Chapter 2: Otto's Arrival

The drive from Ocean Shores to the airport in Santa Monica was strangely quiet, if you didn't count Raymundo's half-humming, half-singing along with the cheesy 80s music radio station and the dull roar of the engine in the blue and white 1980 Toyota Land Cruiser. "The Cruiser" usually remained parked in the shed behind the Rockets' house, due to its "delicate" (run-down) condition, but it had made the cut over Ray's yellow Jeep Wrangler today, as Reggie, Twister, Sam, and later Otto, with all his gear, would be along for the ride.

In the back of the car, Reggie was chewing on the nails of her left hand, her elbow propped up on the open window, as Twister slowly slid his hand over and grasped her right one. A warm feeling seeped into Reggie's stomach, almost squelching the butterflies that had been fluttering around in there all morning. She was excited to see her brother again; that much was true. After 2 months, she actually missed the dorkwad's endless bragging and showboating. However, she was a little worried as to how he would react to Twister and her being together. He had not responded to the email about it she had sent him a few days ago. Maybe he didn't receive it. Or maybe he was just really pissed.

Reggie gave Twister a sidelong glance and giggled as he made a face in reaction to Ray's singing. She still couldn't believe that she had fallen for the kid who was practically her brother, who had, for the previous 17 years of her life, been a fun companion to surf and skateboard with, but had never made her pulse race in the way that it was racing now. It was so strange yet so teen movie cliché, that Reggie didn't know what to think. She did know that she really liked this boy, and Otto, well, Otto could just deal.

Everyone seemed to be bouncing up and down a lot more on the cracked black vinyl bench seats of the Cruiser, and it wasn't long before smoke began pouring out of the hood. "Overheated," Ray stated pleasantly, of this not uncommon occurrence. He pulled off on the side of the road. "Will somebody hand me a jug of water from the trunk?"

Twister reached around and relayed one of the plastic milk jugs filled with water—on hand for just this purpose—to Ray, who popped the hood and walked around to tend to the engine. Reggie snapped out of her own reverie at that moment and noticed that Sam had been quiet most of the ride as well. "Yo, Sammy," Reggie said. "How's it going in the front?"

Sam, who clearly had been staring off into space, jumped and quickly held up the book he had in his lap. "I was just looking through this manual on Lightwave, the computer animation program we're learning in my class at Ocean State." Leave it to Sammy to start the summer off with community classes at the local college.

"Squid, the book's upside-down," Twister pointed out.

"Yeah. Well." Sam replied. "So, who can guess what Otto's gonna say when he first gets off the plane?" he recovered quickly.

"Dude, you guys shoulda seen me in Hawaii. It was Otto-matic!" Reggie mimicked Ottospeak.

"I ruled the waves! None of the competition could touch me!" Twister added.

Sam laughed in agreement with the others. "Yeah, yeah that's great. Wow. And then I wonder what he's gonna say about you two?" He raised his eyebrows quizzically.

Twister and Reggie exchanged hesitant glances. Before either one could reply, Raymundo popped his head through the driver's side door. "All fixed guys," he said cheerily. "We can be on our way."

* * * * * *

Santa Monica Airport was bustling with excited travelers arriving and departing for beach vacations. You could tell the difference between the vacationers and locals just by observing their tans—those just arriving from other areas of the state and country were quite pale, while those just leaving displayed painful sunburns. Most of the locals sported deep tans, with the exception of Sam, whose fair skin burned easily in the sun. Twister's red hair, freckles, and olive complexion made an unlikely combination, though in the summer, the sun bleached his hair into a more strawberry blond color.

As the kids waited for Ray to confirm Otto's flight arrival at the information desk, Reggie noticed some guys gawking at her from one of the sitting areas nearby. They were obviously shoobies—the gang's term for tourists or vacationers—with pale complexions and loud Hawaiian shirts, and they were pointing and winking at her. Reggie quickly turned her back on them. Flustered, she removed the sunglasses perched on her head and ran her fingers through her shoulder-length, magenta-highlighted hair. She couldn't pretend she hadn't noticed the increased guy attention toward her this past year. So she had started wearing a little makeup when she went out. So the spaghetti-strapped tank tops and jean shorts she normally wore had begun to display more curves. So what? Guys were supposed to look for more than just, well, looks, and besides, she already had a man. Reggie looked over at Twister, who was now riding one of those pushcarts used for carrying luggage like a scooter, trying to make it flip, while Sam laughed hysterically. Ok, well, maybe not a man. Reggie rolled her eyes.

"Damn, I wish I brought my video camera; that woulda been funny to record. And I could've gotten Otto-man's big entrance." When Twister noticed Reggie watching him, he sauntered over and put his arm around her. "How ya doin', babe?" he asked in a mock-seductive voice. Reggie rolled her eyes again. Twister could be so goofy sometimes. He tickled her stomach and Reggie started play-fighting him back.

"Arggh! Public place! Public place!" Sam covered his eyes.

"Whatever Sam," Reggie said. "So Twist, any progress with convincing your parents to get you a car?"

"No," Twister said mournfully. "After all Lars's wrecks, they don't think they can trust me either, and they can't afford the insurance."

"Yeah, I dunno about Otto. I can't see Dad buying him a car any time soon, even if he does pass the driver's test." Because Otto turned 16 right before he left for the tour, he hadn't had time to get his license. "Looks like it's just Sam and me for now."

"You know I am happy to give you all rides in my Volvo, anytime," Sam said sarcastically. His mother, always concerned for Sam's safety, entrusted him with her Volvo station wagon when he got his license earlier in the year. Sam was less than enthused.

