The Haven High Book Series (Wattys2017)

Chapter 4

Cam's alarm went off at five am but he rolled over and hit the snooze button. His Dad had to come in ten minutes later to drag him out of bed.

"Hey sleepyhead," his Dad joked, "wakey wakey eggs and bakey. Come on we have to go. I'll be late for my first meeting if we don't get in the water now."

Cam sat up and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, wanting so much to just flop right back down again, but the itch was intense and persistent.

So he got up and threw on a pair of jeans and hoody not even bothering with a t-shirt. Grabbing his backpack he followed his father out the sliding door of his basement room.

He walked bleary eyed to the shore shuffling his feet the whole time. His hands crammed into his pockets for warmth. When he got there he wasted no time in stripping and wrapping the skin around his waist firmly.

He was still in human form when he dove in but was a seal before his head crested the wave. Feeling marginally better he dove and swam after his father further out from the break water to the deeper ocean floor.

They frolicked for almost an hour and came back to shore to hurriedly get dressed in the midwinter chill of early morning January.

He towel dried his hair as he walked home.

Usually the morning dip did wonders to rejuvenate him but today he just felt tired and weak. He skipped his usual breakfast routine with his father before he took off for work with the excuse he had some school work to do in his room.

Once in his room he flopped back on his bed, fell back into a deep slumber and didn't wake again until Maddy, the oldest of his sisters, popped her head around his bedroom door and yelled.

"Hey dweeb, your girlfriend's waiting for you in the driveway. "

Cam woke up with a jolt and sat straight up in bed. What was wrong with him? His eyes darted to his bedside clock to confirm his sister wasn't playing him. Aahhh MAAANN! It was Meg's usual picked up time. SHIT!

He staggered out of bed in his boxers much to the protest of his younger sister who threw her hand over her eyes and said, "Whoa warn a girl before you flash your junk," as she promptly left the room.

He dashed around the room grabbing clean clothes from his drawers and practically danced and hopped right into everything. He took a swig of mouthwash from his adjacent bathroom, which was one of the only perks of being the eldest and the only boy, and swished it around in his mouth for a minute before spitting it out.

He raced upstairs and grabbing his backpack , threw it over his shoulder, and was about to leave before he remembered.

Damn there's no friggin'way he's making it through morning classes without a coffee.

He switched directions, as he heard the annoyed beep of Meg's car horn, and took off for the kitchen. He slid across the floor in his sneakers grabbed a to-go mug and sent a mental thanks to his father for leaving at least one cup of joe for him in the press.

Then he filled the cup nearly full before reversing his direction and racing outside.

He threw his hood up before getting in the car. It was raining like someone had turned on a faucet in the sky and had decided that water wasn't a precious resource after all.

When he got into the car in a hurry he nearly spilled the brew in his haste.

"Hey," Megan complained," new car remember!"