-
-
-
That Endless Summer
Chapter Eight: The Storm
"So hold me in and I could see
A cold romantic one-way street
An empty bed of used up promises"
- Love Song, Scott Clifton
-
-
-
"Bye sweetie" I said quietly in Cassie's ear before kissing her hair gently. The entirety of the reply was a mumble, followed by her rolling over and hugging the pillow to her tightly. We'd had quite a night out the night before, especially she and Maddie. Luckily enough Luke and I had planned on this too, and had left them a note, ordered room service for 11, and left copies of the Gilmore Girls for them to watch, until they felt like braving the sun. I looked at her sleeping form once more before shutting the door quietly behind me and walking into the joint kitchen our rooms shared.
Luke appeared moments later and gratefully accepted the coffee I'd prepared for him.
"Maddie?" I asked quietly as Luke sipped on his coffee.
"Out like a light still." He replied, as I nodded and said, "Cassie's the same. I think they'll sleep till the room service arrives."
"They better love us for eternity after last night… and this morning." Luke said, and I laughed quietly, so I didn't wake the girls.
I yawned as I walked over to the window, watching the sun peek it's way over the horizon, as all the oranges and yellows melded into the fading blue sky. This was my favourite time of the day, when the world was still sleeping, save for the few who dared to venture out into the surf.
"Forecast is clear skies, big surf about a half hour down the coast." Luke said across the room from me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Well," I said, moving across the room towards the door and putting my cup in the sink on the way "We better get moving then, hadn't we?"
"Couldn't have said it better myself." Luke replied, smiling as he grabbed his bag and followed me out the door.
Not surprisingly, we seemed to be the only guests up, and greeted the young doorman enthusiastically. He looked about our age, and appeared to be itching to go out into the surf like we were about to be.
"Heading down south?" He asked
"Something like that." I said, not knowing what to expect from the guy.
"There's a local spot, about three quarters of an hour south from here, and it's off the hook at the moment." He replied, smirking at our eager expressions "Reckon you two are man enough to surf with the big boys."
Stupid locals, always thinking they were speaking to pretty surfer boys. Instead of actual surfers, the kind that Luke and I were.
"Look, do you know something or not?" Luke asked, beginning to feel as frustrated with the guy as I was.
"Follow that road" he said, pointing down a back road to the side of the resort "About half an hour away there's a turn off to the left. Take that, and you'll find yourself at the best surfing spot Surfers Paradise has to offer." He finished, smirking at Luke and I. "You better be ready to surf with the big boys though." He added after Luke and I had thanked him and begun to walk away.
"Believe me, we are." I replied callously, before turning and walking towards the car.
Luke tossed me the keys and I opened the door, winding the window down.
"You sure we're up for it?" Luke asked, as he turned to look at me.
"More than ready dude. We've been hanging out waiting for surfing like this for lord knows how long. Let's prove that we can 'surf with the big boys'" I mimicked, causing Luke to grin at me.
We drove as the sun came fully up which meant we'd get there around the time the swell was just past it's high, a good time to surf, but not ideal. Still, if the waves that were promised by doorman dude were all they were cracked up to be, we'd be cheering.
"There" Luke said about twenty minutes later, "That's the turn off."
We drove down a bumpy dirt road for about five kilometers before the surf came into view. The waves were perfect.
"Dude." Luke said from next to me, after we'd parked and gotten out of the car.
"I know." I said, in awe of the sight infront of me.
"Dude." He repeated, whacking me in the chest.
"I know." I replied, smiling to him as I went to get our boards from the roof rack.
We walked down onto the soft sand, but were met with a group of people who groaned at the sight of us.
"Fresh meat." Said one of the darker haired boys, standing against his board that was wedged in the sand.
"Let me handle them" a blonde girl said from next to him, as she strolled towards us, in what I could only assume was what she believed to be a seductive manner.
"Aww boys, don't you know kids aren't allowed here without their parents?" She said as she pouted towards Luke and I.
