The Night Surfer

The Book

When we left Mystique Bay it was already late afternoon, and the sun was getting closer and closer to the water.

"Starlight Shore is about an hour away, we'll probably find a motel there for the night." Axel says as we exit the town.

"Sounds good." I say, leaning my head against my closed window.

I see him glance at me from the corner of my eye, "You'll get the hang of it Evie."

I knew he was talking about surfing, I was still in a bitter mood after our surf. 

I sigh, "I know, I guess I was just a little disappointed because it was my first time surfing in the sun for a while."

"I'll help you, you'll be back to your normal technique in no time." He says with determination.

I give him a small smile, "Thanks Axel."

He just returns the smile before fiddling with the radio, since it was just people talking and no music.

The next forty-five minutes was silence, but a good silence. I just watched as the sun touched the horizon on the ocean, before completely sinking underneath.

Part of me couldn't believe that I was doing this, especially after the way Alex and I finished on quite bad terms.

Which we still hadn't talked about. It seemed to still be hanging above both of us, and I knew that we would have to clear things up soon.

But in the meantime, I was going to enjoy myself.

That thought made me think of Axel, his sister had run away, and while we were gallivanting around and surfing, we still had to keep a lookout for her.

"Are you worried about Kyra?" I ask, breaking the silence.

He glances at me, "Of course, that's why I'm doing this."

"Well yeah, but I kind of mean in general. You know, with the smoking and the attitude." I reply, knowing that I could be walking on risky territory.

He sighs, and for a moment I think he's going to drop the subject, but he answers, "Mum and I thought that the attitude was just going to be a phase, but it's been a long time and she's still like this. Mum doesn't know about the smoking, but I'm only trying to help her."

"Why doesn't she listen?" I ask.

He shrugs, "I guess you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped."

I look out of the window at the dimming sky, "I didn't want to be helped."

"But you did." He replies.

He was right, there was somewhere deep inside me that wanted to be able to overcome my social anxiety.

"Who is she with, anyway?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Her friends Nat and Tate, and probably Lena too." He says.

"Lena," I say, "What do you know about her?"

"Not much. Just that her family shipped her here from Sweden when she was thirteen, apparently she disgraced them, if that's such a thing anymore." He replies.

"Who does she live with?" I ask.

I see him shrug through the reflection of the window, "Distant family I guess."

"She seems to have a nice car for such a bad reputation." I mumble, more to myself.

Axel still catches it though, "You know what her car looks like?"

I look at him, confused, "Yeah, it's a white convertible."

"That must have been the car they took." Axel says.