The feeling he gets when he's surfing is better than anything he's ever felt before. The sun shining down on him; the seawater misting his face; the wind in his hair; the rush of adrenaline whenever he catches a perfect wave: everything about surfing makes him feel so…free. And especially now that school's out and summer's finally here, he feels like he can do anything.
But then his moment ends and he gets off balance, his board flying out from under him and sending him tumbling into the water. He regains his bearings and swims to the surface, climbing back on his board while his friends laugh at him from a few yards away.
"Little rusty there, eh Austin?" Jace calls out to him.
"I'd like to see you do better!" Austin fires back, paddling closer to his friend.
"Maybe I will!" he replies.
"Boys, boys," Dez says, making his way over to the pair, "there is only one way to settle this." The redhead pauses with his hands held out in front of him for dramatic effect. "The Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Championship of the Universe!" he exclaims.
"You're on," Jace says, narrowing his eyes at Austin.
"Well…you're even more on," Austin says back, glaring at the brunette.
Then, they simultaneously break off and paddle out towards the waves, hoping to catch as many as possible within the next half hour (as the rules for the Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Championship of the Universe go). Whoever catches the most wins, and Austin refuses to lose to the high school graduate again. Especially because he knows that he won't hear the end of it if Jace goes off to college without Austin or Dez beating him once in the two years and countless hours spent surfing of their friendship.
For the next thirty minutes, all Austin can think about is beating Jace. He catches wave after wave, and thank goodness they're good today or this would be a lot more frustrating. He doesn't look over to check on how Jace is doing as he normally does, and maybe that's why he actually feels good about his chances at winning when the thirty minutes are up.
"And the winner is…" Dez says mysteriously, pausing while the three of them splash the water in a watery drumroll, "Austin!"
"What?!" Jace exclaims.
"Yes!" Austin shouts, pumping his fists in the air in victory.
"With nine waves against Jace's eight, I hereby announce Austin Moon as the Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Champion of the Universe!" Dez announces.
Austin laughs at Jace's shocked and frustrated expression, but that laugh turns into a surprised shriek when Jace pushes him off his board and into the water.
"Don't be such a sore loser," Austin teases as he climbs back on his board.
"I'll be whatever I want," Jace says defensively, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Austin says. "You're gonna go live your dreams in college while me and Dez are stuck in high school."
"I wasn't referring to that, but yes," Jace replies. "Finally getting island fever like everyone else?"
"Never," Austin says. "I'm living on this tiny island till the day I die."
And the island they live on really is tiny; it's only about four square miles, and even then the thick vegetation only allowed a small amount of space for those who first built the small town that Austin and his friends now inhibit.
"Everyone leaves Lost Isle eventually," Jace reminds him.
"Man, I can't believe the three of us only have a few months left together," Dez speaks up with a frown.
"Don't get all sappy on me now," Jace says, nudging the redhead gently. "Summer just started! All any of us should be thinking about now are the three 'B's of the best summer ever: bros, boards, and burgers." He counts the words on his fingers as he lists them.
"Burgers," Austin exhales, suddenly realizing that they've been in the water all day with nothing to eat. "Let's go get some."
"I like the way you think, Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Champion of the Universe," Jace says, patting his stomach. "Last one to the shore won't get laid this summer!"
The three boys set off paddling, and Dez ends up being the sore loser.
"But Austin's the one without a girlfriend!" Dez complains as they put their shirts on and start walking up the beach to the diner Austin's parents own.
"Sucks to be a loser, buddy," Austin teases good naturedly, ruffling Dez's hair before the redhead ducks away.
"Sucks for you not to have a girlfriend!" Dez retorts childishly.
"I don't need a girlfriend," Austin says with a shrug. "I just wanna enjoy this summer with my two best friends and not worry about any girl drama."
"Aw, buddy," Jace says in a mocking sentimental voice, wrapping an arm around Austin. "Best buddies for life."
"I'm serious!" Austin exclaims, shrugging Jace's arm off. "Last summer when I was dating Piper I hardly ever hung out with you guys. And now that I'm single, I wanna spend all summer making up for it."
"Such nice boy," Dez says, pinching Austin's cheek.
"I can't win with you two," Austin says, batting Dez's hand away and rolling his eyes.
The three friends lean their surfboards against the wall outside the diner and walk inside.
"I was wondering when you boys would be back!" Austin's mother exclaims cheerily, walking over to them from where she was standing behind the counter.
"Hi, Mrs. Moon!" Dez says.
"We're starving," Jace tells her.
"Well, I'm sure you are. You've been out there for hours!" His mom kisses his cheek, and he smiles at her.
"The waves were sick today, mom. You wouldn't even believe it! And I beat Jace at the Super Totally Awesome Best Friend Surfing World Cup Championship of the Universe!"
"I've never been more proud," she teases. "Now you three, go wash up. I'll have Mike make you lunch."
"You're the best, Mrs. Moon!" Dez exclaims, running off to the bathroom with Jace on his heels.
"You hear that, Austin? I'm the best," she says with a grin.
Austin smiles back at her and nods. "You really are."
He follows his friends to the bathroom to wash up, and then they walk back into the diner and sit down at a table.
It's fairly busy, but with such a small population living in their small town (it's more of a neighborhood, really) on the island, the diner is never completely full.
"I've got three usuals," Austin's dad says, walking up with their favorite burgers on a tray.
"Thanks, Mr. Moon," Jace and Dez chorus as their meals are set in front of them along with their usual soda orders.
"Thanks, dad," Austin adds, eyeing his double bacon cheeseburger with no pickles and extra bacon.
"You're welcome," Austin's dad replies with a smile. He waves to the boys and walks away.
"So," Austin says around his first bite of the mouth-watering cheeseburger, "what're we doing tonight?"
"I'm going out with Trish," Jace says.
