Read Crunch for Free Online Page B

something,” Sarah added.
    Monica glanced over at Bethany with a shared look that said she’d overheard the conversation and remembered Bethany saying the same thing back at the dorm.
    The worker behind the counter handed Bethany a plate with several tacos on it, and she hurriedly sank her teeth into one.
    â€œOhhh…these are sooooo good!”
    Holly grinned. “Told you so!”
    â€œThat was a great video of you surfing,” Maggie said. “Was that all in one day?”
    â€œDifferent days and different places,” Bethany said, taking another bite of her taco. “Some of it is contest footage.”
    â€œDid you win the contest?”
    â€œSome of them I win and some I don’t,” Bethany said.
    â€œYou missed it by an inch on the last one,” Holly interjected.
    â€œYeah, it was one of those days that I couldn’t seem to catch any waves,” Bethany admitted. “But it worked out okay in the end. I wouldn’t have been able to come here if I had won.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œWell, there’s a big contest in Orange County right now that I would normally be seeded in.”
    â€œSeeded?”
    â€œGet an instant spot in the finals,” Monica supplied.
    Bethany nodded. “But because I came in fifth place in my last contest, I wasn’t able to be seeded in this contest. But that made me available for this trip instead.”
    â€œDo you have to be in contests?”
    â€œWell, my sponsor likes for me to be in the contests,” Bethany grinned. “And I like competing too.”
    â€œThat’s an understatement,” Holly snorted. “She lives for a good challenge!”
    Kai coughed into his napkin at the table as if to emphasize the point, and Maggie chuckled.
    â€œA good challenge, huh? Well, I promise you won’t go home disappointed, Bethany.”
    Bethany didn’t ask Maggie what she meant by that. Instead, she took another bite of her taco and chewed slowly. She’d already come to the conclusion that today was just the tip of the iceberg.
    After a five-minute sprinkling back at the dorm, which most of the girls didn’t feel was even close to a long-enough shower, they settled in their bunks and began chatting about their day.
    â€œDoesn’t this place have central heating? It is freezing in here!” Monica exclaimed as she burrowed under the covers on her bunk.
    â€œZip yourself up in your sleeping bag and you’ll be fine,” Bethany said, sounding content from the depths of her own sleeping bag.
    Holly, Malia, and Jenna quickly followed suit and were huddled in their bags just as the lights went out.
    â€œAt least we don’t have to live in one of those tiny old shacks,” a voice noted from somewhere in the room. “Can you imagine how cold they get?”
    â€œI couldn’t have imagined a lot of things I saw today—until I saw them,” another voice said soberly.
    â€œWe went to an orphanage,” Bethany said. “It was so sad to see all those little kids…and no parents to love them.”
    â€œI never even knew this kind of world existed until I came here,” Malia said.
    â€œYou mean you never saw the pictures of poor people on TV?” Holly asked.
    â€œYeah, I saw them…but they were just pictures. It was never real to me.”
    Others agreed softly.
    â€œI really admire Eddie and Maggie,” Bethany said. “They don’t have to work and live down here. They’re Americans and could be living large across the border—instead they choose to spend their lives helping the poor. It really makes you think.”
    â€œIt makes me appreciate what I’ve got,” Monica admitted softly.
    â€œIt makes me feel stupid for complaining to my mom that I don’t have enough clothes or that our house is so small,” Jenna confessed.
    â€œI had a doll house bigger than the house we built today,” another