Vault

Thirty-Seven

"You're sure?" I asked, "it's harder than you think."

"I'm sure," Karl nodded, "I want to learn as much about this hobby of yours as I can."

"Alright, so we're going start in the sand," I smiled as I grabbed both of the boards I had in my backseat and handed one to Karl.

"You got a second board," Karl smiled, "I like it."

"Good," I nodded.

We walked out onto the sand together and sat down. I was going to teach Karl to surf and hopefully he'd enjoy it and have a good time.

"Alright so basics," I smiled, "surfing is about focusing your center of gravity in the right place which will be at your back foot and then you use that back foot to steer. But before we can get out on the water, I'm going to show you how to prep the board."

"So surfing is a lot like skateboarding, just with the opposite foot," Karl clarified.

"Exactly," I smiled.

i showed Karl how to wax his board and attached the tow strap for him before securing my own.

"Now, you have to paddle. Dig as deep as you can into the water, it'll be exhausting and it takes a lot of upper body strength," I explained, "so as we paddle out when a wave comes, you can push your body weight onto the front of your board to dive under the incoming wave or you can just hold on and roll over and then roll back after the wave passes. But you have to do one of those if you don't want to get completely obliterated by the waves."

"Okay," Karl nodded, "I think I got this."

Together we paddled out into the deeper water. I was nervous that he was going to get hurt or just hate surfing; I hope I can be a good enough teacher.

"Okay, that wasn't so bad," Karl nodded as he was panting slightly.

"So, you're safe here. And now we wait for a wave," I smiled.

"How do you know what wave is right?" Karl asked.

"No two waves are the same, and you really can't predict how a wave is going to form. But I like to sit here and go with my instincts for what could be a good wave, and sometimes I'm wrong sometimes I'm not," I shrugged, "there's no real way to know."

"Okay," Karl nodded, "so how do I get up?"

"When we pick a wave, you turn to face the shore and paddle. You have to paddle hard, you want to stay in front of the wave. Once the wave starts to form, you'll use your hands to push yourself up. Put your center of gravity on your back foot and then just do your best to stay up," I tried to explain, "the wax we put on the board help keep the friction between you and the board so you won't just slip off."

"Okay, that makes sense," Karl nodded.

Did it actually? Hopefully.

I watched as Karl pointed to an incoming wave, deciding he wanted to try to take it. He turned and started paddling towards the shore, he was doing well, I just hope he gets up and doesn't get discouraged.

"Stand up!" I called to him.

Karl pushed himself up and seemed to keep his balance for a few seconds before he stumbled and fell off. I'm proud, he did better than I thought he would especially for his first ever wave.

"How was that?" Karl asked as he got back to where I was waiting for him.

"That was good, it looked like you only fell off because you shifted your weight to the front. How'd it feel?" I smiled.

"That was actually a lot of fun," Karl laughed, "I want to go again."

"The ocean is yours," I encouraged him.

Karl waited for another wave before he tried again. Honestly, he was kind of a natural at it, but I could tell he was getting exhausted. When you're not prepared for all of the upper body strength that it requires and how truly strenuous it is, it's a lot.

He kept going for wave after wave, only getting better and staying up longer with each attempt until the waves slowed and the water calmed.

I laid back on my board while I waited for Karl to get back to where I was. The calm water below me almost lulled me into a state of complete relaxation. Almost.

"You didn't go out at all," Karl pouted when he got back to me.

"I know, I had just as much fun watching you," I smiled.

Karl shook his head and laid back on his board before he reached over for my hand, intertwining our fingers. It kept us close together as we gently floated over the calm water together.

"Did you have fun?" I asked.

"More than I thought I would honestly," Karl laughed.

"Good, I'm glad."

"You're a good teacher," Karl smiled, "thank you for teaching me."

"I will bring you out anytime you want."

"Thank you, could I ask you something?" Karl asked quietly.

"Of course you can," I smiled, "you can always ask me anything."

"Your boss. Has anything ever like happened between you two?"

He was definitely nervous. It made me a little nervous to answer him honestly. Was the truth going to hurt him? That was the last thing I wanted.

"To be completely honest with you, a little. Him and his friends used to hit on me pretty often and then I hung out with them after I got home from my birthday and I was upset with you, and Ashton kissed me. But it only happened twice. He knows that to me nothing is ever going to happen with us and since then they don't even hit on me at all anymore. They're just friends now," I tried my best to explain.

"Did you like having him kiss you?" Karl asked.

"No," I shook my head, "I felt absolutely nothing when he kissed me and I felt nothing when he'd touch me. And at the time I didn't really know it yet, but it isn't even on the same spectrum as kissing you. You take my breath away every single time and I can't get enough of you. And now that I said it out loud I'm a little embarrassed because that sounds lame."

"No it doesn't, don't be embarrassed, I'm glad we feel the same way. I'll remember that. Before this weekend is up, would I be able to take you on a real date?"

"Didn't you already do that?" I asked.

"I did, but I have another date in mind. And I want it to be something nice where you know it's happening so you can prepare for it and you get to get all dressed up and extra cute for it like I know you missed getting to do for our lunch date," Karl laughed lightly.

"I did miss that part," I giggled, "you know, that lunch date is the only date I have ever actually been on."

"Really?" Karl asked.

"Yeah, I've never been asked out on a real date before and no one ever cared about me to do something like that," I shrugged, "you're the first person to really look at me that way, which I still don't understand."

"If I would've known that I would've done some things differently. I didn't know you've never been on a date."

"No, it was perfect," I assured him, "but I don't love surprises."

"I know, I'm not going to tell you my plans for this next date, but at least you'll know it's happening. And I'm now going to pull out all the stops to make sure it's as perfect as possible," Karl promised, "I want you to have a fairytale story of your own to tell when you're older."