Surf's Up

Chapter One

"Who are we meeting?" I asked Ingrid as we waited at Malibu Beach in California.

"Gabriela Gonzalez," Ingrid replied.

I groaned and leaned against my surfboard that was in the sand. We have been waiting for about 10 minutes but I just want to get out in the ocean. I saw Ingrid check her phone before turning around and I turned around too. I saw five boys and a girl coming up to us and I sighed in relief.

"Can I go shred some waves now?" I asked Ingrid.

She shook her head and the people made it to us.

"Ingrid Baudelaire," Ingrid introduced herself, shaking hands with everyone.

"I'm her younger sister, Elyse Baudelaire," I said impatiently, not bothering to shake anyone's hand.

"I'm Gabbie," the girl said. "This one - " she pointed at the boy next to her "- is Jack. Next to him is Daniel." Okay, she's going in order. "Jonah. Corbyn. And then it's Zach."

"You can go surf now," Ingrid told me.

"Akaw," I replied as I did a little dance and put my leggie on my ankle and my surfboard.

"Don't do a Cutback."

"No promises. I'm going to find a bomb."

"Oh please."

We both rolled our eyes and I ran out to the ocean. I swam out far but not far away enough that Ingrid could see me. I waited for a little bit before a wave came. It was a massive wave. I took a deep breath before deciding to do it. When I was surfing the wave, I did a carve and a 360 before doing an a-frame. I smiled as I kept doing tricks but not the one Ingrid said not to do. I'm still learning that one. As the wave came to an end, I jumped off of it before heading back to Ingrid.

"That was the best one yet," she told me.

She's never said that before so I took it as a compliment and hugged her.

"How did you learn to surf like that?" I heard one of the boys ask.

I turned around to face them and they were all gaping at me.

"I started surfing when I was five years old," I said. "I started competing around eleven years old."

"It's true," Ingrid said proudly.

"Ingrid started surfing at age seven."

"Are you going to tell them my life story?"

"No, because that means they'll figure out my life story."

We laughed and the boys and Gabbie looked so confused. I just shrugged and Ingrid went out this time.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Gabbie asked me, knowing something I don't know.

"No," I said. "Every boyfriend I've had says I'm more into surfing then them."

We laughed before she asked, "Are you?"

"Yeah but I just haven't found the one."

I kept my eyes on Ingrid, focusing on how she did her tricks, while Gabbie blabbered on and I told Ingrid she did better than I did when she came back.

"I'm hungry," Jack, the one with noodle hair, said.

"We brought snacks," Gabbie replied.

"Uh," Daniel, the one with the gorgeous blue eyes, said. "We may or may not have eaten them all."

Gabbie rolled her eyes and I said, "We can go eat after Ingrid and I do a wave together."

The boys nodded and we went out.

"So, are we going to do the opposite?" I asked.

When we surf together, I usually do an aerial while Ingrid did a bottom turn after I did one bottom turn. Then it's usually both of us doing the same thing.

"Yeah," Ingrid said.

We waited a few more minutes before a bomb wave came and we both got ready. We did the usual before I fell off my board and it snapped in half. I groaned once I resurfaced and I grabbed both broken parts, swimming to the shore.

"Ingrid," I said, tearing up. "Dad's board broke."

I took off the leash and put the leash and broken surfboard down before hugging Ingrid.

"He's going to be eggsplode," Ingrid said.

"At least it's not his favourite surfboard," I replied.

"Yeah."

We packed up everything and followed Gabbie and the boys to an In-N-Out.

*

"Dad, I dinged your board," I said.

We were calling our dad as we went to our house in LA. Apparently, we live close to the boys.

"What did you do now?" dad asked.

"I fell off a wave and it just broke."

"You gotta be more careful when you surf."

"We all know that's not going to happen," Ingrid pitched in and we all laughed. "How's maman?"

"She's good. She does more quilting now that you guys moved to California. Oh! Did you meet Gabbie Gonzalez?"

"Yeah, we met her today at Malibu," I replied. "And her ex-boyfriend and his band."

"Good. Do you miss home yet?"

"Yes," Ingrid and I said together.

Dad laughed. "It's good for both of you to get out of the house." There was a moment of silence. "Well, I'll give you the money to get a new surfboard. I gotta go, girls. Love you."

"Love you too."