Close Out

CLOSE OUT

“Got a second?” Lucas's father asked.

“About that,” Kai answered.

“I doubt Lucas would have made it to the finals today if you hadn't pushed him these last few weeks,” Buzzy said.

Kai nodded silently and glanced at the crowd on the beach. Almost everyone was facing out toward the water, watching the surfers.

“But maybe you've pushed him far enough,” Buzzy said.

Kai turned and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone knows you don't care that much about competing,” Buzzy said. “In a way, if you win today, it's almost a waste, because you probably won't do anything with it.”

“You want me to let Lucas win because you think he'll do more with it than I will?” Kai cut to the chase.

“Why not?” Buzzy said. “You've done it before.”

Check out all the books in the Impact Zone series:

Take Off

Cut Back

Close Out

Available from Simon Pulse

And get hooked on some of Todd Strasser's other Simon & Schuster books …

Can't Get There from Here

Give a Boy a Gun

How I Created My Perfect Prom Date

Here Comes Heavenly

Buzzard's Feast: Against the Odds

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First Simon Pulse edition July 2004

Text copyright © 2004 by Todd Strasser

SIMON PULSE
An imprint of Simon & Schuster
Children's Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

SIMON PULSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Designed by Ann Sullivan

The text of this book was set in Bembo.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Library of Congress Control Number 2004100034

ISBN 0-689-87031-0
ISBN 13: 978-0-689-87031-6
eISBN 13: 978-1-439-12139-9

F
lat again.

Kai and Bean were sitting around a picnic table on the terrace outside Pete's Hubba Hubba Seaside Saloon, eating chili cheese fries. In the slanting late-afternoon sunlight, Bean tapped his fingers against the tabletop with uncharacteristic nervousness. He gave Kai a questioning look. “You're
sure
you want to do it tonight?”

Kai gazed out at the horizon, where the dark blue water met the light blue sky. Here and there a cotton ball pink-edged white cloud dotted the blue heavens. The ocean was as still and flat as a photograph. He looked back at his friend. “I have to, Bean. I don't think I have a choice.”

Before Bean could reply, Booger joined them at the table. “Can you believe this?” he complained, pointing at the ocean. “It's been like glass for five days.”

“Toilet bowl water,” said Bean.

It was dinnertime and the terrace at Pete's was crowded with teens in shorts and bathing suits, talking loudly, laughing, chatting on cell phones. Lately Kai had been taking as long as he wanted for dinner. Strangely, his father, Big Chief Hockaloogie, didn't seem to care. But this evening was going to be a major test of the Alien Frog Beast's patience.

The air was tranquil and warm, the beach still crowded despite the late hour, as if the Sun Haven vacationers couldn't tear themselves away from such a beautiful scene. The brightly colored umbrellas that had stood open like flowers all day in the bright sun were now closed, poking up from the sand like skinny trees. The ocean was smooth except for the random spots where bluefish had forced bait fish to the surface and were causing the water to boil in the massacre.

Bean let out a loud sigh. Just moments ago, before Booger joined them, Kai had quietly told him the plan for that evening. The tall, thin
eighteen-year-old with the long braided black ponytail was not happy.

“What's with all the sighing and finger tapping?” Booger asked him.

“Uh, nothing.” Bean straightened up self-consciously. “Just itching to surf again. That's all.”

The door from the saloon to the terrace swung open and Everett, the dreadlocked black kid from Lucas Frank's crew, stepped out with a drink in one hand and a red-and-white-striped paper box of chili cheese fries in the other. The door swung closed behind him and Everett stood for a moment, scanning the patio for a place to sit.

Kai waved at him. For an instant Everett didn't react. As if he had to make a major decision. And the truth was that, in a way, maybe he did.

Everett started toward them. Kai slid over on the bench to make room at the picnic table.

“You guys know Everett, right?” Kai said.

Booger and Bean nodded. Kai was pretty sure that both of them realized that Everett joining them was a major deal.

The dreadlocked kid sat down and nodded
toward the beach and the vast blue liquid flatness stretching to the horizon. “What a drag, huh?”

Only another surfer would understand what he meant. Otherwise, it looked like a beautiful summer evening beach scene.

“The calm before the storm,” said Bean.

Booger looked up, excited, and asked, “There's a storm coming?” Again only a surfer would understand that a storm was something to be welcomed. The funny thing was, Kai knew Bean was referring to something that had nothing to do with the weather. Instead, it had to do with a certain “mission” they were going to undertake later that evening.

“In a couple of weeks hurricane season'll start,” Everett said. “Best time of year.”

The patio door swung open again and Shauna came out with a drink and a chili cheese dog. Wearing a bright green T-shirt that read
I SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM
, she was on her dinner break from her job making cones and sundaes.

