Keeley sat on the bus grinding her teeth to dull nubs. The woman next to her gave her a curious glance before moving slightly away, no doubt sensing Keeley's mood. Keeley glanced out the window and watched the buildings whizz past her. She couldn't believe she had been relegated to riding the bus when there was a perfectly functioning car at home. Today was her first day working at the surf shop, but her parents refused to lend her the car. Apparently, football practice was more important than a job.

'Great to know where real life experience stands versus America's favorite pastime,' Keeley sarcastically noted to herself. She knew she was being unfair and bitchy but damn it, she just didn't care. Last night during dinner, Zach and her got in a huge argument over the issue. She needed the car for work and he needed it for football practice but her parents sided with Zach. Why exactly? Because he would be running outside all day while she would be standing indoors.

To top it all off, Keeley had called Talon to confront him about his seedy, underhanded spending but he never picked up. Then, two hours later, she received a text from him saying Gymnastics Camp. 'Nough said –T

Keeley rested her head on the seat in front of her and sighed. This was what her last week of summer vacation had come to. Public transportation and texts about Gumby girls. Fab-frickin-tabulous.

"Next stop: Sunset Beach," an electronic voice said over the loudspeakers. The bus came to an abrupt halt and Keeley shuffled down the aisle and onto the sidewalk. Looking around, she noted the beach was absolutely packed. There wasn't an inch of sand that wasn't covered by a beach towel or an umbrella. Keeley weaved in and out of the crowds, slowly making her way to the surf shop.

As soon as she entered, she noticed two things. One was that the store felt like a human oven and the second, was that the store was in absolute chaos. Keeley hurried to the back room to drop off her purse before going back to the floor in search of her coworker. The only problem was that she had no idea what her coworker looked like. Practically everyone in the store looked like a surfer who could work there. Frustrated at the mayhem, she went in search of the one thing she could control: the air conditioner.

After a few minutes, Keeley found the control box hidden under a tall surfboard leaning against a wall. With trepidation, Keeley attempted to lift the board and move it away from the box but her grip slipped and it crashed to the floor with a loud bang. Keeley cringed and looked around, noticing everyone's eye were on her.

"What the hell!" a voice boomed over the crowd. A dark brown haired boy emerged in front of her, his green eyes looking like they could kill. "What do you think you are doing?" he demanded.

Keeley raised a brow and gave the boy in front of her an assessing gaze. This was her co-worker? Customer service was definitely not his forte. "I think I'm turning up the air conditioning."

"Excuse me?" he lashed out. He picked up the board with relative ease and leaned it back against the wall. "I don't think that's your call to make."

"I think it is," she said. She gave him a small wave. "My name is Keeley. I'm your new co-worker."

"You?" he asked with skepticism.

Keeley nodded. "Me," she repeated lightly.

He gave her an appraising look. "Damn high schoolers," he muttered under his breath. "What was Shawn thinking?"

Keeley ignored his words and asked sweetly, "And you are?"

"Van," he grunted. He gave her another look. "I doubt you have ever surfed, let alone picked up a board."

"So?" she challenged.

"So, you shouldn't be working here!" Van exploded. "Go work at the mall or something," he wildly gestured toward the door.

"Well, Shawn hired me to work here," she pointed to the floor, "and here I will work," Keeley said defiantly. "And do you really want to stand here arguing when there's a whole crowd of customers?"

Van narrowed his eyes and stalked away without a word.

"This should be fun," Keeley mumbled sarcastically while she turned on the AC. She looked around and saw a customer by the cash register. Immediately, she walked behind the counter and smiled at the woman. "Good morning! How can I help you?" she asked merrily.

The woman looked at her watch and then glanced back at Keeley. "I've been waiting here for fifteen minutes," she said, her voice dripping with aggravation. "Not one person has bothered to help me."

"I'm very sorry about that, ma'am," she responded sincerely. "As you can see, we've been pretty busy."

The woman huffed and placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side. "That's no excuse. If you weren't the only surf shop on the boardwalk I would have walked out of here and taken my business elsewhere," she threatened. "You're customer service here is appalling."

Keeley bit the inside of her mouth to keep herself from saying something she would regret. She pasted a smile on her face and asked, "Can I ring these up for you?" She pointed to a couple shirts and bikinis lying on the counter.

The woman gave a curt nod before pointing to a yellow surfboard nearby. "That too."

Keeley mentally groaned. She had no idea the price of the board. When Shawn had given them the tour of the shop, he said the boards varied in price and their co-worker would teach them the retail. 'Damn, what do I do now?' she agonized. Keeley held up a finger and said, "One moment please," before rushing off to find Van.

She located him near the front of the store, talking with a family. Keeley silently sidled up to him and gave the family an apologetic smile before whispering, "I need your help."

"Excuse me," Van said politely to the family before firmly snatching her arm and pulling her to the side. "Don't ever interrupt me when I'm with a customer," he said coldly.

Keeley wretched her arm out of his grip. "Will you stop being an ass for one moment?" she whispered heatedly. "I'm trying to help you! I need the price for that yellow board over there."

