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“Said he had something else to do,” Lucas said.

That seemed a little strange to Kai. Next to Lucas, Everett was probably the best surfer in the crew.

“Well, see you out there,” Kai said.

Lucas nodded. He and his brahs headed over to the tent to sign in.

Kai and his friends commenced to do what competitive surfers everywhere spent most of
their time doing at competitions—waiting and watching. The first rounds of the day would be fifteen-minute heats. Six surfers would compete in each heat, with three eliminated and three moving on to the next round. The men went first, then the boys. Next came the juniors—the group Kai, Spazzy, and Lucas's crew were in. Everyone listened for the first heat to be called: “Rodney, Jackson, Herter, Moncure, Rhodes, and Winthrop.”

“We're in the same heat!” Spazzy said to Kai, then jumped up and grabbed his board.

Kai picked up his board.

“Good luck!” Jillian called. “Be careful!”

Spazzy and Kai walked over to the pole where the event flags were. The beach marshal was handing out colored jerseys. Spazzy got a light blue one and Kai got yellow. Soon all six contestants were gathered around the marshal. They eyed one another, trying to figure out who the serious contenders were. Spazzy twitched and made some strange noises.

“Okay, boys, we want you to have fun out there,” the marshal said. “Just keep it clean and respect one another's spaces. No snaking or drop-ins. We're pretty serious about that. Any
interference will result in automatic disqualification.” He checked his watch. “We re doing water starts today, so you can head out there now. Soon as the green flag goes up, you can start to surf. It's a fifteen-minute heat. We'll give you an air horn and yellow flag when there are five minutes left.”

The six contestants hit the water. Two of the kids, one in pink and the other in white, started to paddle hard, as if they were in a race. Spazzy started after them, afraid they might get a head start.

“Hey,” Kai called in a low voice, trying not to attract the other surfers.

Spazzy turned back. “Yeah?”

“Don't waste your strength,” Kai said. “It's a water start. They won't raise the green flag until we're all out there. Those guys are just burning adrenaline.”

Spazzy slowed down. “Thanks.”

The six surfers got outside. The air horn blew and the green flag went up. Almost immediately, pink and white tried to get rides on waves that were going nowhere. Kai had a feeling that unless one of them got incredibly lucky, those two weren't going to be much to worry about.

A set came in, and navy blue caught a wave and did a snap with a nice spray, then tried to get into the pocket again but ran out of juice. Kai knew he'd be a contender. The next wave in the set was rearing up, and both Spazzy and Kai were close enough to take it.

“Go on,” Kai said.

Spazzy paddled into the wave and popped up. The wave looked like it might peel without sectioning, and rather than try a ride-ending trick, Spazzy wisely decided to go for distance and length of ride. Kai heard hoots and cheers from the beach.

Another wave was coming and Kai and the remaining surfer, a kid wearing red, paddled for it. Kai was farther inside so it was his ride, but the other guy either didn't see him or thought maybe he could steal the wave. With the kid blocking him and no room to go anywhere, Kai did a sharp bottom turn, went up vertical behind the other surfer and tried to get some air going over the lip. In no time his ride was over and he bailed. When his head came back out of the water, he could hear a voice distorted by a megaphone. He couldn't make out the words, but he knew the meaning: The guy in red had just been disqualified.

Since his ride had been cut short, Kai didn't have far to paddle to get outside again. By now Spazzy had come back from his long ride.

“Too bad that guy dropped in on you,” Spazzy said. “Looked like a nice wave.”

“That's life,” Kai said. “Looked like you had a good ride.”

“Good? You mean great,” Spazzy said. “I really lucked out.”

Another set was coming in. “See if you can do it again,” Kai said.

“You sure?” Spazzy asked. “I already got one.”

“So get another,” Kai said.

Spazzy took off on the first good wave. This one looked like it might close out ahead of him, so he threw some spray with a snap, then tried to scoot around in front of the breaking section in the hope of getting past it. The white water caught him and he bailed out.