We shared a look, then I turned to face the blonde girl.
She stood about Matilda's height, and had a toned body that obviously belonged to a surfer. I'll admit, she was attractive, you'd be mad not to think it. But I only had eyes for one girl.
-
-
-
This was so stupid. A girl pouting at us, but telling us to bugger off at the same time?
"Look," I said, deciding that a reasoning voice might be the best for a situation such as this. "We just wanna have a surf. We've had crap waves for weeks and have been looking forward to the good waves the sunshine state has to offer." I finished, half pleadingly.
Flattery with a woman will get you everywhere.
At least, that's what always happened with Matilda, being the somewhat vain creature she was.
The blonde scoffed at me.
"You Sydney kids right?" She asked.
"Summer Bay." Ric replied offhandedly.
"Never heard of it, which means it's pretty irrelevant in the general scheme of things. But whatever, it probably means you've never surfed waves like these, and we wouldn't want you going out there and messing up those pretty boy faces would we know?" She said, pulling my cheek as if I was a five-year-old.
I swatted her hand away and turned to Ric, saying "What is it with every bloody person thinking we're pretty surfer boys who sit on their boards out the back just to look cool?"
He shrugged, obviously holding his tongue so he didn't bite back at her.
"So you actually reckon you can surf these waves?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, sounding slightly curious, but still mocking us at the same time.
"Hell yes." Ric finally said, looking wistfully out over the waves.
"What's your names anyways?" She asked finally, apparently after weighing up the options she had.
"I'm Luke" I said, "And that's Ric" I finished, pointing to Ric who simply nodded.
"He's the strong and silent type." I said, trying to make the girl feel a bit better about us, "Doesn't really speak much at all."
"That's just how I like em." She replied, looking Ric up and down.
"Oh… no… we" I stammered before she began speaking. "I'm Parker." She said, as we walked down to the beach towards the group who were still staring at us.
"This is Lily," She said, pointing to a dark haired, dark skin girl who smiled at us slyly, before whispering in ear of the guy standing next to her. "That's Matt, Jeremy, John and Shane." She finished, pointing to the four boys who all stared Ric and I down.
"So" The tallest, I think John, said "You boys think you can surf with the big kids?"
"Enough of this crap." Ric yelled, "We just wanna surf, you wanna make it hard on us? Fine, but can we do it after the good waves are gone? Because they're slowly dwindling away and I'm really sick of not being out they're catching them."
He walked away and began suiting up
"Sorry about my…" I began, but Parker cut me off, saying "I'll deal with this." As she walked determinedly towards him.
A few words were exchanged before she walked back over to us. "Done deal." She said, winking at me.
"Huh?" I replied, totally confused by the situation.
"Surf off. You boys beat us; you're welcome to surf here for the rest of your holiday. We win, you boys come out with us tonight and we'll show you the real nightlight of Surfers." She said, shrugging and pulling a wetsuit over her body, as Lily did the same.
"Wait," I said, "We're going up against you two?" I asked, still completely out of it.
"Yep. Why, you afraid of us?" Lily replied in a questioning tone.
"Uh… should I be?"
"Maybe." She said, winking as she ran towards the surf.
My god these girls were so confusing.
"You better get out there." Jeremy said, "Wouldn't want them to have a head start."
I watched Parker ride out with Ric, then catch the first wave that came her way.
"No, no we wouldn't" I muttered under my breath, wondering how in the world we were going to explain this to Maddie and Cassie.
"We're going to get our asses kicked." I said to Ric as we walked out of the surf two hours later.
"Oh yeah." He replied, setting down his board and then sinking into the sand next to me.
"Who's going to kick your ass?" Parker said as she gasped to get her breath back.
"Maddie and Cassie." I stated simply, closing my eyes, soaking up the sun, and missing having Maddie's body next to me.
"Mum's" Lily replied, laughing.