Van glanced at the board. "$750 without tax."

Keeley's jaw dropped. "$750? Holy crap." She knew surfboards were expensive but she never guessed it would be that much. Keeley opened her mouth to thank him but Van had already turned his attention back to the family. 'Well isn't he a delightful ball of sunshine,' Keeley thought as she marched back to her customer.

For five hours, Keeley worked non-stop, manning the cash register and cleaning up after customers. For the most part, she stayed out of Van's way, making do with the little retail and surf knowledge she possessed. After the last encounter, Van started to paste sticky notes on the boards with the retail price. Keeley would have thought the gesture sweet except she knew he did it so they wouldn't have to interact. She was honestly baffled by his hostility towards her. She had done nothing more than try to help.

As her shift came to end, Keeley went to the back room to collect her things. Exhausted, she flopped into a chair and let out a long sigh of relief. A deep chuckle came from the door and Keeley jerked up.

"Long day?" Shawn asked, leaning against the doorway.

Keeley groaned. "You have no idea."

He chuckled again. "I think I do. How was your first shift?"

"Well, besides the fact that I have no idea what I am doing and my co-worker hates me, it went fabulous," she answered sardonically. Her eyes widened a second when she realized who she just said that to. "Uh...I mean...It went really great. No problems," she backpedaled.

Shawn shook his head with amusement. "Problems with Van?"

Keeley snorted. "That's an understatement. You'd think I was Sauron trying to conquer and rule Middle Earth."

Shawn burst out laughing. "I'd never have pegged you for a Lord of the Rings fan."

Keeley shrugged her shoulders. The truth was Zach loved those films and constantly forced her to watch them with him. She could practically recite all of Gollum's lines.

"Before I forget, give me your number. I need it in case someone calls in sick and I have to call you for backup," Shawn said while pulling out his phone from his back pocket.

Keeley was about to recite her number before she remembered she wouldn't have her phone for six more days. She debated whether or not to give him her number but decided against it. She didn't want him to call and get Talon. God knows what that boy would say. She couldn't take the chance of getting fired.

"Keeley?" Shawn prompted.

She pulled out Talon's phone from her purse. "Hold on one sec. I'm not sure of the number." She looked through his settings before coming across the number. She reeled off the seven digits before noticing there was a text. She opened it up and froze before throwing it across the table like it was a contaminated with something. "Gross! Gross! Gross!" Keeley exclaimed with disgust.

Shawn looked back and forth between her and the phone. "What's wrong?" he asked bewildered by her strange reaction.

She rubbed her face and moaned. "Oh god, my poor eyes. I'm so sorry you had to see that," Keeley mumbled to herself. "I'll wash you out as soon as I get home."

"You okay there?" Shawn asked bemused. He picked up the phone and choked on his own spit when he saw the screen. "Do you normally get sent naked pictures of some girl's boobs or is this a special circumstance?" Shawn turned the phone toward her and she quickly covered her eyes.

"Don't show me that!" Keeley cried out.

Shawn studied the picture again. "Hmmm. Not bad. A little on the small side."

"Shawn!" Keeley reprimanded.

"She wrote something below it. You want me to read it to you?" Shawn asked.

"I don't know. Do I?" Keeley asked warily.

Shawn chuckled at her. "It says she really enjoyed last night and hoped your roommate wasn't too mad at getting kicked out. She wants a repeat tonight at 11."

Keeley grimaced at the thought. She mentally cursed Talon and wished him an incurable disease.

"Soo..." Shawn trailed off. He looked at her expectantly while rocking back on his heels. "Anything you want to tell me?" he said in a sing-song voice.

"I hate the male species," Keeley said hotly.

Shawn looked at the picture of the naked girl and then back at her. "I think I got that," he said deadpan.

Keeley stifled a small laugh when she realized what he implied. "Not like that." She grabbed her phone and quickly pressed the home button so she wouldn't have to see that vile picture. "I just hate how utterly disrespectful and rude they can be," Keeley grumbled as she thought about Talon and his large box of condoms. How she wished she could get revenge on him.

"This a generalization or aimed at a specific person?" Shawn asked intuitively.

"Specific person. He just ugh!" Keeley let out a frustrated growl and began pacing around the room. "He has no respect for personal property or boundaries. He's self-absorbed and egocentric. And all he can talk about is sex!" she ranted.

"Sounds like a real winner," Shawn drawled. He laughed when she shot him a dirty look. "Listen, most guys at that age only care about two things." He held up a finger, "Their dicks," he held up another finger, "and their reputation. Don't take it personally."

Keeley opened her mouth to say something when she suddenly stopped and stared at the phone in her hand. "Oh my god! That's it!" Keeley cried out. She grabbed her things and gave Shawn a hug. "You are brilliant. Thank you!"

Shawn was dumbfounded as he witnessed her complete turnabout of emotions. "Uh...yah no problem," he said tentatively.

Keeley yelled "See ya" over her shoulder as she rushed out of the store.

"Girls," Shawn muttered as he shook his head. "I will never understand them."