Headlights suddenly shone through the back windshield and we both sat up, looking behind us. I squinted, then recognized my dad’s car, and him behind the wheel. Even from this distance, I could see he looked worried. “That’s my dad,” I said, and I knew intellectually this was a good thing. We didn’t have to sleep all night in an unsecured car by the water. We could go back home, unscathed. But I couldn’t help but wish he hadn’t shown up just then.
“I guess he got the message,” Ford said. I nodded, even though I wasn’t really sure we were still talking about my dad.
“I guess so,” I said. Ford looked at me for just a moment more, then nodded. And it was like whatever had been between us was suddenly gone. He was just Ford again, my friend. And maybe there hadn’t really been anything else there at all. But it was over, at any rate.
I pushed my seat back up, and Ford did the same. “So,” he said, his voice deadpan, “you want to try this again tomorrow, right?”
I laughed, and Ford gave me a half smile. “I don’t think so,” I said. “I think this was a sign that I shouldn’t go surfing.”
Ford just shook his head. “I’m telling you,” he said. “One of these days, you’ll change your mind.” He got out of the car, walking back toward my dad.
I sat there in silence for just a moment, wondering if this was true. And then I put the thought out of my mind, pushed open the car door, and walked over to join him.
YOU ARE READING
Waves, Stars, and Other Things to Catch
Teen FictionA fun summer day in Malibu filled with surfing comes to an abrupt halt when Gemma and her childhood friend (and first kiss) Ford realize that his car keys have been locked in the trunk of his car. Equipped with nothing but the six dollars in Gemma’s...
