Luke Davis, A New Romantic in Orange County, California

Luke Davis has the hair of a new romantic and the indifferent swagger of a bored rockstar. During the Billabong World Junior, Narrabeen, Luke’d laze around on the lounges in the competitor’s area, play music from his Macbook without headphones, and stroll around the contest site looking aloof. Then he’d hit the water and go to work. If you haven’t seen Luke surf, treat yourself – his lanky frame ain’t awkward looking, but smooth, unique, and a little more powerful every time we see him. And don’t think for a second he can’t fly. Fundamentally, kid’s about as polished as they come.

Luke is one of a growing amount of kids in the US who’re home-schooled. Below is a snippet from a home-schooling story in the upcoming issue of Stab, # 47.

Stab: Do you think you’d be home schooled if you didn’t surf?
Luke Davis: Yeah, totally. My mum schooled me all the way through, from day one. She just wanted to be with all of us, she didn’t really want us to go to school. I’m one of four brothers and we’ve all been home schooled except my younger brother, who just started normal school. And that’s only ’cause it would’ve just been too much work for my mum.

The shot of Luke you see above, taken by Jimmy Wilson beneath the homes of The Real Housewives of Orange County, was during a super-crowded session. Jimmy was feeling a little dusty and the temperature didn’t help: “It was tough out there. Lots of idiots dropping in on people, closeouts, I was hungover from going to the LA Clippers game the night before, it was early in the morning and it was cold as all hell out. When I came in, I couldn’t feel my feet. I was struggling.”