"You have got to be shitting me." Are the first seven words that fall out my mouth when I draw back my curtains and see that there's low-lying clouds hanging over the ocean.

Even if the surf was good, which it isn't really, I wouldn't risk going out with that light anyway.

With a heavy sigh, I let the curtain fall back and flop back onto my bed. I stay like that for a couple of minutes before I sit up rapidly, remembering Reiley.

"Ah..." I rub my head after getting a head rush.

When I finally step out of my van, leaving my warm bed, Reiley's nowhere around, so I guess either he went to the Oasis Moon or home...

Last night, swimming in the sea, I don't think I've been so close to anybody physically for a long while. It just made my heart feel a little heavier in my chest.

I drag some random clothes over my body, figuring that there's no chance of me surfing today.

Realising how hungry I am, I fix myself some breakfast that consists of almond milk on cereal, followed by an apple; after all, an apple a day keeps the doctor away...unless the doctor's good-looking, then screw the apples.

The air's cold outside, probably because of the mist hovering around.

I decide to grab a hoodie, and pull that over my body as well.

As I get to the Oasis Moon, after walking across a foggy beach, I see that Reiley's not there, and neither is that brunette from yesterday.

"Hello?" I call out, pushing the door open.

The place seems empty, like it should still be closed, apart from the fact that the door is open, and the Open/Closed sign on the door has been flipped to 'Open'. A voice starts talking, and they walk out from a back room that I hadn't seen the past couple of times that I've been here.

"I'm telling you, dude, it's gonna clear up around midday." He's talking on a phone, his back turned to me as he wraps his apron around his waist, phone pressed between his shoulder and ear. "Yeah, and the waves will be good as well...yeah, well, I gotta go now, dude. I'll catch you later."

He hangs up and turns to me, "What can I get you? Skye?"

"Reiley." I feel my cheeks turn pink almost instantly. "Hi."

"Hi." Reiley smiles, "So, how are you recovering from last night's swim?"

"I'm fine, this weather totally sucks though." I sigh, flopping into a stool at the counter.

Reiley starts making me a coffee, even though I never asked for one.

"It'll clear up at noon." He tells me, self-assured, "That's what I was just telling Cole on the phone. He never believes me, and he's lived here longer than me!" Reiley shakes his head, light-heartedly despairing his friend.

"I highly doubt that." I raise an eyebrow.

"I bet you it'll clear up." Reiley insists.

"What are we betting?" I've always been good at gambling—I took a gamble when I bought Bessie from that scrap yard, for God's sake.

"I bet you...a cup of coffee that it'll clear up." He then explains, "If it does clear up, then you have to make me a coffee back at your van and invite me inside, but if it doesn't clear up, then I make you a coffee here, free of charge – sound fair?"

"No." I shake my head, "If you win the bet, you get a lot more than if I won the bet. How about if I win the bet, as well as the free coffee, I get to ask you a couple of questions?"

"Why do you sound like a private detective or something?" He joked, pouring almond milk into my coffee.

"I just have a couple of questions." I shrug nonchalantly.

"Here you go." He pushes the coffee across to me, and informs, "That's two dollars."

I roll my eyes, "Of course it is."

"Hey, as much as I like you, it doesn't mean I can give you free coffee all the time." He raises his hands in mock defence, before turning away to arrange some cups and mugs.

'As much as I like you'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"It so won't clear up." I declare, sipping some coffee and feeling it warm my bones considerable.

"It so will, Skye." He throws back.

*~*~*~*

The Oasis Moon gets a little busier as the morning rolls on, so I head back to Bessie and spend a few hours lounging around there. I waste time by listening to my iPod and flicking through some glossy women's health magazines, though I'm pretty sure that at this point in my relationship (if you could call it that) with Reiley, that I need some of those teen gossip mags, with those 'How to Tell if He Likes You' quizzes.

For lunch, I simply have some crackers with tomatoes on, not being bothered to find anything else more interesting to eat.

Being lactose intolerant kinda sucks, because I hadn't been all my life—I'd found out when I was about 12, or 13...yeah, I was 13, because I'd just had some of my 13th birthday cake when I had to sprint to the toilet, due to the diarrhoea that the dairy induced—fun times. And ever since then I've not been able to have any dairy products, and who can be bothered making a vegan cake anyways?

