"Reggie," called a voice, muffled by the closed window.

Reggie looked up from her laptop as someone began knocking on her window.

"Reggie, are you up?"

She got out of her bed and opened the curtains. Twister, she thought, of course. This hadn't been the first time one of the guys had used the half pipe next to her window to his advantage. Usually it was Otto trying to sneak in or out when he was grounded. Since he was grounded again, she assumed he'd told Twister to come by and bring some footage to keep himself entertained (and maybe see what he needed to change to nail that 1440 flip.)

She opened the window and Twister proceeded to fumble in.

"It's tonight," he said excitedly.

"Shh, you're going to wake Raymundo," she said looking at the door. "What are you talking about?"

"Night surfing, it's happening tonight," he whispered eagerly.

"What? How did you find out? Oh man, Otto's gonna be pissed."

"Why? He's been waiting to go night surfing for forever," Twister said confused.

Reggie gave him a look. "Hello? He's grounded for the rest of the month. There's no way he's sneaking out this time. You should've seen how mad Raymundo was. If he got caught sneaking out two days after he got grounded, Raymundo would kill him. And if we wake him up for this, we're condoning his behavior and we're gonna get busted too."

"Okay, okay, but we-"

They heard a noise and both fell silent, looking around for a few seconds.

Twister lowered his voice, "we can still go. Come on, get ready."

She gave him a skeptical look.

"Reg," he said, "we've been hearing about how awesome it is for all these years. This is the first year we actually know when it's happening. And besides, this is your last summer before senior year. Who knows if you'll even be around next summer for it? Come on, we can't miss out. It's gonna be wicked."

She gave him a smile.

"Go get my board from the back, I'll meet you outside."

As they rode their bikes along the pier, they could already hear people out in the ocean. They could see bright, colorful lights coming from the beach. They pulled their bikes in and hopped off, grabbing their boards as their feet hit the sand. They looked around, then smiled at each other as they started running towards the water. They grabbed some glow bracelets that were sitting out for everyone before running into the ocean. The water felt great, especially compared to the cool air. They paddled out, keeping a distance from the crowd. They recognized a lot of people that they had never really talked to. They usually hated crowded waves, but the atmosphere that night was so vibrant, they couldn't help but enjoy all the people there.

Twister knew he'd be dead if his parents found out he was there. Whenever they hear anything about people surfing at night, they go on and on to Twister about all the dangers. They suspected Lars used to go with his friends, but since Lars never listened to them, Twister would get even more lectures. Twister and Reggie both knew that Raymundo and Tito used to go night surfing with everyone. They always pretended they didn't and denied stories they had previously told. Once the kids got old enough to actually do it themselves, Raymundo started getting way more paranoid about it. They'd both be in trouble with him if he found them out there.

Since neither of them had been surfing at night before, it was a little harder to see when a good wave was coming. They knew they should stick to pretty chill waves to be safe. They were both able to get plenty of good waves before the water started to calm down for a little while. They laid on their boards, feeling the waves rolling under them. They took in their surroundings, from the light of full moon shining down on them to the guy being mocked by his friends after beefing it. They saw all the people dancing on the beach and listened as the music seemed to get louder, but the world somehow felt quieter.

"It's probably getting late," Reggie said after awhile.

Twister smiled. "It was late when we got here," he teased her.

She splashed him and they started paddling back to shore.

"Let's just stay a little longer," he said once they were on the sand and started feeling the warmth from the bonfire. She shot him a look, but couldn't hide her smile. "I'll make you a s'more," he joked as he headed for the marshmallows.

They didn't know how long they had been sitting by the fire, but they had almost completely dried off. The fire was warm and the air was cool. Twister still had some marshmallow on the side of his mouth from where Reggie had smeared it against his face after he tried to eat the s'more he had promised to her. Most everyone had already gone home and it was quiet. They didn't know what time it was. Probably somewhere around three or four in the morning.

They pulled their bikes into the cul-de-sac and hopped off to try to quietly put their boards in the back. They climbed up the ladder to the half-pipe and sat at the top. For awhile, they were silent. They looked at the stars and looked out at the world that seemed to be so still.

"This has been the most incredible night," Reggie said as she watched the sky.

Twister looked at her and smiled.

"Thanks for making me go," she joked, nudging him with her shoulder.

Twister was still smiling, but he didn't say anything. He looked down, then back up at her. Reggie could feel her heart beating faster as he leaned forward. His lips were soft against hers. She put her arms around him and pulled him closer, feeling the salt from the ocean still on his skin as she pressed her hands against his back. She felt him putting more strength in the kiss, then slow down before gently pulling away. They glanced up at each other, but didn't hold eye contact, neither one of them having fully processed what had just happened. Twister ran his hand through his hair and started awkwardly making his way to the ladder.

"Well, um, I guess, uh... goodnight," he said as he started climbing down.

Reggie sat there for a little while longer, watching him make his way back to his house before she climbed in the window. She changed into her pajamas and laid down on her bed, playing the scene over and over again in her mind. She glanced over at the clock, 4:12am. She was wide awake.