"Girlfriends." Ric said seriously.
"Oh." Lily said, her laugher stopping immediately.
But Parker was undeterred.
"A bet is a bet, and we won. We'll see you tonight at eight." She said, pulling Lily up and skipping over to the boys, receiving high fives all round.
"They were awesome waves," Ric said.
"We're still getting our asses kicked." I replied, dropping my head back onto the sand.
-
-
-
"You what?" I asked, hitting Ric on the chest, annoyed with his stupidity.
"We made a bet, and we lost, so we have to go out with this surfer group tonight." He replied nonchalantly, playing down the entire situation.
"With two attractive surfer girls who just happened to be hitting on you for the entire time you were there." Maddie said, storming away from the lounge room onto the balcony.
"Great going guys." I added, before joining her out there.
"Cass, how could they do this?" Maddie replied, tears already forming in the corner of her eyes. "They were there last summer, they lived through it like we did, how could they go and put us in this situation again?" She added, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration.
"Come on Maddie," I began, sitting down into one of the deck chairs, pulling her down into the one across from me "It's not exactly like last year. Besides, these girls know about us… and, Ric and Luke, they wouldn't do anything, would they?"
She sniffed from next to me, before reluctantly mumbling a "Yeah, I guess."
"They love us Maddie, I thought you'd have known that by heart now." I added, as I saw her stance softening. "They've practically promised us forever, and would blow the girls off in a heartbeat if we told them not to go."
"So why can't we tell them that?" Maddie cried aloud.
"Because we trust them. And because we're going with them." I said finally.
She turned and raised an eyebrow at me, "We are?" She asked finally.
"Yep. We can tag along, use them to find the hottest nightspots then ditch them so the girls can try their thing. They won't get anywhere." I said, certain that I was right.
"I just don't want anything to ruin this holiday." Maddie said quietly, pausing momentarily before she continued "After this summer, who knows where we'll all end up. This could be our last chance together. I just wanted it to be perfect."
I grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "I know" I replied just as quietly "But for once, we need to live in the present, and ignore whatever future will be coming out way."
If only it were ever that simple, I thought, as I pushed any ideas of the future to the side, hoping to keep them at bay for the moment at least. The threat that the future posed needed to be handled another time, tonight, I just needed to live.
Eventually Maddie and I walked back in to find Ric and Lucas curled up on the two lounges watching episodes of the Gilmore Girls.
Maddie wandered over quietly towards Luke, who accepted her into his arms gratefully and pulled her close, kissing her hair and whispering sweet nothings into her ears.
I went and sat down next to Ric, who sat up and pulled me next to him, wrapping his arms around my body and allowing my head to fall onto his shoulder.
"You know everything is going to be fine. There are four guys with the two girls." He said finally to me.
I nodded, and curled up next to him.
"And Luke and I would never even bother trying anything. You and Maddie would castrate us if we did." He continued as I giggled.
"Besides, that would mean I'd loose you, and I'm never going to be ready for that to happen." He said finally, kissing my head and tightening his grip on me.
"I know." I sighed finally, "But we're still coming with you. They obviously know about the good nightlife here, and Maddie and I wanna be in that know. We'll leave you alone as soon as we get to whatever club we're going to, but we're tagging along till then." I said, as I looked up into his eyes.
He smiled softly before kissing the tip of my nose, "I wouldn't have it any other way." He said, as we relaxed and became caught up in the Gilmore Girls.
"Okay" Maddie said from beside me "How do I look?"
"Like a million bucks, and that you don't care that your boyfriend is spending the evening with another woman." I replied
"Just what I was going for." Maddie said, laughing as she added the finishing touches to her make up.
"For the record," she added, turning to face me "You look the same."
"Thanks." I replied, smiling, "Now, lets meet the girls who think they can take our men."
"Ready when you are boys." I said as we came out of the bathroom, finding Ric and Luke involved in a serious game of Dragon Ball Z on the play station.
