Fighting the Waves (On Hold)

Fighting the Waves ~ Chapter 2

The closest hospital was going to be about a twenty-five minute drove from the little beach we were on. I made myself lock my eyes on the road, determined to ignore the jerk in my passenger’s seat. Even focusing on the how the leather on my steering wheel seemed like a better idea than having to talking to this guy. Unfortunately, after the first few minutes of the drive I somehow noticed Cole was drifting off to sleep. 

"Hey. Hey, no! You can't go to sleep; you might have a concussion or something." I said reaching over with one arm, while keeping my eyes on the road, shaking him. 

"Whaa..." He murmured. 

"Wake up!" I shouted, whishing I could have done so in his ear.

"Fine, fine. I'm awake. You don't gotta yell. But you're going to have to talk to me if you want me to stay awake." Cole replied, persistently.

"I don't want you to stay awake, but I don’t really want to be held responsible if you keel over in my car.” I couldn’t help the fact that my words seemed to be dripping with distain. I mean, come on, can you really blame me? The guy’s an arrogant prick! “Fine, what do you wanna talk about?" I eventually asked.

"You." Does he really have to sound so… smug? The kid nearly just died; wouldn’t you think he’d be a little more appreciative to be alive? And possibly a little nicer to the girl who kept him that way?

Okay, Logan. Calm down. He’s didn’t say anything rude. Stop blowing things out of proportion. Give the guy a chance, like you said, the guy nearly just died; he’s got the right to have been a bit shaken up. Be the better person. Stop being a bitch.

I took a deep breath, trying to get a handle on myself, "What about me?" 

"How old are you?" He questioned. See? He’s just trying to make conversation.

"Nineteen. I'll be twenty in February." I informed him. Ew,  this conversation is so formal. I’ve never liked having formal conversations; they’re too awkward for me. I could never be an elitist or a politian. I think I would die of boredom.

"Today's my twentieth." He said absentmindedly. I glanced away from the road to stare at him incredulously. My mouth might as well have been hanging open. 

"Creative way to spend your birthday." I mumbled under my breath. I guess he heard me because he chuckled. 

"You have no idea...” He laughed. Suddenly, he got a serious look on his face along with a distance in his eyes and grew silent. 

Breaking the silence that was begging to become even more awkward than I thought the stiff conversation had been, "Well, happy birthday then, I guess." I said, not liking how the car seemed to be so much more tense now.

Cole shook his head, snapping out of his trance. "Thanks... So… You surf?"  

"Mhmmm. Ever since I can remember." I smiled sadly, remember all the many times my mom and I surfed together.

"That’s cool; I don’t know too many girls who like to surf.” He said to me, admiringly. “So, who were all those people you were with?" 

"My surfing group: Valerie White, Bailey Jenkes, Catherine Onakea, Jamie Robinson, Parker Greenup, and Greg Onakea. We've all been friends since we were kids – except for Jamie who moved here a few years ago. Catherine and Greg are twins with different fathers. Weird, I know. But they both go by their mom's last name. And Parker is Val's boyfriend." I paused rather astounded with myself for blurting that all out, "Why am I telling you all this?" 

"Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked, ignoring my last comment as if the thought had just come to him.

"Nope." I replied, popping the ‘p’ and shaking my head.