SoCal Summer

Chapter 4: Falling Six Times

I was sitting around my room, waiting for Reid to arrive. He texted me after I got off work that he was coming to pick me up at eight o'clock for our first lesson. How he got my number, I had no clue. Reid was a walking mystery. I was excited, but incredibly nervous at the same time. Honestly, anything was better than trying to teach myself though.

I jumped as my phone buzzed.

Get your pretty ass outside.-Reid

I rolled my eyes at his choice of words. At least he thought my ass was pretty. Whatever that meant.

I walked over to my balcony to sneak out. Any normal person would go out the front door, but my dad was working downstairs and he absolutely could not see me leaving. Nope. I had to shimmy my way down the side of the house instead. I didn't have too much difficulty gripping the ivy that descended from my balcony to the ground. Just when I thought I was in the clear, my foot slipped and I went crashing into the bushes below.

     I slowly got up, shaking leaves off my body. Reid was waiting for me outside his truck hunched over with his hands on his knees because he was laughing so hard. I didn't think anyone had ever heard Reid laugh so I wasn't so much offended by his mockery as much as I was shocked that he was actually capable of producing laughter.

He stood back up when I limped over to him while still picking twigs out of my hair. He let out one last chuckle and wiped the tears out of his eyes.
    "Wow, smooth moves. Let's hope you're not that ungainly on the board, yeah?"

"Shut up, Sawyer," I scowled at him.

"Oh, calling each other by our last names, are we now, Beckett?" Reid laughed at me once again.

I rolled my eyes, walking over to the shed where my dad locked away all of the surfboards. I whipped the key out of my back pocket and placed it in the lock. As soon as I heard it click, I tugged open the door with some effort. I coughed and waved my hand through the air in attempt to dissipate the dust cloud that I stirred up.

"Woah," Reid's laughter fell silent beside me. "This is sweet."

"Yeah," I absentmindedly agreed as I walked over to the back wall to grab a board.

"Who's stuff if this?" Reid asked, picking up a trophy to examine it.

"Hey, easy with that! This is my mom's stuff!" I scolded him, snatching it out of his hands and putting it back in its place.

I remembered the day my mom received that trophy. I could never forget the image of her standing on the podium, holding the first place trophy above her head proudly. She had just won the regional qualifier. Her smile was big I could feel the happiness radiating from where I stood in the crowd. I remember that day vividly. That was the day my ten year old self vowed I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. That was a year before the accident.

"Cool. Was she some surf pro or something?"

Tears stung the back of my eyes as I tried to shake the bittersweet memory out of my head.

     "Look, can we get to the lesson?"

"Yeah, sure."

I picked up my selected board with one arm and followed Reid out, shutting the shed door with my other hand. I walked over to his truck and attempted to slide the board into the bed. Reid grunted when apparently I took too long. He grabbed it from my hands and chucked it into the back.

"Easy there, buddy!" I winced. I wanted to be as gentle with my mom's boards as I could.

He snapped back, "Just get in the damn car, Beckett."