Read In Too Deep for Free Online

“Thanks.” He was lying. He’d read a copy of it in the skate shop.
    He took it to an armchair in the corner and turned the pages, looking at them without reading. It created a barrier between him and the rest of the family. He wanted to be left alone.
    He wasn’t feeling well. He couldn’t say what it was. It wasn’t a headache or a temperature, but there was strange feeling in the middle of his chest, like when he ran the distance of North Piha Beach. Josh sighed as he turned another page of the magazine and wished that the day would end.
    After lunch, of which he ate little, he took his skateboard and rode to the skate park. There was only one boy in the bowl, on what was obviously a new board. Josh waited for him to finish and then dropped in. Curving through transition, he lost it on the kickturn and bailed.
    “Bugger!” he exclaimed as he landed heavily.
    “Give it up,” shouted the boy who was watching from the side.
    “Shut up,” Josh snarled as he left the bowl.
    A group of skaters arrived, some of whom he knew, and he watched them for a while. They gave him a chance to ride, so he dropped in again only to find that he was not up to his usual standard. He tried a few tricks, realised that he was off form, so quit and walked back to his nana’s house. When he got there, he found that his parents had packed the car and were waiting for him. He eagerly got in for the ride back to Piha.
    As soon as they arrived back at the bach, Josh jumped out of the car and ran to the dunes. From his vantage point he could see that the surf was quite small, but he would get a few good rides if he were patient enough. He didn’t really care – he just wanted to get into the water. It would be better at South Piha where the bar would give the waves more form. He ran back to the bach to fetch his board.
    Josh took his new wetsuit out of his cupboard and put in on. It was late afternoon, the air was cool and he’d need the wetsuit as he planned to be in the water for a while.
    He scrapped the old wax off his board on the front lawn, then re-waxed When he finished he said goodbye to his mother who was watching from the deck and made his way to the beach.
    He headed towards Lion Rock, crossed the stream and walked onto South Piha Beach where he laid his board on the sand beside him and began to stretch his leg muscles. When he heard someone come up behind him, he turned to see who it was. His heart sank.
    “Well, look who’s here,” Bevan said as he came to stand in front of Josh.
    Josh let his hands fall to his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists. His heart thudded in his chest so loudly he was sure that Bevan would hear it. Josh was also aware that there was someone else just behind him, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off Bevan.
    “So, what brings you here?” Bevan asked with a sneer.
    “Live here,” Josh said. It felt like he had a golf ball in his throat.
    “That right? And you think you can surf and I can’t?”
    Josh shrugged. He didn’t want to provoke the bully.
    The person behind him moved and came into view. He was shocked to see the girl he had met the night before. He saw recognition in her eyes, but she tried to cover it by sidling up to Bevan and putting her arm around his waist.
    “Aw, leave him alone, Bevan,” she said, trying to pull him away.
    “This is the guy who hit me with the bike, Gina,” Bevan said as a means of introduction.
    “But you got him back for that didn’t you?”
    “Yeah, I did,” he said with a crooked smile.
    Josh could feel his blood coursing through his veins, delivering adrenaline to his muscles, and his brain told him to get out of there. He heard a footfall behind him and instinctively spun around to face the new danger.
    “Hey, whoa,” said an older boy, his hands raised in a surrender position. “I’ve only come to get Bevan.”
    “Rhys, meet Josh,” Bevan said.
    “A friend of yours?” Rhys asked.
    “Yeah, we’ve made contact in the past,”