Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 64 - The Airport

You awake to the sound of gulls outside and check your phone: it's nearly nine. Shit, you think. The competition will have already started by now, and for a moment you're mad that someone didn't wake you up. And then you think: do they really need you there? Ari definitely doesn't, so you climb out of bed relaxedly.

You expect the others to have all gone down to the beach, but you hear the sound of a kettle boiling from the kitchen, closely followed by the smell of hot coffee drifting into the bedroom. After dragging yourself out of bed, you head next door where Marlon is pouring milk into two mugs.

"Good morning," he says, handing you a cup. "How'd you sleep?"

"What, that's it?" you take a seat opposite him on the small fold out table in the caravan. "You don't want to talk about what I said yesterday?"

"Not if you don't want to," he shrugs. "Figured I wouldn't wake you up either - didn't know if you wanted to go down to the comp or not."

"I might later," you sigh. "I should probably go support Pops, but everything just seems such a mess at the moment."

"Well, after next week the season's finished. We can start over. Maybe even get back into Shorehaven Boardriders." he suggests with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah..." you hesitate, wondering whether to tell him about your decision to leave, but now doesn't seem like the right time. "Do you think Manu will want you to come back?"

He shrugs. "Maybe. He seemed pretty pleased I surfed Ari's heat yesterday, and then started giving me all this advice on how to surf."

"Cool. I mean, I don't know why he wouldn't want you back. It's not like he kicked you out - you did leave on purpose."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about," he mutters in response. "Anyway, you want to go for a surf or something? There's the beach just across from the main one where Prawnie and his friends were yesterday. Then we could head to the comp after that?"

"Sure, I'll get my stuff." you smile, taking the cup of coffee with you.

"Oh, by the way - Bodhi just texted me: she's competing today." Marlon shouts back.

"No way!" you reply, poking your head back in the kitchen. "That means her and Poppy have a shot at the state team." you say, and you feel glad for them obviously, but there's a slight pang of jealousy at the fact that your season is over.

It's about a twenty minute walk to the beach, and even with your wetsuit pulled down to your waist you're sweating like crazy in the intense heat, especially with your heavy board under your arm.

Eventually, when you arrive, the beach seems pretty quiet with the competition going on just along the coastline, and a nice set is rolling in as you finally paddle out. After catching a couple of waves, your brother paddles up to you when the water goes calmer, sitting back on his board nonchalantly.

"Hey, you want me to teach you how to do a pop-shuvit?" he asks, and you look at him in disbelief. That's probably the only time you've ever heard your brother offer you help. Ever.

"I thought I'd never be good enough to do that?" you say, mimicking what your brother told you a few weeks ago.

"Yeah, well, you can try," he shrugs, smiling. You follow his gaze to a new set of waves coming in, and he shouts his instructions rapidly. "On the next one, pump for speed then just as the wave dies, bend down with your knees and push the front of the board out from underneath you. Then land."

"Then land? That's your great advice?" you yell back, but you can already feel yourself being pushed forward by the wave, and you paddle rapidly before jumping up on your feet. You pull off a few turns, then do exactly as Marlon said as the wave closes out. And you get close, but not close enough.