Author's Note: I suddenly realized I've already posted two chapters without any kind of address to the readers. My bad. Anyway, hello there, to the few of you that are reading this. As I'm sure you know by now, there's a new grom in the mix, named Nate. I hope you'll stick around to see how his story unfolds. How will his presence change the plot of certain episodes? What original experiences will he and the groms go through? Find out this and more, by reading the rest of this story. Please enjoy!

Chapter Three

Surf Lessons

Emma and I made our way back to the staff house, after a long day of serving. We had both made plenty of mistakes, but Emma was much worse than I was. I didn't say that, of course, but she knew as well.

We arrived at the porch, and found Reef, Broseph and Fin already sitting on the couch. Emma took a seat next to Fin, and I sat on the arm next to her.

"That was seriously the hardest day of my life!" Reef complained.

"Tell me about it," said Fin.

"None of you could have done as bad as I did," Emma said, sounding glum. "I messed up so many times!"

"You weren't that bad…" I tried, but she still pouted slightly.

"Isn't this when we're supposed to go surfing?" Reef asked.

"Too tired," said Broseph.

"Yeah, I'm beat dude," I said.

"Come on!" Reef said excitedly. "We made it all this way today. We have to get one quick session in."

"Reef's right, you guys," Emma said. "Who knows when we'll get an hour off again?" Fin, Broseph and I exchanged looks.

"Okay, I'm in," said Fin.

"I'm down," I said.

"Meet you back in five," Reef said, and he rushed off to change out of the dorky work clothes. I looked around. We were all still in work clothes.

"Um, should we…" I gestured to our outfits. The others nodded, and we got up to change. Fin began taking off her skirt right on the deck.

"Whoa!" Emma exclaimed.

"Relax," said Fin. She yanked off her maid outfit, to reveal a small, two piece wetsuit underneath. "I come prepared. I'll wait for you guys here." I wasn't so sure about that, as we were all itching to get to the beach as soon as possible, but we nodded and walked off.

Broseph and I entered our room, to find Reef, naked, digging around his bag. Broseph and I quickly covered our eyes.

"Dude," Broseph said. "Not cool, guy." Reef quickly found his boardshorts, and pulled them over his… unmentionables.

"Catch you guys in a few," Reef said, grabbing his board and heading out the door. We waved him a goodbye, and went about changing into our own boardshorts. His were a cream color, and mine were a deep brown, with two white stripes on either leg. I hopped off my bunk, and found Broseph waiting for me, board in hand.

"Let's hit it, dude!" he exclaimed. I smiled, grabbed my board, and we headed out the door. Walking down the stairs, and towards the beach, we passed by the laundry hut that was for the staff.

"D'you hear that?" I asked, holding up my hand and signaling Broseph to stop. We listened intently, and heard the faint sounds of sobbing. "It's coming from the laundry hut." We walked in, and found Emma sitting on the floor, crying.

We walked in, and were immediately punched in the face by a powerful stink. "Whoa! It's really rank in here!" said Broseph immediately. Emma wept louder. "Hey, hey, it's cool. Maybe you just need a shower?" Broseph offered.

"It's not me!" Emma said, exasperated. "Oh, what am I doing here? I don't belong. I only came out here to surf, but I don't even have money for lessons. …Oh yeah, and my roommate, is a skunk!" Broseph and I exchanged a glance. I nodded slightly to our boards, and then to the crying red head on the ground. Broseph pieced it together, and nodded back. I held out a hand to Emma, helping her up.

"Come on, we're taking you somewhere," I said. "Go change, and meet us at the porch." She sniffed away a tear, then nodded, and ran off. As Broseph and I walked back, we discussed the plan.

"You ever teach someone to surf?" I asked. Broseph shook his head.

"Nah, bro," he said. "But how hard can it be?" I shrugged, hoping he was right. We sat, waiting, and Emma soon returned, wearing a pink two piece bikini. I looked to Broseph, and raised my eyebrows. He chuckled, and the three of us began the walk towards the beach.

XxXxX

By the time we arrived at a nice, secluded spot on the beach, the sun was dipping pretty low into the sky. It was nice, because it meant fewer tourists and kooks hogging the waves. Unfortunately, said waves were pretty tiny, mostly whitewash. But it seemed enough for Emma, who was teeming with excitement. When we arrived at a perfect spot, she started to rush into the water. I caught her by the shoulder.

