The Surfer's Heart

Chapter 2

I awoke to Amy's fingers digging into my side.

"Get up, Brooke! We overslept," she sounded frantic. My eyes, halfway glued shut by sleep, opened to reveal the clock. We had about ten minutes until we had to be out the door.

"Shit," I breathed. Amy was already in my bathroom running mascara through her lashes and puckering her lips with lipstick. I sauntered into the bathroom and decided against makeup. I didn't have the energy for that.

"I can't believe we overslept. Did you set an alarm?" she asked.

"I thought I did," I mumbled. I dragged a line of toothpaste on the bristles and began to brush as Amy continued to freak.

"We have to leave in five minutes. I'm going to look like trash today! How stupid, I should have set an alarm myself just to make sure we got up on time. How embarrassing! The first day of school and we're rushing to class."

"I don't mind being late," I said with the toothbrush sticking out of my mouth. "I have first period with Mr. Heiner, so I'm not too worried."

"Well, I don't have that luxury! Besides, I wanted to be sure to look good today." Amy's anxiety was a little confusing. We didn't have the same agenda when it came to beauty; makeup and style was not my forte. Even when we were little, Amy has been the pretty one. She does my makeup and hair for every event and has no problem telling me what to wear daily. However, Amy freaking out about how she'll look on the first day of school hasn't happened since freshman year of high school. There was something different about today. She was devastated to not have her full time to get ready.

"Who is it?" I asked nonchalantly as I searched through my drawers for my favorite pair of jeans.

Amy froze mid-mascara stroke.

"What?"

"Who are you trying to impress?" I asked again. She hesitated, her hands frantically fidgeted over her makeup strewn along the counter.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she laughed it off.

"Yeah you do," I slipped on my jeans and decided to wear my blue, button-up, lightweight blouse over a white tank top; my go-to casual, yet classy attire for situations like today. My normal athletic shorts and t-shirt would have to be postponed. With Amy on a rampage like today, there was no way I was getting away with wearing something so leisurely. I took the spot next to Amy in the mirror, throwing my hair into a disheveled bun. Amy remained silent.

"Are you really going to try and pretend like I'm reading you wrong?" I pushed. I had to admit, when Amy had any sort of excitement in her life, it interested me. I was not very social and I've never had the experience of having a boyfriend or any sort of relationship. Surfing took up too much of my time to be worried about something as trivial as a relationship.

"No," she said. "I know you do." She shoved her make up into her bag. When she looked back at my awaiting expression in the mirror, she sighed.

"You're not going to like it," she mumbled. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"What?"

Her words caught me off guard. I wasn't going to like it? I felt like I didn't know enough of the guys in our school to even have an opinion. She was the social one and, quite honestly, the judgmental one of the two of us. Who would she possibly be crushing on that I would have a problem with?

Unless....

"No," I breathed, a slight chuckle of irony escaping me. "There's no way."

"Brooke..." Amy sighed. "He's not what you think. He's changed a lot! Grown-up, even," she stressed, but I wasn't listening. My stomach dropped and my ears pulsating. My vision turned red as I thought of Amy getting all fancied up for Sean Parker.