Melt With You

Chapter 2

"You can call me Santana. You are?" She introduced, holding her hand out towards him.

"Jonathan. Nice to meet you."

"Well, Jonathan, do you need any help getting settled? What are your plans?"

"I don't have one right now."

"Well, I'm going to be your tour guide. I know the area, so I'll show you all the good places to eat, the places to stay and the places to catch the best waves. Do you surf?"

"I don't surf, but I have a feeling I'm going to learn."

"That's right. I'm a professional surfer, actually, so someone in the house will give you lessons. How long are you staying?"

"Maybe a month. What house are you taking about?"

"The Roxy house. The signed surfers get to stay there, it's right by the famous and legendary Jay Bay. I wouldn't suggest learning how to surf there, even I have trouble catching the waves there. Anyway, I'll introduce you to my best friends, Farai and Behati, when we get there."

"Are they surfers, too?"

"Some of the best. What do you do?"

"I'm a professional ice hockey player in Chicago, Illinois." Jonathan answered, his heart feeling a little pang of pain and disappointment.

"Whoo! You're a long way from home, Jonathan. What made you come here?" Santana explained.

"It's a long story." Jonathan stated vaguely, cutting it off right before the conversation was even able to start. It still hurt to think about it, he wasn't ready to talk about it just yet. Especially not to a stranger.

"Good thing we've got time. This is our stop, come on, Jonathan." She answered, getting N out of her seat and pulling her surfboard off the rack.

Jonathan stood up as well, making sure his backpack was zipped tightly before putting it on his back and grabbing his single suitcase from the rack above as well. He followed her off the bus and out into the street, where she headed towards the beach and began walking. The sand was white and soft, Jonathan couldn't resist slipping his sneakers off and letting his toes sink into the warm sand. It's been a long time since he's been able to do this.

"Jonathan, tell me something." Santana asked, turning towards him and walking backwards.

"We'll see." He answered.

"Do you have any sunscreen?"

"No. I'm here by accident."

"A swimsuit? Board shorts? Flip flops? A hat? Sunglasses?"

"No to everything but the hat and sunglasses. I live in Chicago, remember?"

"Okay. You're totally unprepared, then. We've got to go shopping, so add that to the list of things we have to do this week."

"Duly noted."

"Wait, how are you here by accident? Catch the wrong flight or something?"

"That's part of the long story."

"You have to give me something, Mr. Mysterious. Otherwise, you're just a stranger I'm not obligated to help. Let me guess, bad breakup?"

"Not exactly..." Jonathan began, staring off towards the ocean. "Partly, though."

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere!"

"My team made it through all the rounds of the playoffs and lost the trophy in the last game of the series."