Airplanes suck.
Just saying.
They're full of noisy, stinky people who all need to shut the hell up, security has to check your surfboard for about 20 minutes deciding whether or not you can carry it on board, and if you fall asleep you wake up with the absolute worst neck ache ever. Plus you're thousands of feet up in the air in a metal death trap that can be taken down by playing freaking Words with Friends.
It's just not natural.
I grabbed my surfboard from the plane's closet, where they let you store slightly large carry-on's, and checked to make sure it was ok. The 5' 6" custom fiberglass board was my pride and joy. The custom graphic under the fiberglass of blue and green flames coming towards the tail was an added bonus to what was my favorite board ever since I got it as a 15th birthday gift. Almost 3 years later and I still love it like it was my child.
"Jessie! Over here!" My cousin Shelly screamed as I walked out of the plane into the bustling airport. Shelly squealed and ran over from her seat, her beach blonde hair bouncing as she pulled me into a bone crushing hug.
"Oxygen..... Need..." I gasped as she giggled and let go as I smoothed out my tribal t-shirt. Shelly had moved here to California 4 years ago, after she dropped out of college to follow an old dream and open\ up an ice cream shop of all things in a town nobody had heard of before. Of course. Only my family.
She was now 26 and taking me in for the summer.
This summer was determined by my dad, whose work was sending him away somewhere in Asia to restart a new branch or something business-y like that. He said he thought I would have fun, but I knew he just wanted a break from a 17 year old teenage girl about to go into her senior year. I, being the stubborn person I was, probably wouldn't have gone if not for the surf. The town was right on the beach and had amazing surf (according to Shelly) but wasn't very crowded, as nobody really knew about the town.
Added bonus: no more Oregon gloom.
Score!
Shelly blabbed nonstop about the shop and town, named Colton Bay, all the way through the airport and through the 2 hour drive, asking sparing questions about my dad and life back in Oregon. We pulled up in front of a sky blue, Cape Cod style house. We were only a few blocks away from the beach, which made me extremely happy, and we were surrounded by houses of all different sizes and colors. The one on our left was a muted shade of yellow and had a sign on the door that said "Beware of Teenager" which made me chuckle slightly. I grabbed my board and blue suitcase from the back of the car and followed Shelly up the front porch steps and through the front door.
The front living area, to the right of the stairs, had light floors and sky blue couches with white and navy throw pillows, you could see the open concept kitchen behind, and to the left of the stairs was a hallway with two doors.
Shelly gestured at the two doors and smiled, "The one on the end is your room. The one on the right is the bathroom. I'll go ahead and let you get settled, but tonight the teenagers of the town have a bonfire. One of the girls who work at the shop said she'll take you so you can go socialize."
"I'm good." I replied, already imagining the Netflix marathon I would have on my computer.
"No. You're going. Oh and if you want one, you could have a job at the shop." She added, crossing her arms for effect.
I groaned and ran a hand through my hair. It was kind of pointless to argue with Shelly. She was more stubborn than I was! "Fine." I sighed," When does she pick me up? Oh and thanks for the job opportunity. Can I work afternoon shifts? I'm probably going to be doing a lot of morning surfing."