"And I'm going out with Carrie. Sorry, buddy," Dez adds, sipping his Sprite.
Austin sighs. "Fine. I guess I'll just hang out with Dallas or Piper or something."
"As long as you don't take Piper to the Cliff. No need for a repeat of last summer," Jace says.
'The Cliff' isn't actually called 'the Cliff.' It's a real cliff, yes, but the proper name for it is Crescent Cliff, named after their beloved Crescent Beach, but the young people of Lost Isle prefer to refer to it simply as 'the Cliff,' because really it's the only well-known cliff on the island. And it's only 'well-known' because it's the place couples go to…be couples.
Last summer, Austin had kinda been crushing on Piper, a tall, blonde surfing dream in his grade. He invited her there with him, and miraculously she had said yes. So of course they had kissed (a lot) and somehow she ended up as his girlfriend. But they weren't really anything other than a summer fling, and they had parted as friends when school started.
"Very funny," Austin says. "I just told you, I'm not dealing with girls this summer. Nope, it's just gonna be me, you guys, and occasionally your girlfriends."
Dez and Jace laugh, and the three of them finish their lunch.
"I better get home and shower. Carrie hates it when I smell like the ocean because it reminds her of fish and she doesn't like fish," Dez says, standing up.
"Yeah, I should go too," Jace agrees.
"And I guess I'll go home and try to hang out with someone. Or maybe I'll just stay in."
"Lame," Jace teases. "See ya tomorrow, buddy."
The brunette walks out with Dez, and Austin stays for a little while to help out his parents.
It's sunset when he walks next door to his house. He goes straight up to his room.
"Coco?" he says, turning on the light.
He makes his way to the corner of the room between his bed and his window and peeks inside the makeshift handkerchief hammock hanging from the ceiling on two pieces of thin rope. Sure enough, his tiny monkey is sleeping inside.
He isn't sure about the legality of keeping a wild monkey as a pet, but he knows that there's no one who will really get him in trouble for it on this island. He met Coco while walking in the forest a few years ago. He must have been too close to his home or something, because one moment Austin was about to rest under a tree and the next thing he knew, half-grown coconuts were being pelted at him from above.
One thing led to another and Austin ended up accidentally shaking the monkey out of the tree, fortunately catching him before he hit the ground. Then the tiny animal wouldn't leave him alone, so he decided to just take him home and keep him as a pet. He named him Coco as a reference to the coconuts he had thrown at him, and the two had become happy roommates.
Austin decides to let Coco sleep and goes to take a shower, letting the warm water wash away all the salt and sand from his tired body.
Afterwards he decides that he'd rather not hang with anyone tonight, so he goes downstairs to make himself dinner. He decides on potato chips and a smoothie, and he makes his way back to his room with his food.
He reclines on his bed and turns on the TV, flipping through the channels until he decides on a recap of a basketball game.
A few minutes later he hears the light padding sounds on the makeshift 'staircase' up to Coco's hammock sitting on his nightstand. Then the tiny fur ball himself crawls onto Austin's chest and sniffs at his dinner.
"You haven't eaten all day, have you?" Austin says to the monkey, turning to look at his nightstand. Sure enough, Coco pulled the small blue piece of yarn off its spot hanging on the wall with the other multicolored pieces of yarn that Austin taught the smart monkey how to communicate with.
He grabs Coco's small bowl off his nightstand and uses his straw to transfer some of his smoothie into it. He sets it down on his chest for Coco to pick up, but the monkey just stares at it.
"C'mon, it's a smoothie. Fruity. You'll love it."
Coco sniffs at it and sticks his hand in it, proceeding to lick the beverage off his fingers. Apparently satisfied with the taste, he picks up the bowl and starts drinking it.
Austin watches him, still munching on his chips. "I don't know why you're a monkey," he says. "You eat so much, you should've been a pig."
When Coco sets down the now half-empty bowl for a break, Austin pets the monkey's head with his index finger. Coco makes a noise that sounds like the monkey version of purring and closes his eyes.
Austin smiles and stops to see if Coco is going to drink any more of the smoothie. He picks up the bowl again (he always does) and finishes off his dinner.
When he sets the bowl down on Austin's chest, his face is a darker brown than usual because of the smoothie remnants wetting his fur.
Austin sighs and sets the empty bowl on his nightstand again. He starts getting up, so Coco crawls up his chest to where he usually perches on his shoulder.
"Let's give you a bath," he says.
Coco makes an excited noise – he's always loved baths – and Austin walks to the bathroom.
He turns on the sink and waits for the water to warm up before plugging it. He gently picks up Coco off his shoulder and sets him on the counter. The monkey immediately dashes into the water, and Austin smiles at his pet.
He grabs a washcloth and gets it wet, putting soap on it before gently rubbing it on Coco's fur. Coco closes his eyes, and Austin makes sure to hold him up with his free hand just in case the tired monkey falls asleep again.
Sure enough, by the time Austin's done cleaning Coco up and drying him off, he's asleep. Austin carries Coco back to his room and places him in the hammock before laying down on his bed again, watching the TV until he falls asleep too.
sooooo I wasn't gonna start this until summer but then I got the idea for this plot and then suddenly IT ALL STARTED COMING TOGETHER AND I COULDN'T STOP MYSELF soooooo THIS IS MY NEW FIC YAY! Also, I'm just gonna say this off the bat: I don't think any of you lovelies would do this but just in case, please don't come at me with everything that would be wrong with Austin and Coco. This is a fictional story, so I think we can cut them a little slack. Besides CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE! Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter, and I can't wait to go on this super totally awesome best friend adventure world cup of the universe with all of you!
Also, I'd like to thank Lexy for being my love and inspiration and the lovely Normah for this story's BEAUTIFUL cover! :D :D :D