Clear as the ocean (Waves of clarity, book 1)

Chapter 15

Hayden sighed and shook her head slightly. She needed to get her head straight or else she'd have no chance in hell to get a higher score than Marie and Emelia. A normal wave with a layback snap wouldn't do the trick, she had to wait for the right wave and invest all she had in that one. Of course that strategy would be broken the moment Marie or Emelia scored high on a second wave. For her to succeed the other two girls would have to interfere with the two in lead. Hayden paddled over to number 27 and 36.

By how close they were to each other she figured that they were either friends or siblings, or at least knew each other in a way. An idea was slowly forming itself in Hayden's head. She didn't doubt that the two girls sitting on their boards beside each other were good, but maybe they needed a push in the right direction. And who better to help them than their competitor? Whatever, Hayden was going to help them no matter what. Of course she'd have to be quick while explaining the situation to them, or else the others might get suspicious. Not that it was illegal or considered cheating at all to help your contestants, it was a damn well nice thing to do even if it helped yourself in a way.

"Hi, I was just wondering why you're sitting here instead of trying to catch the waves? If neither of you try then Marie and Emelia will win for sure because they have already scored points. I don't have a chance in this heath either unless you guys give it your best. We can't let them take all the waves now, can we?" Hayden smiled encouragingly to the young girls.

The blonde one looked at her friend before responding with a mere "We can't". She looked sad, and Hayden had no idea why.

She furrowed her forehead, "What do you mean you can't?" she spoke fast so that they wouldn't lose a lot of time and risk missing any waves.

The commentators were still talking about Marie and Emelia, so at least they weren't paying much attention. The brunette was the one who answered this time, and her voice was more angry than sad.

"Emelia told us not to. She threatened us actually, can you believe that?"

Hayden had a look of pure surprise on her face, and for a moment she had no idea what to say.

"She threatened you?" was the only thing she could come up with in her surprised state.

As Marie and Emelia were getting closer to them, the three girls turned their boards towards the minor waves, pretending to search for their next ride.

"She said that she'd spread rumors about us if we scored more points than her, and knowing Emilia we knew that she actually would have. The thing is that she doesn't have any dirt on us, but that b*tch would have come up with a lie just to hurt us"

Hayden sighed feeling bad for the two girls beside her. They wore the numbers 27 and 36. She glanced sideways and caught a glint of this Emelia who was desperate enough to threaten innocent girls just to win a competition. She almost felt sorry for her, because the girl couldn't have much confidence in her self. Still, that didn't give her the right to ruin other peoples chances.

Several new waves came and both Hayden, Marie and Emelia caught one. Emelia was still in the lead, but because of two only average done waves by Marie, Hayden was in second place. As she made her way back to number 27 and 36 she was determined to make them surf as well. They shouldn't let their bully win.

"You take the next one" she whispered to the one closest to her who happened to be number 36, the brunette. She didn't look completely convinced, but after sharing a look with her friend she nodded slowly.

"Number 36, Christine is paddling past Emelia who is in the lead, and... Yes, she got it!" the woman from the yellow booth said eagerly.

Hayden smiled happily as she watched Christine own her wave. With a great ending she pushed Hayden out of second place, but there was still time left. Inspired by her friend, Lacie the blond one rode the next wave. She was talented as well, but her wave had been slightly smaller. Hayden was then in third place, and since there wasn't much time left of the heat, she decided to go for the next one and give it her all. Marie also seemed to want that one, and a paddle battle appeared in the ocean.