"Be there in a few." Came the distant reply.
Maddie rolled her eyes at me before walking over and switching off the TV right infront of them. There was a chorus of 'Heys' as Maddie stood up and said, "You'll never meet Parker and Lily on time if we dont't leave now. It's for your own good."
I stifled a laugh as Ric and Luke sulked as they walked towards the door.
"Nice move, now they'll be in a bad mood all night. Poor girls." I said sarcastically.
"Won't know what to do with themselves" Maddie replied just as sarcastically, shutting the door behind her and following the boys down the hallway.
Luke and Ric stepped out of the elevator first, and strode over to a group of people, two of which were bright, sparkling girls.
"That them?" Maddie asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I guess so. Come on, let's go have some fun." I replied, giggling and dragging her over to Ric and Luke and the group they were with.
"And they brought them." One of the girls muttered under her breath, loud enough for Maddie and I to hear them.
"Hi" Maddie said brightly, holding her hand out to the dark haired one. "I'm Maddie and that's Cassie. You must be Lily."
Lily reluctantly took her hand and shook it quickly, looking at the other one, obviously Parker, completely confused by the situation.
"It's really nice to meet you." I gushed from next to Maddie, holding my hand out to Parker, "Ric and Luke have told us all about you. They were really thrilled to have met such excellent surfers, especially females. And Maddie and I thought it was about time someone kicked their asses at surfing."
Parker could only reply with "Okay" before backing off and taking Lily's hand, walking out of the foyer.
I smirked at Maddie who smirked back at them. Girls were so easy to confuse.
"Don't worry." Maddie yelled out to Parker and Lily, who turned around, their eyes suspiciously looking us up and down, "We're only tagging along to find the good clubs. They really are all yours tonight. Have fun." She finished, winking, then cracking up laughing as Parker and Lily turned on their heels and walked out.
The night was young, and we were in great spirits. Nothing could bring us down.
-
-
-
That's right, I thought, watching the space that Parker and Lily had occupied only moments before, I don't play the victim.
Grabbing Cassie's hand, we blew kisses to the boys and skipped off, trailing the group, not wanting to ruin their bonding moments.
"Tonight better be worth it." Cassie said from next to me, breathing in the warm summer night air.
"It will be. Besides, what else were we going to do tonight? Play the over protective girlfriends who sit up till all hours till their boys get home?"
She raised an eyebrow at me, and I laughed "Well, maybe we're still technically doing that, but this way we get to have fun too. You wait, we'll have so much fun we'll forget the boys are even there. It'll be like our own girls night out, only, the boys will be there, making sure we don't do anything too stupid." I said as I happily walked along, my heels clicking against the ground, the light breeze making me feel alive.
About fifteen minutes later we stopped infront of what looked to be an old, run down pub.
I glanced at Cassie, who looked as apprehensive to go into the place as I felt. It stunk of smoke and old alcohol, and the only musical sounds were those coming from the ancient jukebox in the corner.
"You're kidding, right?" I turned to Lily, a little put off by her smug smile.
"These Sydney girls would never know a good spot if it hit them in the head." She smirked at Parker, who smirked back at us.
"We're from Summer Bay." Cassie said in a 'duh' voice, as Parker replied "Whatever. Just, don't judge a book by it's cover." She finished as she followed Lily inside.
"I think we've got it covered." Cassie said, mockingly as she followed them in.
Sighing, I resigned myself to my fate and followed them in, finding myself face to face with a bunch of old guys.
"Peachy keen, Jelly bean." I said, as Cassie silently laughed behind me.
"Follow us." Lily said mysteriously, eyeing Luke up and down as she turned down a long hallway towards stairs that led downwards.
"Do we trust them?" Cassie asked slowly from next to me.
"Do we have a choice?" I replied, watching Luke's retreating back follow Lily. "Besides, do you hear something?" I continued as we followed the surfie group down the stair case.
