Chapter 13


    Brielle


    6:23 AM


    "Get out of the car!"


    I rubbed my eyes, staying put. "I''m too tired to get up. Why did you insist that we get here this early?"


    He opened my door, reaching over me and unbuckling my seatbelt. Despite my efforts of clinging onto


    the car seat, Christopher managed to rip me out from his convertible.


    "For the fifth time, the waves are better in the morning."


    Now that my ankle had gotten better, Christopher insisted that the first thing I did was learn how to surf,


    like I promised. I tried my hardest to talk my way out of it, but he was persistent.


    "Why are you so gung-ho over me surfing with you?"


    He walked to the backseat of the car, picking out two surfboards and a bag from his trunk. "First, no


    one says gung-ho anymore."


    Really?


    "And two, surfing is actually fun when you get the hang of it. I bet you that by the time you learn you''re


    going to like it more than me."


    "I highly doubt that."


    He didn''t respond after that. Instead, he started making his way towards the shore. He had parked near


    the beach, and it was deserted due to the time of day. There were only a few surfers littered in the


    ocean. We had juste at sunrise, and the view took my breath away. The sky was a mix of orange


    and pink hues, all forming together into one beautiful sky. We walked in silence, each of us taking it in.


    When we reached the shore he reached into his bag and threw an article of clothing at my chest. "Put


    this on."


    I held it up in front of me, inspecting it. It looked like a waterproof, skintight, onesie. He must have seen


    the confusion on my face, because he exined what it was.


    "That''s a wetsuit. You''re supposed to put it over your swimsuit to keep you warm." I nodded my head


    as he took off his shirt, before slipping his legs into his own suit. I managed to get a good look at his


    bare upper body, and nearly choked when I saw his defined abs. I quickly looked away, afraid that he


    would spot me.


    I turned away from him, taking off my t-shirt and jean shorts to reveal my bikini underneath. All that I


    had were one-piece bathing suits, so Sam leant me one of hers. I told her that I was fine with my own,


    but ording to her I looked like a grandma going to water aerobics.


    Sam was much smaller than me, so the bathing suit was way too tight. I blushed, quickly putting my


    legs into the wet suit. I left the top part of the suit off, like he did, so that the sleeves were dangling from


    my waist and my upper body was exposed. When I turned around to face him, I noticed that his eyes


    were on me. He quickly looked away, but not before I caught it.


    "Okay," he said, coughing. "Here''s your first lesson." He picked up the surfboard next to him andid it


    on the sand. He then threw a piece of wax to me. I fumbled with it before finally catching it. "Wax the


    board."


    "Why?"


    He let out a huff. "Just do it."


    "I didn''t know that Nike had a new spokesperson," I mumbled underneath my breath.


    "I heard that."


    Once I had finished rubbing the wax on the surfboard, I turned towards him, waiting for him to tell me


    what to do next.


    "Nowy on your stomach on the board." I did what he said as he stood over me. "You have to arch


    you back off it."


    "Like this?" He shook his head, before kneeling beside me. He ced his hand on the small of my


    back, his cold hand against my warm skin causing me to shiver.


    "You have to keep this part of your back pressed down," he then ced his hand on my shoulder,


    gently lifting it. "And keep your chest lifted. Like that."


    I let in a ragged breath, hoping that he didn''t notice. Just contact from him was enough to make my


    heart beat faster.


    Get it together Brielle.


    "You''re going to paddle in this position, and then when the time is right, pop yourself up and stand." He


    showed me how to do it, before making me do it for what felt like a hundred times. When my arms felt


    like spaghetti, he finally let me in the water.


    We both got on a surfboard as we paddled into the ocean, waiting for a wave to form. To pass the time,


    I turned towards him. "So why did you start surfing?"


    Content ? N?velDrama.Org.


    He looked behind us, checking to see if a wave wasing. "Surfing was always my oldest sister


    Bianca''s thing. She dragged me one day and after that I really liked it."


    "Yea, well don''t expect that to happen with me."


    "Don''t worry," he shed me an award-winning smile. It wasn''t fair how white his teeth were. "It will."


    Just then, a wave started to form behind us. He began paddling, before pushing himself off his board


    until he was standing, riding the wave. It was almost mesmerizing. He lookedpletely at peace,


    gliding through water. The sight alone made me excited to learn, even though I would never tell him


    that. When he returned to me, he shook out his hair, sshing me with water.


    "Your turn."


    ****


    Two hours and many failed attemptster, I was pretty much ready to give up. I didn''t know how


    Christopher made it look so easy, but it wasn''t. At all. Christopher seemed to have given up on me too,


    because he had returned his surfboard back to his car and was now sitting on the shore. Whenever I


    wanted to quit, he would force me back out, iming that he wanted to give up when he first started


    too.


    One bad wipeoutter, I had finally reached my breaking point. "I''m not kidding Christopher I give up!" I


    yelled trying to get him to hear me.


    "Just one more!" He shouted. I rolled my eyes. If one more stupid wave was going to allow him to let


    me quit, then it was worth it. I began paddling towards the wave before pushing myself up.


