Always Summer (7 page)

The website logo makes me cringe. It’s the
same site that posted the article about Logan a week ago. Why are
they out for Drenaline Surf’s blood?

Alston leans into my arm, digging his chin
into my shoulder so he can read along with me. Aside from
breathing, neither of us makes a sound while I scroll down the
screen of A.J.’s phone to take in the slander that’s being tossed
at us today.

Just mere weeks after Vin Brooks’ sudden
departure from Drenaline Surf, the crew has dropped a pretty penny
on yet another sponsorship – this time, Hawaiian native but current
Horn Island resident, Kale Nakoa.

Following our recent article about Logan
Riley and his possible mistake in signing with Drenaline Surf, we’d
hoped to make a statement and show Drenaline Surf what they look
like to the outside world. Maybe the article went unread. One can
assume as much seeing as they’ve yet again proven they are more of
a cult than a surf company with the surf industry’s best interests
at heart.

Did Drenaline Surf call for surfers to send
in video clips? Did they announce that they were looking to build
their platform? We’ve seen none of the sort. (However, if you have
links, by all means, post them in the comment section below!)

Are we the only ones who find it strange
that Vin Brooks was the only person who tried to recruit and bring
in fresh blood by sponsoring a talented east coast surfer? He gave
Logan Riley a better opportunity and was suddenly banished from all
things Drenaline Surf. No one has even seen him around town since
his departure from the company. It leads us to believe that his
exit may not have been as mutual as Drenaline Surf is portraying it
to have been.

“Damn,” Alston says, pushing himself off of
me. “That’s harsh. Have you guys issued any kind of press statement
on Vin leaving?”

I shake my head, but I have a feeling that’s
what I’ll be doing today. I reach across the counter and grab the
least burnt piece of toast.

“Breakfast to go,” I say. “I’ve gotta get to
Drenaline and see if this has made its way around yet. Jace is new
to this, and he won’t be prepared. We have to issue some kind of
statement, even if he wants to keep it quiet. This isn’t going
away.”

A.J. and Alston say they’ll see me at work
before I head back over to the guest house to grab my bag. The
drive to the store is super short, but it feels like an eternity
today. I’m in damage control mood, and I’m determined to actually
do
my job today.

The Strip is quiet for the early morning
hours. A few vendors are already setting up for the day’s tourist
crowd. One says ‘good morning’ as I rush by in my frantic hurry.
It’s anything but a good morning for Drenaline Surf. I normally
enter through the back door, but I’m thrown completely out of sorts
today. I fiddle with my keys and unlock the main entrance, quickly
locking it again behind me.

Voices drift from the back office, and then
the telephone rings. Jace answers with a, ‘Drenaline Surf, Jace
speaking,’ that sounds stressed. Logan peeks his head out of the
back office and advances in my direction.

“Morning,” he says, shoving his hands into
the pockets of his cargo pants. “I came up here early to talk to
Jace about some things that were being said about me online.”

I nod. “How you’re going to regret inking
your deal with Drenaline Surf?” I ask. I’m way ahead of this
guy.

“You already know?” he asks, a bit
surprised.

I can’t fight a smile. “It’s my job to know,
Logan,” I remind him. “I have to be in the middle of it all. I’m
damage control, which I think Jace needs this morning.”

We walk back to the office where Jace is
telling someone on the other line that we don’t have a comment at
this time. He slams the phone down immediately after.

He glances up at us, defeat written all over
his face. “Every local news outlet is calling here,” he says. “The
TV channels. The newspapers. The gossip columns. How the hell did
Vin handle all of this?”

“Because he was good at his job,” I say. I
throw my hand over my mouth. I cannot believe I just said that out
loud. “He was good with people,” I correct myself. “He knew how to
tell them what they wanted to hear. He could spin a story any way
he wanted.”

“Master manipulator,” Logan says, his tone
sly and borderline offensive.

“No. Vin wasn’t like that,” I say. I have no
idea why I’m defending him. He manipulated all of us when he
secretly planned his departure and abandoned us. “He wasn’t like
that in the business world, anyway.”

Jace runs his hands through his hair and
leans back in the office chair, almost like he’s still not really
comfortable in this new job position. “I can’t spin this,” he
says.