The next song that comes on my iPod is kind of ironic; it's 'Dogs Days Are Over', by Florence + The Machine, but with the fog hanging over the ocean, and the fact I've still not been out on my board, makes it feel like the dog days are beginning, yet again.

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind you
Can't carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can't you hear the horses
'Cause here they come

I remember so clearly when I sat at my laptop at home in Miami and loaded up a ton of CDs onto iTunes, before transferring them across to my iPod. I literally spent hours doing it, and it was kinda therapeutic—the whole process of putting a CD in the CD slot, importing it on to iTunes, transferring it onto my iPod, taking out the CD, and then starting all over again with a new CD.

Savannah thought that I was crazy when I told her that the only technology that I was taking with me was my sky-blue iPod Shuffle, that I got for my tenth birthday.

"You're gonna miss your phone like crazy." She pointed her finger at me, hand on hip.

"I'm gonna miss my family and my friends like crazy." I corrected, "I don't really need my phone."

"I get that you're trying to find yourself, or whatever—I totally get it...kinda—but driving across the States with no phone? You'll lose it!" She exclaimed, "You won't last a week without updating your Instagram status, or posting pictures to your Snapchat feed."

"Whatever, Savvy." I rolled my eyes, and turned away from her, using my childhood nickname for her to annoy her.

"Whatever, Cloudy Skye." She used her childhood nickname for me, especially when I got angry or upset.

Cloudy Skye meant I was in a bad mood, and Skye-Blue meant I was in a good mood. Apparently, I wasn't allowed an in between, or a neutral mood. If I was in a really, really bad mood, I got called Stormy Skye by my family.

My heart twinges thinking about them.

Maybe I should've emailed Savannah as well when I emailed Mom...

But the chances are, she would've responded in the bluntest, briefest text talk, or not at all, whereas I can always depend on Mom, or Dad, to respond properly.

Noticing that it's just turned 12 o'clock, I look up out the window.

"You have got to be shitting me." Are the next seven words that fall out my mouth when I see that the ocean is completely cleared of any clouds, and the sky is blue, without a cloud in sight, sun shining brilliantly.

As well as this, waves are rolling it.

I squeal in excitement and start changing rapidly out of ordinary clothes into my bikini and full-length wetsuit, then I jump out of my van and climb up on the bumper, grabbing my surfboard.

The thought that I lost a bet against Reiley doesn't even cross my mind, until I see him and his friends running out into the surf.

A grin stretches wide over my face; I don't really mind losing a bet to him that much. After all, all I've got to do is make him a coffee and introduce him to Bessie.

"Good girl." I pat the side of my van, tucking my board under my arm.

I run down to the surf, feeling the wind in my loose hair. Just before going into the sea, I set my board down and tie my hair back quickly.

I stretch my arms and legs out, and practice a couple of pop-ups on my board.

Yeah, I still got this.

Board under arm, and leash on my ankle, I jog out into the surf.

"Hey, Skye!" Cole recognises me as I paddle out to where they are, and where the waves are rolling in beautifully.

"Hey Cole." I grin back.

Apart from Reiley and Cole, there's a couple of other guys, and two girls – one being the girl that Reiley helped out with her SUP paddle the other day. They're all wearing full-length wetsuits like me.

"Hi Skye, it's nice to meet you. I'm Sophie." She smiles kindly at me, "Reiley's told me a lot about you."

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow, sitting up on my board, legs either side.

Up close, I notice that Sophie's hair is just a shade lighter than Reiley's is, and she has a spray of freckles across her forehead and cheeks.

"Shut it, Soph." Reiley splashed some water up at Sophie in annoyance, before turning to Cole, "Dude, didn't I tell you it was gonna clear up?"

"Yeah, alright." He rubs the back of his neck, "No need to brag."

"At least you didn't lose a bet to him over it." I roll my eyes.

"Oh no!" One of the other guys moans, "Reiley, what did you bet?"

"Chill, Kai. She's gonna make me a coffee and invite me to...where she's staying." He was about to say 'van', but, for some reason, he changed it last minute.

Ignoring them for a moment, I close my eyes, lift my head up and inhale the refreshingly salty air.

Okay, now it feels like the dog days are over...

"So, what the hell happened today?" I open my eyes and direct the question at Reiley.

Cole answers, chuckling, "Aw, just some crap that he came up with."

Reiley throws Cole a look, "It's called No-Sky July, where we get a fog over the ocean, and it clears up around midday."

