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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Shannon’s bottom lip started trembling. Taylor shook himself and tried to think calmly, even though his chest was growing heavy with fear.
"Shannon turn around, we’re going to swim really slow and calm towards the shore ok?" He said, his hand on her arm.
She nodded, happily accepting his authority. Taylor swam with his eyes fixed on the swell of the ocean behind him. Slowly, they began to move. They had barely gone anywhere when Taylor sucked in his breath in horror. The deathly grey fin sliced through the water less than 10 meters from his feet. His chest knotted, and he found himself barely able to breath. He felt panic seeping into his system.
"Swim." He choked suddenly. "Go! We have to get out of here now." The panic in Taylor’s voice made Shannon flinch in horror, and she found herself staring at him, waiting for his lead. The desperate dependency flashing in her eyes shocked Taylor to the core, and a flit of courage flashed within him. He swivelled around, taking in their position.
"No, Shannon we’re going to surf back in." He stated.
She nodded. A beautiful wave washed by unnoticed and Taylor swore at himself for missing it.
"Get ready." He whispered.
Then he saw it. The perfect wave. He felt it. He knew this was it.
"This one! Go now!" He yelled.
Shannon flipped onto her board and began paddling furiously with Taylor at her side. He pulled ahead. The wave swelled. The sinking feeling faded and he found himself skidding healthily down the front of the wave. He turned to Shannon, and saw her just behind the crest.
"Come on Shan!" He exclaimed desperately.
She let out a defeated cry, and fell back. Her stomach was screaming. Taylor immediately flipped out of the wave. He was not going to leave her.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry." She wailed.
Taylor shook his head.
"Hey, it’s ok. It’s ok, we’ll just get the next one. No big deal."
But it wasn’t coming. The sea seemed to have gone dead. And Taylor felt water currents play at his ankles. Water currents that were caused by a fin. Taylor suddenly felt sick. He glanced at Shannon to see if she’d noticed. Her eyes were darting down through the depths and her breathing became shallow and short.
"Taylor." She whispered nervously.
He didn’t know what to say.
Suddenly she screamed. For one horrible moment Taylor thought the shark had her, and his stomach twisted.
The huge creature was only about five meters away, and they could see it. Taylor was sure his toes would graze it if he stretched his legs. He didn’t wait to test it. There was a choppy wave coming. It was only half good, but they didn’t have a choice anymore.
"Shannon this one now. Go!"
Taylor closed his eyes as his arms pumped. It was going to be hard for him to catch this one, let alone Shannon. What had he done?
"Go go go go go!" He gasped as the wave slowly began to pass them.
Taylor gritted his teeth and pushed harder, his muscles screaming. He let out a small cry of relief as he felt his board top the wave.
"Taaay." Shannon cried, seeing him riding just ahead.
Taylor swirled around. He saw the shark before he saw Shannon. It was just behind her, moving with the swell. He felt nauseous. If she fell out of this wave, she would fall straight towards it. She had to make this wave.
"Come on Shannon. Come on, please." He yelled, his desperation clear.
She shook her head, falling back a little in despair.
"I can’t Tay, I can’t." She cried.
He turned further, his hands shaking.
"No Shannon you can. I believe in you. You can."
Shannon looked down, his words ringing in her mind. She refused to let him down. Her arms sliced through the churning surf. Taylor held his breath. The surfboard tilted and slipped just as the wave began to break. She’d made it.
"You made it, you made it! I knew you could do it, I knew it!" Taylor cried, almost falling off his board.
Shannon just lay with her mouth open. She couldn’t believe it herself.
The wave took them right to the shore.
"Let’s get out of here right now." Taylor exclaimed as he stepped into the knee high water, and they ran from the water dragging their boards behind them.
"It was right behind me wasn’t it?" Shannon asked him.
Taylor nodded.
"You saved my life Taylor!" She exclaimed through gasps. "I seriously wouldn’t have made it without you."
He managed a smile through his panting.
"Anytime."
Shannon shook her head a little in amazement.
She loved him so much.
Taylor yelled out, and the others came to meet them on the sand.
"What’s up guys?" Zac asked, wondering why they looked so panicked.
"Didn’t you see?" Taylor panted, throwing up his arms. "We nearly got eaten by a shark, and you guys didn’t even notice?!"
Then, everyone laughed. They laughed.
"No, it’s not funny at all!" Shannon exclaimed, scowling at them, "We seriously could have been hurt out there."
Zac smiled, and pointed out to sea. Taylor and Shannon turned. A grey animal was flipping and diving joyfully in the surf.
A dolphin.
Everyone giggled as Taylor and Shannon’s jaws dropped. Neither could believe their eyes.
"Sorry…sorry guys. It’s um, not funny at all." Zac giggled.
"Let’s go and swim with it!" Lara exclaimed, watching it leap and dive.
"Yeah, but we’d better be careful…" Isaac began, grinning.
"Yeah…you gotta hate those dolphin bites!!" Zac exclaimed, and burst into giggles, nipping her shoulder with his hand.
"It’s not funny." Shannon said, pushing his arm away from her.
"Aww yeah it is Shan!" Zac smiled, grabbing his board. "I’ll ask you tomorrow, you’ll see!"
With that, they all raced into the ocean to see the dolphin, leaving Shannon and Taylor standing alone on the sand. They stood in stunned silence for a moment.
"I can’t believe I just rescued you from a dolphin." Taylor exclaimed suddenly.
Shannon smiled, and giggled.
She watched the others splashing around in the water.
"You should go back in, it looks like fun." Shannon sighed. "My stomach’s kinda hurting…I’ll just stay here."
