Saltwater Secrets

The Pacific Ocean stretched out before me, but I was too busy hyping myself up to notice. My first bonfire, first time hanging with the popular crowd, and definitely my first time anywhere near Levi's surfboard.

"You got this, Maya," whispered Chloe, my ride-or-die since seventh grade. She adjusted the strap of her romper like she do. "Just don't let him see you shake."

I grabbed a red Solo cup from the cooler, splashing some **water** on my face to fake confidence. The bonfire crackled nearby, illuminating everyone's perfect tans and impossible hair. Palm trees swayed above us like they owned the place, probably because they did. This was Malibu, after all.

Levi caught my eye across the fire and actually smiled. My stomach did that thing where it forgets how to function.

"Hey," he said, sliding onto the log beside me. "Heard you've never surfed."

"Once," I lied, because what else could I say? That I'd barely even touched a beach before moving here three weeks ago? "Just... rusty."

"That's **bull**," Chloe's voice cut through. She appeared behind me, arms crossed. "Maya's been terrified of the ocean since that Jaws marathon in sixth grade."

My face burned hotter than the fire. Thanks, Chloe. Really.

But Levi didn't laugh. Instead, he stood up and held out his hand. "Come on."

"What?"

"I'll teach you. Right now. Moon's full, waves are chill, and I'm literally the best surfer at Santa Monica High." He grinned, and suddenly the fact that I'd been exposed as a fraud didn't matter so much.

My toes hit the sand, then the cool Pacific. I waded in, clutching Levi's board like it was my only lifeline. Which, technically, it was.

"Paddle," he instructed, waist-deep in the dark **water**. "Trust me, you want this more than you think."

A set approached—nothing massive, but enough to make my heart hammer against my ribs. I dug my hands into the ocean, pulling with everything I had.

"Up, UP, you got this!" Levi yelled.

I scrambled to my feet, wobbling like a newborn deer, and for two seconds—TWO WHOLE SECONDS—I was riding. Not gracefully, not impressively, but riding. Then I wiped out spectacularly, tumbling through the foam like clothes in a dryer.

When I surfaced, gasping and wiping salt from my eyes, everyone on the beach was watching. And they were cheering.

Levi high-fived me as I crawled onto the sand. "Told you you wanted it."

"That was terrible," I laughed, feeling lighter than I had all night. "I'm never doing that again."

"Liar." He leaned in close. "Same time tomorrow?"

The **palm** trees framed the moon perfectly behind him. Maybe this California thing wouldn't be so terrible after all.