Chapter 7
Jill knew how to fall. She just didn’t like doing it.
She covered her head and dove into the water. She felt the wave pummel her, but the worst part of the wave had already passed. Something tugged her foot, so she knew her surfboard was still attached to its leash cord.
That was good. It would be awful to lose it. It was one of her favorite things.
Lifting her head, she broke the surface of the water. She looked around, trying to spot what had knocked her off her board.
Abby and Sara were high-fiving down on the beach. Jill pulled her surfboard toward her, hopped on, and swam to shore.
“Nice ride!” she heard Sara tell Abby.
“It was a great ride until you ran into me, you mean,” Jill said.
“Was that you?” Abby asked innocently. “I didn’t even notice.”
“Jill! Are you all right?” Wes called as he walked over. He had been surfing down the beach when Abby and Sara crashed into Jill.
“I’m fine,” Jill assured him. “It probably looked worse than it was.”
“It looked pretty bad from where we were,” Sara said.
“That was a pretty big wipeout,” Abby said.
“That didn’t look like a wipeout to me,” Wes said. He looked suspiciously at Abby and Sara. “From where I was standing, it looked like someone knocked Jill off her board,” he added.
Abby and Sara giggled softly.
Wes turned to Abby and Sara. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” he asked.
“Us?” Abby said innocently. “Nope, we were just surfing. We weren’t paying any attention to Jill.”
Then Jon, the basics instructor, walked up. He looked angry.
“Did you run into Jill?” Jon asked, crossing his arms.
“Of course not,” Sara said.
“We wouldn’t be congratulating each other if we’d run over someone, would we?” Abby added.
Jon stared at them. Jill thought he believed them. “You girls be careful,” he said finally.
“Oh, we will, Jon, honest,” Abby said.
Jill watched him walk down the beach. She planned to tell Abby and Sara just what she thought, but she didn’t want to do it in front of an instructor.
When she turned back to Abby and Sara, though, they were gone. They were in the ocean again.
Their legs hung over each side of their boards, and they leaned forward, talking to each other. Jill could only guess what they were saying.
“Trying to figure out another way to make our lives miserable, probably,” she said to Wes.
“No kidding,” he said. “I’m glad you’re okay. I have to go. See you later.”
Jill looked at Abby and Sara again. They liked to make trouble, that was for sure. But they also liked to do their own thing. And Jill knew that when it came to surfing, that could be dangerous. Very dangerous.
Now, she just needed to figure out what their next move was.