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Chapter 14

After the kiss on the couch that night, everything went back to the way it was before. Except one thing: Melodie was still there. And to everyone, it seemed like she wasn't going anywhere.

"Well," Emma said, "everything is pretty much back to normal."

"Except Melodie," Lo added. Fin nodded her head. She asked, "But what are we going to do about it?"

"We could write a ton of evaluation cards, giving her zeros out of tens," suggested Lo.

"Or," Emma said, "we could just ask your dad to fire her."

"What would we say? 'Mr. Ridgemount, sir, we were wondering if you could fire Melodie because she's ruining our summer and trying to tear Reef and Fin apart'?" Fin said. "Yeah, that would go over well."

"We could make her look bad, too," Lo suggested again.

"How?" Emma asked.

"I've got some ideas," Lo said evilly.

They had tried everything all three could think of to get rid of Melodie. From unlocking the shed's doors where all the clubs and golf balls were stored, hiding the keys, even taking a golf cart that was reserved for her and crashing it into the lake, nothing worked. Emma asked Johnny, Lo asked Broseph, and Fin asked Reef to help but nothing worked.

One night on the beach the six were sitting around the campfire. Reef had his arm around Fin who in turned leaned into him, making it not a secret the two were together. Broseph had casually had his arm around Lo who didn't mind; Johnny had tried but Emma said she wasn't cold, still not understanding that Johnny had a crush on her and Ty would never go out with her, much less remember her name.

The topic of the night was what it has been for the past several—how to get rid of Melodie.

They had been talking until they heard some rustling of leaves. They were surprised to discover it was Melodie. Reef pulled Fin closer to him so that they were hugging. Melodie took a deep breath. She was obviously ready to make some sort of big announcement.

"Hey," she said finally. Everyone nodded their heads in turn. "I just want to say that I'm sorry that I've made everything miserable for all of you." Emma started to say something but she was cut off. "It's not your guys' fault. I'm not having as much fun as I should be. Plus, you guys are best friends. Some people would say I'm trying to butt in or tear you apart. I wasn't trying to, but it kind of happened that way. And I'm sorry." A single tear slide down her face.

Emma got up and hugged her. "You don't have to go. There are plenty of people you can be friends with."

"Emma, not helping," Fin warned.

She pulled away. "Sorry." Melodie nodded.

"It's okay. I don't even know why I applied to work here. I don't even like surfing!"

Lo muttered, "Neither does Kelly."

"I'm sorry for what I said about you, Fin, and you, Reef. It was incredibly uncalled for."
"It's okay," Fin said. Reef nodded although he didn't quite agree.

Melodie said, "I'm leaving tomorrow morning, in case you're wondering." She turned away from the group and walked back to the staff house where she started to pack.

"Well, I guess one of our problems is solved," said Lo.

"What other problems do we have?" asked Broseph. "It's Surfer's Paradise for a reason: no problems!"

Lo, using her head, pointed at Johnny and Emma. "Oh."

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