    However, this time, it felt different, like everything had aligned perfectly. As I stood up, I felt one with the


    ocean, soaring across the water. The wave crashed on the other side of me, causing me to be encased


    in a tube of water.


    What was probably seconds felt like forever as I held onto the moment, not wanting to let it go. When I


    finally jumped off my surfboard, I looked to the shore to see Christopher jumping up and down,


    cheering for me. An adrenaline rush hit me as I paddled towards the shore, discarding my surfboard


    once I reached it.


    I ran up to him, a big smile on my face. He held his arms out to me, and I jumped into them, wrapping


    my legs around his waist as he spun me in a circle. After our excitement had subsided, I realized what I


    was doing.


    I''m straddling Christopher!


    He must have had the same realization because his eyes grew wide. I quickly jumped off him, my


    cheeks flushing with red.


    "Sorry, I was just really excited," I rambled on. "I really shouldn''t have jumped on you like that. And your


    dating Mnie, so it especially isn''t cool and-"


    I stopped talking once I spotted the giant smile on his face. "You''re cute when you''re flustered."


    Did he just call me cute?


    Before I could react, he kept going. "Mnie isn''t an issue. She and I broke up."


    I rolled my eyes. Mnie and Christopher broke up and got back together every other day. "I give this


    breakup a week."


    He began to speak, his voice full of conviction, "I''m not kidding this time. She''s differenttely. She''s


    been acting really-"


    I cut him off. "Crazy, insane, psychotic?"


    Heughed. "I was going to say jealous."


    I scoffed. Mnie was the most popr girl in school and her parents were loaded. "Who in the world


    is she jealous of?"


    "You."


    "Me?" I sputtered, dumbfounded. "Why would she be jealous of me?"


    He scratched the back of his neck. "She thinks that we spend too much time together. I tried to tell her


    that we''re just friends but she wouldn''t listen."


    For some reason there was a pang in my chest once I heard that word. Friends. That''s what I wanted


    us to be. So why did it hurt so much leaving from his mouth?


    "I tried to tell her that I don''t think of you like that. You''re not my type."


    I tried not to be offended as the pang in my chest returned. "Why is that?"


    "You''re just different."


    No girl wants to be called different or not someone''s type. It made me feel like some gross, ugly sea


    creature that had un-dateable stamped on its forehead. Even if I didn''t want to date Christopher, the


    fact that he feels this way about me was still hurtful.


    He must have read my facial expression because he quickly corrected himself.


    "Different in a good way. You don''t care about all the things that most girls do like fashion and drama.


    All you care about is your family and dance." He wiped his hair from over his eyes. "I''m kind of jealous


    of that. You don''t care about all the stupid stuff that the rest of us do."


    "So why don''t you just stop caring?"


    He looked off towards the ocean as the waves crashed against the shore. "I wish it was that easy."


    "You wish for a lot of things."


    He locked eyes with me. "What''s your point?"


    "Not to be blunt, but stop wishing for things and just do them, you know?" He seemed to be deep in


    thought after I said that. I tried to lighten the mood, hoping that I didn''t upset him.


    "I would say that you''re different from all the guys I''ve met but that would be a lie." I joked.


    A hint of a yful smile formed on his lips. "Take that back."


    "Make me."


    Before I could turn around and run he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He lifted his hand


    up to my armpit and began tickling me.


    "Stop!" I yelled in betweenughs. "Put me down!"


    "Take what you said back."


    I was about to put up a fight, but my stomach was so sore fromughing that I gave up. "You''re


    different! Are you happy now!"


    He continued tickling me. "I''m still not convinced."


    I wasughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. I didn''t know if it was possible to die


    fromughing, but if so, I imagined that it would be something like this.


    "Okay, fine! You are the most different person that I''ve ever met. No one in the world canpare to


    you. On a scale of one to one-of-a-kind you''re up there. Now put me down!"


    That seemed to be good enough for him because he finally set me down. He had a smirk on his face,


    happy with his victory. I wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug look off his face.


    I put my hands over my eyes as I shook my shoulders, pretending to cry. Peeking through my fingers, I


    saw a genuine look of concern in his eyes.


    Sucker.


    "Are you okay Brielle? I was just joking."


    I uncovered my face, the tears I had fromughing now looked like tears of sadness. "Yea, I''m fine." I


    wiped the tears off my face with the back of my hand.


    A smile suddenly broke onto my face as I reached into the back pocket of his shorts, pulling out his car


    keys. I took off towards the parking lot, yelling at him over my shoulders.


    "I just wanted to drive your convertible home without you!"


    "You''re dead, Brielle!" he called out, grabbing my surfboard from the beach and sprinting towards me. I


    was nearly at the car, and almost screamed when I looked back and saw that he was right behind me. I


    reached for the door, but before I could open it he ced a hand on either side of my head, pinning me


    against the car.


    I turned around to face him, his face just inches away from mine. He moved in closer to me, his body


    nearly pressing against mine.


    In between his panting, he huskily whispered, "Game over." However, my attention was no longer on


    his stolen car keys.


    The moment that my eyes locked onto his, the realization hit me like a truck. No matter how much I


    tried to convince myself otherwise, I now knew.


    I was hopelessly, undoubtedly crushing on Christopher Russel.