I sit down on the corner of the desk. “But I
can,” I assure him. “I’ve seen Vin do this too many times with
Colby. I can spin a story. Believe it or not, Vin taught me well.
That’s why I’m your damage control girl.”

For the next hour, Jace and I pen the
perfect press statement while Logan helps Topher and Emily on the
front registers. We’re booming with business this morning, which
goes to show that all publicity really is good publicity. It’s
almost like people are lingering with their shopping or ‘forgetting
items’ just to come back inside in case something happens.

“It won’t stop the phone calls,” Jace says,
sitting in front of the Drenaline Surf website.

“But it’ll give you a place to direct them
when they call,” I say. I read over the statement one more time,
just to make sure it would be Vin-approved.

Drenaline Surf would like to welcome Kale
Nakoa to our roster of sponsored surfers. Kale hails from the North
Shore of Oahu in Hawaii and grew up surfing classic surf spots like
Pipeline and Back Door. His love for the sport and his
surf-immersed spirit is exactly what Drenaline Surf is about and
what Shark McAllister lived for. We’re excited to have him on board
as we move forward in the surf community.

At Drenaline Surf, we understand following
your passion and chasing your dreams. It’s the essence this company
was founded upon and the ultimate belief of the McAllister family.
We were saddened to see Vin Brooks leave the company last month,
but we understood his desire to follow his passion in mechanics and
take on a new opportunity in a field that he enjoyed. With this
departure, a door has been opened for our new manager, Jace Hudson,
to join the Drenaline Surf family and carry on its legacy.

We’re excited to grow and evolve in the
upcoming months and will announce all of our future projects
soon.

–
Haley Sullivan, Public Relations
([email protected])

I submit the statement on our website and
hope that all questions will be directed to me instead of Jace or –
God forbid – Joe’s house.

“That’s all we can do for now,” I tell him.
“If anyone calls wanting a statement or a comment, tell them that
our official press release is on our website and give them the web
address. Say nothing more, nothing less.”

Jace nods a few times, like his brain is
still trying to absorb the insanity that is unfolding before us.
“Thank you,” he finally says, his voice somewhat low. “This is a
far cry from the music store.”

I push the office chair back and stand.
“It’ll get better. We’re in a transitional phase, like Joe said,” I
tell him. “Now that we’ve averted the media crisis, I’m going to
let you resume inventory control.”

I walk out to the main room, hoping to steal
Topher away for a few minutes to ask him how he knew about Kale’s
sponsorship before anyone else. I know Joe told him, obviously, but
he couldn’t have known for long. Topher couldn’t have kept it from
Miles if he had.

Logan intercepts me, though, before I reach
the front counter.

“Hey, I sort of need to talk to you,” he
says, looking around sheepishly. It’s like he doesn’t know his
place here. Actually, he probably doesn’t.

“Is everything okay?” I ask. I remind myself
to smile, to be warm and friendly. I’ve had a sour taste in my
mouth about his arrival simply because everyone else felt offended
by his entrance to Drenaline Surf. They accepted me. They somewhat
accepted Colby. Logan deserves his chance too.

He shrugs. “I just…I need to talk to you
about my career or image or whatever it is,” he says. It’s not the
first time I’ve heard that line. “I’m tired of my name being
dragged around like I’m some kind of victim. You’re the damage
control person, so can you fix it?”

Of course, I can fix it. I can more than fix
it. I don’t think Logan even realizes his own potential. If he’s as
great a surfer as Vin said he is, then he’s the full package. He’s
marketable. He’s someone you want on magazine covers. He just needs
a team to back him, and he’s not getting any of that here. My
loyalty forever lies with Colby, but I’m not going to be one of
those people that article talked about. I won’t give Logan the
short straw.

“Let’s go for a drive,” I tell him. “We need
to talk some things over.”

“This is a hidden little gem,” Logan says,
dropping his shades over his eyes. He wears Oakleys, just like A.J.
“How did you find it?”

“Colby brought me here once,” I say,
stepping onto the pier. “It’s where he comes to think, to get away
from the crowds and the craziness. Tourists don’t really know about
this spot. They’re all out on The Strip. The pier is great there,
but this one is more Zen.”

I cringe upon the use of the word Zen. I
can’t believe it even came out of my mouth. I swallow the lump in
my throat – and the memories of my ex-boyfriend – and focus on the
matter at hand – Logan's career.

