Out of the Blue

6

The beep of Andrew's truck sparked a jolt of energy through Stephanie's body. She yelled to her sleeping parents that she was off and bolted out the door. Putting her board in the bed of the truck she asked Andrew "Should I bring my bike?"

"No need. I've got you." He said with a smile. And she replied saying thanks, hopped in the passenger seat and they were off.

They got to the beach and the waves were great, just like he said. For about and hour they surfed in the dawning sun. Magnificent reds, yellows, oranges, pinks and purples were painted across the morning sky. After the hour had passed, they sat side by side in the shallows on their boards, watching the sunrise.

"You're very energetic today, if I do say so myself." Andrew chuckled.

"Yeah. I was really excited to go morning surfing I guess." She said. "And you were right. The waves are a lot better in the morning." Now laying down on her board, she let her hair dip in the ever so blue ocean, arms floating on the water.

" Haha what did I tell ya'? And sunrises like these are worth getting up for." he said, mimicking Stephanie's position.

"It really is" Stephanie sighed. For about five minutes they just laid there staring at the sunrise. One thing that Stephanie didn't see was that Andrew would periodically stare at Stephanie, almost admiring her. Something was different about her. He felt a connection growing but knows Stephanie would be too afraid to act upon it. Before he made any move on this unsure, possibly budding feeling, he had to get to know her better, have her open up, see what makes her tick. One thing Andrew always noticed is when she smiled around him she always looked down. Did she feel something too? They have only been working together for a few days. Andrew planned to wait a couple weeks before he made any decisions. How could he tell if she noticed what he did? Stephanie isn't exactly his group of people, but at the time being, his friends didn't have to know and he slightly didn't care if they did know. They couldn't judge him in the summer. Summer was his time, not his reputation that he had to maintain. This summer isn't going to be like any other. He felt it.

"Maybe we should head back" Andrew suggested.

"Yeah I thinks it's a half hour until seven. We should go and this was fun." Stephanie said, sitting up and turning her board towards shore.

"Want to race?" Andrew gave Stephanie one of his smirks.

"As long as you don't cry when I win." She smirked back and started to hard core paddle to shore. Andrew laughed and began to paddle. About seventy feet from shore a fishing boat roared past, creating a huge wake, sending a wave their way. Andrew saw it coming but Stephanie was caught off guard and knocked off her board.

A sharp pain shot through the bottom of her foot. Racing back to the surface, Stephanie frantically looked around and grabbed a hold of her board. She started seeing blood surround her. Starting to get worried, she rushed to shore. Stephanie tried walking up the beach but fell down because of the pain. She tried again and again but the pain was too much and Stephanie began to crawl. Andrew met up with her and noticed a stream of blood trailing down to the water. Beginning to slightly panic, he picked her up in a cradling hold and walked her up to the aquarium, into the break room.

Andrew sat Stephanie down on a chair, trying to find the first aid kit. Not finding one, he took off his shirt, exposing his defined upper body, and wrapped it around her foot. Chiming bells told them that Ms. Darla just arrived to work and seeing small droplets of blood trailing into the break room, she frantically walked into the room to see Andrew tending to Stephanie's bleeding foot.

"Baby girl, what happened?" Ms. Darla asked with much concern.

"We went surfing this morning, a wave knocked Stephanie off her board and her foot landed on a piece of coral." Andrew explained, Ms. Darla sensed that there was much concern in his eyes. She nodded and started looking for a towel to clean up the blood on the floor and find the anti-bacterial cream.

"Man, you're one tough girl." Andrew said, still applying pressure to Stephanie's foot.

"Why do you say that?" Stephanie questioned back.

"You haven't shed one tear, and you even tried walking! I know some of my friends who would totally wimp out over this."

"Oh, I guess I have a high pain tolerance." Stephanie answered back, not really knowing what to say. Andrew switched the positions of his hands and Stephanie winced at the pain.

"Sorry, sorry. Are you alright?" Andrew looked up at Stephanie, obviously worried.

"Yeah I'm fine." She forced a weak smile. A minute later Ms. Darla came in with the cream and a roll of gauze. Andrew rubbed the anti- bacterial cream on her foot, causing a sharp stinging sensation throughout her foot and then wrapped the gauze around it multiple times and finished his wrapping job just above the ankle. "Sorry about your shirt." Stephanie said, slightly embarrassed.

" Don't worry about it, I've got another one in my locker. How's your foot?" He asked.

"I mean, it's seen better days." Stephanie tried to lighten the mood by laughing but Andrew was obviously still worried. "Don't worry , it wasn't your fault. I'm going to be perfectly fine. Thank you for everything." She reassured him, showing him a smile and kind eyes. Andrew smiled back but still had concern in his eyes.

" I just want to make sure you're ok." He said while taking a grasp of the chair armrest, then lifting himself up.

Ms. Darla walked in, asking if she was alright to work and when Stephanie replied with an enthusiastic yes she said " I'll have you work admissions today, ok? I don't want you putting too much pressure on your foot, so I'll bring a stool you can sit on, ok baby girl?"

"Ok, thank you!" Stephanie replied. She hoisted herself out of the chair and tried to apply pressure on her foot to walk, but recoiled from the sharp jolt of pain. Beginning to hop, Andrew then places her arm around his shoulders, assisting her to the admissions table and helping her up onto the stool.

"Thanks for that." Stephanie told Andrew from across the counter as she adjusted her angle on the stool.

"Are you good?" He asked.

"Yep" Stephanie said with a little bit of enthusiasm.

"Ya' know, work is going be so boring today." Andrew said over dramatically.

"Oh and why is that?" She said in the same way.

"Because you don't have me to work with, of course!" He answers with a big pearly white smile.

Stephanie started to laugh and sarcastically said " Oh, of course. How could I have forgotten?"

"Andrew! You need to clean and feed the seal and penguin exhibits.Stop talking and get to work!" Ms. Darla yelled from her office. Andrew and Stephanie began to laugh.

"You better get going." Stephanie said, giving Andrew a mocking smile.

"I guess I should." he laughed. Stephanie waved him goodbye as he began to walk away and jokingly said "Oh I see how it is. You want me to leave."

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders while still laughing through the big smile on her face.

"Alright. I'll see you soon then." He waved her off, still chuckling to himself.

" Alright then." She replied back as he walked down the corridor, and she reached for a pen and pad of paper on the counter to keep her busy.