Dangerous Waves

Chapter 8- Leilani

"When will we start the lesson?" A little girl pulls on my wrist, averting my eyes from the empty beach to her instead.

"As soon as he gets here," I say with a forced smile, all the while imagining how satisfying it'd be to punch Hayden right now. "How about you keep building your sand castle?"

She sticks out her tongue at me.

"We don't need him," a younger boy declares, standing up from his pile of seaweed. "Everyone knows you're the better teacher, I want to start now."

In front of me are a dozen kids waiting for their weekly surf lessons, digging their hands into the sand while we wait for Hayden to arrive. He started this business last year to give the kids in his community a way to connect to each other, as well as adding onto his never ending list of side jobs. Hayden is always running from one job to another, while I work this part-time to help him out and fit myself into his busy schedule.

While I'm definitely skilled at joking with the kids and having them love the experience, I am nowhere near as good a surfer as Hayden. Without him, I wouldn't have a clue on how to teach them. That's never been a problem though, because Hayden's always the first one to arrive, excited to set up exercises or welcome the kids onto the beach.

But just my luck, today he's twenty minutes late.

"Sorry! Sorry, I'm here," someone huffs from the edge of the beach, rushing down to greet my group. A surfboard tucked under his arm and a determined look in his eyes, I'm certain I'm hallucinating.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hiss once Rowan is only a couple feet away from me. Funny how things always go wrong when he's involved.

"Hayden called me half an hour ago, saying his grandma wasn't doing good and he needed someone to show up for you because he couldn't."

I blink, grateful for his help but unable to hide my skepticism. "That's really nice of you. Thank you." I know Rowan would do anything for his friends, but seeing his devotion on a Saturday morning is still surprising. "I expected you to be spending the weekend with some girls. Or nursing a hangover from last night."

"That's the best part of Hayden's offer." He raises a sandy brow. "I can get paid and spend the weekend with a beautiful girl." I wrinkle my nose in annoyance. "Calm down, I meant my surfboard." He pats the perfectly carved longboard lovingly.

"As sweet as that is," I roll my eyes, "you didn't have to come all the way down. I would've had everything handled if you sent me a text that he wasn't coming." I couldn't lead the class alone, but with a little heads up I could have rescheduled. After all, canceling would be better than letting the troublemaker ruin our business's reputation.

"And leave these poor kids with you to instruct them?" He laughs fiercely, and the noise of it feels as familiar as the sound of crashing waves. "Not a chance."

Accepting my fate, we quickly introduce Rowan to the group of kids, praying they won't notice the difference between the two boys. My best friend is a natural charmer, and he plays into his friendliness more than I have ever seen. He talks gently to the shy kids and challenges the older ones to see who can jump the farthest in the sand, teasing everyone until the entire group is comfortable with him. All of the kids except one.

"Where's Hayden?" A girl pouts. "He's always here!"

All I want to do is rub it into Rowan's face that they like me more, but he quickly activates a soft side I'm not used to. Kneeling down so that he's eye level with the girl, he softens his voice to address her.

"I know this isn't what you're used to every week, but I think this surprise could help all of you out." He turns to look into each kid's eyes, considering even the smallest of them. "Has anyone noticed that Coach Leilani's board always wobbles when she's catching a straight wave?"