Taylor shook his head.
"Nah, I’ve had enough ocean adventures for one day."
He was staying. Shannon squeezed her hands together, and noticed them quivering in shock. She glanced across at his and saw that they were shaking a little too. Shannon noticed how beautiful his hands were. Beautiful keyboardist hands.
She looked around. There was no one in sight. Hanson sure knew how to find deserted beaches. Suddenly her eyes fell on something unusual. It was a little hut standing lonesomely where the cliffs met the sand.
"Hey what’s that?" She questioned.
Taylor turned, and smiled a little.
"I’ll show you."
"Wow, what is this place?" She exclaimed softly, looking around at the bare, stained shelves in the tiny shed.
"It used to be a fisherman’s hut," Taylor said, "But now it’s just used by surfers passing through. It doesn’t belong to anyone. But I like it, it’s a cool place to hang out."
Shannon ran her hands across the wooden walls covered in various words people had engraved into it. There were messages going 20 years back.
"This is amazing." She breathed. "Have you guys written anything up here?"
Taylor blinked.
"Us? Nah."
Shannon smiled. That was about to change.
After a little scrounging, they found an old rusty screwdriver, and Shannon began chipping away on a bare space of wall.
Taylor watched intently as the picture started to take shape. He remained silent and Shannon was conscious of his intent blue eyes on her. Eventually, he opened his mouth to comment on her work.
"That is the worst dolphin I’ve ever seen!"
Shannon’s mouth dropped open.
"Taylor!"
"It looks like a cactus."
She turned and whacked him in protest before continuing.
Taylor was only silent for a moment.
"What’s that?" He exclaimed.
She turned and glared at him.
"That is you."
Taylor paused for a moment before collapsing into laughter.
"Taylor!" She exclaimed again. "I’d like to see you do better!"
"Oh, you can be assured, my engraving skills are top of the range!"
"Oh yeah, sure." Shannon muttered, grinning.
"Well, for a start, people usually have heads, and I believe I fall into that category."
"Taylor, you have a head!…there, see?!"
"That’s my head?" He stated in disbelief, a smirk on his lips.
She whacked him again.
"Fine! I’ll make it better." Shannon exclaimed, and began chipping away at the wood. "As if your head isn’t big enough anyway, smartass!"
Taylor laughed, and pushed her playfully in the back. She slipped forward, forcing the screwdriver deep into the wood and sending a large chunk of wood flying.
"Taylor!" Shannon shrieked in horror, and then dissolved into giggles. "Oh yeah, you’re looking real good now."
"Oh my gosh, you are such a retard!" Taylor exclaimed, and stole the screwdriver from her playfully. "Here, I’ll show you how it’s done!"
He began chipping away at the wood. Shannon stared at his divine, intent expression in wonder. She had been sufficiently shocked by his sudden intense friendliness towards her and battled to stay cool. She didn’t think she had ever loved him as much as she did right then.
"What are you drawing."
He looked at her in mock disbelief.
"You."
"Oh!" Shannon giggled.
Despite herself, she had to agree that Taylor engraved with much more skill than she was capable of, and was humbled.
Just as he finished, water droplets began to tinker onto the roof.
"It’s raining." Taylor stated softly.
"Oh yeah." Shannon whispered, gazing out the open door at the overcast sky. It began to get heavier, and the sweet smell of fresh rain filled the air. She smiled.
Taylor began chipping little bits of wood away randomly over their engraving. Shannon grabbed his arm in protest.
"Hey, what are you doing?" She exclaimed.
"It’s the rain!" Taylor grinned, and continued.
"Stop! It looks terrible!"
"It does not!" Taylor laughed.
Next thing they knew they were both rolling on the floor, wrestling for control of the screwdriver. Eventually they dissolved into helpless laughter, and found themselves lying silently side by side. Shannon closed her eyes in contentment as she listened to the rain pattering on the small tin roof.
"Oh I love the rain." Taylor sighed unexpectedly.
Shannon opened her eyes.
"You do?"
"Yeah, I really do."
"Me too." Shannon breathed. "Especially on a tin roof like this."
"Oh yeah!" Taylor agreed. "I’d so love a house with a tin roof. That would be so awesome."
At that, they fell silent, and Shannon felt her heart pounding. Her chest ached with emotion as she felt the spellbinding warmth of his body beside her.
Suddenly shrieks could be heard from outside. Shannon jumped up and ran to the doorway, followed by Taylor.
"Hey Shaaann!!" Lara squealed from Isaac’s shoulders, where she was perched.
Shannon laughed and waved. Zac came running up and hurled himself into her arms gleefully. Lara and Isaac came gallivanting over.
"Hey guys we’d better pack up. We’ve got to get going soon." Isaac exclaimed.
"Plus, it’s raining." Lara stated.
"Oh gee, really?" Isaac remarked sarcastically.
Lara whacked him on the head.
"So what did you guys do all this time?" Zac asked, glancing at Shannon.
"Oh, I made this fantastic engraving…"
Taylor interrupted her with a cheerful laugh. He glanced at her, bit his bottom lip and shook his head, smiling.
Isaac, Zac and Lara honestly looked shocked. Taylor looked….happy! And the funniest thing was, he stayed that way. As they packed up into the car, the others muttered to one another in delighted astonishment. Just seeing him laugh had made their day, let alone this ‘regular smile’ fiasco.
Shannon didn’t think she’d ever felt happier…or as proud of him. Taylor couldn’t deny that he was mysteriously feeling better than he had in months, and smiled readily at Shannon every time they passed.
She saw his blue eyes twinkle every single time.
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