. I step closer to her and say, "And I'd be way more okay if you were to finally learn how to surf." 
 
"Ugh," she says, and I know the roll of her eyes will come. It does come, and I tsk as I say, "No more complaints. Let's get going." 
 
I drop her bag on the chair, and before I can think too much of it, I wrap my fingers around her wrist and pull her away from the sand. She shouts from behind me, but I run over to the water, and before she can get out, I run her into the water. She lets out another squeal at the touch of the water on her feet, but I shake my head. Then I drop her wrist away from my hold and turn around to look at her. 
 
She is pouting at me at the way her full lips are pushed upward, and I give her a sheepish smile. "You're already here, Isla. There is no time to back out now." 
 
"I hate you," she murmurs playfully as I reach over and grab her surf board from the floor. I bring it toward her and hand it to her. Then I move my eyes to the way the waves were coming through and say, "Maybe you'd feel better starting out by laying face flat on the board. To feel out the waves first, you know?" 
 
"Is this the easiest way out?" 
 
"Yeah," I answer her as I look down at her board. She holds the board to her chest and says, "Very well. I will like to do that one first." 
 
"Okay, wait," I tell her, and I study the pattern of how the wave was moving. Once I have it down, I kneel in the water and place her board on the water. Then I look up at her and say, "Okay. You just want to lay face flat on the board with your hands sticking out." 
 
"Okay," she says tentatively, kneeling down into the water. I place my hand on the side of the board, and as she places herself down on the board, I make sure that she is balanced. Her feet stick out into the water, which makes her squeal, but I only give her an encouraging nod. I rock the board softly with my hand and say, "I'm going to push you out into the deeper end of the water, okay?"