Surf's Up

Chapter 1

Finley watched the flickering orange orb. It looked picturesque against the pink and orange streaked sky. A group of teens in bikinis and board shorts surrounded the bonfire, roasting hot dogs and s'mores. Scattered around them lay discarded shortboards, like bright white blades. Whoops of laughter and conversation carried up to the bluff above. Finley yearned to join them. It was everything she'd wanted the past few years, watching Blue Crush with Daisy and Amanda, glancing every so often at her pink 7'6" SurfBetty board collecting dust.

One couple stood out from the rest. Of course they would be together, they made a perfect match. Both the quintessential beach child, hair bleached blonde by the sun and skin tanned to a perfect golden. They each sported lean, toned bodies and seemed like deities compared to the rest of the people seated around them. The girl leaned against the guy and he wrapped a muscular arm around her tiny body and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. She shivered in her bikini and he wrapped his Letterman jacket around her. Holbrook read the name on the back. 

One of the guys, with tousled brown hair and washboard abs stood up on top of the cooler and raised his arms. "I know the summer is sadly over, and it's back to school again," he proclaimed. Everyone groaned. Holbrook shook his long blonde hair out of his eyes and looked up at the speaker. "BUT for most of us, this is it. The final year before we're out of here." Whoops and hollers followed. Finley noticed the speaker's shirt read San Clemente High School Surf Team. San Clemente High School. That was where she was starting the day after tomorrow. "So without further ado, let's make this year our bitch and surf hard, party hard, and work not so hard. Because my fellow surf rats, this is our last chance at freedom. Our last few months of no responsibilities and no worries or cares. Cheers my bruddahs!" 

"Cheers to that!" Another guy called out and everyone clapped and cheered and raised their red solo cups. Suddenly Holbrook turned his head slightly and looked directly up at Finley. She made eye contact with his bright blue eyes and then she quickly turned around and walked away, cheeks burning and heart hammering.

Finley's parents had bought a house about a 15 minute walk from the beach. But Finley didn't mind walking and didn't have much else to do. She'd spent the day unpacking her boxes and arranging her room and finally took a break for a sunset surf, but felt hesitant taking out her board when it had been so long since she'd surfed. She'd been born and raised in Santa Barbara. Her father was a nuclear engineer and her mother a doctor, so they never hurt for money. Her parents were often busy with work so as a child they'd enrolled her in surf camps that lasted all year long. From ages 8-13, she'd spent every summer weekday surfing as well as every day after school during the school year. A lot of the time she spent sitting on her board and chatting with the other girls, but by the time she was 12, she could easily cross step and ride the nose of her board. 

After graduating 8th grade, her father was sent to work at a power plant in Indiana, so she and her mother packed up the house and drove out to join him. For the first time Finley lived away from the ocean, in a completely landlocked state. Although she missed surfing, she was young and resilient and quickly readjusted to life in the suburbs and joined her high school swim team. She traded pow wows with girlfriends in the ocean to weekly sleep overs with her two best friends. Little did she know, her parents were sorely missing the beach life of California, so when her father came across an opportunity to participate in the decommissioning of the San Onofre nuclear plant, he jumped at the chance and uprooted Finley from her comfortable life of boba runs with Daisy and Amanda, daily SAT prep, and college planning with the academic counselor.

She recalled the day just a couple weeks ago when he broke the news. She'd been lying in her backyard by the pool with Daisy and Amanda. They were sipping boba by her pool and talking about the coming senior year. The hot August sun burned down on them. "Man, I can't believe we're all finally 17 and still none of us have had a boyfriend," Daisy complained. Finley had just turned 17 a few days previously, marking the occasion with a small party with Daisy and Amanda and a cake baked by her mom. Her parents had both taken the day off work to spend with her. She scrolled through Instagram on the new blue iPhone 13 Pro her parents had gotten her.

"Whatever, we go to an all girls school. It's not like there are many options," Amanda quipped.

"At least you get to swim with the boys school, Fin" Daisy poked at Finley's leg.

Finley rolled her eyes. She did dream about falling in love and having a boyfriend, but she was hopelessly shy and too afraid to ever make a move. Seeing as no guy had ever approached her either, she was just as happy continuing to hang out with Daisy and Amanda. She selfishly hoped they stayed single as well so the three of them could go to prom together the following year. Or just skip it altogether and get milkshakes at the local diner.

"Hey girls. How's it going?" Her dad poked his head out of the house. On weekends it was quiet at home since her mother usually worked the ER, but her dad was usually up to play video games with her or swim in the pool or shoot some hoops. This weekend, though, he seemed slammed with work meetings, so she'd invited Daisy and Amanda over. "Fin can you come in for a sec?"

Finley looked at Daisy and Amanda, whose faces reflected her questioning expression. She got up and walked inside. The air conditioning was blasting and she shivered. "What's up?"

"So honey, you know how we've all been missing California so much?"

"Uh, I guess so." Finley did often miss her old life in California. Especially during the summer when she longed to be back surfing in sunny, warm California. But she also liked living in Indiana with Daisy and Amanda. 

"Well, I got an opportunity to move us back. What do you say?" Her dad looked at her excitedly.

"Umm, sounds great!" It was out before she had time to think. She hadn't seen her dad look this happy in a long time and wanted to keep the smile on his face. 

"It does, doesn't it? Oh just think, we'll get a nice place down south with a view of the water. You could get back into surfing. Just listening to the waves break and watching the sun rise over the ocean is so good for stress relief."

Finley suddenly realized how stressed her father had seemed lately. She recalled him getting home late and leaving early the next morning, and constantly running his hand through his hair. Her mother, too, had been at the ER all hours of the day. She'd been so busy with SATs and college applications and her friends that she'd hardly noticed.

"Yeah, I think you should take it, dad," she said smiling at him.

"Ok, let me call your mom." He grabbed his phone and Finley headed back outside.

"What was that about?" Amanda asked, her faced scrunched with concern. 

Finley took a deep breath. "I think we're moving." 

It had happened so fast after that. Her mom had been overjoyed and ready to get out of there as fast as she could. Daisy and Amanda cried. Finley felt sad, but for some reason she didn't cry. A bigger part of her was actually excited for the change. She started seeing it as her big chance to do something worth remembering in high school. She'd spent three years in boring Indiana, and while it had been fun hanging out with Daisy and Amanda and she'd treasure their friendship forever, she was invigorated by the idea of reinventing herself and being a totally different girl in California. 

Finley walked up the hill to her new house, which stood high on a clifftop overlooking the pier and T-street beach. It was her parents's dream house. Her dad had always wanted a beachfront house where he could sit out and watch the ocean. That sort of house was well over a million in California, but after years of hard work as an engineer and doctor, her parents had enough of a financial cushion now to allow for the purchase of their dreams. Finley's room had a large picture window that faced the ocean so she could see the waves from her bed. Her parents' room was directly above hers with a balcony, where they decided they'd play Scrabble and watch the sunset. Her mom had cut down her hours and was no longer working overtime. Her father, too. They'd decided they wanted to be around for her more in her last year before college and she appreciated it.

Tonight they all got together for a celebratory first dinner in their new home. Her dad popped the champagne and even gave Finley a glass. Head feeling fuzzy from the alcohol, she retired to her room early and climbed into bed thinking about the bonfire she'd witnessed and all the surf boards scattered around it.