I Promise

26

I spend the next half hour teaching Matt how to surf. He never had time to surf after he moved here, but he is catching on very quickly. He just brushes it off because he used to snowboard and he has a long board, but I can tell he is happy that he isn't terrible at it. It's almost as if he's nervous to be doing this.

After while, he gets comfortable around the waves and we surf for a while. The water isn't cold because it's June, so we spend a lot of time wading around. With every new wave, I feel myself begin to relax more and more. That's what I love most about Dom's surfing area. Not a lot of people visit it so it feels secluded from the rest of the world even though it's a few bus stops away from where I live.

After a while Dom joins us and we float on our boards, watching the master hit the waves and show off some tricks. We holler at him to continue and give him scores out of ten. The sun is beginning to set, and it casts a light pink glow, like a giant piece of cotton candy that is floating in the sky. Dom comes out of the water to find some food and to start a little camp fire by the beach, so Matt and I lie on our boards as the waves calm down, watching the sky. I close my eyes and let the water rock me back and forth, breathing in the cool air.

"Thank you," I hear Matt say.

I open my eyes, and see him right in front of me, moving back and forth with the waves on his board. His hair is disheveled from the water, and the setting sun lands right near his eyes, illuminating the light traces of freckles speckled on his nose.

"Thank you for this, this marvelous day, Rynn," he says, smiling from ear to ear.

"Anytime you wanna surf, you know where to go," I reply, giving him a small, relaxed smile.

We begin to get cold from being in the water for so long so we go back to shore, and I already see Dom setting a circle of rocks to surround a makeshift fire pit. There are three logs placed around, ready for us to relax on.

The sun is still bright, and Matt and I sit by the water. The waves brush us as they roll back and forth, and I lie on my board. I untie my hair and rest my chin on my palm as the warm wind kisses my face.

Matt is looking at me, and I feel a blush coming.

"You know, you may be the prettiest person I've ever seen in a wetsuit and soaked hair," he says after a long silence, and I laugh.

Then his eyes widen and he smiles.

"I'll be right back," he says, and he runs off without another word. I call after him, but he raises his hand as if to say "you'll see!" at me.

Sure enough he comes back, holding a pencil and his sketchbook.

"Time to paint a masterpiece," he says as he sits down. "Just keep the position you're in, and try not to move. I'm going to give you a self portrait."

I begin to protest, but Matt brushes it all away, and before I know it, he's sketching me with full concentration written all over his face. He's biting his lip and his eyes scan my body, filling in every detail on his blank paper. I feel exposed to him, like I'm an open book and I can't hide anything about myself. But I love the look of concentration on his face, the way his hand moves swiftly from one end of the page to the next because he knows exactly what he's doing. He continues drawing me for what seems like an eternity, but I stay still and observe him.

Finally, when my hand feels like it's about to drop, he puts down his notebook, smiling at what he drew. And then smiling at me, like he is about to share a really big secret I never knew about him.

I let my hand drop and sit upright as he passes me his sketchpad.

I gasp when I see myself on a simple, bank page. A hint of a smile plays across my lips, inviting someone to try and figure out what I'm smiling at. My eyes look focused, like they're taking the world in. I realize that I was smiling at Matt, and while I was observing him with that look, he was drawing every inch of my face. My hair is slightly blowing past my face, a few strands are hitting my chin. The saltwater left my hair in waves, and Matt captured it all on paper.