“Not at all, Mr. uhm, Finn. Welcome to Stars Cove,” she said by way of parting, then she let herself out and left me alone in my new digs.
I glanced around at the small but comfortable space, taking in my new bright red couch and cream shag rug. The shack consisted of a split living room/kitchenette, one tiny bathroom with a standing shower, and a small bedroom. It had everything I could possibly need, and a huge grin spread across my face.
I fist-bumped the picture of Mark Foo and sighed happily.
“Home sweet home.”
Alexa Play: New Perspective by Noah Kahan
“Youbought a house!?”
Turtle’s mouth was hanging open in shock. His wavy, chestnut hair was tied in a low bun at the nape of his neck, and he had a Billabong hat on backwards.
Both of us were toned and tanned from spending so much time in the ocean, but Turtle was naturally darker than me overall.
He was wearing a loose tank with the sides cut out, showing off his stick and poke tattoos. There was a goofy cartoon shark on the chest of his shirt, and his navy blue boardshorts had white pineapples on them, making him look like the beachy himbo he was.
I, in contrast, had a mop of sandy hair with some pretty shocking white streaks from all the sun and the salt water. I was also wearing awhite tank, but mine just had the Volcom logo on it. Though I was just as fit as the Turtle Man, I was leaner and about a head shorter.
We passed a few local girls on our way to Sharkies, where Turtle said he’d already secured us both jobs as busboys. Which was awesome, considering I was officially house-poor.
I watched the girls check us out as we walked by, and I shot them a big, flirty smile, enjoying the way their cheeks flushed and the gentle sound of their tittering giggles.
“Yeah, man. It’s dope as fuck. You should come live with me.”
“And abandon Shelly!?BRO, who evenare you?”He gasped, holding his hand over his chest like I had mortally wounded him.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. You and Shelly need each other.” I laughed.
“Shelly and I need you too, bro. What about our plans to travel to every beach in the world together!? The adventures of Turtle, Shelly, and the Finn Man—over before they could even begin!” I didn’t bother pointing out that it would be impossible to drive Shelly to every beach in theworld.We wouldn’t even be able to take her to everystate.We obviously couldn’t drive to Hawaii.
Instead, I shoved him playfully in the arm as I walked onto the boarded deck that made up Sharkies’ dining room. The place didn’t open until nine am, so it was deserted. We’d been asked to come in early for orientation, and it was nice to get a sense of the place before it got busy.
I looked around the open-air structure and grinned.
It wasawesome.
The entire place was open to the elements and so close to the water you could hear the waves as they lapped greedily at the shore.
The border of the dining room was basically just a line of big, thick nautical rope strung through waist-length wooden posts.
The roof was thatched, and there was a big square bar in the center of the wooden floor, surrounded by fifty or so tables.
Turtle assured me Sharkies was almost entirely staffed by kids our age who were just as obsessed with surfing as we were. I was lookingforward to getting to know more people in what I was now considering my home.
“I don’t know, man. I have a good feeling about this place. I want to stick around.”
In typical Turtle fashion, he quickly got over his initial distress and smoothed right into the flow of things.
Shrugging, he grinned. “No worries, Finn Man.” He roughed up my hair, and I laughed, shoving him away from me again. “You wanna grow some roots? We’ll grow ‘em together. Imma probably still chill with Shells, though. I can’t leave her, man. Not after everything she’s done for us.”
I nodded solemnly. “I understand. I would never get between a man and his van.”
“You have a van?” A pretty feminine voice chirped from behind us.
We both turned to find a petite blonde girl with a surfer’s tan smiling at us. She had straight, white teeth and was wearing what looked like a lifeguard’s T-shirt and little red shorts. Upon closer inspection of her shirt, it was actually a Sharkies’ shirt, made to look like a lifeguard uniform, which I guess made sense for the beach theme of the restaurant. She was holding two men’s versions of the same shirt, and she handed one to each of us as she approached.
I took mine on reflex and grinned at the girl, and Turtle gave her a flirty wink.
