The Surfer's Heart

Chapter 6

The ride home was quiet. I couldn't tell if Sean was choosing to avoid confrontation by staying quiet or if it was actually out of respect to me. I enjoyed the silence. It wasn't awkward or tense, it was just quiet.

"You can turn here," I directed as he approached my road. The familiar line of look-alike houses down the street made me relax. I was home, or close to.

The farther he got down my street, the more I realized I needed to go surf. It was late and my mother would kill me if she found out, but I had to get to the water.

"Will you do me a favor?" I asked Sean as my house grew closer.

Sean rose an eyebrow and hesitated. It looked like he was bracing for impact. I had to hold back my laughter.

"What?"

"Pull over right here," I pointed to the cul-de-sac across from my house. Sean turned his wheel abruptly, sliding into the cul-de-sac and waiting for more instructions.

"Will you wait here for a minute? I need to grab something," I halfway smiled, my eyes begging him to agree.

"Wait, what?" He asked again. He ran his hand through his brown curls. I was amused by this bewildered version of Sean.

"Just, trust me. You'll be rid of me soon, I promise, but just...stay here." Without waiting for a response from him, I sprinted across the road to my house and as quickly and quietly as I could, grabbed my surfboard from the cupboard.

I could be stealth when I wanted to be. I've only snuck out of the house once and it was because Amy overheard that there was going to be a senior bonfire at the beach when we were just freshman. Unfortunately, there was no one at the beach and Amy got all the details mixed up, but at least I was never caught. I also never wanted to do it again, though. The mere thought of my parents catching me was enough to stop that habit from ever forming.

I was out before I knew it and jumped back into Sean's truck, throwing my surfboard in the back with one swift motion. Sean's eyes went wide as he tried to calculate what was happening.

"Will you drive farther down this road until you hit the beach? You can drop me off there. Then you can have the rest of the night to yourself, I promise." I tried Amy's technique of batting her eyelashes, but I felt stupid when I did it. I don't understand how girls can make that look cute.

"Are you crazy?" Sean shook his head, throwing his car in park and sighing heavily. "You know it's like 10:30 pm, right?"

"Yes, that's why I asked you to drive me," I said.

"I'm not just going to drop you off at some beach and call it good," Sean said, crossing his arms. "Did you not hear my whole point of taking you home? So that I know you got home safe, not take you halfway, and hope you make the rest."

"You took me more than halfway," I insisted. "Look, the beach is literally right down there. You can even see the entrance from here. When I'm done, I'll just walk home. I promise I do it all the time."

It didn't look like I was making much progress, but Sean reluctantly sighed and put the truck in drive.

In less than three minutes, we were at the parking lot of the beach. Sean hardly stopped the truck before I jumped out of the vehicle and snatched my surfboard from the back.

"Thank you! Have a good night!" I hollered while running towards the sand.

I was fully dressed in the outfit Amy had picked out for me tonight, but I didn't care. I ran down the shore until the parking lot was out of sight, an area hardly inhabited by most people, and then stripped down to my underwear and bra. I couldn't have the heaviness of my clothes on me while I surfed.