"Not so fast," I said. "Before you learn in water, you've got to learn on land." She sighed, and pointed to the sun.

"We don't have a lot of time," she said.

"I bet you're a fast learner," I responded. "Now come on, lay that board on the sand." Broseph and I had chipped in to buy Emma a board from the surf shack located on the beach. It was pretty cheap, and since we were employees, and Ripper was running the shack, we'd gotten it practically for free. It was magenta, with pink tropical flowers. Emma sure seemed to like it.

Broseph and I spent a while teaching her the basics (paddle, pop-up, that kind of stuff) and eventually we were ready to get in the water. I set my board on the surface, got on, and paddled out a good twenty or thirty feet (Canadians would say meters, but I don't do metrics.) As we got out, Broseph and I both did a simple pop-up, and Emma attempted the same. She lost her footing, and fell into the water, but her board was sent sailing through the air, almost taking Broseph and my own heads off.

Emma popped her head above the water. "Sorry!" she called, paddling over to her board, and tentatively getting back on.

"It's cool," I said. "Maybe just try standing without moving first." She nodded, and slowly started to stand. She got all the way up, but began wobbling, and soon fell back, sending her board propelling at Broseph. The fuzzy-haired teen leapt over it, but came down on his own board. Hard. Right in the crotch. I winced. "You alright, man?" I called. He gave a thumbs up, while his other hand rested on his kiwis.

Emma, Broseph and I continued on like this for a while. After causing a few more injuries, Emma was finally able to execute a pop-up, both standing still, and after paddling.

"Okay, you got that down," I said.

"Now let's try it on a wave," said Broseph.

"You sure?" Emma asked.

"No worries," said Broseph.

"You'll do fine," I said. "I'm sure." I was wrong. She did not do fine. I can't count the amount of times Broseph and I had to duck out of the way of her board, flying over or heads, or how often we needed to paddle even further out to retrieve it. But eventually, with the sun sinking just below the horizon, she found a small wave, paddled, and stood. She wobbled, and I feared she would lose her balance. The wave rolled on, and with it, Emma. I watched as her face lit up, realizing she had just ridden her first official wave.

"Remember that feeling?" I asked Broseph, as we paddled over to congratulate Emma. "After you ride one in for the first time?" He smiled, and we bumped fists. We arrived at Emma's location. She saw us, and jumped up in excitement, but couldn't land back on her board, and fell into the water. She came up in between Broseph and me, and grabbed onto my board for support.

"I did it, I did it!" she squealed, sounding like a kid. "Did you guys see me?" I pulled her up onto my board, scooting back so she had enough room.

"That was awesome!" Broseph exclaimed. I nodded, and gave Emma a high five.

"Told you that you're a fast learner," I said. "And you doubted our teaching skills." Broseph and I looked at her with smug faces.

Emma was determined to ride a few more waves before we called it a day, and Broseph and I didn't want to disappoint her. We sat back and watched as she caught a few baby waves, until finally paddling over and telling us that she'd had enough for the day. The three of us paddled in, and Broseph shook his hair dry, sprinkling Emma and I with water.

"Watch it, brah," I warned jokingly.

The three of us made it back to the staff house just before the sun had fully set. We set our boards up against the small fence out front, and began to walk to the porch.

"Hey, can we go again tomorrow before work?" Emma asked us excitedly.

"Check you out!" Broseph said with a smile. "You've got surf stoke. Sweet, definitely."

"I'm up for dawn patrol," I agreed. We walked up the steps of the porch, and found Johnny, Lance, Ripper, Fin, the whale mascot Wipeout (whose real name no one knew), Reef and one other staff member who I hadn't met yet.

"You guys made it surfing?" Reef asked, noticing our slightly damp hair and swimwear. "Aw man, jealous!"

"We taught her good" I said, wrapping an arm around Emma's shoulders.

"She's a natural," chipped in Broseph. Johnny suddenly turned his head around.

"Heads up guys," he called, slightly quiet. We looked to see Baumer walking towards the staff house. Broseph, Emma and I quickly stood next to the couch, so we could face him. The porch was deathly silent as he approached.

