Chapter 1:
Car lights flicker through my bedroom window making it hard to fall asleep. Sometimes the booming music of beer inflicted teenagers and adults alike seep through the walls of my room and turn my silent night into one of mild insomnia once again. There would be times when the minutes, hours, days and nights all rolled into one and confused my tired brain. After those periods of confusion I would crash onto my bed and finally sleep a full and wonderful night.
The cycle had started the year my oldest brother Stephen had gone off to college. That was 6 long years ago and tonight, like most others, was never ending. It is the night of the last day of school, but I guess technically it is morning now. 3:14 in the morning according the bright red lights of my alarm clock. Another year has passed and my brother Justin is set to leave in two short months to follow Stephen's footsteps at the closest city college. He will be specializing in Marine Biology. This is the most obvious choice for Justin. The ocean is the only thing that truly ever holds his attention for more than 2 weeks. His grades barely squeaked him out of high school and into college. Dirt bikes, paint brushes, a guitar and hockey sticks all line the walls of are garage. Forgotten and brand new, some items have barely made it out of their packaging.
I was staring mindlessly up at the ceiling looking at old band posters I had hung years ago when I hear my door squeak open. Out of the corner of my eye I see a dark figure outlined in the shaft of light that now occupies my carpeted floor. I had sort of expected him to show up sometime tonight. What recently legalized adult would want to sleep the night of their official freedom? Justin tip toes towards me and a few moments later I feel the bed give way a bit to accommodate the new weight.
"Bev, Bev you awake?" he asks looking straight into my open eyes with a sheepish smile on his tanned face. He pushes a hand through his light blonde hair and rolls his eyes when I turn over in my sheets. I am not interested in a party tonight.
"Come on Beverly." He said shaking my arm. "We are all going to Point Break to catch some night waves. You in?"
I turn over now and look up at him. "You mean you aren't going to a party?"
"Hell no. Are you kidding? These waves are supposed to be some of the best this year. I'm not missing this for a stupid party when the stuff happening at Point Break is going to be better. More than half the school is headed down to the beach anyway." He says with a shrug and pushes my arm again for good measure. "Now throw something besides pajamas on and get in the truck. Foster, Owen and I are leaving in 30 minutes. Your board is already loaded" He walks out of my room confident that I'll be down in the drive way in 30 minutes to help them push the car silently into the street. Who was I kidding? He was right. Suddenly, I know I'll be down there too and rush to get ready.
Point Break is the hot spot of small town I live in and there is always a crowd of teenagers hanging around there no matter what the hour. It is easy to say that Justin leads the school. He has them all under his thumb, but never takes advantage of his power. People wave at him in hallways and everyone knows his name. He had been voted Prom King and most likely to succeed even though no one can figure out just what he will succeed at. I guess, by default, I am co-leader. Though I don't get as many smiles, waves and admirers as Justin the clique Justin is in had swallowed me up as well my freshmen year. Popularity had been handed to me on a silver platter, but I had no idea what to do with it. No one gave me the instruction manual because they assumed I already knew like Justin. So after a year or so I accepted the fact that there was no escaping the attention and finally buckled back down into surfing and school once again. This situation couldn't have turned out better. I was invited to parties and events, but no one really was insulted if I didn't show up and I could get away with a lot more stupid and embarrassing accidents than most people. I had two best friend named Natasha and Piper and they were the only ones at school who I think really know how completely unpopular I deserve to be.
I throw on a mismatched bathing suit, board shorts and a shirt. My hair was a mess so I pull it back into a ponytail and head for the hallway. I can barely hear my brother and his friend's quick whispers in the dark abyss below. One flight of stairs later I was down on the first floor with them. Foster, and Owen are like brothers to me, they spend so much time at my house it would make sense to just adopt them. Finally we are ready and take our coolers and equipment to Justin's truck. It is a tired old truck with rust falling and chipped paint. In my opinion, it is the nastiest shade of yellow I have ever seen, but this truck is Justin's baby. The bed of the truck is holding onto the body with strong cords and somewhere up inside the car is a towel Justin just put in yesterday to keep the car running. I don't ask questions about Justin's strange methods because I know this is the only way he can keep the car running on a Windy Surf Shop employee's salary. Justin's baby, however, is the best to ride in because no matter where you go people constantly do a double take and staring at it. Honestly, if I wasn't so used to seeing it every day I would stare too. The car looks like it just got trampled by a bunch of elephants and is probably not even street legal.
Quietly, we set our four surfing boards in the bed of the truck. Justin climbs into the driver seat and steers the car as the rest of us push the car farther down the road so that my parents don't hear the loud engine wake and come after us. Foster and Owen take the backseats, while I take the passenger seat and we begin the 20 minute drive to Point Break laughing, joking and enjoying the summer night air all the way there.
Point Break is the best local beach to go to if you are looking to catch some amazing waves. The best part about this beach is no one, but students of Windy Bay High School come here pretty much. The occasional tourist or local will stop by here with their buddies for the weekend, but most the time the beach is ours. The shore stretches for about a mile before hitting two rock cliffs on either side that stretch relatively far into the ocean. The edges of our large water cove are never surfed on because the waves crash against the cliffs with such force there would be hardly a chance of surviving.
Justin parks his truck on the left cliff parking lot and we gather our gear. Foster and Justin wear wet suits like it is a religion while Owen and I tend to just go without preferring the feel of the wind while we serf on summer days and nights. A path of stairs cuts down the side of the cliff and we take the path down to the shore. Below, I can see the silhouettes of a large group of teenagers gathered around a fire and in the ocean I can make out the figures of a few surfers. Hoots of laughter echo around the beach thanks to cliffs. Finally we join the group and stick our boards into the sand.
"Ah yes, Justin and his buddies are here. Now the party can really begin!" cries an overly enthusiastic guy, but he's right because shortly the music is turned up, hot dogs and burgers are made, people begin to dance, more surfers hit the water and I am greeted by friends.
Let the summer begin.