"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." – Psalm 37:4

Cole pushed open the door to Scottie's, causing two bells dangling from the handle to jingle. Along with a gust of A/C, he was also hit by a gust of a delicious smells and loud chatter. He strode across the light-colored wood floor towards the gang's usual booth, a circular table positioned in the corner of the restaurant. The second half of the building, the surf shop portion, was visible through a long glass window on the opposite end. Cole could see vintage boards, clothing, posters, and random knick-knacks piled on shelves.

As soon as Cole took his seat, the rest of the gang (minus Jake) followed suit. Blaine and Koa sat down next to him, while Alana and Maya sat across. Though they were dressed in dry, comfy clothes, everyone's hair still looked damp from that morning's surf session.

Blaine, the unofficial leader of their Sunday afternoon Bible study, pulled out his Bible and flipped to James 3. He cleared his throat, but just then, a pretty girl with jet-black hair and wide, brown eyes walked up to their table.

"Hey Nikki," Maya greeted her.

"Welcome back," she said in her pleasant voice, giving everyone a warm smile. "Am I taking your orders today?"

"Fries?" Blaine suggested to the group. They nodded. "Okay, three large fries, then," he said.

"Anything else?"

On second thought, they all pitched in orders for coffee. Nikki jotted their orders down and hurried back to the kitchen.

"Fries and coffee," Koa said with a grin. "Yum."

"At least no one asked for her number this time," Maya joked. All eyes turned to Cole.

"For the last time," he groaned, "it's not like that!"

They just laughed before quieting down to listen to Blaine. He led them in a short prayer, but Cole's eyes were darting around the diner. Though he was focused on what his brother was saying, he found it hard to concentrate. His gaze wandered from the old-fashioned menu hanging above the main counter to the checkered wallpaper lining the entirety of the Shack. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to pay attention.

"Amen," Blaine said quietly, closing the prayer. "Okay, since we're starting a new chapter, who wants to begin reading?"

Maya was the first to volunteer, her high-pitched voice just barely rising above the din and chatter of Scottie's. A few moments later, Nikki reappeared with the fries and drinks. She had to make a second trip for the rest of their coffees before going to wait on another table. Cole noticed her eyes lingering on the open Bible for a moment before resting on Koa, who was reading where Maya had left off.

He knew it must be a little strange for Nikki to see a group of teenagers having their own Bible study, and in a public place, nonetheless. But ever since Cole had given his heart to Christ a month ago, he felt at peace about being a Christian. His outlook on life was totally different: he saw positively—purposefully—and he knew he could rely on God for strength and support. Most of all, he had a craving to learn more about God and Christianity, and he attempted to read his Bible for more information.

James 3 was no exception. "For every kind of beast and bird," Koa read, "of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue."

Cole absentmindedly bit the inside of his cheek. He remembered many of the things he had said, the crude jokes and teasing he had inflicted on others, and immediately felt guilty. Blaine, for sure, had suffered the worst of Cole's language. Though Cole had tried to mince his words since becoming a believer, it was nearly impossible to tame his tongue. He had the habit of letting his words—and his temper—fly when they wanted to.

The sudden change of voices jerked him out of his thoughts. He glanced over at Alana, who was now reading the last few verses of the chapter. One of her hands rested on the page, fingers splayed towards the edges. The rest of her tan skin was covered by the sleeve of a gray sweatshirt.

Cole crossed his arms, watching as her lips moved and her pupils darted from side to side. A strand of white-blonde hair fell from her ponytail and in front of her eyes, but she didn't tuck it behind her ear until after she had finished reading.

She glanced up, her gaze meeting Cole's. They shared a small smile.

"Okay," Blaine said. He grabbed a couple fries and took a bite. "So this chapter is pretty relevant for all of us, and I think there's something here for everyone. Before we start, though, does anyone have a question? Were any of the verses confusing?"

As Blaine led them through a round of discussion, his Bible was passed around the table while fries were eaten and coffees slurped. Everyone had some sort of question or comment that kept the conversation alive. Nearly forty minutes lapsed before their study was done. Blaine led them in a prayer one more time, and then they made ready to leave.

"All done?" Nikki asked, coming over to collect their check.

"Yep," Koa said, beating the rest of the gang to the punch. "You know, you could always join us during your break."

She was caught off guard for a second. "Oh...well, maybe."

They filed out of the booth and towards the exit. Nikki quickly scooted out of their way and returned to the kitchen.

"Great, you scared her off," Maya teased.

Koa just shrugged. "We've been coming here every Sunday since Scottie's opened. She's used to us by now."

"That doesn't mean she wants to join us."

He sighed. "Well, at least I tried."

