Tide Change
‘Why do you do torture us every weekend?’ My insides yelled at me as I slowly woke up. The beaming warm sunlight hit my face and I slowly opened my eyes, still half asleep. I sat up feeling the sand in between my hands and toes and looked around. Coconut trees and water were all my eyes could see. It looked like a familiar beach, but I was too drained to even think about anything. ‘You need water!’ I said to myself, before trying to figure out where on earth I was. I stood up all zombie like and stumbled over to a coconut tree. Feeling weak from the night before, cracking the coconut felt like trying to break a solid stone with bare hands. Managing to open it, I stood up and held it over my head, about 20% of it landed in my mouth. The reason being that my arms felt like achy spaghetti. I licked my lips and layed down; eyes wide open looking up into the blue sky and reminisced my life.
I tried to think of what had happened the night before. All I remember were bright party lights waving back and forth as if they were dangling from an octopus with spazzy tentacles. This wasn’t the first time this had happened to me, so I sort of knew what to do. I took out my phone and checked where I was on google maps. Porter’s Beach popped up, and I immediately knew that I was ten minutes away from the surf spot I used to surf as a kid. This was where I went when I drank too much and needed a place to sleep because all of my friends had gone home two hours before I even thought about leaving the party. I dragged my body past the coconut trees until I got to Zippy’s restaurant. With only five bucks in my pocket I sat down and soon saw all that a five could get me was a single egg or a cup of OJ.
“Hey there. What can I get started for you today?”
I cleared my throat sort of embarrassed knowing all I could get was the OJ. Before I spoke I looked up and saw this drop dead gorgeous waitress about my age, so the embarrassment went from a 5 to a 10.
“Yah I just ate a big breakfast with a bunch of friends that are all down there surfing, so I’ll just get something quick. How about the OJ please.”
“Okie dock, should be out shortly,” she replied in an angel like voice that sounded better than heaven.
While she was getting the OJ I went to the bathroom, because you know how the bladder gets after a long night. Looking at myself in the mirror I was even more embarrassed. Sand was smeared all over my face and my hair was all crusty from spilling beer on myself. My confidence dropped and my embarrassment rose as I went back to my table.
“Here’s the OJ for you.”
“Hey I was wondering if I could borrow your phone to call someone so they can pick me up?”
“Oh, sure thing”
I quickly dialed my own phone number so I’d have hers, then I actually called my mom who didn’t answer. I pretended to talk to her anyways and shortly after gave her the phone back.
A couple days had passed and my hangover was finally gone so I decided to give the waitress a call. Apparently the only reason she said yes to me asking her out to lunch is because she taught me putting in my own number was very smooth and clever. That’s me; Bentley the smooth and clever surfer boy.
When I got there she was already sitting down waiting for me.
“Hey there, I see you’re look a little less hungover than last time you were here, huh?”
“Ha, ya that was a rough night, I’ve been having a lot of those lately. I didn’t catch your name last time what was it?”
“It’s Katie, and I know what can always help a bad day; A surf seshhhhhh!”
“No way you surf?” I was in love.
We used the two boards she had brought that were in her car and surfed all day. It was the best day of my life. The tide was perfect, the ocean was a crystal clear blue like katies eyes, and we were the only ones out there. You could tell the tide was perfect because of the crashing sounds the waves made.
“That was amazing! I don’t think I’ve had that much fun in years!” I yelled enthusiastically, laying my board next to hers on the sand. Laying down with arms wide open as if I were about to make a sand angel, I layed and thanked the ocean gods.
“You don’t surf much anymore do you?”
“No, parties and work take up most my time so I don’t do much anymore.”
“Well why don’t we come surf here tomorrow after I get off?”
I moved my head rapidly up and down and agreed without hesitation.
We surfed everyday after that all summer, and she pretty much saved me from becoming the alcoholic I was on the path for. She was actually smart and wanted to do other things than just party and drink like my other friends. It was turning out to be the best summer I’ve ever had, until she broke the news to me.
“Bentley, this has been the best summer of my life, but you know I have to go back to New York.”
This hit me like a truck driving straight at you going well over 200 on a straight away. I hadn’t even thought about college. My grades were bad and I was lazy.
“You can’t leave me here, After this summer, you can’t just leave.”
We argued back and forth for hours until she basically left me on the beach and ran away in tears because she knew she had to go back. A week went by and I didn’t see her at all before she left. I rejected her calls and could’t say goodbye when she left. I sat on the beach where we used to surf for the next week straight drinking and being miserable. Then it hit me as I was sitting there watching the tide change. I sat thinking about how many times she told me how smart I was and how I could really be something when I was older. That was when it hit me. I wanted to be something to her. I ran back to Zippy’s quit on the spot and ran home. Five miles in 35 minutes; Maybe I could join the track team at NYU or something.