The other guys caught some waves, but didn't do much with them. Then Kai took off on one and actually managed to get a half-decent cutback and tailslide out of it. Once again he heard hoots and cheers from the crowd on the beach.

The air horn went off again. The green flag went down and the yellow went up. As if desperate for a last chance to prove themselves, pink and white grabbed the first waves that came along and again couldn't do much with them. Spazzy caught another and smartly went for distance and duration again. Kai kept glancing at his watch, then at navy blue, and then the incoming waves. He and navy blue could almost read each other's minds. Given the choice, they both wanted the last ride. It was like a game of dare. Who'd go first? But with only five surfers in the heat and three going for sure to the next round, Kai was already pretty certain Spazzy had made it and he had nothing to lose.

A wave came. At the last second Kai spun around. It wasn't that he was trying to fake out navy blue, but he wanted to take the wave late and the face steep, to get up enough speed to boost air. With the sound of the folding lip crackling in his ears, he took off and popped up, compressed into the bottom turn and launched off the lip, rotating as hard as he could, without a clue as to how he was going to land.

It felt sort of between a one-eighty and a
flip, and the amazing thing was, he actually landed on his board before pitching headfirst into the wash. When his head popped out, it was just in time to hear the final air horn and see the yellow flag come down and the red one come up.

The first heat was over.

K
ai started to paddle in. The six entrants in the next heat were already on their way out. Lucas and Sam had been thrown together with four other surfers Kai had never seen before. As Kai passed Lucas, he said, “Good luck.” Lucas scowled back. To Kai it was an insight into how the guy's brain worked. Everything was either black or white, friend or enemy, good or bad. There was nothing in between.

Kai got to the beach, returned his jersey, and headed for his friends. The judges were still tabulating the results of his heat and had not yet announced which of the contestants would move on to the next round. Jillian,
Shauna, and Bean were all on their feet, waiting for him.

“What was that last move?” Bean asked. “I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like it.”

“That's probably because it's completely unmakeable,” Kai said.

“It was still awesome,” said Shauna.

“Thanks.” Kai turned to Spazzy. “Smart wave selection. Smart rides.”

“Thanks,” Spazzy said. “I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry. Besides, I really wanted to get past this round since I'll definitely get killed in the next one.”

“Why do you say that?” Jillian asked.

“I don't have the moves or tricks,” Spazzy said.

“Hey, you never know,” Bean said. “One good wave is all you need.”

The air horn sounded and the green flag went up for the next heat. Kai and the others watched the six surfers in Lucas's group start to ride. Sam caught a wave and did his signature snap, throwing huge spray. Kai had a feeling Lucas had shared the surf-wax-on-the-fins trick with him.

Meanwhile, on the beach, the beach marshal with the megaphone cleared his throat.
“Your attention please,” he announced. “The contestants from the last heat who will move to the next round are Herter, Rodney, and Winthrop.”

“We made it!” Spazzy cried.

Everyone exchanged high fives. Spazzy was so excited, and twitching so hard, he missed most of them, so the others patted him on the back.

“Now what happens?” Jillian asked.

“We wait,” Bean said. “It'll be a while until the next round.”

The sun was overhead by now, cooking everyone on the beach. The heat, plus the salt from the water, made Kai and the others thirsty. Kai took out a bottle of water and finished it. Jillian had water for herself and Spazzy. A little while later the men's long board heat was announced and Bean got up and stretched. Everyone wished him good luck as he picked up his board and went to get a jersey.

“I can see the difference between a long board and a short board,” Jillian said after he'd left. “Why would he choose one and not the other?”

“The long board's more traditional,” Kai
answered. “It's easier to ride, but harder to look good. To me it's real subtle. More of the thinking man's board. Kind of an intellectual thing.”

“Really?” Jillian seemed to like hearing that.

They watched Bean paddle out wearing a white jersey. There were only five competitors in his heat. Kai wasn't surprised. Long board competitors were definitely in the minority. The five long boarders got outside. The air horn went off and the green flag went up.

