Caught Inside

Chapter Seven

"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." – Proverbs 13:20

"How was that wipeout, Alana?" Koa asked with a knowing smile. It was Sunday afternoon, and the gang had just finished watching a few unedited clips and pictures that Trevor had sent them from Huntington. They were seated in a booth at Scottie's with Alana's computer placed at the far end of the table.

Koa's comment must have hit a nerve, because Alana immediately flushed and closed her laptop. "It hurt," she sighed. "A lot."

"Yeah, it looked like it!" Jake whistled. "I hope Trevor plays your wipeout in slo-mo. I want to see the horrified look on your face as you go over the falls."

Alana groaned. Much to her chagrin, Trevor had got her embarrassing wipeout on camera, and the gang was thoroughly entertained by it. They loved to see her dive headfirst off her surfboard and get smacked by the lip of the wave.

"Okay, so maybe it was a little funny," she admitted, "but getting held down by the rest of the set was not."

Maya winced. "Yeah, I can see that..."

"So when is Trevor going to release his completed video?" Cole interrupted.

"Hopefully by this weekend," Alana said. "He's going to email me the file."

"I can't wait!" Blaine gushed. "Even the raw clips we just watched look professionally done. I can't imagine what the edited result is going to look like."

"They only look professional because we surf like professionals," Jake pointed out, grinning.

They laughed and slowly filed out of the booth. Alana tucked her laptop underneath her arm and sandwiched herself between Maya and Cole, causing Koa to feel a twinge of hurt. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and looked away. The bells on the front door jangled as his friends headed outside, but he stayed put.

"No Bible study today?" a voice asked.

Koa spun around and realized it was Nikki, carrying a dirty dishtowel in one hand and an empty tray in the other. He smiled wearily. "No, we decided to skip the study and watch some videos instead," he explained. "A friend filmed us surfing yesterday."

"Ah." She nodded. "That's why Blaine didn't have his Bible."

"You should be a detective," Koa joked. He followed her to the counter, where she put the tray and dishtowel away before resting her elbows on the countertop.

"A detective would be better than this job," she said wistfully.

"I think Scottie's is a cool place to work. Don't you like it here?"

She sighed. "Well, yeah. I have good pay and it's close to home. But I'm a community college student and I need a part-time job. I just didn't think I would ever be a waitress."

Koa cocked his head to one side, studying her carefully. "You have bigger aspirations?"

She smiled. "Forensic science."

He laughed. "I called it!"

"I just thought I would have an internship by now," she said. "But I guess I don't have a reason to complain. Scottie's is nice."

"It gets pretty good business."

"Well, you and your friends are the highlight of the week. You're the most regular customers we have."