The Jacket Snatcher

Chapter 22- Headbands

Since yesterday marked the end of the preliminary rounds, today kind of feels like my first day of work that matters. Likely, the images of the surfers I get today will actually be featured in the magazine while earlier shots were more like practice. At least that's what Lindsay tells me.

"Looks like your boy is in the next heat," she says as we walk up to the judge's table. She seems to be reading the names posted on the marquee behind the table with the day's schedule. I glance up as well to find C. Anderson listed in the second heat of the day.

"Who's your boy?" Norm asks, coming around the table to greet us.

"No one!" I say, covering my face with my hands.

He lets out a loud laugh. "You Americans. You just can't resist the accent, can you?"

"You seem to be speaking from experience," I say, giving him a sly grin.

He gives me a wink as a response before turning to Lindsay. "So what can I do for you girls today?"

"You can start by telling us the boys to look out for. Who are the favorites that Stephanie should be shooting?"

"Hmmm." He turns to face the board and strokes his chin. "Well you already missed Brown and Wright from the first round. I'd say your go-to's should probably be Anderson, Harris, and Singh."

"Anderson?" Lindsay looks pointedly at me. "You don't say!"

Norm starts laughing again and claps me on the back. "At least you have the sense to go for the successful ones!"

"I'm going to go take pictures now." I drop my head and start to leave.

"You do that," Lindsay says, continuing to laugh with Norm as I walk away.

I shake my head as a small smile stretches across my face. Do I have some tattoo on my forehead that tells people to tease me or something?

As soon as I peer through my viewfinder, the previous conversation and any other thoughts disappear. My hands move in a steady trail across the water, searching for a rider to capture. I find one and zoom in, snapping a few shots as he surfs his board up the top of a wave and slices back down. As he follows it into shallower water, I can just make out that it's Cody. His dark hair falls in his eyes, and I again find myself wondering how he can possibly surf like that. He's practically blind.

Soon, his official ride starts and I make sure to take lots of pictures. I mean, Norm told me to, right? I'm only doing my job.

After his go, I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed. And after watching the other competitors take their turns, I am even more impressed because—at least to my untrained eye—Cody really does look like one of the best.

I walk back over to the table to find Lindsay when the round ends, but she's nowhere in sight. I decide to wait for her there since it's about lunchtime and we said we'd go grab something together. After several minutes of waiting, someone taps my shoulder.

"Hey, Stephanie!" Cody says when I turn around.

"Hey! You looked good out there," I say.

"Thanks." He pushes his hair off his forehead so that I get a clear view of his sea-green eyes. The movement reminds me of something.

"How do you see when you're out there?"

"What?" he says with a chuckle.

"Your hair. It's always in your eyes. How can you even see where you're going?"

"I don't know." He shrugs with a smirk. "But you said it yourself, I'm doing pretty good, even without my sight."

"Good. Not great. Imagine how great you'd be if you actually used all five senses." I return his challenging smile with one of my own.