'McFilthy Mind! She's my cousin.',Tony said, the gears in his brain already working to turn this into a humiliating experience for the team geek. 'Besides, I mean, look at that skill. She makes it look easy, huh, McWipeout?' The girl rode the wave to shore, strode to the camera, and gave it a huge wave.
'Told ya I got better!', she giggled into the lens, the golden sun glinting off her newly-highlighted blond hair. 'That you did, Les!', Tony joked. He turned back to Tim and shrugged. 'Don'cha just love how far technology's come? I mean, it's all digital now, right, McMegabyte? Like, oh I don't know... when you were a kid, it would've been pictures. But hey, Picasso's still got merit, don't you think?', he said, barely able to keep a straight face. He pulled the Polaroid from his jacket pocket and held it up to Tim's face.
'TONY!'
It was a beautiful California morning, the sun shining in strained rays, just before rush hour hit, but well after dawn. Lawn chairs had already been dragged out by the beer-cooler crowd, and children played in the sand and sloshed in the foam. Sarah had already began her sand city, modeled after early Renaissance Italy, and he held the book open, carving out detailed windows and little lines with a toothpick.
'Hey, Timmy! C'mon out! The waves are great this early!', Jenner, the rugged looking boy from one of the older beach houses shouted, dragging an enormous board behind him. 'You can't check out the beaches without trying once, man!'. He replied to the slight look of fear on his face. He shook off the feeling, swallowing and hoping that maybe it really was as easy as the others made it look.
Leaving the book with Sarah, he ran up the beach. Making friends here would definitely make him the coolest of the GATE Junior Program's class. Way different from meeting the guy who created Star Trek. Who would come back in the fall saying they'd surfed a real wave?
'Cool.', Jenner said, slapping his hand with a grin. 'Hey, do yourself proud, man.' Jenner jerked his head over to a group of girls on beach towels. Marissa, who family the McGee's had shared the summer house with for years, and maybe that special girl 'who you can't get in a single equation' (as the others at home said it) waved at him. He nodded, instantly invincible. Do this, and he wasn't just the super nerd you were obliged to be nice to.
He and Jenner got wet first, waiting for the waves. 'T, that's all yours.' Jenner pointed to a roll on the horizon. He took the board from the sand, and paddled out, trying to clam himself, at the same time thinking 'What are you doing?!'
He went under, like he'd seen Jenner do. Wasn't so hard when you- in a pure rush, he was on top, ready to stand on that sheet of water. Marissa was grinning, Sarah sat with her legs crossed and her tan arms behind her head, watching. Someone had a camera-CLICK!
He had timed to stand just then- Kshhhhh!
He hit the water, a flailing, screaming mess. It rolled him mercilessly, washing away that yellow slice of wood. His lungs burned, his eyes stinging from the salt. This is why nobody ever says they surfed a wave at GATE, he thought miserably, hoping that Sarah would be granted his Power Rangers collection without contest.
'Timmy! Timmy!', he heard a girl's high pitched, anguished cries, felt a wiry hand on his arm, pulling him from the water. 'Are you dead?', Sarah screamed. 'Of course he's not.', chuckled a teasing voice. Marissa. Aw, Come on! He thought. This close to death and still humiliated. Great. He sat up, coughing. 'That was pretty funny.', Marissa said, smiling. He sighed. 'Uh, right. Messed up, huh?' She shook her head, throwing him a beach towel. 'Not as bad as it could've been. I mean, sometimes, the whole point is taking that chance.'
Surely stabbing Tony with a stapler wasn't too big a risk. It would endear him to quite a few actually. 'Tony, put that away. Seriously. It was a long, long time ago, and it's better nobody at this office-' Tony leaned back on hes keyboard, accidentally tapping a the back button. 'TONY!' Tim dived for that little memento, desperate enough to at least destroy the hard copy, even if the little 'Message Sent Successfully icon was blinking at the bottom of 'NCIS PRIORITY MAIL≈OPERATION BIG(splash)MC.