"Bradin, someone's here to see you" Bradin's aunt Ava yelled to him from the main part of the house. It was mid-afternoon the next day.
Bradin came out of his room to see Melani talking to Nikki and Derek. "Mel, what are you doing here?"
"Taking you to tryouts, remember?" she said "We talked about this last night, I said you were a sure in for the surf team if I took you, remember…"
"Oh, yeah, well, I was thinking about not trying out…" he started
"Nope, not an option. Get your stuff, let's go. I'm not having people from home calling me and yelling because you're miserable here, just not going to happen. Now, tryouts are in a half an hour. GO!" she said.
"Mel why are you doing this, you hate me?" he said as he started to walk towards his room again.
She followed him to his room "Because I'm selfish and I don't want to see you in the halls all alone, because believe it or not, I will feel guilty" she said as she leaned against his doorway
"Oh you do have a heart, that's touching" he said as he walked up to her "maybe there's hope for you yet."
She rolled her eyes, "Keep on thinking that Farm Boy"
"Bye Aunt Ava, I'll be home later" he said as the two made their way up the stairs to the door
"Ok sweetie, have fun and good luck. Don't forget to call Jay and tell him if you're going to be late to work" she smiled
"I will, bye" he said
"Bye Nikki, bye Derek" Melani said smiling. The two waved, happy to see a familiar face in a very unfamiliar place.
Bradin blinked as he walked out the door, blinded by the bright California sun. He still wasn't used to all the aspects of living in Playa Linda.
"Throw your board in the back" she said as she walked up to a blue Mustang convertible "Then maybe I'll let you sit in the front with me"
Bradin laughed as he placed his board in the back seat "well, where do you want me to go?" he said smiling
"You can sit in the front, but if you touch my radio, I swear to God I will leave you on the side of the road." She laughed as he climbed in and soon enough they were on their way.
"So, being head cheerleader and all, where's the boyfriend?" he said jokingly
"He's in Mexico. He won't be back till Friday." She replied with a sigh
"Really, I was kinda kidding"
"Yep, his dad owns a resort there so he goes away for all the vacations and I'm left here all alone. And to answer your next question, we're exclusive when he's here but we're not when he's not because I get really lonely really fast"
"I wasn't going to ask that, but thanks for sharing" he laughed "So what's his name?" Bradin said, not really caring. Thinking about Melani had kept him up all night and around 5:30 he had decided that no matter how much he fought it, he liked her. Pure and simple
"James, he's the QB for the football team. We've been together for almost 2 years"
"Wow, that's a long time. You must really love him" Bradin said sadly
"No, I don't think I do, I just like having him around. But don't tell him I said that, I could get in trouble" They both laughed as she pulled into the parking lot of Two Brothers. "Come on, I'll introduce you to some people before I have to go to cheerleading practice" Bradin followed her as she walked down the beach. "Hey Lucas" she yelled to her friend.
"Hey Mel. Who's the new guy? You giving up on James finally?"
"Not funny Luke, he'd kill you if he knew you just said that and no. This is Bradin; he's trying out for the team. I was wondering if you could help him out since you're my bestest guy friend. Pleeeease?"
"How can I say no to you, its impossible" she smiled as he turned to Bradin "hey I'm Lucas, but you can call me Luke"
"I'm Bradin. So what do I have to do, I've only been surfing for a few months."
"No problem, Coach Andrews will tell us what he wants. Plus isn't Erika Spaulding your coach? She's probably taught you enough to get through tryouts"
"Cool" Bradin said. He liked Lucas and hoped they could get to be friends
"Awesome. I have to go to practice. You two be good. You're planning on coming to Lizzie's end of freedom party tonight, right?"
"Yep, what about you Bradin?" Lucas replied
"Sure, why not?" he said.
The coach yelled in the background "We should go over there" Lucas said.
Melani smiled as she walked to her car. Don't go there she thought think of what he'd do to you, he was horrible to you when you were little, what makes you think he's changed? Plus think of what James would do to him and you. It just can't happen. Give up now. Melani hated when her head told her things she already knew and now she knew she was falling for Bradin, and that was nothing new…