Read Online Summer Love by Jill Santopolo - Free Book Online

arms to balance. Let’s do it together.”
    You mimic everything Jean Paul does, and count along with him, hoping your French accent isn’t too terrible. You know your
quatre
doesn’t sound like his, for sure.
    â€œGood, now faster!” he says.
    You go faster, even though your shoulder muscles are starting to hurt from
un
—the push-up maneuver. Once Jean Paul is happy with your stand-up speed, he wraps the surfboard’s Velcro ankle strap around your leg. You shiver when his fingers brush your skin.
    â€œNow, the ocean!” he says. “I’ll hold your board, and when a small wave is coming, I’ll tell you when to stand and let you go.”
    You take a deep breath. You totally got the hang of standing on land, but standing in the water seems like another thing entirely.
    â€œIt’s okay if you fall,” Jean Paul says. He must’ve seen the fear on your face. “Besides, I named you a sea goddess. You were born for this, Amphitrite.”
    You screw your courage to the sticking place, the way your tennis coach/ninth-grade English teacher always told you to do before a match. “All right, Poseidon,” you say. “I’m ready.”
    â€œFantastique!”
Jean Paul says.
    He leaves his surfboard in the sand and heads into the ocean. You follow behind him, your board Velcroed to your leg.
    â€œThis is good,” he tells you when the water is about waist deep. “Now, you lie down on your board, and get ready, and I’ll tell you when to go.”
    He hangs on to the back of your surfboard and you balance on it like it’s a raft, but you’re not relaxed at all. Your arms are tense, your palms ready to push up at a moment’s notice.
    â€œOkay,” Jean Paul says. “It’s coming . . . and . . . go!”
    You count in your head,
un
,
deux
,
trois
,
quatre,
and you’re up! You’re totally standing on a surfboard! You’re surfing! And then just as quickly as you’re up, you feel the board wobble and you’re not balancing quite right, and you go tumbling into the water. But as you pop up, you know there’s a huge grin on your face, because that felt awesome. It felt more than awesome. For a few seconds there, you really were Amphitrite, goddess of the sea.
    â€œYou okay?” Jean Paul shouts. “That was great for your first time! You made it up! That’s more than a lot of people can do.”
    You walk through the water back to where you started. “I’m great!” you say.
“Fantastique!”
    â€œYou are,” he says, laughing. “You want to do it again?”
    â€œDefinitely,” you tell him.
    You climb on board and wait again, and then Jean Paul lets go and the wave comes and you’re up again, and down again. You do it over and over and over, more times than you can count, but you can’t seem to stay up for more than a few seconds.
    â€œWhat am I doing wrong?” you ask Jean Paul.
    â€œIt’s here,” he says, touching your stomach. “Your core.”
    You feel butterflies right where he’s touched you.
    â€œAnd keep your legs loose. Not too tight. You need to feel the board and compensate.”
    You take a breath. “Okay, one more time,” you say.
    You’re pretty sure you’ve gone way over your half-hour lesson, but Jean Paul hasn’t said anything, so you don’t, either.
    You climb on the board and get ready. He lets you go, you count to four—in French—and you’re up! You concentrate on keeping your legs loose and your core tight. The board moves, and you compensate. You do! It moves again, and you’re still standing. Your arms are out at your sides for extra balance, and you ride the wave all the way to shore. When you hit the sand, you jump off the board.
    You turn around to look for Jean Paul, and you see him running toward you.
    â€œC’est magnifique!”
he