The Night Surfer

The Storm

Turns out, Rhys really did know how to cheer a girl up.

The ice cream was great, especially on such a humid day, and he didn't ask me anything about my problems, instead talking about random things that made me laugh.

Narla liked Rhys too, especially when he gave her the last bite of his ice cream cone.

He dropped me home and I walked up to my room, I stood there for a while, just staring at the dress still hanging on my wardrobe door.

I didn't have the actual dress box, however I found a large shoebox that would do the job nicely, and neatly fold the dress into the box.

I grab a small piece of paper, writing neatly on it:

Thank you for making me feel like the prettiest girl in the world.

I sticky-tape it to the top of the box and take it downstairs with me.

"Can I borrow your car mum? I just need to drop something off." I ask mum, who was on her laptop at the table.

She looks at me and then at the box, "Sure Evie, keys are on the hanger."

I can smell something delicious when I walk into the kitchen, I see dad at the stove, "What's for dinner?" I ask, grabbing the keys.

He looks at me, "Apricot chicken."

I smile, "Smells great, I'll be back soon."

He waves, "Bye Evie."

I hop into mum's old Ford Focus and put the box next to me on the passenger seat. I start the engine and drive up to The Flats.

When I get to Axel's house, I didn't want to drive into the big driveway, incase he was home and he noticed, so instead I park on the street and decide to walk up to the door from there.

His Jeep wasn't in the driveway, so I was hoping that was a good sign.

When I'm walking however, another car pulls up to the driveway.

It was a convertible, and I would notice the short, black hair of the driver anywhere. She lowers her sunglasses at me, "Evie?"

I give her a small smile, "Hey Lena."

She smiles brightly back, "Long time no see! What are you doing here?"

I gesture to the box in my hand, "Just dropping something off."

"I didn't know you knew Ky." She says.

I glance around, hoping to not draw unwanted attention, "I don't really."

She raises her eyebrows, "You're here for Axel? What, are you guys like a thing?"

I shake my head, "No, no. Nothing like that."

She rolls her eyes, "I've heard he's pretty self-absorbed."

A small string of something like anger flushed through me, and I suddenly felt the need to stick up for him, "He's not like that at all, people always assume everything."

She holds up her hands, "Hey, I'm just saying what's been said." She grins, "Although he is damn hot, so I guess it makes up for it."

I didn't really know how to respond to that, mainly because part of me agreed.

No, I need to forget that part of me.

Lena looks up at the sky, "The storm's coming in, people are saying it'll hit hard this weekend."

I look up too, "Nothing to make people run off."

"North does sound pretty tempting at the moment." Lena says, "I heard Dreamer Bay is great this time of year."