For the next ten minutes they watched the long boarders ride mostly for distance and duration. Here and there someone would try an off-the-lip, but it mostly just looked like any old day at the beach.

“It certainly is different,” Jillian observed with a yawn.

The air horn sounded and the yellow flag went up. By now hardly anyone on the beach was even watching. It was Shauna who got their attention.

“Guys,” she said.

Everyone turned and looked. Bean was in the pocket of a wave, crouched down, five toes over the nose, arms stretched out in front of him. Classic cheater five position. A few hoots and cheers rose up from the crowd, and more
heads began to turn. As the wave gave out, Bean cross-stepped back to the tail and turned the board around just in time to catch the reformed inside break. It was closing out, and he turned the board once again, this time heading straight in. Then he grabbed the rails, bent over and placed his head on the deck, and did a headstand, his long black braid actually hanging off the side of the board and dragging in the water.

By now the whole beach was watching, hooting and cheering.

“Is … is that allowed?” Jillian stammered.

“Only if you're Bean,” Shauna said.

After that ride Bean didn't even bother to go back out and finish the heat. He didn't have to. Back on the beach everyone congratulated him, then settled down and waited for the next set of junior heats to begin.

Nearly two hours passed before the call came. Again it was a three out of six elimination. The names were called off. Spazzy was grouped with Sam and four other surfers.

“Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted.” Spazzy shrugged.

“That's the spirit.” Bean slapped him on the back. “Quit while you're ahead.”

“I wouldn't even bother going out there,” Kai said. “Why not just give up now? It's a lot better than facing all that humiliation.”

“We could just pack up and leave, and they wouldn't even notice you were gone,” Shauna said.

Spazzy grinned. “You guys suck.” He picked up his board and headed for the tent to get his jersey.

“Does he really not stand a chance?” Jillian asked after he'd left.

“Hard to say,” Bean said.

“You never know,” added Kai.

T
his batch of surfers was a lot better than the last. Most went for slash-and-gash tricks. Once again Spazzy bucked the trend and went for number and length of rides. When the heat was over, Bean and Kai traded looks and shook their heads. There was no way to tell whether Jillian's brother had made it or not.

Spazzy stripped off his jersey and ran back to Kai and his friends. Seawater dripped out of his hair, and he was breathing hard and had the biggest smile on his face.

“What'd you think?” he asked. For that moment he didn't twitch at all. It was as if he'd forgotten. Kai watched Jillian's face as she saw the effect surfing had on her brother's condition.
“I think that no matter what, you're great,” his sister said.

Of course, Spazzy immediately started twitching like an electric wire, but somehow that was okay.

The beach marshal announced the results of Spazzy's heat. “Moncure, Sarnoff, and Winthrop.”

“I made it!” Spazzy's shout of joy was so loud that people all around looked up and smiled. He threw his arms around Kai's neck and hugged him.

“I guess that's the definition of stoked,” Bean quipped.

Once again Kai stole a peek at Jillian. He wasn't sure who looked happier, Spazzy or his sister.

A little while later Bean went out for the finals of the long board competition.

“Why are there only three surfers?” Jillian asked.

“With only five contestants, they only needed two heats,” Kai explained. “So whoever wins this is the winner.”

Jillian clasped her hands together. “You mean, Larry could win the whole thing?”

Kai still couldn't get used to anyone calling Bean by his real name. “Right,” Kai said.

“He could win the whole thing right now.”

Jillian let out a small gasp. Kai winked at Shauna.

The air horn blew and the green flag went up. The three long boarders took turns catching waves. Bean got another nice cheater five on one ride. One of the other long boarders had more or less the same move. As the heat wound down, Kai could not have predicted who the winner would be. Both Shauna and Jillian seemed to have grown tired of watching heat after heat and were talking.

The five-minute air horn went off and the yellow flag went up. Out in the water Bean spotted a wave and turned his board toward shore. With an effortless, almost lazy-looking stroke he caught it, stood up, and angled along the face.