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Chapter Eleven

"Alright," Marie said as she walked into the living room the next morning. "I have to work until one-thirty today, do you think you can keep yourself entertained until I get off?"

Kyle looked up at her from the frying pan where he was busy making eggs.

"I'm in California, on the beach, surrounded by hot girls," he said slowly, contemplatively, "yeah, I think I can entertain myself until you're finished work."

Marie rolled her eyes, slapping his arm playfully.

"Okay," she said, "I get it." She grabbed her purse off the counter and headed towards the door. "Just don't burn the house down." She called as she closed the door behind her.

Busily unpacking a box of wet suits, Bradin's mind was continually drifting. He had made a complete fool of himself in front of Marie, and now he had no clue how to fix things with her. There had to be some way to make things right between them, but no solutions came to mind.

Frustrated, he slammed the now empty box onto the counter with a grunt.

"Easy there, Bradin." Jay chuckled lightly as he came out of the back room, "you wouldn't want to hurt the box's feelings now, would ya?"

"Ha ha, Jay." Bradin replied irritably as he turned away from his boss and friend and leaned his elbows up against the glass counter.

"Uh oh," Jay came around to stand in front of Bradin, a worried look on his face, "somethin's up." He looked Bradin over carefully, his eyes searching those of the younger man's. "You wanna talk about it?"

"No," Bradin shook his head fiercely, "it's nothing you can help with."

"You sure?" Jay cocked his head to the side in question, "I'm a really good listener."

"Just leave it alone, Jay." Bradin wouldn't quite meet the Australian's eye.

"Alright, if that's what you want." Jay said.

"Yeah, it is." Bradin bit out, a bit more harshly than he had meant to.

"Alright then." Jay said, "Listen, I have to go and log in a shipment that just came in. Do you think you can handle watching the store for a little bit?"

"I think I can handle it, Jay." Bradin replied with a small roll of his eyes.

"Just checkin'." Jay turned and headed back to the back room, leaving Bradin alone with the two or three customers that were browsing through the small surf shop.

With a sigh, Bradin turned and grabbed a stack of magazines that had just come in. He placed them on the rack, occasionally flipping through one to an article that caught his eye.

"Uh, excuse me, do you work here?" Bradin turned at the sound of the voice and frowned.

Anger, jealousy, hate; the feelings that coursed through his body were endless as he stared at Kyle. The other boy's eyes were smoldering with the same emotions that Bradin was feeling. It was obvious Kyle didn't like Bradin anymore than Bradin liked him.

"Can I help you?" He asked, his voice eerily calm. The blood roared in his ears as he stared Kyle down. Why did the guy have to look like a freakin' model? It would have been easier to accept him as Marie's friend if he were hideously deformed with a hunchback and a lazy eye. But no, Marie had to go and get herself a friend that looked like a model from those freakin' Abercrombie catalogues that Nikki was always looking at.

"I'm lookin' for Jay." Kyle said, an annoying glint in his eye. Something about this guy didn't feel right to Bradin. There was just something off about him.

"He's busy." Bradin seethed.

"Then I'll wait." The two boys stared at each other, neither blinking, neither backing down. There was a silent war raging between them, a war that would not be easily won.

"Hey, Bradin what do you think of these new surf fins we got in?" Jay asked, studying a fin intently as he walked over to the two.

"They're fine." Bradin replied, not taking his eyes off Kyle.

"Really?" Jay seemed oblivious to the tension that filled the shop, "I think they're a little thick." He looked up then. Quickly, he took in the staring contest between the two young men and his mind registered trouble.

"Can I help you?" Jay asked the boy who stood nearly a whole head above Bradin.

"Yeah," the boy replied, his gaze not wavering from Bradin's. "I'm looking for Jay."

"Well you found him." Jay replied with a smile. The boy turned to face him then, the hostility leaving his eyes as he smiled charmingly at the Aussie.

"I'm Kyle, a friend of Marie's. She said that you were the best surf instructor around and I was just wonderin' if you were taking on any more students."

"Yeah," Jay nodded.

"Cool, I'll be by tomorrow morning. Is that good?"

"Yep, I'll see ya then."

"Okay," Kyle glanced once more at Bradin, "I'll see ya then."

There was a challenge in his stare, one that Bradin was not going to back down from. With a smirk, Kyle left.

Fuming, Bradin rounded on Jay.

"You're not seriously gonna give that creep lessons." He said.

"Hey, the guy's a payin' customer." Jay shrugged.

"You can't do this, Jay." Bradin argued.

"I got bills to pay," Jay replied, "I can't say no to every guy you have a problem with. If you don't like this Kyle dude then you need to work that out yourself."

Shaking his head, Bradin turned back to the magazine rack.

He couldn't believe Jay. Didn't he realize that Kyle was bad news? First Marie, now Jay. Who else would this guy blind with his good looks and charm? Was Bradin really the only one who could see that there was something more to Kyle than he was letting on?

Frustrated, Bradin grabbed his skateboard from behind the counter.

"I'm takin' my break." He said, walking out of the shop.

Jay watched him go, shaking his head sadly.

It was a short chapter, I know, but it seems that I write better when the chapters are short. Anyways, I hope you all liked this chapter and will review.

I know that right now the story seems to be progressing kinda slowly and all, but I swear the action will pick up soon. In the next few chapters look for another confrontation between Bradin and Kyle, and be prepared for Marie to do something very un-Marie like. He he, oh the intrigue.

Saynt Jimmy: There are many obstacles standing in Marie and Bradin's way, so it's kinda difficult to say when they'll get together. Who knows, they might not even get back together.

charlie00, grullo-cowgirl, Jenny, chadslover, Dramagrl, the different person, Soxbabe, kandykane33, Caitlin, jessesfan0409, and Jamie: Thank you all so much for reviewing. It really means a lot to me.