All Trey’s father wants him to do is be nice to the homophobic class bully, his business partner's son. But that’s like trying to mix oil and gasoline: explosive. So Trey decides to run away, which is hard to do on a rainy, muddy, haunted night on the small island of Maui. Another kid in school, Chris, stood up for Trey against the bully and was badly beaten for his efforts. Which makes Trey wonder if Chris is gay, too, or just a brave ally. Trey doesn’t know, but there’s clearly something brewing between them. When Trey’s dad expects him to go to the bully’s birthday party, Trey sneaks off to go surfing instead. Hitchhiking to the beach, he meets up with an interesting old geezer, who just might be able to help him figure out what he’s going through. Will the forces on this fiery island break apart Trey and Chris? Or is there hope for something more than friendship between them buried under the Maui ash?

Spring Tide Love

I was already lost in my head when something grabbed my leg. Having forgotten for the moment all about Reg, I almost lost it. Then he pulled up closer to me and I realized I’d probably been swimming faster than he could. I stopped, but he pointed across in front of me and I looked where he indicated. There was a big green sea turtle just rising up out of the rocks, right in front of me, and I hadn’t even noticed. We hung there and just watched it as it rose to the surface to breathe, and then we followed it for a while, until it turned back and almost knocked into me. I’d never seen one so close before, and then it dove abruptly, or sank like a rock, and zoomed past beneath me. I would have laughed out loud but you just don’t do that with a snorkel in your mouth. Even just smiling can make your face mask leak. Reg and I could see the excitement in each other’s eyes though, and I forgave him for scaring the crap out of me.


Chapter 12