"Hey, kids!" Ray turned around from the counter with excitement on his face. "Otto will be arriving at Gate 19! Let's hurry!" Everyone made their way down the long airport hallway to the proper gate. As they took their places near the turnstiles in front of the boarding tunnel, Ray began to pass out the flowered, multi-colored leis that Tito, his business partner and cook at the Shore Shack, had provided for the occasion.

"Daaad," Reggie complained. "This is California, not Hawaii. Why do we have to do this?"

"Relax, Rocket-Girl," Ray said calmly. "Tito felt bad that he couldn't leave the Shack to pick up Otto with us, so he wanted me to 'bring him in spirit.'" Ray had already donned a lei with purple flowers, and held a blue one ready to adorn Otto when got off the plane.

Reggie sighed and put hers on. "Still, it's embarrassing," she said. Twister and Sam followed suite, snorting with laughter.

Suddenly a voice called out on the loudspeaker: "Delta Flight 238 from Richmond has now arrived. Passengers will exit the plane shortly." Ten minutes later, a large group of young people appeared at the mouth of the tunnel. From their tanned, toned bodies and surfer clothes, it was not hard to tell that this was Otto's group. Finally Otto arrived, near the end of the pack, talking to a boy with blond, shaggy hair. He lifted his dark shades off his eyes and surveyed the crowd for his friends and family. In a second, Raymundo was there, smothering him in a hug.

"Hey Dad, hey guys...mmmph, mmph....are these...flowers?" When Ray finally released his grip, Otto turned to greet Twister and Sam. "Aw, it's so great to see you guys!" The three exchanged one of their famous "woogity" handshakes. Then Otto turned to Reggie. She suddenly felt so glad to see him again that she forgot all about her nervousness over the whole "her and Twister" thing. The two exchanged a warm hug.

"Whoa, that was weird," Otto said when they finished hugging.

"Yeah, let's not do that again," Reggie agreed. "But good to see ya, bro."

Otto bid farewell to the other members of the team, with promises to see them all again next week at the championships. Reggie noticed that several members of the girls' team made sure to tell her brother goodbye as well.

"Shotgun!" Otto claimed, when they reached the car in the airport parking lot.

"Yeah, I guess it's only fair," Sam conceded. He started to crawl in the back after Twister, but then paused. "Oh, Reggie, you can go first, so you can sit by...I mean, you're the smallest so you should sit in the middle."

Reggie's face reddened as she saw Otto looking straight at her. She couldn't read his expression, because his dark glasses covered his eyes. "Yeah, that would make sense," she said.

After the car was loaded up with people and Otto's luggage, Twister made sure to steer the conversation toward Otto's favorite subject: himself. "Hey, those are some cool beads in your dreads, bro," he said.

"Yeah, and uh, nice new threads," Reggie added, referring to Otto's vintage-looking orange and green printed hooded sweatshirt and long, cut- off corduroy shorts. He did seem to look cooler somehow.

"Thanks," said Otto. "I guess the other guys kinda influenced my style, lookswise. But as for surfing style—they got to learn from the master!" And Otto was off, regaling tales of 50 foot waves in Hawaii, the total shoobie-ness of Florida, the competition during a rainstorm in Virginia, etc. His talk held Ray, Twister, and Sam captive for most of the ride home; Reggie listened for a while and then stared idly out the window. The gang was finally back together again, but it wouldn't be the same. What if she wanted to go to the movies or something with just Twister and had to tell Otto and Sam they couldn't come? Could she hold hands with Twister in front of Otto? Reggie felt uneasy about the whole situation.

"Man, I really have to pee!" Twister announced, after they had been on the road for about 30 minutes, bumping along to an old Men at Work song.

"Can you hold on, Twist? We're not really near any stores or gas stations right now." Ray said, looking at him in the rearview mirror. They were driving on a long, flat strip of highway, surrounded on both sides by empty, desert-like terrain.

"Um, I don't think I can," Twister strained, holding up the empty Big Gulp orange soda that he had purchased at a gas station outside the airport.

"Actually, I gotta go, too. I held it on the plane because those tiny bathrooms freak me out. Dad, will you just pull over?" Otto asked.

"Well, okay," said Ray. He pulled the car off on the side of the road, and the two boys quickly jumped out.

"That pile of rocks over there looks like it needs watering," Twister suggested. He and Otto tramped over to the spot, not 10 feet from the car, and proceeded to "water it."

"Ugh, they are so weird. Look, they're standing there talking to each other while they pee." Reggie said, exasperated. "You sure you don't have to go too, Sam?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sam chuckled.

"Yo, Reggie!" Otto called from outside the car. When she looked, the two boys both dropped their shorts and mooned her.

"Ewww! You guys are so gross! I did not need to see that!" she screamed.

Ray, who was busy flipping radio stations, had not noticed the commotion but called the boys back to the car anyway. "We need to get back for the Welcome Home party Tito is throwing at the Shack," he said.

"Party? For me?" Otto asked. "Excellent!"

Reggie noticed that Twister's cheeks were a little red when he took his place beside her in the back seat. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "we were just kidding around." He gave her a hopeful smile that was just so cute that Reggie couldn't be mad at him. They both dozed off, their heads almost touching against the back of the seat.

It was dark when Reggie woke up. The car wasn't moving. "Are we home?" Twister asked groggily.

"Not yet," Ray answered cheerily. "Will somebody hand me a jug of water from the back?"