Moving from Hawaii to Tahiti was not part of Kaia's plan. In fact, leaving Oahu was the last thing she ever wanted to do.
Enter Eimeo. Sun-kissed skin and sun-bleached hair, gorgeous green eyes and freckles on his face, six pack abs and a killer smi...
"This place fuckin' sucks," Kaia moaned after the fourth time she fell off her surfboard.
"Maybe you're just bad at surfing," Eimeo yelled while cruising on his surfboard, breezing past Kaia with a grin.
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"Who the fuck are you?" Kaia snapped at the stranger, not appreciating his unsolicited input.
"Woah woah woah, easy on the cursing. Where are you from, California or something?" Eimeo said calmly, pausing from surfing and treading in front of Kaia.
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"Hawaii, where are the waves are more ridable," Kaia grumbled, wishing she hadn't moved to Tahiti.
Eimeo snickered. "Ridable, huh? I can assure you, here in Tahiti, we have ridable-"
"Oh, shut up," Kaia interrupted. "I know what you're up to, surfer boy. Don't even think about it."
"Eimeo."
"What?"
"Eimeo Czermak. That's my name. What's yours?"
"Kaia."
"Well, Kaia, today's your lucky day," Eimeo said while climbing onto his surfboard. "I'm teaching you how to surf, for free."
Kaia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You must think so highly of yourself to assume that I'd be more than happy to receive free surfing lessons from you."
"Oh, he really is a pro surfer though," Alessio chimed in while surfing past the two.
"You should've seen him ride that sixty-foot wave last week," Jacob added, surfing with Alessio.
"He rides the waves so good that I wanna ride him so bad, but he won't let me, and I've been begging for years," Eva whined, surfing with the boys.
Kaia sighed and looked at Eimeo, who was grinning and wiggling his eyebrows at Kaia.
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"Fine," Kaia snapped as Eimeo stood on the surfboard, offering his hand. "But just because I'm always opening to improving myself." She took Eimeo's hand.
"That's what I wanted to hear," Eimeo said and pulled her up onto the surfboard.
Kaia struggled to balance and wobbled as a small wave hit the surfboard. She gasped and grabbed Eimeo's biceps while Eimeo held her by the waist to keep her from falling.
Once they were both stabilized, Kaia let go of Eimeo's arms. "Who said you could grab me by the waist, perv?" Kaia snarled.
Eimeo let go, laughing. "You say that like your hands weren't just squeezing my arms seconds ago."
"Whatever," Kaia sighed in defeat, gazing at the mountains far ahead as her face heated up. "Let's get this lesson over with."
"Alright, I noticed you kept falling earlier because you were placing more weight on the front of the board," Eimeo explained. "Put your right foot more towards the back to keep your balance. How long have you been surfing?"
"I dunno, eight years? I've been surfing since I was ten. You?"
"I started when I was five, and I'm eighteen as well. Why don't you try balancing like how I said you do it? You ready?"
"Yeah."
Without warning, Eimeo jumped off the surfboard and plunged into the water, sending Kaia screaming as she wobbled and fell next to Eimeo, who was laughing.
"What the fuck was that for?" Kaia yelled, lightly punching Eimeo's chest.
"You said you were ready!" Eimeo said while chuckling.
"I didn't know you were gonna jump off!" Kaia whined and pushed Eimeo's chest backwards as he laughed nonstop.
A cold, shrill scream rang from behind them. When Kaia and Eimeo whipped their heads back to see what was going on, all they could see was a huge red wave heading towards them.
"Red?" Kaia whispered in confusion.
"Blood," Eimeo mumbled in panic and grabbed Kaia's torso, swiftly placing her on the surfboard. "Quick, let's go. There are sharks."
Eimeo jumped onto the surfboard and balanced with ease, and within seconds they were surfing away from the bloody wave and towards the shore.
"Nobody warned me about sharks!" Kaia shouted as they approached the sand.
"It doesn't happen all the time, and it's not shark season right now but if there's blood in the water we can't take any chances," Eimeo replied.
As they reached the beach, Kaia and Eimeo got off the surfboard and watched as something washed up on the shore.
"What the hell is that?" Kaia asked Eimeo, her tone laced with fear.
"Let's check it out, but stay behind me," Eimeo said softly and took a few steps forward, Kaia following close behind.
A lump formed in Eimeo's throat as he saw his friend Nick dying on the sand, a huge group of bloody bites on the side of his neck. Beside him was Nick's sister Lea, whose eyes were blood red, face white as snow, mouth covered in blood, making retching noises as she — or it — tried to free itself from the surfboard that impaled its stomach.
A few feet away from them, an unfamiliar face floated on the water — a red eyed pale faced man whose right cheek seemed to have been ripped off, large chunks having been bitten off.
"What the hell is going on?" Eimeo sputtered in horror, stepping back.