The Anderson twins brushed by them, and Blaine called, "See you guys at church tonight!" before heading out the door.

Cole was right on his heels. "Hey, do you mind if Alana comes with us?" he asked.

Blaine shrugged. "You gonna give her a ride?"

"Yeah."

"Sure, I don't mind."

Cole darted back inside the diner, squeezed past Koa, and arrived just in time to hear Alana ask Maya for a ride. "Wait!" he interrupted breathlessly. "Um, Alana, can I take you home?"

Maya gave him a look, but Alana didn't seem to notice. "Sure!" she said. "See you later, girl."

The two best friends did a quick fist bump. "Hey Cole," Maya said, "shouldn't you be giving Nikki a ride home instead?"

"Ha ha." He held open the door for both of them. "The Nikki jokes are getting old, Maya."

She blew him a kiss. "Smell ya later!"

They parted ways, Maya heading to her Mom's car while Cole and Alana headed to his Volkswagen. The chilly breeze blowing in from the ocean hastened their steps.

Once they were seated inside the warmth of Cole's Volkswagen, he turned the key in the ignition and backed out. Blaine was sprawled across the backseat, one foot on the floor and the other against the window.

"Thanks for the study, Blaine," Alana said, turning around to give him a smile.

"Me?" Blaine echoed. "But everyone participates in it."

"You know what I mean. You're the one who organized it, planned the reading...you even lead the conversation."

Blaine smiled. "Well, when you put it like that..."

"I have the feeling you're training to become a preacher," Cole said.

"No way. Speaking in front of big crowds isn't my thing. But hey, a job in ministry would be kind of cool."

"I can see you doing that," Alana said. She shifted in her seat and turned to look at Cole. "What about you? What are your plans for college?"

He pursed his lips. "Surfing and shaping, definitely. Though shaping isn't exactly a solid job—not that Dad hasn't been successful with Anderson boards, but I feel like it would take awhile to start my own shaping business."

Alana nodded. "I think you should study art. You're really good at designing and airbrushing boards."

Cole cracked a smile. "Yeah...I guess."

"Oh, come on!" she laughed. "Don't be so modest. That board you gave me has one of the best designs on it I've ever seen."

"That's because he airbrushed you on the front," Blaine put in.

"That's not the only reason," she protested. "Cole has real talent."

Though his eyes were concentrated on the road, Cole saw Alana smiling at him in his peripheral vision. He was more than a little flattered by her compliments.

Suddenly, a few drops of water splattered onto the windshield, causing him to lean forward and peer up at the dark clouds overhead. "Darn," he muttered. "What a lousy last day of summer."

Alana groaned and sank lower in her seat. "I'm really not looking forward to school. All we do is sit around in class, do homework, and work on lame projects."

"And don't forget filling out college applications," Blaine added.

"Right," she said.

Cole made one last turn before pulling up next to the curb in front of Alana's apartment. "I'll walk you to the door," he said.

"Oh, you don't have to," she said, but he was already halfway out.

They made their way across a short grassy lawn to the front door. The light smattering of raindrops ceased once they were under the eaves of the roof.

"Thanks for the ride," Alana said, shoving her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt.

"No problem." Cole waited, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, wondering what to do next. He noticed a few raindrops still clinging to the ends of her ponytail.

"I'll see you at church, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. Definitely."

To his surprise, she suddenly reached out and gave his hand a quick squeeze. "Cool. Tell Blaine thanks again for all his hard work."

He nodded. "Will do."

Alana shot him one last smile before disappearing inside her apartment. His fingers were still tingling from where she had touched them.

When Cole got back to his Volkswagen, he realized Blaine had climbed from the backseat to the front. "Well, well, well," he said with a grin.

"What?" Cole asked.

"You have that look in your eye."

"What look?"

"The one you always get when you're around Alana."

Cole shrugged, checked his mirrors, and pulled away from the curb.

"I think she gets that same look," Blaine continued.

Cole couldn't deny he was a little pleased. "Good," he said simply. Then, not being able to help himself, he added, "I tend to have that effect on girls."

"But not as much as they have an effect on you."

Cole chuckled in acknowledgment.

When Alana stepped inside the apartment, the first thing she noticed was how warm it was. She gratefully peeled off her sweatshirt and decided to cozy up in front of the TV for a bit.

"Alana?" came her older brother's voice. He peeked his head around the corner. "Oh, good, you're back. Some guy named Trevor wants you to call him when you get the chance."

"Trevor?" she asked, realization lighting up her features. "Oh, wow! I haven't seen him since the surfing safari last month."

"Well, you better get ahold of him," Dylan said. "He sounded pretty excited on the phone."