“Hey, guys.” She sat down and smiled at everyone as if it was perfectly normal to find Everett there.

“Shauna, you know Everett, right?” Kai said.

“I don't think we've ever been, uh, formally introduced,” Shauna said. “So, hi, I'm Shauna, otherwise known as the newbie kook surf chick.”

“I've seen you out there catching waves,” Everett said. “You're gettin' it.”

Shauna lit up with pride. “That's it, guys. My day's just been made.” She looked around. “Where's Spazzy?”

“Julian said they were going to a movie,” Bean said. “They like to go at dinnertime during the week, when there won't be as many people around to freak out when Spazzy does his thing.”

“So I hear you really ripped at the Fairport contest,” Everett said to Kai.

“Best single-wave score of the day,” Bean said, patting Kai proudly on the shoulder.

Everett turned to Bean. “And you took first in the long board.”

“Considering that there were only five long boarders in the whole contest, I'm not sure that means a whole lot,” Bean said.

“That roundhouse cutback you finished with would have scored huge points anywhere,” Kai said.

“What's this about you getting yourself
disqualified on purpose?” Everett said to Kai. “So Spazzy could get into the final.”

“Meant a lot more to him than it would have to me,” Kai answered with a shrug. “So how come you weren't at Fairport?”

Everett grinned. “Remember how fine the waves were that day? Think about what Screamers was like without all you mutts stinking up the place.”

“You had Screamers to yourself the
whole day
?” Booger let his jaw drop in exaggerated surprise.

“Just about,” Everett said. “Sure beat sitting on the beach at Fairport waiting for a twenty-minute heat once every two hours.”

“That settles it, dudes,” Booger said. “I know where I'm gonna be next time there's a surf competition around here.”

“Where's that?” someone behind them asked.

They turned to find Jade, the shapely young woman who worked the counter at Sun Haven Surf. She was wearing pink shorts and a skimpy green bikini top that was clearly stretched to the limit by the twin demands placed upon it. Booger, especially, appeared transfixed by the sight.

“Uh, here at Beamers,” he stammered. “I mean, Screamers.”

“Well, guess what?” Jade handed them sheets of bright orange paper. “You won't be alone. Its gonna get pretty crowded around here.”

Kai read the handout. The $5,000 Northeast Open Surfing Championship was going to be held at Sun Haven at the end of August, sponsored by Sun Haven Surf, Quiksilver, Roxy, O'Neill, Sex Wax, Pro Traction, Bonzo Kreem, and other companies. Top prize in each category was $500, except the men's short board, which would be $1,000 with a second prize of $500.

Across the table Booger had not yet looked at the handout. He was still staring at Jade. Bean folded his sheet into a paper airplane and hit Booger in the forehead.

“Hey!” Booger yelped in surprise.

“It's not polite to stare,” Bean lectured him.

Booger's face turned bright red. He looked down at his french fries. “Sorry.”

“Oh, I don't mind guys staring,” Jade said, shooting a quick glance at Kai. “Especially the right guy.”

Shauna crossed her arms and pouted.

“Could I be the right guy?” Booger looked up and asked eagerly.

“Sorry.”

“Aw.” Booger's shoulders slumped.

Jade pressed her finger down on one of the orange handouts lying on the table. “This is the one competition you don't want to get yourself disqualified from,” she said to Kai. “It's the biggest deal of the year around here. Prize money, media coverage. Guys even pick up sponsorships.”

“I bet that's not
all
they pick up,” Shauna muttered.

The patio door swung open again. Lucas Frank came out, followed by Slammin' Sam and that quiet guy, Derek. All three of them were carrying drinks and white paper plates with chili cheeseburgers and chili cheesesteak sandwiches. Lucas seemed to hesitate when he saw Kai and his friends, as if he wasn't sure whether to go over or just ignore them. He focused on Everett, and Kai assumed he was wondering why a kid from his crew would be sitting with Kai and his friends.

It was Sam who started toward them.

“Hey, there he is,” he said to Kai. “Mr.
Competition. What happened at Fairport, tuna, the pressure get to you? Was it just too much for the chicken of the sea?”

Kai stared at the big jerk. Slowly and deliberately he started to get up. “I told you what would happen if you ever called me that again.”

B
ench legs screeched against the concrete patio as half a dozen people jumped up and placed themselves between Sam and Kai. The entire terrace outside Pete's went silent as everyone became aware of the sudden potential for violence. Kai had no intention of struggling against the hands he felt pressing on his shoulders and gripping his arms. He just wanted to get eye to eye with Sam.

“I'm not going to fight,” he calmly told Bean and Everett, who were among those holding him back. He felt the hands on his arms loosen and the bodies slowly move out of the way until he and Sam faced each other. Sam had a strange look in his eye. Half aggro, half puzzlement.