shoulders, then smiled to the camera in a total cheesefest. The photographer from the paper was at least sixty, and he had the smarmiest face I’d ever seen.
Saskia went around to the other side of Zeke and slipped her arm across his lower back.
After a few more clicks of the camera, I turned to Zeke. “I’ve really gotta get back.”
He took my hand and another flash went off.
“See you tonight?” he said.
“I don’t know. I’m supposed to be seeing Kelly. We’re going out for a drink.”
“So bring her along too. We’re having a party to celebrate a new board that my sponsors have brought out. I have to promote it as part of my deal.”
“Where’s the party?”
“Up at the Headland Hotel. It could be fun.”
“I’ll ask Kelly what she wants to do.”
“Go out with the boy,” the newspaper photographer shouted. “Look at him—he’s living the dream!”
Wasn’t he just? Zeke was living every surfer’s dream, I thought grumpily. But some of us were in the real world and were paid by the hour.
I swung back to the shop, stripped off my wetsuit, got dressed and got back to work. No one except a handful of tourists came back into the shop that day, and I had no idea what Zeke and Saskia were up to, or why Zeke seemed so keen for me to go to this party.
I thought about Saskia and the way that she seemed so full of herself and confident. Oh well, those types of girls could never surf, and Zeke obviously liked being around other surfers. Whoever she was, Saskia couldn’t be Zeke’s type and he couldn’t be hers. She’d have her eye on an investment banker with a sports car and a pension plan. Surely.
Chapter Six
Kelly called my home phone about three seconds after I’d gotten in the door from work. I slung my skateboard against the wall and picked up.
“We still on for today? And before you say no, you’d better say yes because I’ve washed my hair especially, shaved my legs and done a face mask.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I dunno. The thing is, I’ve been invited to this party.”
“You’re ditching me?”
“No way. It’s not like that at all. You’re invited too. We don’t have to go. I just thought I’d mention it in case you wanted to do something a bit different.”
“Different. What sort of party is this?” she asked, suspicious. She still hadn’t forgiven me for the time I took her to my mother’s Tupperware party. She said she had never been so bored inher entire life, or learned so much about plastic food-storage containers.
“It’s a surfboard launch.”
“I saw that on Facebook. How did you score an invite?”
Facebook. That was a point. I opened the app on my phone and typed Zeke’s name into the search bar. No personal profile but one fan page. With 121,000 likes.
My brain helpfully reminded me that I’d barely scraped five hundred Facebook friends.
“Zeke asked me to come.”
“Zeke?”
“The guy from yoga I was talking to.”
“Whoa . . . back up! You’ve been seeing that hot dude from yoga on the sly? Go Iris!”
“It’s not like that. We’re just friends.”
“Friends with benefits, ha.”
“No. Well, I suppose getting an invite to a swanky surf party is a benefit, but nothing else has happened.”
“How come he could get you an invitation? Friends in high places?”
“He is the high places. He’s a surf superstar.”
“You’re not serious.”
“He’s the Junior Men’s Champion of Hawaii.”
“Score!”
“Oh yeah, he’s a big deal.”
“You don’t sound all that happy about it, Iris . . .”
“I’m plenty happy for him.”
There was an awkward silence.
“You’re going out with an uber-cool surf champ! This is legend.”
“He’s hardly my boyfriend. We’ve only just met.”
“He’s kissed you though.”
“Nope. And PS, are you blind? Why would he kiss me? Have you not seen him? He’s prettier than I am. Much prettier.”
“I saw the way he was looking at you. Every time you smiled
Saskia went around to the other side of Zeke and slipped her arm across his lower back.
After a few more clicks of the camera, I turned to Zeke. “I’ve really gotta get back.”
He took my hand and another flash went off.
“See you tonight?” he said.
“I don’t know. I’m supposed to be seeing Kelly. We’re going out for a drink.”
“So bring her along too. We’re having a party to celebrate a new board that my sponsors have brought out. I have to promote it as part of my deal.”
“Where’s the party?”
“Up at the Headland Hotel. It could be fun.”
“I’ll ask Kelly what she wants to do.”
“Go out with the boy,” the newspaper photographer shouted. “Look at him—he’s living the dream!”
Wasn’t he just? Zeke was living every surfer’s dream, I thought grumpily. But some of us were in the real world and were paid by the hour.
I swung back to the shop, stripped off my wetsuit, got dressed and got back to work. No one except a handful of tourists came back into the shop that day, and I had no idea what Zeke and Saskia were up to, or why Zeke seemed so keen for me to go to this party.
I thought about Saskia and the way that she seemed so full of herself and confident. Oh well, those types of girls could never surf, and Zeke obviously liked being around other surfers. Whoever she was, Saskia couldn’t be Zeke’s type and he couldn’t be hers. She’d have her eye on an investment banker with a sports car and a pension plan. Surely.
Chapter Six
Kelly called my home phone about three seconds after I’d gotten in the door from work. I slung my skateboard against the wall and picked up.
“We still on for today? And before you say no, you’d better say yes because I’ve washed my hair especially, shaved my legs and done a face mask.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I dunno. The thing is, I’ve been invited to this party.”
“You’re ditching me?”
“No way. It’s not like that at all. You’re invited too. We don’t have to go. I just thought I’d mention it in case you wanted to do something a bit different.”
“Different. What sort of party is this?” she asked, suspicious. She still hadn’t forgiven me for the time I took her to my mother’s Tupperware party. She said she had never been so bored inher entire life, or learned so much about plastic food-storage containers.
“It’s a surfboard launch.”
“I saw that on Facebook. How did you score an invite?”
Facebook. That was a point. I opened the app on my phone and typed Zeke’s name into the search bar. No personal profile but one fan page. With 121,000 likes.
My brain helpfully reminded me that I’d barely scraped five hundred Facebook friends.
“Zeke asked me to come.”
“Zeke?”
“The guy from yoga I was talking to.”
“Whoa . . . back up! You’ve been seeing that hot dude from yoga on the sly? Go Iris!”
“It’s not like that. We’re just friends.”
“Friends with benefits, ha.”
“No. Well, I suppose getting an invite to a swanky surf party is a benefit, but nothing else has happened.”
“How come he could get you an invitation? Friends in high places?”
“He is the high places. He’s a surf superstar.”
“You’re not serious.”
“He’s the Junior Men’s Champion of Hawaii.”
“Score!”
“Oh yeah, he’s a big deal.”
“You don’t sound all that happy about it, Iris . . .”
“I’m plenty happy for him.”
There was an awkward silence.
“You’re going out with an uber-cool surf champ! This is legend.”
“He’s hardly my boyfriend. We’ve only just met.”
“He’s kissed you though.”
“Nope. And PS, are you blind? Why would he kiss me? Have you not seen him? He’s prettier than I am. Much prettier.”
“I saw the way he was looking at you. Every time you smiled
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