The waves of Perdido Beach always made Sam feel better. The feeling of freedom and power as he rode the waves, the water gently lapping at his wetsuit as he lay on his surfboard, the sun on his back. Being out there with Quinn was heaven.
Sam laid down on his back on the sand, closing his eyes. He heard a thump and new Quinn had laid down beside him. The afternoon sun warmed his skin, and he smiled. He was happy.
"Hey, brah," Quinn said, breaking the silence. "Can you and your mom drive me to the game tonight?"
"Yeah," Sam replied. "We're leaving at five-thirty."
A lot of the Perdido Beach ninth graders were going to a football game with Coates Academy, the boarding school for "troubled kids" up a short distance up the highway. Most of them didn't actually care about the football, but they were offering gift cards to a local ice cream store to students who showed up for "school spirit and support." Not many kids would pass up a free Frosty Whip ice cream.
"Cool, thanks," Quinn said. "I've got money for my ticket, though."
"Good, because I wasn't going to pay for you," Sam laughed.
Quinn made a pretend-offended noise. "I'm glad to know our friendship is still pure."
"As always."
They stayed there for a few more minutes before Sam's cellphone rang. Sam opened his eyes and retrieved his phone from his backpack. A glance at it told him it was his mom, Connie Temple.
"It's my mom," Sam told Quinn. "Hello?"
"Hello, Sam," his mom replied. "It's five-forty-five. You should come home and get ready for the game."
"Yeah, okay," Sam agreed. When Quinn repeatedly poked him in the side, he said, "I'm putting you on speaker, Quinn wants to say hi." He tapped the speaker phone icon on his screen.
"Hi, mom!" Quinn spoke into the phone.
Connie laughed. "Hi, Quinn."
"I told him we could take him to the game, is that alright?" Sam asked.
"We can do that," Connie answered. "Now come home and get ready. You're probably filthy and sandy." With that she hung up.
Sam took one last look at the ocean. "Okay, let's go."
Astrid looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her blonde hair was neatly brushed and hung down to her shoulder blades. Her makeup was applied and she looked very orderly. Satisfied, she put down her hairbrush and walked down the hallway to her bedroom.
A glance at her alarm clock told her it was five-fifteen. She'd be leaving in ten minutes to get to the football, where Perdido Beach will play at Coates Academy. Astrid didn't care much for sports, but students who attended were being given gift cards to the Perdido Beach ice cream shop — a place whose food actually got a reaction out of her autistic four-year-old brother, Little Pete — and her friends wanted her to go because she needed to "be more social and get out there." Maybe they were right.
She grabbed her jacket, since it would be a bit chilly for California that night. Slipping it on, she heard her phone buzz. It was her best friend, Georgia, saying, You still need us to pick you up, right?
Yes, please, Astrid responded, walking down her stairs to wait in the living room for Georgia.
A few minutes after she sat down on her couch, her mom stuck her head into the room from the kitchen. "Can Georgia take you?" she asked.
"Yes, and are you taking us home?" Astrid asked, peering through the window to see Georgia's car pull into the driveway.
"Yep," her mom replied.
Double-checking to make sure she had money in her jacket pocket, Astrid told her mom Georgia was here and that she'd see her later.
Sighing slightly, Astrid walked outside.
When Sam and Quinn were dropped off at Coates, they looked around a bit before going to the stadium. An actual stadium, not just a small field like the Perdido Beach school had. The entire school looked like it was fit for the president's children to attend.
They were just about to head to the stadium when a dark-haired girl yelled at them, "What the hell are you doing?"
Sam and Quinn froze, embarrassed. She was obviously from Coates, since she had just walked out of the main building, and two boys were walking out behind her.
"Nothing," Sam said quickly. "Just… looking around. And stuff."
"And stuff," the girl repeated. "What, are you impressed?"
"A little bit, to be honest," Quinn said, blushing.
One of the boys — the dirty-blonde haired one — spoke. "Can't blame them. Their Perdido Beach school is probably run-down and trashy." His voice sounded cold and malicious.
"Now, now, Drake," the dark-haired boy scolded. He looked tidy and purposeful, and sounded the same. He was wearing what was probably the Coates uniform, which looked very formal. "These are our wonderful guests from town," he said, sounded like he was mockingly reciting something someone else had said.
Drake started to verbally retaliate, but the girl cut him off, rolling her eyes. "Sorry about these two," she said, not bothering to lower her voice. "They bicker a lot. I'm Diana." She stuck out her hand, which Sam and Quinn took turns shaking.
"Quinn," Quinn introduced himself.
"Sam." Sam couldn't help but notice how attractive she was — her wavy dark hair fell almost perfectly, and her eyes were brown and twinkling. She had a nice body, too….
Sam was yanked out of his daydreams by the dark-haired boy. "I'm Caine," he was saying. He nodded to Drake. "That's Drake, our token psychopath." Caine shook their hands, but Drake just glared angrily at them all.
Diana leaned over to whisper something in Caine's ear. Caine's eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed in anger, all in a split second. His cheerful, polite expression returned in an instant.
The Coates trio looked at Sam and Quinn, making them more uncomfortable. Diana's eyes lingered on Sam, as if sizing him up.
"You two should sit with us," Diana invited.
"Yeah, alright," Sam said, happy to have an excuse to hang out with a hot girl.
The three led the way to the stadium, where they paid for tickets and found seats. Diana sat next to Sam, Quinn next to Sam, Caine next to Quinn, and Drake next to Diana. They made smalltalk, Sam and Quinn exchanging slightly confused glances, and the game started. As they talked, Sam realized that none of them cared about the game any more than he and Quinn did, and that Coates was giving their students extra credit in Phys Ed for attending the game.
"So, Sam," Diana said. "What's Perdido Beach like? I've never actually been down there."
Sam shrugged, his heart racing at this individual conversation with Diana. "It's not much. Pretty small, not too exciting. You're not missing much."
"It's still got to be better than Coates. This place is like a prison. We're only allowed to go to town on the weekends, when they sometimes organize buses to take us. Or if someone comes to take us." Diana looked at him, calculative. "You should take me sometime. I'd like that."
Sam felt his face go red. "I'd like that, too," he managed.
After exchanging phone numbers, much to Sam's astonishment and delight, Diana ordered Caine to go get everybody popcorn. With a small glare of irritation towards Diana, Caine left, and Diana turned around to talk to Drake.
"She gave me her number," Sam whispered to Quinn.
"Damn," Quinn marveled. "She's so hot, brah, you scored one."
They were both temporarily distracted by a young red-haired girl shouting profanity at the football players, who was then screamed at to be respectful by a teacher.
"I know," Sam agreed. "She said she wanted me to take her to town sometime."
Quinn raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Nice! Hopefully she doesn't pull a Coates and kill you."
Sam shook his head. "I don't think she's like that."