Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 21 - Heat

The beach is packed when you slide open the door to the van on the day of the Subtropix trials. More stalls and shops and flags had popped up everywhere and music blasts out over loud speakers.

"I don't even get this comp." Summer says as you begin unloading boards and equipment from the back of the van. "Like is this even the real thing?"

"Technically, no. These are the trials to secure the wildcard spot in order to surf in the main comp with the pros." Poppy explains.

"How many spots are open?" Summer asks.

"Two for the boys, one for the girls."

"But that's sexist!" Summer exclaims.

"That's surfing." Poppy says with an eye roll, which Summer mirrors.

"Wait so all three of you are competing for the same spot?" Summer says, gesturing to you, Poppy and Bodhi.

"Us, and the like, twenty other girls surfing today." You reply, getting more and more nervous as the day goes on.

"But you guys are friends! This isn't gonna cause some sort of major rift between you guys, is it? I can't deal with that much drama." Summer says, raising an eyebrow.

"No, Summer." Bodhi replies. "We've gone up against each other before. We're cool."

"Enough chatting guys." Manu says, clapping his hands together. "Let's go warm up, shall we?"

You run a couple of laps of the beach with Poppy, then head to a gazebo where you pull on your wetsuit ready for the first heat.

"Hey." you feel a gentle tap on your shoulder and turn round to see Ari. "Just came to wish you good luck."

"Thanks. You too." you reply. "First heat shouldn't be too hard, the girls..." you're interrupted by him suddenly leaning in, kissing you on the lips before you pull back. "Ari!" you laugh in surprise. "There's people around."

"I don't care." he replies.

"Can you imagine if Marlon saw us together?" You say, and Ari laughs.

"Listen, just go win your heat, alright?" He smiles knowingly.

"I will. And maybe we can do something later to celebrate?"

He sighs. "I promised Poppy that if we both get through our heats i'd do a footage review with her later at her's."

"Oh, okay, well that's fine. Maybe another time."

"Or how about you just come along anyway? Pops won't mind."

"Yeah, sure. If I win this heat." You reply, grabbing your board, and you head out onto the starting point where Sheridon and some other surfers are already lined up.

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The heat lasts forty minutes, longer than normal, but everyone is pining for that wildcard spot, including you. Thank god Poppy and Bodhi aren't in your heat, you think, for they'd absolutely thrash you, just as Sheridon is doing now.

You're currently in third, and a new set is rolling in as the time on the clock dwindles. You manage to paddle into a pretty good wave and ride it well, and as you reach the end, the wave closing out, you jump and push the board from underneath you, just as Marlon taught you. But your feet don't reach the board, and instead break the surface of the water as you plummet feet first into the remnants of the wave.

It takes you a couple of minutes to paddle back out, then you quickly claw your way onto another one, knowing this time to stick to what you know instead of trying the pop shuvit. This time, you execute the wave pretty well, then listen in for the score: an 8.4. That should be enough to get you to second place and through the heat. You hear the horn blow to signal the end of the round, then catch a wave which brings you to into shore.

As you untie your leg rope, adrenaline rushes through you and you see Ari rushing forwards, a smile plastered across his face as he pulls you into a hug. But he doesn't have time to say anything other than 'well done' as Poppy and Summer rush over.

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After all the heats for the day, including the boys' (which Ari wins, of course), you head home to change. Marlon is sat in the kitchen as you enter the house, staring into space as if contemplating something.

"Marlon? You good?"

"Yeah, sorry, it's just...I kind of screwed up with Bodhi."

"How?"

He sighs. "She had this big opportunity modelling with Nicki Van Dijk and I..."

"Are you kidding?" you interrupt. "Nicki Van Dijk? How did she do that?"

"That manager with Subtropix asked her. Molly, I think her name was."

You roll your eyes. "So how did you mess it up?"

"Doesn't matter." he says quickly. "I just don't know if we're over or not, you know?"

"No I don't know. But if you're that worried just go and ask her."

"I don't wanna seem desperate."

"So do you even care about saving your relationship or...?" You ask, but he just shrugs and you roll your eyes."Okay, well I've gotta go to Poppy's for a footage review with her and Ari, so see you later." you say, grabbing your wet suit to hang over the back of the chair outside to dry in time for tomorrow's heat. "Have fun with your love life." you add, suddenly grateful your relationship (if you can even call it that) with Ari isn't this complicated. Sure, you don't know if you're actually 'together' yet, but maybe he'd make it official soon.

You go up the stairs two at a time. Somehow you're barely tired after your heat that morning. You quickly take a shower then pull on some clothes and grab your bike from the shed. It's a nice evening, a warm breeze brushing against your face as you cycle down the road towards Poppy's house.

When you arrive, you see the windows are covered from the inside, probably to block out light to make the projector image brighter. You make your way along the outside of the house until you reach the door, and you can hear voices from inside as you push down on the door handle.

You barely make it a few steps inside when you the sight of something stops you in your tracks: Ari and Poppy, kissing.

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A/N: I am so sorry for how long it's been since I last updated :( I promise I will try and post new chapters more regularly from now on 😌