The Surfer's Heart

Chapter 12

We got home from the party later than I was expecting. I was dead tired and wanted nothing more than to fall into my bed and sleep until noon, but I knew my dad would want me up bright and early to train all day for the competition.

When my dad pulled into the driveway, the headlights illuminated the wide eyes of Amy sitting on our stairs. She looked timid, her left arm grasping her opposite elbow as she half-smiled into the blinding light.

"What is she doing here?" I mumbled as I jumped out of the car.

There was a part of me that was mad. Mad that she missed my party, mad that she was ignoring me, and mad that she could be mad at me for this long as I've actively been trying to fix things with her.

"Hey," Amy said as she approached me. She seemed shy; nervous.

My parents came up behind me, my dad tossing a quick wave before retreating inside and my mom greeted Amy with a hug. Before she went inside, she threw me a glance. Her advice rushed to the forefront of my head, her eyes reminding me of patience and humility. I took a deep breath to collect my thoughts.

"You missed the party," I said, my voice even and calm.

"Yeah," Amy said, sitting back down not the steps. I sat next to her, accepting this as a cue that we were going to talk now. Finally.

"I wanted to come," she said, actively avoiding eye contact. "I just didn't think it was right considering...."

"Considering we haven't spoken to each other?" I finished her sentence. She shrugged and fidgeted with her feet. Amy was no better and deep talks than I was. Actually, she might be worse, so the fact that she was here now meant a lot.

"I'm sorry," we said in unison and then both reeled back, rethinking our approach.

"No, really, I was in the wrong," I insisted. "I should have told you about Sean. I was embarrassed. I talked so much shit about him," I laughed, remembering how unhappy I was when Amy told me about him. Oh, how that felt like years ago.

"No, but obviously you kept it from me for a reason. I want you to know you can always tell me anything, Brooke, even if you feel like you can't." Amy added. "There's some disconnect in our friendship from my end if you didn't feel comfortable admitting this to me."

"That's the thing though, it all happened so quick. I don't think I even admitted it to myself, much less considered telling anyone about it. Plus, you went out with the guy, you know?"

"On one date," Amy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "If you seriously think that after one date I hold a claim on a guy, you wouldn't be able to touch half the school," she laughed.

It felt good talking to Amy. It was so nice to be open and honest about how I was feeling and I've wanted her input on all this for so long now.

"I missed you," I said, opening my arms and bringing her in for a hug.

"I missed you, too. You know I really should have known something was up when you were so quiet. I should have known it was more than just surf stress," Amy shook her head. This was what I loved about Amy; she almost always knew what was going on in my head. If she didn't, she was usually always determined to find out.

"You're allowed to have a mistake here and there I suppose," I teased. She rolled her eyes and shoved my shoulder playfully.

"So really, though, is he a good kisser? I've heard stories," Amy said, raising an eyebrow. Leave it to Amy to cut the deep stuff short and jump straight into the juicy details.

"I—" I began to respond, but the thought of Sean still didn't sit well with me. I was getting stronger, better at accepting our end, but it still was not a good feeling. I fought back tears in my eyes while I decided what I was going to tell Amy.