Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 26 - The Party

You and Ari stay hidden in the corner on the dance floor, and luckily, none of the others seem to see you. Your eyes remain fixed on him the whole time, and you don't want the song to end because you know eventually the whole party's playlist will be over, and then the whole night will be over, and you'll have to go home and accept whatever punishment your mum has planned. Fortunately, you know how to not worry about things like that when you're having a good time, coincidentally you've been getting better and better at that since Summer arrived.

As you're dancing, you see Ari looking over your shoulder suddenly, and turn your head slightly to see what he's staring at. A TV screen is replaying key moments of the 360 from that day, and Ari's wipe out is currently being shown on every screen. You turn away; seeing it once in real time was enough.

You're close enough to Ari to see his breathing increase slightly. "Hey, hey." you say, getting closer to him, close enough you can almost hear his heart beating. It sounds rapid. "What's wrong?"

He shakes his head rapidly. "Nothing, I just...need some air."

He darts out the door before you've even reacted, and you follow him outside shortly after, the others still preoccupied dancing.

You see him sink gratefully into a chair outside, breathing deeply as you take a seat next to him.

"Ari?" You sat quietly, although you probably can't be heard above the music. "I thought this had all stopped." You say cautiously.

"It happened in the bathroom before I came here." he replies. "But then Summer walked in." 

"Why didn't you tell her? Or me? We just want to help."

"I don't know what you don't understand Y/n, but I can't be helped." He says, and you flinch at his harsh tone, but then you realise he's nearly crying.

"Ari..." you start, but he cuts you off suddenly.

"No! Don't start." he exclaims, his gaze now trained straight ahead instead of towards you.

"Don't start what?"

"Saying it'll be okay, or I'll grow out of it when I get older."

"I wasn't going to say that. You need help, Ari." you say softly. "This isn't just going to go away on its own."

"But if I tell my parents that'll be it. I'll be out of surfing forever."

"No, Ari. Anyway, you're more important than surfing." you say, then sigh. "What even happened back there?"

"I just saw the video of my hold down." he breathes. "Brought it all back again." He pauses, and you wonder if pressing the matter anymore is a good idea, but Ari continues. "How do you not get scared? After that hold down the other year? Then that night surf? And Subtropix? It's like you don't even mind being held down."

"Of course I do. But something like that isn't going to stop me doing something I love." you say, but before Ari can respond, a familiar voice reaches your ears.

"Hey, c'mon you guys look so miserable." Summer says as she spots you in the corner. "Let's go get some free stuff, Y/n." she grabs your arm and leads you to where a table is lined with gift bags overfilled with Subtropix merchandise.

"As long as we just take a bit out of each bag they won't miss anything." she says, handing you a Subtropix-emblazoned water bottle.

"Summer we need to talk."

"About what?"

"Ari?"

She sighs, her attention immediately taken away from the merchandise as her eyes stare straight into yours. "I keep telling him he needs to talk to someone about it. He won't listen."

"Well don't you think it's getting to the point where we should say something?"

"If it happens again, give him an ultimatum. Either he tells someone or we will." Summer says. "Let's not let this ruin our night." she takes a cap from one of the bags and places it on your head. "C'mon, just take some stuff - you are a VIP tonight." she smirks, and you give in, taking a quick peek in one of the bags as Summer rummages through another.

Suddenly, you hear someone clear their throat next to you, and turn to see Manu glaring over you and Summer. She doesn't bother looking up. "Relax, there's plenty of merch for everyone..." she trails off when she finally sees who is speaking. You feel yourself tense as Manu stares down at you both. You're not even supposed to be here, let alone be stealing freebies.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Relax, we just came to support Ari and Bodhi - we all want them to win."

"D'you want to get them disqualified too?" he says quietly, and neither you or Summer answer.

"Y/n, I need a word." he says, and raises an eyebrow at Summer who seems to get the hint and quickly grabs a handful of merch before wandering off towards the others.

"What do you need to talk about?" you say anxiously, Manu's cold exterior starting to worry you slightly.

He takes a breath before speaking, then sighs."I'm suspending you from the club. Just for a little bit."

You step back from him slightly in disbelief. "You're what?"

"Look, I've told you time and time again to stop being reckless in the water. I guess you thought there would be no consequences until you got hurt. Well now that you have, you know I can't let it happen again. It would be on my conscience."

"Manu, please, what about the Jarrah Island comp!" you plead, thinking about the next big competition in a few weeks, which you'd thought you'd definitely be competing in. "I'll stop being reckless I promise, just..."

"You need to start learning your actions have consequences. And not just for you, Y/n."

"What actions?" you hear your voice rise. "What have I done? Give me an example!"

"You're not focused out there anymore. Let's take the 360 trials as an example."

"But that was different! Something happened, and..." you trail off - you don't exactly want to go into the whole Ari and Poppy topic.

"Listen, I don't want to hear it anymore. This isn't where I wanted to tell you all this, but your mum agrees with me. So I'll see you around." he says, and you watch him as he strides off to join the party again like he hadn't just ruined your life. At least for a little while.

You turn on your heel in the other direction, passing a table with a tray of drinks. Without thinking, you take one and swallow it in one go, which you realise was totally a mistake straight after. It tastes acidic and cold, like you're drinking chemicals.

You race outside onto the balcony, hoping no one, especially not Marlon, saw you. The alcohol still burns the back of your throat as you lean against the balcony railing, the wind whipping your hair back. The sun is nearly completely set now, a dull darkness settling over the beach.  You look around - Ari's nowhere to be seen. All you think now is that you need to get out of here.