Page 1 of Rebel Summer

Where it began

Day 47

The palm trees above my head swayed in the breeze, causing an eerie sound as I sat in the pitch black, wondering what to do next. I had just left a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the island’s nature preserve. My golf cart made it halfway home before coming to a sputtering halt, leaving me stranded on the side of the road. I tried both of my parents’ numbers again before chucking the phone into my purse. Apparently, they cared more about whatever bigwig they were trying to impress tonight than accepting a phone call from their only daughter.

Volleyball practice started at 5:30 the next morning, and my dad hadn’t been anywhere near ready to leave his precious event, hence me skipping out on my own. I contemplated walking home, but I had worn a dress and the highest heels in my mom’s closet and couldn’t fathom covering the distance. A flash of headlights turned the corner, coming my way. My initial instinct was to hide, but there was a good chance on this tiny island that I knew whoever it was. I stepped out of the golf cart and waited until the fast-approaching cart came to a screeching stop beside me.

I definitely should have hid.

Dax Miller peered over at me through the open doorway of the cart, his eyes slightly wild. He glanced behind him before calling over to me.

“You broke down?”

“Battery died. I’ll just call Cat.”

My unfortunate biology partner—no, that didn’t sound right…the biology partner I was unfortunate enough to have wasn’t someone I was about to step into a vehicle with. If I couldn’t trust him to operate a scalpel properly, there was no way I would trust him to take me home.

“It’s almost eleven. Just get in.” He seemed distracted, obsessively checking every direction. I was distracted by his distraction and absolutely not by the manly jawline or the dark rumpled hair that gave the unruly moron a certain boyish charm. My feet stayed firmly planted on the blacktop.

“You gotta move faster if you want a ride, Books.”

“I don’t.” I smiled at him.

To his credit—and he didn’t have much credit with me—a look of hesitation passed over his face. “I can’t leave you here in the dark.”

“Nothing ever happens on this island.”

His eyebrows rose. “You sure about that?”

The warm island breeze lifted the curls at the nape of my neck. The trees rustled above me. I glanced around the darkened road, trying hard to look like I wasn’t nervous at all to be stranded. It was a small island—less than two thousand people. I’d be fine. I didn’t need Dax’s help. He jolted his cart onward a few paces, testing me, and my feet lurched forward after him.

“Come on,” he said.

“Fine. Why are you in such a hurry?” I asked, reluctantly trudging toward him.

“So I can write in my journal before I go to bed,” was his obnoxious reply as I slid into the seat beside him.

The golf cart looked fancy—a newer model with plush seats and one I was surprised to see Dax driving. In all actuality, he looked more like a car guy. If the island of Sunset Harbor ever allowed actual cars to be driven on the streets, I’d imagine him in one of those scratched and dented old muscle cars.

“Nice wheels,” I said.

The bottom of my sequined dress had barely crossed the threshold before Dax slammed on the gas pedal and peeled out. Obviously, “peeling out” in a golf cart was really more just springing ahead in a quick burst of forward movement.

“What are you doing?!” I asked, grabbing the handrail on the dash in front of me. Though we weren’t going fast by a car's standards, there were no doors on this thing, and I was in a slick dress.

Dax didn’t say a word as he rounded the bend toward the quiet town square in the center of the four-mile-long island.

“What’s going on?” I asked again.

Suddenly, flashes of red, blue, and yellow blazed behind us. A police siren cut through the night. I turned around and stared at the police golf cart with lights strapped on top. I wondered who he was?—

I stopped. Turning slowly in my seat, I gave Dax a withering glare.

“Is he chasing you?”

No answer.

“Why is he chasing you?” I demanded.

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