Chapter 9
Riley
I awoke the next morning with renewed happiness. At first I thought moving might be horrible. I was afraid there would be nothing to do and we wouldn’t make any new friends, but, even though I didn’t talk much at the beach party, I felt like Piper and I at least weren’t alone. There were teens here too, ones who liked to surf at that. The fire had been nice.
The most interesting thing though, had to be Zane. She remembered his looks; shoulder length wavy brown hair, blue eyes, and a handsome smile. I had never really seen long hair look good on anyone… except him. He dressed like a rebellious kid (at least Americans usually stereotyped them as such). He wore skinny jeans, a beanie, a v-neck shirt, and held a skateboard at his side. But despite all that, he had a warm smile and seemed a bit closed off, but friendly. He was definitely someone I could see as being a good friend.
I decided to take a walk down to the beach; Piper left early in the morning to go surfing, but I had opted for sleeping in. I figured I would explore town and hopefully get a chance to surf later, preferably when the sun was just about to set. That was definitely my favorite time to surf.
I walked along the path Piper and I had found the day before; the one that wound beside the shoreline. It was really beautiful. The sun was shinning, a gentle breeze blew through my hair. On the left side, greenery was everywhere. To my right, jagged bluffs and cliffs fell down to the blue-green ocean water and the whitecaps. I could smell the salt in the air that I had become accustomed to basically since I was born.
After only a couple minutes of walking,Newcastlebeach came into view. The waves looked good; I couldn’t wait to hit the beach later. Moments later I arrived. White fence lined the beach. Everything looked the same as it looked the day before except for one thing. A bright green and blue flyer was now hanging on a pole near the stairs down to the beach. I walked over to it, curious to see what it was advertising.
It read:
The Best ofNewcastleBeach!
Think you’re the best surfer on the block?
Then enterNewcastle’s annual surfing competition.
The even will be held onNewcastlebeach,
May 17-19 from 8:00 A.M – 4:00 P.M.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three in these divisions
(Participants must be 15 or older):
Women’s Competition: 21 and older
Men’s Competition: 21 and older
Junior Girl’s Competition: Ages 15-20
Junior Boy’s Competition: Ages 15-20
First prize is a Trophy and $3,000
Second: Medal and $1,500
Third: Medal and $750
Go out and surf your best!
(Entry fee is $25)
A big smile spread across my face. This is awesome! I thought. I quickly pulled out my iPhone and snapped a picture of the flyer. I wanted to tell Piper about it as soon as possible, that is, if she didn’t already see it.
“Pfft, you’re not thinking of entering, are you?” I heard a catty voice say. I turned around and somehow wasn’t surprised to see Teresa and a couple of her friends standing there. “You know you won’t win,” she said with a smug smirk.
“Why do you care if I enter?” I asked. Their arrogant attitude was suddenly making me bolder.
“Let’s just get this straight. Cole is mine. If you think a little spoiled American like you is going to take him away, then you’re wrong.” She glared me down with a hateful stare.
“Cole? Who says I have any interest in Cole?”
“Don’t act stupid. This is the first time Cole has brought new girls around in a long time. Anyhow, don’t enter the contest. You’ll just get beaten anyways.”
“I’m not going to follow your every command,” I said back defiantly.
Teresa’s eyes flashed with rage. She took a step forward and before I knew it, her hands were on my shoulders, shoving me off my feet and onto the ground.
I was in shock; I wasn’t really hurt, but I was so humiliated that I felt like crying. I watched her step forward, ready to attack me again, her friends backing her up, when suddenly someone interfered.
“Back off,” a male voice practically snarled.
“Why should we listen to you?” one of Teresa’s friends said.
“Because I’ll tell Cole what you’ve done. And trust me, he will not be happy.”
I finally turned my head around to see none other than Zane standing behind me. He walked around and stood in front of me, blocking me from the girls. They finally ‘hmphed’ and walked away without another word.
As soon as they had turned the corner, out of our sight, Zane turned to me and helped me up. At first I was speechless; I didn’t know what to say, I was so grateful. I finally managed to say thanks and joke, “You’re my hero.”
He looked embarrassed. “I was just in the right place at the right time,” he said with a shrug. He shoved his hands into his pockets.
He seemed shy, but somehow I could tell he wasn’t normally like this, just like how I wasn’t normally as shy around my friends. Zane seemed like a good person despite his defiant appearance.
“I’ve never really had any ‘girl bully’ problems before…” I said, almost muttered.
“Really?” he said. He seemed surprised. “Most girls either are the bullies or have been bullied.”
“I guess I just haven’t been around people all that often to give them a chance. I used to home school.”
“I see,” he said. “You moved here from theU.S.right? Why did you move?”
I was caught off guard. I really wasn’t happy about the move at first, but I guess I was starting to warm up to the idea. “My father’s and Piper’s father’s jobs were both transferred to here,” I told him while looking at the ground, “they work for the same company.”
“Well that’s cool. At least she got to come with you.” His comment surprised me. I looked up from the ground to see him smiling slightly.
“Yeah. I don’t think I could have moved if she didn’t come with me. We’ve been best friends for a long time.”
“Well it’s nice to have you here,” he said in a friendly manner.
“Thanks,” I said and smiled, “Well I have to go now, but maybe I’ll see you around?”
“Sure,” he said, “Um… hey, do you like to surf?”
“Actually more like love it,” I said with a smile.
“Cool, we should surf together sometime.”
“That would be cool.” I turned to leave. “See ya!” I called over my shoulder.
Our coincidental meeting made me smile. Looks like I’ve made my first new friend in Australia.
YOU ARE READING
You, Me, and the Aussies
Подростковая литератураPiper 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...
