No Salt

12- Play with Fire

~Song: Paper Planes

I watched as the water from the power washer cleaned the dirt off of the boat deck.

It had been almost 2 weeks in Ocean Bay and I was actually enjoying my job.

Mike had started giving me more expensive boats to work on, and the bigger the boat the bigger the tip.

As I reached the end of the deck I shut off the power washer, just in time for me to see Mike walking acrossed the deck with a smile on his face.

"Looks good Finn!" He shouted as I killed the motor.

"Thank you sir." I replied matching his smile.

He just nodded his head and looked around.

"Well if you keep working like this I'm gonna need to give you a raise." He said with a chuckle

I looked at him, kind of surprised. A raise? I was already getting 15 an hour plus tips.

"I don't need a raise." I said honestly.

I was just glad to have something to do.

After I brought up the board to Nora a few days ago, I kind of let it go. I assumed she'd say something to her parents, or the conversation would come up for me to ask.

I looked at Mike, he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. He always was wearing one.

"Well, maybe not a raise, but I've been told that you wanted a board." Mike said

I nodded eagerly feeling like a kid asking for a puppy.

"I was thinking a short Al'Merrick, if that's alright with you." He said stepping away from me to let me get back to work

"Yes sir, thank you sir." I said the smile on my face continued to grow.

Mike just smiled as he walked off the boat deck, waving as he walked down the dock away from the boats.

I stood there a moment, taking the feeling in. When I got my first board I had to practically beg my parents for one. Now it was just being handed to me.

"You're cute when you smile, you know that?" A voice called from inside the boat.

I jumped slightly and looked towards the cabin. At that exact moment I watched as Kia came from inside the cabin.

She walked towards me with a devilish smirk, her red hair was tied up in a bun so her freckles could be clearly seen.

She was wearing a suit that clashed with the color of her hair, and one of those tacky cover up skirts.

"A new board huh?" She asked leaning against the railing of the deck.

I looked at her confused, how the hell did she get on the boat?

"Oh calm down its my parents boat." She stated with an eye roll, "now the surf board, are you excited?"

I nodded my head in reply to her question.

I was excited, but confused as to why she cared.

"You know if you're interested, Brookers academy would love you. If you're good enough maybe you can surf with Josh." She explained

That name instently peaked my interest.

I had remembered it, Luke had thrown a fuss over Nora being around Josh. Or at least the idea of him being around her.

Kia scuffed at my face, walking over to one of the coolers with a eye roll.

"God she needs to get over herself." Kia said

She reached down and grabbed a Miller Lite from the cooler and offered it to me. I shook my head no, I was still working.

"Who?" I asked trying to play dumb.

I wasnt stupid, I could tell everyone Luke, Ryan, Sam, Nora... they were all hiding something from me.

"Nora." Kia said with a laugh, "look, she may think she's all that, but she isn't. I could beat her on a wave any day. She got that O'Neal sponsorship and suddenly she's 'everything'. Honestly she needs an ego check."

Kia stopped talking to take a sip out of her beer.

I continued to look confused. I had no idea Nora had a deal with O'Neal. Ryan had said I should see her comp board, but I had yet to see it. He say there were sponsorships but didn't specify.

As for an ego, I wasn't aware Nora had one...

But I guess I'd only been with her for 2 weeks.

"Why'd Nora stop surfing for Brooker?" I asked, sitting down on a near by bench.

"Cause she got arrested." Nora said with a cocky smile.

She walked over to me and sat down on the bench, putting one of her elbows on my shoulder.

"Thats why she can't surf for The Masters either." Nora continued "its a shame because she was doing so well with us Brookies."

I looked at Kia studying her face. I couldn't tell if she was lying or not.

"She was better with the brookies?" I asked, trying to pick out if it was a lie or a truth.

Kia nodded, sure of herself.

"Everyone is, we are a better surf program." Kia stated looking down at her finger nails, "look us up, we have more wins, better coaches, and better surfers."

I thought for a moment, maybe that could be my opportunity. I missed my chance to sign up with a really good club back at home. Maybe I could sign with a good club here?

I could even earn a sponsorship, maybe make my way to Australia.

"You should try out." Kia said while standing up.

"Yeah," I said watching her as she made her way back to the cabin, she walked in a way that made her ass very clear to the naked eye.

"I'll think about it." I said

Once she was out of view, thought began piling up in my mind.

How upset would Nora and everyone else be?

The Brookies couldn't really be that bad. It was probably some stupid surf rivalry.

How would I ever know if they never told me how serious it really was.

I sighed before standing up to go take care of the pressure washer.

Pushing back my hair I thought to myself.

Well maybe...

Maybe a tryout couldn't hurt.

Maybe it would be better for me to be apart of the Brookies. If they really were as good as Kia said.

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