"Huh, that's actually pretty cool." I think aloud.

"Quit your chatting now." Sophie tells us, and points at the horizon, "Look at that beauty."

The wave she's talking about is beautiful; it looks like it's been rolling in for miles, and is towering up high above us.

I turn my board around and start paddling as I feel the water draw back beneath me, preparing for the wave to crest. I'm popping up, left foot in front, right at the back, just as the wave begins to crest over me.

Before I know it, I'm traversing across the wave as the barrel slowly closes in on me—it's like everything is working in slow-motion.

I see that Reiley and Cole are riding the same wave as me, ahead of me, both whooping with delight over the beautiful wave.

"Watch out!" Cole exclaims as Reiley abruptly cuts across in front of him.

"Sorry, dude!" Reiley yells back, but doesn't turn around, and continues riding the wave.

I shake my head, laughing, even as I don't make it out of the wave, and it closes on me, locking me inside the wave.

Then, I get washing machined by the breaking wave, and it takes me a couple of tries to get back up to the surface.

I sniff, and wipe the salt water out of my eyes, and I just know that I'll have ocean dribbling out of my nose for the next couple of hours.

"Skye – you good?" Cole shouts down to me.

"Yeah." I give him a thumbs up, and clamber back onto my board.

"Why the hell did you cut me off, Reiley?" Cole then shouts to Reiley, who's already paddling back out.

"Dude, you weren't gonna make that wave." He shrugs, "Neither did Skye."

I feel my cheeks blush despite the cool water, and protest, "Hey, I've not been out on my board for a while, so give me a bit of a break."

"Woohoo!!!" Sophie whoops as she perfectly rides a wave to the left of us.

"Go girl!" Cole yells over to her, through cupped hands.

I laugh and begin to paddle back out, ready to attempt another wave, hoping that I'll get on a wave alone, where I won't have to deal with Cole and Reiley getting in my way.

"Hey, Skye, right?" Kai, one of the guys from earlier grins at me.

"Yeah, Kai, right?" I grin back, feeling completely comfortable with these like-minded people that I've found—they love the surf just as much as I do. "Cool name."

"Yup. Gotta hand it to my folks, that gave me a damn good name. It's almost like they wanted me to be a surfer before I was even born." He chuckles.

"What does Kai mean then?" I tilt my head at him, and run my hands through the silky water.

"It's Hawaiian for 'sea." He smirks. "Which is pretty awesome."

"It is actually." I acknowledge, and shrug, "My name's pretty basic in its meaning."

"Skye's still a cute name." He smiles, but not unkindly.

"Thanks." I smile back, and see another wave rolling in. "Do you...do you mind if I catch this alone?"

"Sure, go for it." Kai gestures towards it freely.

"Thanks, Kai." I turn away from him, beginning to paddle, hands cutting seamlessly through the water.

One of the main reasons that I'm good at paddling, and the main reason that Mom let me start surfing in the first place, is that I used to have hours of swimming lessons when I was a kid, and up into my early teens as well.

Because there's sharks in Miami, one of my mom's biggest fears for me as a surfer, and even before then, was them going after me, and so the fact that I could swim meant a lot to her.

My dad didn't have a problem with it; he'd always been the thrill seeker between him and Mom.

I snap back to the present, feeling the imminent need for me to pop up onto my board, and begin to traverse it.

This wave is even more beautiful than the one that I tried to catch before—especially because I don't have Reiley and Cole also riding it alongside me.

"Woohoo!!!" I whoop the same way that Sophie did as the I ride the wave, if I dare say so myself, near perfectly.

I'm not wobbly on my feet, and I have my knees bent just the right amount—I've totally got this still. It's just like riding a bike, surfing, except that I never actually learnt to ride a bike...I know, deprived child right here.

"Go Skye!" Reiley hollers over.

I feel complete, I realise, as I ride out the last of the wave—I've made brand new friends in a brand-new place and surfed again for the first time in months.

Despite 'No-Sky July' being a bit of a biatch this morning, it clearly perked up to be a gorgeous afternoon, just like Reiley said it would.

I recall that Reiley won the bet...and I'll have to invite him inside my van, and make him a coffee.

Hot shivers run through my body as I start paddling out again, the thought of having Reiley in my van is basically like having him in my house, my room.

Okay, Skye – stop acting like a 16-year-old again.

This could get interesting.