Stick Around ✔

𝘴𝘪𝘹 ~ 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳

I wake as the sun is rising over the horizon and stretch in bed, yawning slightly, before getting up.

Still dressed in my oversized t-shirt, I step out of my van, in order to check out the surf. I grin; the waves are rolling in, so I head back inside and quickly change into my bikini and wetsuit.

The grin drops off my face when I see Reiley's phone.

Hesitantly, I turn it on and see a ton of missed texts and calls—all from last night.

Most of them are from Sophie, a few from Cole, and a handful from 'Dad'.

I swallow; Sophie has to be his girlfriend, right? Which means that, as nice as Sophie seems, I should probably stop acting so clingy and so into Reiley all the time.

Locking his phone in my van, I decide it's probably safer there than if I were to take it down to the beach with me, where I'd probably lose it. After checking no one's around, which they aren't, I leave the keys to Bessie under one of the woven chairs outside.

Grabbing my board, I head down to the beach. I do a quick stretch before beginning to paddle out to where the waves are breaking.

I can only see one other person out on the ocean, a surfer, and as I near them, I see that it's Kai, from yesterday.

"Hey Kai." I smile at him as I reach him.

"Hey, Skye." He smiles back, "You know if you'd have been out here an hour and a half ago, you would've been out on dawn patrol with us."

I've heard of dawn patrol a couple of times before. It's where surfers go out at the arse-crack of dawn and catch the waves.

Kai continues, "Loads of us were out here. You only just missed Reiley and Cole."

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow, and say without thinking, "Reiley left his phone in my van last night."

"You came here in a van?" Kai questions.

"No...erm...I live in a van." I bite my lip anxiously.

"That's sounds pretty cool." He appreciates, "My family has got a huge RV up in the Rocky Mountains."

I breathe out a sigh of relief, "So, you're not gonna stereotype me as a van life social media influencer because I live in a van and have travelled across the States?"

"Not at all; I hate labels." Kai frowns, "If I were labelled at high school, I would've been a nerd, a jock, a partyer, a pretty boy...and a surfer."

I laugh at that, "Yeah, it's like you can't fit into just one category—anyone who's ever read or seen Divergent knows that; we're all divergent and don't fit into any one faction. No one, no matter who they are or where they come from is perfect, even on paper. Labels suck—they should totally be abolished."

Kai grins, "Exactly, except you can't stop people being prejudice or judging that easily."

I sit up on my board and push my hair back into a hair band. "Glad to meet someone on the same wavelength as me."

"Speaking of waves," Kai nods towards the horizon, "You gonna catch some or just sit here?"

"Definitely catch some." I respond, and begin to paddle to catch the next wave.

I pop-up onto my feet at just the right time and ride the wave as it crests beautifully.

To my left, I see Kai's riding the same wave as me, but respectfully doing so.

I ride the wave for as long as possible, and get out of it before it can lock me in.

Whooping as I jump of my board and into the sea, I see that Kai also made the wave as well.