"Yeah, it sounds like…." Cassie started, but stopped when she saw the sight in front of us.
It was like a Rave, only better. The music was pumping, vibrating through the floor, up my legs and into my body. Bodies were wrapped around one another like, something akin to the scene in Dirty Dancing when Baby first danced with Johnny. A bar was situated in the left hand corner, handing out alcohol to any who walked over.
"We bow down to the queens of all Nightclubs." Cassie said, but the boys, Parker and Lily were already sitting in a corner, their first round of drinks infront of them already.
"So much for it being a group activity." I spat, as Cassie dragged me towards the dance floor.
"Girls night out, remember?" She said, grabbing my hands and twirling me around. "So lets have fun."
I laughed as she twirled me around again, and began to let go of everything, and just move to the music.
Every now and again I'd catch Luke watching at me, and more often than not I'd blush, knowing exactly what he was thinking… mainly that he should be out here with me. But he looked happy enough to be chatting with the girls, they appeared to be getting along fairly well.
It wasn't until later that night that Cassie and I found out just how well they were getting along.
"Come on" Cassie said "I need a good drink."
"I second that." I giggled as we skipped over to the bar, ignoring the glances we received from a few guys.
"Ohh" Cassie said, stopping short of the bar, as she spied Luke, Lily, Ric and Parker standing there, laughing about something.
"We shouldn't…" I said.
Cassie nodded beside me "We really shouldn't…"
"But they are just there…" I continued.
"So close, so very close." Cassie said.
"Maybe just a few minutes won't hurt." I said finally, putting my head around the corner, catching them mid conversation.
"Okay, okay." Parker said, touching Ric flirtatiously, "We give. You guys are actually pretty good surfers."
"Finally, they admit defeat." Luke said, as Lily hit him in the stomach.
"We still beat you fair and square." She said, poking him in the chest with her finger and smiling up at him.
I heard Cassie growl behind me, as I formed little fists with my hand. These girls were getting a little to close for comfort.
"So you finished school, plans for this year?" Parker said, moving a little closer to Ric.
"Well, Cassie wants to go to Uni…" He began, when she stopped him. "No, Ric, what are you going to do?"
"Well…" He said finally "I've been offered an apprenticeship at the local garage in Summer Bay. I heard about it just before Christmas." He continued, and I felt Cassie tense beside me.
"I don't have to decide until the end of January because it doesn't start until February, and I've been waiting for the right time to tell Cassie…"
I turned to look at her confused and hurt expression, and immediately knew Ric had done the worst thing ever.
"How about you Luke?" I heard Lily ask, and I snapped my head around to watch him answer.
"Well, I applied to Sydney Uni. But, well, there's my dream course at Canberra. It's got everything I'd ever need, and I'd love to go there and study and achieve everything I've wanted since year 11 except…" He paused here, looking away.
I sucked in a breath, not knowing what to expect him to say.
"Maddie, she didn't apply to ANU with me. I applied just because I could, but I wouldn't know what to do if I got in there or…"
I spun on my heels and walked away, knowing I'd heard more than enough for one night. Cassie came with me, and we walked up the stairs, not looking back at all.
When we reached the cool night air, I pulled Cassie down a walkway towards the beach, and eventually we found ourselves sitting on the sand together.
I single tear rolled down my cheek, and I turned to Cassie, who was also working hard to keep her tears at bay.
"Have you ever felt so alone?" Cassie sighed quietly from beside me, a little sob escaping her lips.
I put my arm around her and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"We're not alone Cass, we have one another." I stated.
"But it's not the same." She finished quietly, as we sat there in silence, both rocked to our souls about the truths we'd just heard.
We were so lost; we didn't hear the foreshadowing storm brewing on the horizon.
-
-
-
AN: Thanks Jade for proofing, you rock.
And there's the drama. Thanks to my reviewers for sticking with me until the fluffiness stopped and the drama started. Hope you guys still wanna read it!