Alana took a seat at one of the barstools around the kitchen island and pulled out her cell phone that she'd left there. She found Trevor's contact and tapped it, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about. The phone rang three or four times before it was picked up.

The first sound Alana heard was a loud chattering in the background. Then Trevor exclaimed: "Dude! It's you!"

"Yeah," she laughed, "it's me."

"Have you started school yet?"

"I start tomorrow."

"You're on the surf team, right?"

She confirmed.

"I was wondering if you did any contests outside of your surf team."

"No, not really..."

"Aw, darn." He gave a frustrated sigh. "I thought for sure you'd have a sponsor by now."

"Sponsor?"

"Yeah, remember when I asked you if you were sponsored? We were at Trestles, I think."

"Of course. But I don't really enjoy competitions, Trevor. There's no reason for me to be sponsored."

"Oh." His voice fell flat. "Well, that ruins everything."

"Ruins what?"

He snapped back to his energetic mode. "Listen, over the summer I've been using my GoPro and my friend's Canon to get water shots. I put a few clips together of one of my buddies surfing and sent it off to a few sponsors. It took a couple weeks, but Herbalife managed to see my film and called up my buddy to sponsor him! He's entering twice as many contests now and gets all this free stuff from Herbalife."

"Wow," was all Alana could say.

"No kidding. And get this—Volcom is starting to show some interest in him too."

"Trevor, that's amazing!" She paused. "But what does this have to do with me again?"

"You can surf," he said simply. "And you can surf really well. If I spent a couple days filming you, sent it off to a few local surf shops, then who knows what could happen?"

"That would be great, but you're forgetting one thing: I don't like contests. And what's the point of sponsoring a surfer who doesn't compete?"

Trevor's voice rose excitedly. "But that's just it! I've seen the competitive drive you have, Alana. With your talent and a big sponsor or two backing you, forget about those small-scale high school contests. With the right combination of support and exposure, you can go big. I'm talking about the possibility of a career."

The word elicited a shiver of excitement down her spine. "This is insane," she breathed. Surfing was her ultimate passion, and though she had planned on doing it for the rest of her life, she had never dreamed of making it her career.

"It's not as far-fetched as you may think," Trevor continued. "With your surf team kicking off again and school contests starting, I have plenty of opportunities to film you. My college classes don't start for another two weeks."

Alana's mind was reeling. "Okay...but that's awfully far for you to drive just to film me. We're hours apart."

She heard something like a snap of fingers from the other end of the line. "That's it!" Trevor exclaimed. "Why don't we meet halfway? Somewhere in Orange County, maybe. I can film you freesurfing."

"Sure. I just need to run it by Dylan first."

"Okay. Listen, you go talk to your brother, I'll check the surf forecasts, and if it's a go then we can choose a weekend to shoot."

Trevor's enthusiasm was starting to catch on. "Sounds good!" Alana said. "Thanks for calling me. This is really exciting."

"You bet it is!" There was a jumble of noises in the background. "Hey, I've gotta go. Looking forward to hearing back from you."

"Definitely," Alana confirmed. "Talk to you soon."

After exchanging goodbyes, Alana hung up and slid her phone onto the island. She anxiously spun it around in circles. From the stairs came the sound of footsteps, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Dylan coming.

"So who's this Trevor guy?" he asked.

"Oh, he's the one who showed the gang Trestles during our surfari," Alana explained. "He called to ask if we could meet up some weekend so he could film me surfing."

"Film you?" Dylan's eyebrows shot up. "What for?"

"Well, he did the same thing for a friend of his, and the footage got around to a big company who decided to sponsor him."

"Wow." Dylan whistled between his teeth. "And he wants to do the same thing with you?"

Alana nodded.

"But you don't like competing."

"I know, and I told him that. But he's really excited about doing this, and it'll help him gain exposure as a filmmaker."

Dylan shrugged. "It sounds pretty fun to me, but what happens if a sponsor gets ahold of you? The last thing you want is to be pressured to do contests just for the sake of keeping a sponsor."

Alana sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"Look, I'm not saying no. This is totally up to you. My fear lies behind your surfing talent, though. Any company who gets wind of what you can do sponsor you in a heartbeat."

"You think so?"

"Trust me. Having Trevor film you is more than enough to secure you a few sponsors. I'll bet you don't even have to win contests to get attention—you just have to keep surfing like you're surfing."

Alana felt a rush of excitement at his words. Though she wasn't big on surf contests, there was something about competing for a big brand that thrilled her. And she knew she could trust Dylan's instinct—he had almost been a pro himself back in the day.

"Well," she said, "if you're okay with it..."

"Of course I am." He smiled. "I just want you to do what makes you happy."