Authors: Alyson Noël
Laguna Cove (21 page)
“I wish I was out there,” Jade said. “I really blew it this time.”
“There’s always next year.” Lola shrugged.
But Jade knew that wasn’t necessarily true. Feeling her eyes start to sting with tears, she closed them until the moment passed. She wished she could confide in Lola about her conversation with her dad—about how they might have to leave Laguna Cove and move far away. But she was barely able to admit it to herself, much less her best friends. So, determined to put it out of her mind, she decided not to say anything.
“Who knows, maybe I’ll even enter it with you.” Lola laughed, but her smile froze into place when she spotted Dean standing just a few feet away. And he was looking right at her.
“Oh my God,” Jade said. “I think Anne’s going for it. Oh, I can’t look. It makes me too nervous. I’m gonna go pee instead.” She got up from her towel.
“Now?” Lola asked, panicked. The last thing she needed was to be left alone. Because then Dean might come over. And she had no idea what she’d say to him if that happened.
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” Jade gave her a strange look.
“But can’t you wait?” Lola asked, realizing how needy and ridiculous she sounded. But there’s no way she could let Jade leave her.
“What’s the deal?” Jade said, hopping anxiously from one foot to the other.
“Nothing.” Lola shook her head with resignation. “Go ahead.” Jade ran off toward the bathrooms while Lola looked out at the ocean. Anne had just fallen off her board.
That’s gotta hurt
, she thought, cringing as she watched Anne get worked by a wave.
“Hey.”
Lola knew the voice, so she was reluctant to look up and actually see the person it belonged to. “Hey,” she said, her eyes remaining focused on the ocean in front of her, since she didn’t know how to face Dean.
“How’ve you been?” he asked, kneeling down next to her.
“Okay.” She shrugged. Then, suddenly remembering her outrageous hair and makeup, she began to feel really self-conscious. “You’re not filming me, are you?” she asked, glancing nervously at his camera.
“Um, no,” he said, turning it away from her and putting the lens cap back on. “Listen, Lola, I don’t really know how to say this, and you know I’m not that good with words and stuff, but I miss you.” He gave her a tentative, shy look.
“You do?” She turned toward him, her eyes going wide.
Could he possibly really mean that?
“Yeah.” He blushed. “But I know you have a new boyfriend now, and you guys seem really happy, so I’m not looking for anything. I just wanted to apologize for ending everything so abruptly. I can see now that I made a big mistake.”
Lola just looked at him. After all this time, after all the heartache she’d endured, he’d finally just said all the right things, using all the right words. And now she had a choice. She could either tell him the truth about Diego and end the whole stupid charade right now, or she could keep her secret and let Dean suffer just a little while longer.
She looked right into his eyes and slowly trailed a finger down his cheek. “I really appreciate you saying that.” She smiled. “And I really hope that we can still be friends.”
Ellie had one more wave to go and plenty of time in which to do it. She was on fire today, having never surfed better in her life. But Anne had just wiped out again, and Ellie noticed that her face was all red as she paddled back in. There was no way she would make it to the final heat. She’d had a decent enough start, but now she was totally falling apart. And even if she did surf a perfect last wave, it still wouldn’t be enough. It was pretty much over for her.
Ellie saw Anne glance at her warily and then position herself as far from her as possible. Which also just happened to be the absolute worst place she could have picked. And it made Ellie wonder if Anne chose it because she had no idea how bad it was, or if she chose it so she could be far away from Ellie.
Oh my God, what have I done,
she thought
. I’ve turned into such a jealous, competitive, nasty bitch that I’m actually sabotaging this poor girl’s chances! And isn’t that like, the exact opposite of what surfing is supposed to be about?
Ellie looked at her watch—she had two minutes left to catch her last wave and really shred it to impress the judges.
Or she could help someone who really needed it.
Anne sat on her board, choking back tears and hoping that the salt water pouring from her eyes was blending in with the salt water from the ocean, so no one would know what a big, pathetic baby she was being. What had started out as a pretty good day had quickly gone to hell. She felt bad about her mom’s wedding, she felt bad about Chris avoiding her (or was she avoiding Chris?), and she felt inexplicably bad about Jake’s stupid little comment.