“I know I should ignore the tabloids and
gossip sites,” Logan says as we stroll along. “I have a terrible
habit of Googling myself, but most of what I see are things I wish
I hadn’t. Even with all that’s happened, Colby still has a huge
following. People like Miles because he’s edgy, and your boyfriend
is crazy popular online.”

“Really? I didn’t know that,” I lie.

But the truth is, I totally know it. During
those sixty-three hours after the awkward kiss-and-run incident, I
searched Topher’s name online a few too many times. I wanted to see
what people were saying about his sponsorship. I wanted to read the
surf forums and see who was excited about it, who thought he
deserved it.

Instead, I found a ton of girls who thought
he was hot, who were bummed that he had photos posted of himself
with Emily and me, and who basically wanted to be his surf
girlfriend. It was all about Topher Brooks, not Drenaline Surf. No
one cared about Shark’s legacy and how he was like Topher’s second
brother. No one cared that Vin was gone and Topher was a wreck over
it, even if he tried to hide it. It was all about Topher, in a
sense that wasn’t even Topher as we all know him.

Topher had just landed his dream surf deal
with his dream sponsor yet the only thing that mattered was that he
was swoonworthy? Poor Alston had to sit through my hours of panic
that people only saw Topher as a hot guy and not a professional
surfer. I’m not sure if it was the possible girlfriend who was
panicking or the PR girl panicking. I’ll stick with the PR
girl.

“I just don’t want to be
that
guy,
you know?” Logan says, pulling me back in. “I want to be known for
surfing, not being an outcast. I want to do what Drenaline Surf was
meant to do – continue Shark’s dream. I know I never met the guy,
but I felt like I did, you know?”

He gives me the detailed story about his
journey to sponsorship, the story that Vin never elaborated on.
Logan’s dream to move to the west coast is what triggered his
search of surf companies in California.

“I figured maybe I could transfer out here
with a job, but none of the Florida stores had chains out here. I
think they are all just too small. They can’t compete in this
area,” he says. “I was browsing websites when I saw Drenaline
Surf’s site. I didn’t think much of it at first. Just another surf
site. But then I clicked on the ‘about us’ section and saw Shark’s
picture and read the story about him. It just hit me.”

He tells me about his initial e-mail to Vin
and how nervous he was sending it. He inquired about job positions
and if Drenaline Surf was hiring.

“I’m not sure if he was honored or just
freaked out by the whole thing,” Logan says. He looks out across
the water, like he can see the memories playing out on a large
screen in front of him. “He was chill, though. He asked about who I
was, what my ambitions were, why I wanted to move to California. So
I was honest with him. I wanted to be a pro surfer, and I needed a
surf-rich environment. But Drenaline Surf felt right compared to
the bigger stores. I felt like it was based on something real.”

Shortly after, Vin flew out to Florida to
meet him, checked out some of his surf clips, spent a few days
talking with him, and ultimately decided to sign him. Logan didn’t
even know until Vin flew him out to Crescent Cove. I crack a smile
that I knew before Logan did. I was in that loop.

“But it was different after I got here,”
Logan says. “It wasn’t a warm welcome to the Drenaline Surf family.
Not even close. I mean, I won the Sunrise Valley Tournament, and I
don’t think one person congratulated me on it.”

That’s a day I’d personally like to
forget.

“In my defense, I was fired from my job and
broke up with my boyfriend that day,” I say, even though it’s a cop
out. I wasn’t happy that Logan won, either.

He shrugs. “Yeah, that day kind of sucked
for everyone,” he says. “There was so much drama with Vin and
Topher and then Colby’s parents. I don’t know why I expected anyone
to care that I won.”

My heart sinks into my stomach like an
anchor, except it doesn’t stay planted. Instead, it sort of drags
around in my gut, carving pain and sorrow into my being so I can’t
forget this moment later. We’ve really screwed this guy over. He
came out here with big dreams and a lot of hope, and we’ve steadily
been crushing every single moment of it, as hard as we can. It’s
not like anyone’s invited him to hang out or tried to get to know
him. I haven’t even talked to him once about his career plans, even
though I know exactly what Topher, Miles, and Colby all want
individually.