Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 34 - Closer

You eventually make it to Ari's house, and as you walk into the garden area you see Abbie setting the garden table for dinner, whilst Honey and Thommo are bringing food from inside. 

"Mum, I brought Y/n home for dinner. I said it would be okay." Ari says quickly, as if trying to get her approval before she can say no or ask why - you stand a little way behind him, subconsciously waiting for Abbie's seal of approval before going any further.

"Of course it is." Abbie says with a smile. "You're welcome anytime, Y/n." 

"Thanks." You say, smiling, kicking yourself for not being more polite, saying something like 'thanks for having me' or 'can I help with anything?'. First impressions are important, even if this first impression is probably actually your hundredth impression, given how long you've known Ari. Since Ari's accident, you've barely seen his family though, and it's no secret that his parents weren't impressed with his friends abandoning him for a year.

"Hey, Summer, could you go get the rest of the cutlery from inside?" Abbie asks, to which Summer nods.

"Sure. Hey Y/n come help." She says, and before you have a chance to respond she practically drags you inside to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" you whisper.

"I'm sorry, are we not gonna talk about what happened five minutes ago? You and your mum? And...Marlon I suppose." she says.

"It's nothing. I'm just fed up of Marlon trying to tell me what to do."

"Are you gonna tell anyone else? Manu?" Summer asks. "He's not gonna be happy when he finds out about Anchor Cove."

"I..." you begin, but Abbie calls you both out from outside. 

You hover awkwardly around the table, waiting to see if someone will direct you to a seat in fear of sitting in the wrong place, but no one shows you, and you slip into the seat next to Ari, slightly unmannerly.

"So, are you guys excited for Boardriders? That should be coming up soon right?" Abbie asks.

"Mum, Y/n's suspended from the club.' Ari whispers under his breath, but it's clear everyone hears him. You smile awkwardly, not exactly sure what to say.

"Y'know, Poppy made me sub." Summer says, changing the subject thankfully.

"Good for you, Summer." Thommo says with a laugh.

"And Poppy's captain. Marlon wasn't happy about that." She adds on with an awkward laugh, before quickly putting her head down and turning back to her meal. "Manu says we need an over 40s surfer too. You up for it Thommo?" Summer asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, why not?" Thommo replies, and you're surprised at his enthusiasm. It's no secret Thommo isn't a big fan of surfing for competitions - he likes surfing for the joy of it, which may be one of the reasons why he's so against Ari competing, not to mention the worry he holds for his son after his accident.

"Y'know, there are lots more things that are more interesting than surfing that we could be talking about." Honey says, and Abbie laughs.

"You're right, Honey." she says with a smile. "Summer, in a couple of weeks there's the Shorehaven Boardriders fundraiser, if you're interested in helping. Honey's going to be running a stall."

"Yeah I'd love to." Summer replies. "Does this thing happen a lot?"

"Pretty much every year." Abbie replies. "Shorehaven's so small Manu doesn't really get enough money from lessons. It's important to invest in our community a little."

"A little is right. There's not many people in Shorehaven to give enough money. It's a shame." Thommo says solemnly.

"How about you, Y/n? Will you and Marlon be there?" Abbie asks, and you look up in surprise, stuttering slightly as you answer.

"Err...yeah. Yeah, I suppose so." you reply, wondering if there's any truth in what you say. If anyone finds out beforehand about Marlon going to Anchor Cove he wouldn't exactly be welcome at the fundraiser. 

"Y'know, because the fundraiser's coming up, it also means...Stairway is too." Ari says, and almost immediately a palpable silence enveloped the table; you can visibly see Abbie and Thommo tense opposite you, and even Honey goes quiet. 

"Let's not talk about that now, mate." Thommo says calmly.

"No I want to talk about it!" Ari replies determinedly. "It's been nearly a year now. You should be cool with me surfing in comps now, but you're still not."

"It's not something you can expect us to just forget about." Thommo says, slightly sharply. "You almost died last year. Besides, surfing shouldn't be about competitions. It should be about what you enjoy, what makes you happy."

"But surfing does make me happy! It's you who isn't happy with it." Ari snaps back.

You can't help feeling out of place. Summer looks just as awkward as you do. It's like you've walked in on a private conversation, although the other three seem perfectly happy talking about this stuff in front of almost strangers.

"Ari, that's enough." Abbie says authoritatively. "This isn't the time, or place."

The rest of the evening was slightly uneventful, the adults making idle chatter with you and Summer, slightly avoiding talking to their own son, who keeps shooting them glares across the table. 

After dinner, Thommo lights a fire in the garden, and Abbie brings out some drinks. Ari still seems stubbornly disgruntled, facing away from his parents. You don't know what's suddenly brought all this on, about his parents' attitude to surfing - maybe it's a subconscious thing, as Stairway edges closer and closer by the day. You can't say you haven't been thinking about it recently, especially as the swell has started to pick up by Stairway's beach. 

Eventually, you say your goodbyes, Ari hanging back slightly, a sombre look on his face as he watches you leave; you can feel his eyes on you.

______________________

When you get home that night, the curtains of the house are all drawn, and no light escapes from the windows; you only have the garden light to guide you down the garden path. It seems  incredibly dark outside, which makes you quickly pull out your phone and check the time: 9:30.  Your mum's not going to be happy. You lift up the doormat and reach under for the spare key, but your hand touches nothing but the cold concrete of the doorstep. Feeling slightly shaky, you knock on the door, over and over whilst trying to phone your mum with your other hand. It's only after it rings a few times and goes to voicemail that you start panicking properly. You race round the side of the house, still plunged in darkness before seeing a dim light burning through Marlon's closed curtains. You've already tried calling him, and there's nothing around to throw up to get his attention, nothing that won't break the window, anyway. At least you know that nothing's happened to them. But being locked out the house isn't your ideal situation.

You swear and kick the edge of the patio, probably loud enough for your mum to hear, but there's no indication that she did. She's probably laughing at you from her window, punishing you for staying out after your curfew. This is slightly extreme, though.

After about fifteen minutes, and a lot of shouting up at your mum's window, you saunter back down the path, going to the only place you can think to go.