Tania Sanchez can barely juggle studying for SAT's and training for the biggest surfing competition of her life. Her one escape involves fantasizing about living as a mermaid. It's not until she wipes out on her board and is rescued by one that she...
Helia coughed it out on the beach, but Tania was already wading back in the water.
"Dude, it's gonna storm!"
Her best friend lay in the sand panting, brown hair sticking to her adorable face in thick strands.
Tania glanced at the darkening sky, and then shot a smile over her shoulder. "I'm goin' in."
"Me too," a deep baritone replied, a blue board bumping hers playfully.
Tania couldn't help but return a bump to Caleb Ford's blue board with her emerald one. He had told her once it was his way of saying hey out on the water. For her, it was equivalent to holding hands. Maybe kissing.
Caleb had taught her everything, from the Roadhouse Cutback to the Tube Ride. He was three years her senior, and had been in far more competitions than Tania. They had met four years prior, in one of her first competitive rides. He'd beat her out badly, but had shook her hand afterward, complimenting her form and asking if she had a mentor. She wondered if she could beat him if they competed against each other again.
"See? Least someone around here's brave!" Tania called to Helia as she paddled out.
"Ya'll are just crazy!" Helia threw her hands up at the gray clouds and snatched her board from the sand, marching back in the direction of the parking lot.
"So dramatic," Caleb said, paddling next to Tania.
He always spoke with at least a half-smile, and Tania couldn't imagine him angry. His freckled-face lit up when he laughed, and she aimed to make that happen daily.
"Ya gotta stop teachin' her bad habits, man," she told him.
He chuckled, and she told herself to aim higher on the joke-meter for the next time.
"Think we'll get caught up?" Tania nodded at the gray clouds blotting out the sun.
Caleb shook his head. "Let's see what this next swell brings."
She followed alongside him, admiring his powerful arms as they stroked through the water.
His mention of swell had her assessing the horizon, checking for a good opening. About a hundred meters off, a splash caught her eye, and she nearly fell off her board.
Can't be.
"C'mon!" Caleb was way ahead of her, standing up on his board about to carve one out.
She laughed at her overreaction, assuring herself that she hadn't seen what she thought she'd seen.
Because mermaids didn't exist.
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