Close Out by Todd Strasser Read Free Book Online Page A

about business from him?”
    â€œKind of a mixture of what to do and what not to do,” Kai said. “By watching him do it wrong, I hope I figured out what was right.”
    â€œThen, we’d be partners in this venture?” Teddy asked with an amused expression.
    â€œHowever you want to do it,” Kai said.
    Teddy smiled and shook her head. “You’re good, you know that? For a second there you almost made a believer out of me. How old are you? Seventeen?”
    â€œFifteen,” Kai said.
    Teddy slapped her own cheek gently, as if to wake herself up from a dream. “Hello? Anyone home? Am I really listening to a fifteen-year-old tell me to go into business for myself? Oh, wait, not for myself. He and I will be partners in our very own surf shop, competing against Buzzy Frank and Sun HavenSurf. I’m sure Buzzy would be delighted. We’d have his blessings.” She pointed at the door to the shaping room. “There’s the shaping room. Get to work.”
    Kai knew better than to argue.

Eight
    â€œD udes, this is most definitely the life,” Booger said. He was lying on his back on the raft floating in the pool in Spazzy’s backyard. On his bare stomach was a slice of pizza, and in his hand was a can of Mountain Dew. It was dark, and the lights around the pool were on, as well as one big underwater spotlight that made the chlorinated water glow aqua blue.
    Spazzy, Bean, Everett, and Kai sat at the glass patio table, eating pizza. A couple of evenings a week now, they hung out at Spazzy’s house, usually by the pool, or sometimes in the game room, where Jillian and Spazzy had Foosball, air hockey, and Ping-Pong. Jillian was always cool about orderingsome pizzas for them, and even after the sun went down, they could hang around the pool as late as they liked.
    At that moment Bean was glaring unhappily at Kai. “When?”
    â€œLater,” Kai replied.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Spazzy asked.
    â€œNothing important,” Kai said, and gave Bean a look.
    â€œOkay,” Spazzy said, and jerked his head toward the house. “What are
they
talking about?”
    Kai and the others turned and looked. Through the large glass sliding doors they could see into the kitchen, where Shauna and Jillian were talking. Both were wearing bathing suits and sweatshirts. Shauna’s sweatshirt was blue with a hood hanging down the back. Jillian’s was green with a zipper in the front.
    â€œGirls can talk forever,” Bean said with a shrug.
    â€œHey, you guys hear about the Northeast Open Surfing Championship?” Spazzy asked. “Like with real prize money and everything?”
    Kai and the others nodded.
    â€œYou’re all entering, right?” Spazzy asked.
    â€œI’m thinking about it,” Bean said.
    Spazzy twitched and blinked. “What about you, Kai?”
    Kai shrugged.
    â€œWow, I would have thought you’d be totally stoked about this,” Spazzy said. “I mean, not just because it’s real money, but because it’s like a total shot at the big time.”
    â€œDon’t forget you’re not the only person who feels that way,” Bean said. “Every kook within five hundred miles is thinking the same thing.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œThis isn’t gonna be a local deal like the Fairport contest,” Kai explained. “This is bigtime, with money, which means you’re gonna see pros out there. Or, at least,
almost
pros. It’s gonna be a whole different level of competition.”
    â€œBut you gotta try, right?” Spazzy said. “I mean, you guys know Screamers as well as anyone by now.”
    The sliding door from the house opened, and Jillian and Shauna came out. Jillian sat down next to Bean and gave him a relaxed kiss on the cheek. It was hard to believe that this was the same person who, a month ago, stoodby the window, her arms crossed tightly and a frown on her