All I Am (Wattys2015) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 4

Blue turned around slowly, a you've got to be kidding me look on her face, and looked down at Maddy, who was driving a white Toyota Camry. He suppressed a smirk and nodded once, lifting two fingers off the steering wheel. Talk about déjà vu.

His mom, who was behind him in an old Saab, leaned out the window and looked at them, who were staring eye-to-eye. "Maddy? Is everything fine?" she asked.

Blue turned away and stepped to the side of the road as he called, "Yeah, just fine." His words were slower than when he'd talked to Blue earlier; almost like he had a drawl. 

Blue and Maddy looked at each other for a minute more, her standing in the pouring rain. After a minute, Maddy leaned slightly out of his window and said, "Do you want a ride?"

Blue blinked rapidly. He was offering her a ride? She was soaking wet. "No, thanks. I'm all wet. I'll walk," she said, hoping that she was being convincing.

"Get in." That was all he said. What, was she supposed to argue?

"A-are you sure?"

"In. Now," he said, smiling slightly. Blue walked over quickly and opened the door. She got in, but leaned out and wrung her hair out before shutting the door.

"I-I don't hardly know you. But thanks."

"I'm Maddy Wells, 16, moving here from Muriwai. What about you?"

"Blue Wright, 15 ½, lived here my whole life, getting pretty sick and tired of it," she laughed.

Maddy laughed with her as he stepped on the gas slowly. "So what's Piha like? Like when you live here, not just visiting or coming sur- or yeah. Just visiting." He seemed to wince.

Was he about to say coming and surfing? Why wouldn't he? "Eh, it has its good and bad. Piha weather, for example. One minute it's raining and the next it's sunny. You know everyone here after 6 months, but the people always come together and help each other. You can find something to do, but you're stuck here if the road closes – at least until outside help comes. It's overrun with tourists in the summer, but all yours in the winter." She looked at him. "Why are you moving here?" she blurted without thinking.

He didn't say anything for a minute.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude if there's a personal reason," she apologized as he turned onto Marine Parade N.

"You didn't. Aren't. It's – it's complicated. But Mom and Dad really wanted to get out of Muriwai. They were tired of it."

Uh-huh. After reading that article and seeing his behavior, she didn't believe him for a minute. But Blue was actually finding herself happy for the first time in a long while, just talking to him. She didn't press the topic. "Tell me something else about yourself."

"I'm an only child. I'm Kiwi. What else?"

"What do you like to do? What school were you going to?" Apparently she was pressing.

"I'm a surfer. I do online school."

So maybe he was more open than she thought. "I'm homeschooled too. Just because of the lack of schools around, really. Tell me more about surfing."

He looked embarrassed. "I've been doing it for 6 years. That's why we were in Muriwai. I'm – I'm one of the top junior surfers in New Zealand this year. And we're moving here to Piha because I need to further my experience."

They were getting closer to Blue's house now. "That's amazing, Maddy. I bet you're really excited, moving here?"

"Yeah, I am! I'm very excited to be moving to Piha. This has always been my favourite place in New Zealand. Hey, do you surf?"

"No, I never have." Blue laughed. "It sounds silly, having grown up in Piha, but I just haven't."

"God, you're missing out! Here you are, in one of the top surfing places in the world, and you've never surfed? I need to take you out sometime – I have a longboard you can borrow."

Blue suddenly found herself beaming. "That sounds like fun. Thank you, Maddy."

"You seriously have to try it. Surfing is like a drug; once you've tried it you're hooked. You really can't stop. As much as you try, you can't. You can't stop thinking about it, you can't stop wanting to, you can't stop coming up with ways to go again. That's how we ended up in Muriwai." He giggled.

"How?" Blue asked, so curious she couldn't help it.

"Mum and Dad took me for the Surf School beginner lesson on my 10th birthday. That was back when we were living just outside of Auckland city. I couldn't stop thinking about it since, and eventually I went back, and then I went back again. And again. Then I got my own board that I'd saved up for. Then the snowball effect took over." He laughed again.

"Turn here," Blue said quickly, pointing to her driveway. "That's amazing. I bet you never imagined you'd be where you are now back then."

"No, I certainly didn't. All I knew was it felt like I couldn't breathe when I wasn't on top of a board." Maddy pulled up to her house slowly, as if he didn't want to stop talking.

Blue looked over at him. She noticed his strong, bronze arms. His high, chiseled cheekbones. His blue eyes. She could call him good-looking.

Maddy brought the car to a stop, put it in park and looked at her, leaning back in his seat.

"Thank you so much for the ride. I really appreciate it," Blue said, looking outside at the sun that was shining down.

"It's no problem. I'll see you around, right?"

What should she say? Act confident? Or give him a vague answer? "Yeah, I'll be around. Definitely."

"Good. Hey, you have a good rest of the day. Stay dry," he warned, smirking.

"You too," Blue said as she opened the door, hopped out and slammed it shut. She waved quickly then walked up to her house.

Blue stood on the doorstep for a minute, watching Maddy reverse out of her driveway. Then she opened the door and slipped inside, to find her mother and father standing in the entryway directly in front of her. Her father's arms were crossed and her mother's hands were on her hips. Oops. Blue had forgotten in her elation about their strict rules pertaining to what friends could drive her where and when. And strange boys who had just moved in that day certainly didn't qualify.

"Who dropped you off, Blue?" her mother's ice-cold words echoed.