Chapter 5
Riley
I had to admit, my new room was bigger than my room inHawaii. The space had high ceilings and large windows that made it airy and naturally lit. My room inHawaiihowever, was small and barely fit my bed and dresser. The walls were painted a light teal color by the previous owners, which matched my bohemian style bedding and furniture. I had to say I was pleased with the area.
Back on Oahu, my parents had required me to surf at least three hours a day, sometimes more, as well as other physical activities. Sometimes I ran, played volleyball, or did jump rope. But of course surfing was the best. I can’t wait to test the waves here! I thought excitedly. It was the only thing that made me exited about moving here, or at least so far.
Last night we quickly brought in our things and I stayed up almost half the night trying to make my new room feel like home. Now it was morning and I contemplated what I would do on my first official day inAustralia.
I walked over to my window and gazed out at the ocean. Suddenly, I couldn’t stand being away from the water any longer. I slipped on my thongs* and ran down the street to Piper’s house. I rang the doorbell and Vicki, Piper’s mom, answered.
When I saw her attire I smiled. Vickie had always been a beautiful woman and she dressed fashionably. She had stunning blonde hair and evenly toned skin. At the moment she was wearing whiteCapri’s, a burnt orange tube top, and a bikini underneath. Even though she was forty, she looked really good for her age.
“Hi, Vicki. Is Piper still here?” I asked.
“Hey honey. She’s upstairs. Come on in,” she said welcoming me in. She pointed upstairs and I quickly climbed them two at a time.
“Piper?” I called.
“In here!” I heard her yell with a muffled voice.
I opened her door and my eyes were instantly drawn to the sunflower orange walls. The color was eye catching but also matched her organic-style-flower bedding. Several of her best photographs were hanging on the walls already.
“Wow, you must have stayed up late fixing your room,” I said looking around.
“Yeah, but how did you know?” Piper said.
“Well for one it would have taken a while to hang your pictures and… I did the same,” I said and laughed.
“Wow,” Piper said and laughed too, “figures. So what’s up?”
“Well, it’s our first day here. I think we should scope it out.”
“Sounds like a plan, just let me fix my hair.”
“I was thinking we could head down to that beach we saw on the way here. It’s about half a mile away I think.” I cracked up laughing when I realized Piper’s ‘fixing her hair’ meant taking her three seconds to throw it up into a ponytail.
“What?” she said, turning towards me.
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head.
“Let’s go,” Piper said smiling.
We set of into the warm summery air and headed down our street. By accident, we discovered that there was a walking path all the way down to the beach we had seen on our way to our houses. The path wound along the ocean shore, following the curves and dips. Salty sea mist quickly rose to our nostrils and I felt at home. Because no matter where I was, the sea would always be there to set me free.
As soon as we reached the beach, I kicked off my zories and let the sand squish through my toes. The miniscule granules surrounded my feet in a blanket of warmth.
“This feels so good!” I said dreamily.
“Yeah it does!” Piper agreed, “Feels like we’re back inHawaii. But I’m really excited to be here.”
“Me too, but I still miss home… I wonder if the guys are different here.” I said, cocking my head slightly.
“Why would you bring up guys of all things? I thought you didn’t care about them,” Piper teased with a smirk.
“I can dream can’t I?” Piper and I laughed.
“Wow… well I hope we meet some though. Just because you haven’t had time for a boyfriend doesn’t mean I don’t have time for one.” Piper nudged me humorously.
We were walking along when suddenly I spotted a boy looking Piper and me up and down.
I prodded Piper with my elbow. “Look at that guy over there,” I whispered.
She finally noticed who I was talking about and said, “Eww! That creep is checking us out!”
Just then, the young man walked up. “Hey ladies,” he said, “I’m Brice, what are your names?
“Why should we tell you?” Piper said rather harshly.
“Ouch,” he said holding his hands up, “I was just wondering… besides being hot, what can a nice guy like me do for you?”
Piper instantly rolled her eyes at him. “Come on, Rie*, let’s go.” She grabbed my arm and practically dragged me in the opposite direction.
“Aww, come on, don’t be like that!” he shouted as we walked away, “Let me at least buy you both a drink!”
“No thank you!” Piper yelled back furiously.
We kept on storming away until we were at the other end of the beach. “Um… Piper? You can let go of my arm now.”
“Huh? Oh sorry Riley,” she said, shaking her head.
“It’s fine. Why were so you rude to him? He didn’t seem bad to me.”
“That’s because you don’t know what guys are like. He’s a total tool!”
“What do you mean?”
“This: Guys will use any method to get what they want from girls. And it’s not nice.”
“Oh.” I got the point and my face reddened.
“So, you ready to really giveAustraliaour Hawaiian induction ceremony?”
“How are we going to do that?”
“Duh! We go surfing!”
*Flip-flops
*Rie (Nickname for Riley)
YOU ARE READING
You, Me, and the Aussies
Novela JuvenilPiper and Riley have been surfing for as long as they can remember. It has become their life. Forced to move to Australia for their fathers' joint work, they are faced with a whole new set of problems they aren't familiar with. Australia provides th...
