Page 12 of We Are Just Us

The dogs sighed in unison like they were judging him.

And maybe they were.

FOUR

Kieran didn’t know what he was doing. That was obvious by the way his hand shook while signing his name on the waiver form.

The online flyer had been explicit.

BEGINNER-FRIENDLY SURF CLINIC

No experience needed! Patient instruction for first-timers. We’ll have you standing up in no time! Bring sunscreen and a sense of humor.

He had sunscreen. But his sense of humor was already eroding.

There were four other people in the class. A tourist couple from Ohio, a teenage girl with a nose ring and zero fear, and a retired man already radiating regret.

It wasn’t about impressing Rory.

At least, that’s what Kieran told himself while standing awkwardly in a loose rash guard and too-long board shorts, holding a borrowed board as if it was a foreign object. He kept pulling his shorts up against the certainty that the ocean was about to take his dignity.

The surf instructor, a sun-bleached twenty-something named Jax, clapped his hands together with the enthusiasm of someone contractually obligated to appear excited.

“Alright, people. Pop-ups. Watch me.” He dropped onto a board and demonstrated once. He was fast, fluid, and completely unhelpful. Then he stood up, brushing sand off his hands. “Easy, right? Okay, try it.”

Kieran stared at his board. That had been one movement. How was he supposed to break that down?

“Any day now,” Jax said, checking his phone.

Kieran dropped onto his stomach and tried to follow along. His first pop-up looked more like a half-sneeze and a crab walk. His second one ended with him falling off the foam board onto the sand.

From somewhere behind him, the teenage girl giggled.

“Okay, yeah, so…don’t do that,” Jax said, not looking up from his phone. “Just pop-up. Like I showed you. Just…pop up.”

Beginner-friendly, my ass. Beginner-tolerated was more accurate.

Jax walked the line, barely glancing at anyone’s form. When the Ohio couple asked a question about hand placement, he sighed audibly.

“It’s intuitive, man. Feel it.”

“But where exactly should—”

“You’re overthinking. Surfing is about flow, not like...instructions.” He was already walking away.

The retired guy raised his hand. “What about paddling techniques?”

“We’ll get to that in the water. Right now, focus on the Pop-Up!” Jax barked.

“But you only showed us once!”

“Because you only need to see it once. It’s muscle memory.” Jax pulled out his phone again, squinting at the screen. “Okay, everyone got it? Cool. Let’s hit the water.”

Kieran glanced at the Ohio couple, who looked as confused as he was.

The teenage girl was already jogging toward the ocean, board under her arm, fearless.

Then a familiar voice cut through the salty air.