Chapter 2

'Hey!' I say, jumping in front of him and cutting him off with my board.

'Hi stranger.'

He's definitely grown up a lot since I saw him last.

His hair is a lot longer and shaggy.

Surfer hair.

His nose is crooked now; maybe he broke it playing sport.

But he's got those same dark eyes and that familiar scowl that reminds me a lot of his father.

'Penny,' he says.

'Didn't know you were coming back.'

'I went to Suncrest, not Mars,' I say.

'How have you been?'

He narrows his eyes and pushes past my board.

There is a fraction of a second where his arm brushes against mine, and I feel a swoop in my stomach.

This is the first time Peter has touched me since what happened two years ago.

Just a gentle brush of his skin against mine is enough.

But he's still walking.

I fall into step beside him, and eventually he says, 'I've been fine.'

I swallow.

He's abrupt, tense, unresponsive.

It might be because I cut him off in the surf, but I think he's still harbouring his anger at me.

'I noticed you've brought a girl this year.

What's her name?' I say this coolly, as if it's the most natural thing in the world for me to be asking Peter about another girl.

I'm supposed to be his girl.

'Ada,' he says.

'She's my girlfriend.'

'Cool,' I say.

'You guys should come round for tequila Tuesday.'

'I'll put it in our calendar,' he says gruffly.

'Hey,' I say, and I reach out and grab his board, stopping him.

He turns and looks at me.

'We're not gonna let what happened last summer get between us, are we?' I ask weakly.

'We're still friends, right Peter?'

'You mean two summers ago,' he says.

'Last summer you were in Suncrest.'

'Right,' I say, choking on fake laugh.

'To me that was winter.

It was fucking cold.

I missed the sun.

But my point still stands.

We're friends, right?'

He sighs, running a hand through his wet hair.

'Yeah, Penny, we're friends.'

I let a flicker of a smile cross my face.

'Then I guess that friendly competition is on again.

I haven't had much practice, but I certainly kicked your butt in the surf this morning.'

'You cut me off,' he says.

'The locals will come for you if you're being shitty in the surf.

And anyway, surfing's not a competition.'

I pull a face.

'There are surf comps.

Everything's a competition.'

He gets a determined look on his face.

'Fine.

Comp's on.'

'Wanna get breakfast?' I ask him.

'Or are you supposed to be hanging with your girlfriend?'

'She won't be awake until at least eleven,' he says.

'I'll get food with you.

I just need to grab some money.'

We walk back to our neighbouring houses.

I hose down my board, lean it against the side fence, and run inside to grab shorts and cash.

When I get back outside Peter is waiting for me.

I smile at him.

He's swapped his surf shirt for a singlet, but his hair is still messy and salty.

It looks good this length.

'How was school?' I ask him as we're walking down the street.

Peter is the same age as me, but he was below my year in school, so he just graduated.

'You know how it is,' he says, scratching the back of his neck.

He's musclier this year, and when he raises his arm up like that I notice the way his shoulder and arm muscles tense.

I laugh, because I definitely do not know how school is for Peter.

For one, we live in different states so our school system is totally different.

But Peter is also incredibly smart, whereas I definitely was not intelligent through school.

I'm sure school was a very different place for Peter.

'How was Suncrest?' he asks.

'It's hard to explain,' I say.

'But at least I can kind of speak Nimbuse now.'

'Can you?' he says, with a hint of teasing.

'Say something,' he challenges me.

'Bonjour,' I say, and I laugh, pushing into him.

He responds to my push by pushing back into me, and I revel in our contact, in the pressure of his arm against mine.

'Well clearly you're an expert,' he says, grinning.

'You'll have to teach me.

Like you taught me to surf.'

'I think you taught me how to surf,' I say, supressing a smile.

We reach the café on the main street.

There's a pretty girl with long black hair opening the roller door above the counter.

She greets us and asks us how the surf was before asking for our order.

Just as we're about to order coffee and juice, Nova and Marina appear from behind us.

Marina is Peter's little sister.

She has incredibly long, dark blonde hair and tan skin, and she's wearing a bikini.

My sister, Nova, is wearing a baggy t-shirt and no bra, and she doesn't seem worried about this until she notices the pretty girl behind the counter of the café.

At that stage she crosses her arms over her chest.

'Peter, I don't have any money but can you buy me a tropical juice?' Marina says sweetly.

'Only a regular one,' Peter says.

'I'm not buying you a large.'

'Fine,' Marina says, crossing her arms.

When she does it she pushes her boobs together, and her cleavage is displayed in her little pink bikini.

'I'll have a green tea mango smoothie please,' Nova says to the juice girl.

I notice Nova is leaning across the counter now, and pushing her hair behind her ears.

Peter and I exchange a look, and he smirks at me.

'Can I please get a banana berry smoothie with coconut instead of milk?' I say when it's my turn to order.

'Hey, are you new around here?' Nova asks over my shoulder.

She's talking to the juice girl.

'Yeah, just set up!' the girl says cheerily, talking loud over the blender.

'I go to uni in Tidalport but my college roommate's family lives here and she offered me a room here, rather than trying to find somewhere to live over summer.

I'm from Qarth!' she grins and hands Nova her green tea mango smoothie.

'I'm Nova,' Nova says, handing over cash.

'I'm just here for the summer too.

I'm about to start veterinary science at uni.'

'Oh cool,' the girl says.

'And this is your sister?' she says as she hands me my smoothie.

Nova laughs.

'Yeah, this is my twin.

Our Mum can hardly tell us apart,' Nova jokes, and Briar laughs.

When we've all got our drinks we say goodbye to Briar, and as soon as we're out of earshot, walking back towards our houses, Peter and I nudge each other and start laughing.

Nova shoots me a look.

'Could that have been any more obvious?' I say.

'You've been here for one day and you're already hitting on the new girl?' Peter says.

We grin at each other.

I like Peter's smile.

I like being in on a joke with him again.

It's been so long.

'She is pretty though, Nova,' Marina says, adopting a serious tone.

'Even if these guys are being stupid about it, I think you should go for it.'

'Hey,' I say, raising my hands in surrender.

'I'm not saying you shouldn't go for it.

She's cute.

I approve.

But this has got to be a new record for you.'

Nova takes a big sip of her smoothie.

'I just can't believe I went there in my pyjamas.

Next time we go to the juice bar, remind me to wear a cute bikini.'

'Yeah, Marina has the right idea,' Peter says, teasing his little sister.

'Why are you even wearing bikinis?

You haven't been down to the surf this morning.'

Marina shrugs.

'It's culturally acceptable to walk around this town in a bikini, so I'm going to take advantage of it.

I want to be so tan by the end of this summer.

Plus I want to make friends with some of those local guys.'

'And you think a bikini is going to make you friends?' Peter says, looking appalled.

'What local guys?' I ask her, thinking of the local guys I know.

I don't want Marina going near any of them.

'Um, there's this guy Bruce who lives around the corner.

Last year he had a girlfriend but I heard this year he's single.

I always thought he was cute,' Marina says.

I nod.

I know Bruce and his friends.

They're innocent locals, not like the ones I know.