Caught Inside

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart." – Proverbs 21:2

After attempting to strum a chord progression for the twelfth time in a row, Jake shouted in frustration and threw his guitar down on his bed. He couldn't remember the last time he had had this much trouble with a song.

"Stupid strings," he muttered, glaring at the neck of his guitar as if it was the source of the problem.

In reality, it wasn't the difficulty of the song that was bothering him, but the frayed emotions he had to deal with. Two hours ago, he had been shocked to find Maya sitting at the same peak as him. A little later, he'd been furious when she dropped in on his wave. Then, after their rather destructive conversation, he'd paddled back out with a permanent scowl on his face. He had sat in the water for another hour, not catching anything except one small wave to go in. The surf session had been a complete waste of time.

At least Jake's family wasn't here to see him so stressed out. His parents were at a doctor's appointment and his little brothers were playing at a friend's house. The Sanders' home was quiet and tranquil—until Jake had yelled, that is.

He meekly picked up his guitar and fingered it in his lap. With his burst of anger now over, he felt exhausted. His emotions had peaked and ebbed, leaving a wake of remorse in their path. He suddenly regretted everything he had done today.

Blinking away a few tears, he gently set his guitar down and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through his contact list until he saw Maya's name. When was the last time they had actually connected? He remembered the daily texts, the constant phone calls, the fun and entertaining conversations at school and work. Now, they ignored each other on every possible occasion, and Jake had even dropped a few hours so he wouldn't have to see her at Scottie's.

But the pain he felt in his heart was indescribable. "Oh, God," he muttered. "How could I have been so stupid?"

Maya was the love of his life. That much was true. Jake felt it in every part of his being. How could he have let something as pointless as a single fight ruin their entire relationship?

He groaned in frustration, but this time, he contained his urge for violence. He shoved his phone away and rested his head in his hands. If he tried to call or text Maya, she would only ignore him. He needed to wait until the right time before attempting to reconcile things between them.

His dad, along with Cole and Blaine, had been right. The thing Jake needed to do—the thing he should have done a long time ago—was bow his head and ask for forgiveness.

Before he could approach Maya, though, he knew he had to approach God first. After letting out a deep breath, he quietly murmured his first words of confession.

"Well?" Cole asked as soon as Alana opened the door to his surf van and climbed inside. "How'd it go yesterday?"

She gave him a weary look. "Please don't remind me."

"But Jake never texted me back! I don't know what happened."

Blaine quickly piped up from the backseat. "What are you guys talking about?"

Cole and Alana exchanged a look. "Well," Alana said, "we kind of came up with a master plan to get Jake and Maya back together...only it didn't work out."

Cole banged his fist against the steering wheel. "Dang it. What went wrong?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Blaine said, leaning forward to stick his head between the two of them. "What exactly did this grand plan of yours entail?"