Erika laid down on her bed with a sigh. She had worked nine hours straight and didn't bother to take her break because they had been so busy. Luckily, Erika had taken the next day off to go apartment hunting because, as much as she loved not having to make her bed and people picking up after her, she wanted a place of her own. Nothing fancy, just something that would hold up until she had enough money to buy a real apartment.

The truth was Erika was trying to keep herself busy so she wouldn't have time to think about what happened at Beyond the Blue or, more importantly, Bradin Westerly.

She wanted to keep from reminding herself that she was still in love with him; she wanted to forget that the girl she wanted to befriend was now his girlfriend. She reminded herself that she came back to prove that she was over Bradin.

But as hard as she tried, the memories of the days when she and Bradin were together flowed into her mind. The days when Bradin used to go to Erika for advice on girls, the way they'd spend countless hours out on the ocean water surfing, the way Bradin looked in his wet suit, when Bradin first told her that he was in love with her—

"Get a hold of yourself, Erika," Erika said aloud to herself as she put a pillow over her face. Bradin obviously hated her; she saw the way he looked at her when he saw her in the surf shop. And the way he left without a word to her… with Belle.

Of all people, why did Bradin have to choose the girl that Erika thought would be the perfect friend? Belle, the girl who didn't ask too many questions, who always knew when to listen and when to give advice, who never pushed you for more information than you were willing to give… that was the kind of friend Erika needed. But now she couldn't help but feel a little resentful toward her, although that was just the green-eyed monster trying to pop out.

What did Belle have that Erika didn't? Erika was a surfer… but then again, so was Belle. And they both worked at the same place. Belle was, no doubt about it, one of the richest girls in Playa Linda, but she wasn't one to go around flashing her money… not that her parents ever really gave her money, anyway. Guys seemed to be interested in her, but Belle only had on guy in mind.

Okay, so Belle seemed to have quite a bit more than Erika, but that didn't make her any less of a person. Erika was once a well-known surfer, even though she never did do competitions. Belle was more known for her good looks and wealthy parents, but there was no denying that she was good at surfing. Not that she had anything on Bradin, but she was damn good. It was a wonder where she learned it all since Erika was one of the top surf instructors, along side with Jay, but Jay hadn't done much teaching in a while.

If Belle was the perfect friend then why was Erika wishing she'd never met her?

Before she could answer her own question, her phone rang. "Hello?" Erika said as she sat up to pick up the phone.

There was no reply.

"Hello?" Erika repeated.

The person sighed heavily. "Erika."

Erika stopped breathing for a moment. It was Bradin.

"Hey," Erika said, trying to hide the surprise in her voice, "how'd you get my number?"

"Look," he said impatiently, ignoring Erika's question, "I'm only calling you because Belle wanted me to, okay? She thinks we need to talk."

Erika tried to control her breathing. "Do you think we need to talk?"

"I wouldn't be on the phone with you if I didn't. There are some things I need to know, Erika."

Erika took a deep breath. "What do you wanna know?"

Bradin didn't reply for a moment. "I think we need to talk face to face."

"Uh… okay…" Erika stuttered, "I'm not working tomorrow—"

"Fine," Bradin interrupted, "I'm training until 10. I'll meet you at the pier at noon."

"That's great,"

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Click.

Erika slowly set the phone back in its place. Seeing Bradin again so soon wasn't what she was expecting. Actually, she'd thought he'd try to avoid her as long as he could. Then again, he did say he was only doing it because Belle wanted him to.

It turned out Belle was a good friend after all. That was something Erika was hoping to prove wrong. She didn't want to be friends with someone who was with Bradin, but that wasn't Belle's fault. Erika wasn't sure whether Belle knew about her history with Bradin but was pretty sure he'd explained everything to her by now.

Lying back onto her bed, Erika sighed. Apartment hunting would have to wait until some other time—Erika was meeting Bradin tomorrow. She wasn't sure how she should feel: excited, because Bradin wanted to see her, or scared because she'd have to explain why she left and why she came back.

This was crazy. Erika was supposed to be over Bradin. She was supposed to come back and prove that she was over him. But how was she supposed to know that one look at him would send all her hard work out the window? Erika was supposed to be strong.

… So why wasn't anything going the way she planned?