"Listen up people," he said, once he had arrived. "As you may have guessed, I have the unfortunate duty of sending one of you home today."

"He's really gonna fire someone?" asked Fin incredulously.

"Man, that is cold…" said Broseph.

"The employee with the lowest evaluation today was…" as he read off his clipboard, everyone held their breaths. "Martha McCarthy." I furrowed my brow. Who? Then the girl who I didn't know (apparently Martha McCarthy) stood up.

"What!?" she exclaimed. She stormed off the porch in a huff.

"Smell ya later!" No-Pants Lance called after her.

"Yeah, Whatever," she said, crossing her arms. "Enjoy the bugs, and the lack of hot water!" She stormed off, and we all chuckled, until Baumer interrupted us.

"As of now, you are all on six week's probation," he informed us seriously. "If you're late by one minute; that's a strike. If you get anything less than a seven out of ten on your guest evaluations; that's a strike. If you steal a half-eaten brownie; that's a strike. Three strikes, and you're out. Do I make myself clear? Summer season starts tomorrow people. Punch in is at 7:30 AM. Don't be late, and don't test me." He walked away, and when he was finally out of earshot, we all sighed with relief.

"Yay, yay, yay, I didn't get fired!" Emma exclaimed, jumping in happiness. Reef and I wiped sweat from our brows simultaneously.

"That was heavy," said Broseph.

The girls walked off to their rooms, intending on going to sleep. The guys and I hung back a bit, with Johnny, Ripper and Lance.

"That dude's a serious bummer, huh?" I asked the seniors, referring to our boss. Ripper and Lance exchanged a look, and chuckled. "What?"

"You're not kidding mate," the blue haired Australian said. "He is a bummer. That's his nickname, in fact." I thought about the cleverness of it, and smiled at the new name I would be using in reference to our boss.

"You know," said Johnny, looking out at the sun, and then to his watch. "It's only a little after nine. And when we were groms a few years ago, our seniors threw us a bonfire on the beach." The two other groms and I exchanged some looks.

"Sweet!" said Broseph.

"Choice," I said. "Will there be snackage?"

"There will be snackage," Ripper assured. Reef quickly ran to the top of the staircase, and put a hand to his mouth to amplify the sound.

"Hey guys!" he shouted up to the girls. "Bonfire on the beach for new staff! Come on!" With that taken care of, he slid down the wooden railing back to where we were standing. "Let's go, dudes!"

XxXxX

"So, let me get this straight?" I asked the brown haired girl, who had introduced herself as Lo when we'd first met her. "You threw that party last night, which we had to clean up, and as punishment your dad's making you work with us for the summer."

"Well, not the whole summer," she said, while twirling a twig in the sand, looking bummed. "But for now, yeah."

"And you're totally cut off?" I clarified. "No special treatment, or room service, or nothing?" She glumly shook her head no. I smiled slightly, reached into a bag of marshmallows that Emma had brought, and tossed her a few. "Welcome to the real world, princess. Don't worry, it's pretty fun here." She smiled slightly, sticking the marshmallows onto a stick to roast over the fire.

The moon was high in the sky, and the fire was warming us all. It was a nice, secluded spot on the beach, with a nice amount of logs arranged in a circle around the fire pit. I sat with Reef to my left, and Emma to my right. Next to her was Broseph, who was next to Ripper. Going in the same direction, next was Lance, then Johnny front-desk-guy, Fin, and Lo, bringing it full circle back to Reef.

"So, how'd our betty do on the waves today?" Ripper asked, looking to Emma. Broseph and I each gave a thumbs up.

"She'll be a pro in no time," I said. "Already wants to go out again before work tomorrow." Suddenly, Fin cleared her throat.

"Okay, I have a toast," she said. "Maybe our jobs kind of stink."

"And our boss is a total dork," Reef chipped in, making the rest of us chuckle.

"Yeah," agreed Fin. "But the waves are awesome, and the beach is beautiful! And this summer is seriously gonna be fun. To Surfer's Paradise!"

We all stood, even Lo, raising our marshmallow sticks into the air, as we loudly and proudly proclaimed;

"Surfer's Paradise!"