Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 30 - Secrets

"Well, this is interesting." Griff says, smirking with his arms crossed as you quickly pull away from Ari.

"Griff, please don't tell anyone." you plead, rambling slightly in the stress, but he just laughs maliciously.

"I won't, yet. But maybe I can use this to my advantage in the future." he grins again, wryly. You try to read Ari's expression, but his face is blank, which makes you slightly anxious for some reason. "Anyway, Gibson I thought you were hooking up with Tetanui?" he laughs to himself. "Did she reject you? Now you have to settle for Marlon's little sis?"

"Hey." Ari steps forward. "Leave it Griff. Get out of here." he says authoritatively; it's funny how he's grown in confidence since his accident, something that you'd think would have knocked all the self-confidence out of him.

Griff scoffs, taking a step back. "Relax Gibson. I'm not a monster. I'll see you guys around." he says, in a tone which from a stranger's point of view may seem completely normal, but you can hear the deception in his voice as you watch him stroll nonchalantly towards the door. 

"Sorry, Y/n, that was a mistake." Ari says when you hear the shop door close behind Griff. "I should've..."

"No. Ari it's fine. Maybe it's better this way." you say, feeling slightly bad about suddenly contradicting yourself from earlier, when you didn't want anyone to know. But now someone does it feels like a weight's been lifted from your shoulders - even if a new one has been placed there as the person who knows is Griff. "I don't like hiding things from people I care about." you say, immediately feeling guilty - there's still plenty you haven't told Ari: the whole Marlon and Anchor Cove situation for one.

"Well, how about we just forget about this for now, buy this board and get the hell out of here." Ari says, picking up the board from the rack again and placing it in your hands. 

____________________

After getting the board, you and Ari head to your house first where you grab your wet suit and swimming costume, and when you pass his house on the way to the beach, he grabs his wet suit and board. You change in one of the shower cubicles in the car park on the cliff, and wax your board as Ari checks out the surf. He laughs to himself, and you look up.

"What?" you ask, looking straight ahead at the ocean, which is empty and calm.

"Looks like someone beat us to it." he pushes your chin gently so you're looking over to the left where you finally see what he was looking at: Marlon, Summer, Poppy and Bodhi are sat out back on their boards whilst they wait for the swell to pick up. "C'mon." he says, and you pick up your new board and make your way down to the beach.

"What happened to you two earlier?" Ari asks Marlon and Summer as you paddle up to them. You expected your new board to feel strange in the water, but it actually feels...familiar.

"We just wanted to give you guys some quality time together." Marlon smirks knowingly, and Summer shoves him playfully with an eye roll, nearly making him fall off his board.

"We just knew you two losers would have more fun without us." Summer smiles. Something about her has changed recently, you think. She's nothing like the wild girl who was dropped off here against her will at the start of the Summer - you'd like to think you and the others had a slight part to play in that.

Marlon and Ari paddle off as a set comes in, but you and Summer hang back as she eyes you suspiciously. "So how'd it go?" She smirks.

"It was good. For a little bit. But Summer, Griff saw us." You say in a low voice so none of the others will hear.

"Saw what exactly?" she says, somehow still smiling knowingly.

"Just...me and Ari. Together." you reply softly.

"Y/n. Just because he saw you two out shopping together doesn't mean he automatically dating."

"Summer, you and Marlon setting us up in town does not automatically mean we're dating." You say, purposely repeating some of her sentence.

"So it doesn't matter that Griff saw you!" She exclaims. "It doesn't even matter if he knows, what's he gonna do?"

"You don't know Griff. He'll find some way of using it against us, I know he will." you reply.

"Y/n, take a lesson from me. Care about things less. Especially really insignificant things like this."

"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one who's been kicked out of your surfing club and now had your biggest secret exposed to your worst enemy."

"Y/n, I'm not even part of the club. But who cares?! Shake it off." Summer says with a sense of finality, almost signalling the end of the topic. "Whilst you were out with Ari, did he mention anything about his anxiety? Did he tell anyone?"

"He said he spoke to Manu." you say briefly.

"Manu?! Are you kidding?!" 

"I wish I was. I was honestly hoping he was joking." you say quietly as you see Marlon and Ari paddling back out. 

"Maybe Manu will tell his parents?" Summer offers, but you shake your head.

"He would if Ari had actually told him he has anxiety. Knowing Ari, he definitely sugar coated a few details." you reply. 

"Well if Manu doesn't help him, I'll make sure someone does." Summer says determinedly, and you wish you could share her resilience when it comes to getting Ari some help. You know that it's the right thing for him, but there's some part of you that's scared of what he'll say or do if you try and help.