Even her surfing had fallen apart, and her body felt bruised and battered from getting worked by so many waves. And now, to just top off this miserable day, that total bitch, Ellie, was sitting on her board waving at her. God, she was like a pit bull. She just never let up.
Oh well, I may as well get the last wave out of the way
, she thought.
I mean, I have to get back to shore somehow.
Anne started to paddle, but stopped when Ellie charged right in front of her. “What do you want?” Anne glared at her.
“I want to help you, if you’ll let me,” Ellie told her.
“Yeah, right. You probably came all the way over here just to gloat. Well fine, you’re winning,
okay
? You’re winning at absolutely everything. You’re taking Surf Fest, you’re taking Chris, and now you probably want to take me down. Am I right?” Anne looked away. There was no way she would cry in front of her.
“Listen, we don’t have a lot of time,” Ellie said. “And you’re right, I’m ahead and you’re not. But it really doesn’t matter anymore. I mean, don’t you want to surf one really awesome wave before you go home?”
Anne just looked at her, not sure if this was for real or not.
“I can help you do that, if you’ll just follow me. Oh, and for the record,” Ellie said, turning back to look at her. “Chris likes you, not me. And I’m okay with that.”
“Oh my God, look at her! I think she’s really gonna take it this year!” Chris said, grabbing Anne’s hand and watching Ellie surf her very last wave of the junior’s final heat.
“Oh, I can’t look,” Jade said, covering her eyes. “Just, just give me a play-by-play but don’t tell me if she falls, ’cause I don’t want to know about it.”
“You’re just gonna have to open your eyes and see it for yourself because the girl is
rippin’ it up,”
Lola said, glancing back and forth between Ellie out in the water and Dean running up and down the shoreline taping her.
“Hey, don’t you have cotillion?” Anne asked.
“Yeah, but I’m not budging ’til this is all said and done,” Lola said, glancing briefly at Anne, and then back at the water. “Oh my God, she made it. She did it! Yes!” Lola got up from her towel, and jumped up and down on the sand, while bobby pins and barrettes sprang from her hair, landing all around her.
“Uh, Lola, I think your hair just popped,” Jade said, pointing at Lola’s sunken updo and laughing.
“Oh, who cares?” Lola yanked out the remaining bobby pins and barrettes and threw them onto her towel. Then, quickly combing her fingers through her long, dark hair, she ran down to the water, toward Dean.
“You did it! You were
amazing
!” Jade said hugging Ellie, while Chris and Anne nodded in agreement.
“You think so?” Ellie asked, squeezing the salt water from her hair. “I mean, you never know until the scores are read, right?”
“You totally deserve to win,” Anne said, looking at her and smiling.
Ellie smiled back; then looking past Anne she noticed Duncan standing just a few feet away, with his arm around a pretty brunette who she had just competed against. Their eyes met briefly, and Duncan smiled and waved. But Ellie just nodded, surprised by the way she felt at seeing him with another girl.
“Honey, there’s someone waiting to talk to you,” her dad said, interrupting her train of thought.
“Dad! You made it! Did you see me?” Ellie asked, feeling like a little kid begging,
Look at me, Daddy! Look at me!
“I didn’t get here ’til your final heat, but I saw all of it. You were amazing.” He smiled and hugged her tight. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered.
Ellie clung to him until the threat of tears had passed, and then she pulled away and said, “So who wants to talk to me?”
“Some surf-brand big shot,” he said, looking at her and smiling. “He mentioned something about a sponsorship?”
Ellie grabbed her dad’s hand and headed toward the tent. Her biggest dream was about to come true, but the thing that she felt the most proud of was something the sponsors and judges never even saw. But she knew. And Anne knew. And maybe, in some strange way, even her mom knew.
Stopping for a moment, she lifted her face toward the sun, closing her eyes and feeling the warmth against her skin. Then, looking over at her father, she smiled and squeezed his hand as they continued toward the tent.
Art Geeks and Prom Queens
Faking 19
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously
LAGUNA COVE. Copyright © 2006 by Alyson Noël. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
eISBN 9781429907392
First eBook Edition : July 2011