Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 39 - Warnings

On the day of Boardriders, the sun has only just risen when you arrive at the beach with Marlon, hoping to show your commitment to the team to Manu - you're still not sure he's convinced that he can fully trust you to put the team first, so that's exactly what you're going to do today. Boardriders is a team event, so this is exactly how you show your dedication.

"Hey Y/n!" You hear someone shout from behind, and turn to see Summer running up behind you. "I haven't seen you around for ages! Probably since you came over to the Gibsons' for dinner. Where've you been?"

"Oh, yeah, my mum grounded me." You shrug, and Summer's smile vanishes, like she knows exactly what happened - she was there after all.

"Oh, that sucks," she replies knowingly - you can imagine she's had her fair share of groundings. "Is she letting you surf today?"

"Yeah." You don't mention that it's probably not your mum who's been the hardest to convince - Manu's proved to be a difficult opponent in your pursuit to surf at Boardriders.

"Well, I guess we're on the same team then! I told you I'm the sub, right?" Summer says, a huge grin on her face.

"Uh huh, and Thommo's our over 40s surfer?" You say, slightly sceptical - you don't think you've ever seen Thommo surf in a competition for...well, ever.

"Yep. When I asked him, I was pretending to Ari that I was about to tell his dad about his anxiety - that scared him." Summer smiles, but almost sadly, as she thinks about the way Ari can't even open up to his family. "Um, speaking of Ari, has something happened between you two? You haven't been hanging out much recently."

"Yeah, kind of. We had a sort of...argument about something."

"His anxiety? Cos trust me Y/n, I know how hard it is to get that boy to listen-"

"No, no..." you interrupt, "it was about something else."

"Oh," Summer replies, the smile once again vanishing from her face. "D'you want to talk about it?"

"No, thank you. I just need to focus on Boardriders for today." you respond, gratefully; the truth is, you'd love to talk to someone about it, but other than Marlon, you can't tell anyone else about Stairway, and you're not sure Marlon is always the right person to talk to about that sort of thing.

"Alright everyone! I just wanna say thanks for coming out today..." Manu begins, but you don't hear the rest of the speech, as something grabs your attention. Or someone.

There's a sharp tap on your shoulder - it feels familiar, but cold, like something you can only just remember before it goes hazy. The hand gently pulls you back, and your head whips around to come face to face with Ari, who motions for you to follow him.

"We need to talk." he says, once you are round the corner and out of sight.

"Yeah I got your text. And I agree." you reply shortly.

"Listen, Y/n, I can't control what you do. And I don't want this whole Stairway thing to wreck our relationship."

"But Ari, you're not gonna stop me from doing it." You say apologetically, and he looks at you deeply with desperate eyes.

"Like I said, I can't control you." He lets out a shaky breath. "But I can try and stop you. I've got now until Stairway to convince you." He takes one of your hands in one of his. "And I'm pretty confident."

"Oh, really?" You smile back; just looking at him distracts you from the whole situation, even though the whole situation revolves around Ari trying to stop you doing something stupid. Even you can admit that it's a pretty stupid idea, but you made a pact, what's done is done. And you know that whatever you do, Marlon will go through with it anyway.

"C'mon, let's go win a comp." Ari says, grabbing your hand.

"I'm not sure we're going to. Don't we have to be a team? Or work as a team, or whatever?"

"We are! We're more of a team than Anchor Cove ever will be." he responds.

"Ari, in case you haven't noticed, Poppy's been practically ignoring us all week, and she's obviously mad at us about something." you say.

"Mad about what? She seems fine to me." he says jovially.

"Just..." you shrug, "...distant. Around me, particularly."

"Well let's try talking to her, after the comp." Ari grabs your arm and you allow yourself to be dragged back to where Manu was finishing off his speech.

Poppy's up first for Shorehaven in the comp, but she seems agitated, getting irritated over simple things, like her leash getting tangled.

"Let me." you offer, holding out your hand for the knot of wire which Poppy reluctantly hands over, giving you a look you can't quite comprehend. After a couple of awkward seconds of you slowly untangling the leash whilst she pretends nothing is going on, you speak up. "Pops...?"

"Yes, Y/n?" she answers curtly. You notice how determined she is to avoid eye contact, and she makes herself look busy by waxing her board. "Have you got something to tell me?"

"Um...I was actually going to ask you something, but...wait, do you think I should have something to tell you?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"How am I supposed to tell you anything when I do know what you want me to say?" You hope your sarcasm and slight irritation at her vagueness isn't coming through too strongly. At least this gave you an indication as to whether something was really going on.

"You and Ari?" she prompts. "Or should I say you and Griff."

You open your mouth, but there's no noise apart from some sort of sound of disbelief. "Me and Griff? Are you mad?" you splutter, unable to control your surprise.

"I don't know, am I? Did I or did I not see you getting out of Griff's van the other day?"

"Well...yes, but he was only giving me a lift, nothing's going on." you smile slightly in sheer disbelief, hoping it doesn't come off patronising, although that's exactly how you want to act. Poppy is acting ridiculous.

"I'm not an idiot Y/n."

"I never said you were." you mutter, but Poppy talks over you.

"When I told Ari that we couldn't be together he was so...relieved." Poppy says, and you listen intently; you wondered how Ari had stopped the thing with Poppy, after you saw them kiss. You had no idea that it was Poppy who initiated the whole thing - if she liked Ari, why did she tell him they couldn't be together?

Poppy continues, barely looking at you as her eyes focus on her board below. "The only reason I said we should be friends anyway is that I knew he had someone else on his mind." She turns to face you, a commiserating look on her face as your eyes finally meet. "If you want to be with Ari, I don't mind, but don't hurt him with Griff."

You recoil slightly. "I would never-"

"I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt him." Poppy interrupts. "But try not to make him think you are. In any way, including hanging out with Griff."

Ever since you've known her, Poppy always put her friends first, even if it means making sacrifices. Giving up being with Ari? That's a big sacrifice, although you're not sure why she thinks there's something going on between you and Griff, apart from the impromptu lift you got from him the other day (which you had hoped no one saw). And why was she so adamant that you should stay away? If Ari saw anything, he would believe you, right? You have this nagging feeling like there's some other reason why Poppy is telling you to stay away, but you try to push it down, knowing Poppy probably just wants what's best for you and Ari, right?