She grabbed his arm after ten minutes of practice. “Micah, why don’t you just go? I’ll wait here, really.”

Micah stopped, looking at her. “You can swim, right?”

“Yes, but . . .”

He placed his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. “Fear is the biggest thing holding you back in life, Karina. You’ll feel so much stronger once you do this. Trust me?”

She nodded, wanting to believe him.

“Good. I’ll be right there with you the whole time.”

She told herself this was not a stupid thing to do as Micah tethered the board strap to her ankle and led her toward the water. He stayed right next to her, coaching her as she entered the ocean, jumped over the waves and paddled out beyond the break. The familiar sensation of being buoyed by the surf reminded her why she’d loved the ocean so much as a child. As she lay face-down on the board, Micah treaded water as they waited patiently for the right wave. “I’ll count to three and push you in front of the wave, then you pop up, just like we practiced, okay?”

“Okay,” Karina said, taking in the expanse of open water in front of her. In her mind, she saw the image of herself as the mermaid superhero that Prem had drawn in Hawaii. Micah counted, “One . . . two . . . three!” She felt the board thrust forward, as if powered by motor. Hearing Micah’s instructions, she reflexively jumped into a crouch-standing position. The board skimmed the surface of the water like a seagull. Karina felt a split moment of exhilaration, air rushing past her ears, before she lost her balance and tumbled off the board, plunging into the water.

When she got her feet beneath her, August was running from the beach to take the board from her. He carried it out of the water and she sat down, coughing from the salt water in her lungs. Her nose and eyes were burning and goosebumps rose on her skin from the cool air, but she was astounded at what had just happened: she had flown across the ocean, like she belonged there.

Micah had swam toward shore and was now walking toward her, beaming. “You did it!” he yelled. “How do you feel?”

Karina coughed again as August draped a thick beach towel around her shoulders. She pulled it closer as she shivered. “Like . . . I was flying.”

“You’re a natural.” Micah shook his head. “You know how hard it is to get up on the board the first time?”

“Yeah, you looked fluid,” August agreed.

“Until I fell.” Karina laughed.

“We all fall,” Micah said. “You should see the wipeouts I’ve had.” He pointed to a small white scar over his left eyebrow. “Got this one at Bondi.” He extended a hand to help her up. “I’m really proud of you.”

They had a quick lunch at the burrito shack, and Karina enjoyed the feeling of warm sun on her body, her toes digging into the sand, even the roar of the ocean nearby. She hadn’t been immersed in water like that since their swimming pool in Los Altos, and had forgotten the pleasure of it, having been haunted for so long by its other associations. As they ate, Karina watched other surfers riding waves, amazed that she had done what they were doing: moving effortlessly in the water, defying gravity and her fears.