Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 67 - Season 2 Prologue

"Hey, get up."

Something nudges your foot which is sticking out from under the blankets on your bed. You flinch away, but the force comes back stronger this time, and you duck under your blankets further.

"C'mon, Y/n, we have a comp today!"

That wakes you up, and you grasp for your phone on the bedside table to check you haven't accidentally overslept. Thankfully, you still have about half an hour until the first heat.

"Thanks for waking me up earlier." you mumble, dragging yourself out of bed, but Marlon throws his hands up in disbelief.

"I've been shouting up to you for like, half an hour already," he replies. "It's what happens when you go to sleep at 3 in the morning."

You grab your surf bag and throw in a towel and swimsuit and other necessities for the day.

"C'mon, after today there'll only be two more comps before state selection. We've got to be serious about this." Marlon mutters as you follow him into the lounge.

"You've got to be serious about it. I'll still have another year after this if I don't make the State Team." you reply.

"Yeah, so maybe you shouldn't try out and save some space on the team for the rest of us."

"Relax, Mars, there's a specific amount of spaces for boys and girls - they can't have an uneven number of one or the other, so it doesn't matter anyway," you grab a piece of toast, not bothering to put it on a plate as you race around the kitchen trying to gather your stuff together. "But, if it makes you feel better, I would totally give up my place for you if I made the team and you didn't."

"Really?" your brother replies incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe. But it doesn't work like that, does it?" you shrug, smiling when he rolls his eyes.

"Well, hurry up, we've only got like ten minutes to get on the road." he says, dangling the car keys in front of your face.

"Wait, you're not driving are you?" you ask, suddenly nervous: it's been almost two weeks since your brother turned seventeen, and he hasn't wasted any time in getting on the road. Although, his technique leaves something to be desired.

"Yeah, so?" he shrugs.

"I'd like to still be in one piece by the time we get to the comp." you tease, and he shoves you into the sofa genially.

"Relax, I've got this." he responds, his mouth bending into a wry smile.

After loading the boards on the roof, you slide into the backseat of the car and wait for your mum to finish giving Marlon another safety brief as he taps his foot on the pedals impatiently. Eventually, and after a shaky start, Marlon seems slightly more at ease on the road, and you manage to arrive at the beach with five minutes to spare before the comp starts.

As you descend the steps to the beach, you notice the Shorehaven tent with Poppy, Bodhi and Ari already getting changed and preparing for their heats.

You race down to the officials' tent to get registered (luckily you're in the second girls' heat, so you still have a bit of time), before heading to the side and pulling on your wetsuit and rash vest. You're about to put a little extra wax on your board, when you realise you have none. You must have forgotten to pack any in your frenzy this morning.

"Hey, Mars, you got any wax?" You sidle up to him.

"Um, no I don't think so. I waxed my board at home," he says, taking a quick peek in his bag to check. "Go ask one of the girls." He nods dismissively to Poppy and Bodhi in the tent.

You make your way into the tent, and clear your throat to make your presence known.

"Oh hey Y/n," Poppy smiles, pulling you into a hug, despite it not even being that long since you last saw her. You suppose it is pretty different now with you not being on the team. "Manu didn't tell me you were surfing today."

"Yeah, late entry," you reply with a smile. "Hey, have you got any-"

You're cut off by the sound of a dominant voice over the tannoy system, announcing the start of the first heat.

"Sorry, we've got to go, good luck with your heat, yeah?" Poppy says, and her and Bodhi are away, heading towards the starting line.

"Good luck!" You call after them, but curse internally. There's only one option left.

You look around to the back of the tent, and when you lock eyes with Ari (had he been looking at you already?) He hesitates for a second then clears his throat, his eyes dropping and glancing around the tent.

"Hey." He says calmly, but you watch his hand fidgeting with his bag behind him on the table.

"Hey, um, do you have any wax I could borrow? Please?" You ask awkwardly, and Ari nods quickly, reaching into his bag, but he comes out empty handed.

"I think I left it by my board." He says, and you follow him out of the tent. "That's weird, I swear I left it here." he says, scrutinising his board and the area around it.

"Hey, is this someone's wax? I think I picked it up by mistake." You turn to see where the voice is coming from. It's a girl, probably about your age. She looks too sweet to dislike her: blonde, perfect features and wearing a pastel pink bikini with a branded Subtropix board under her arm.

You've seen her before. On a poster in the surf shop window.

You suddenly realise Ari hasn't spoken, and the girl looks between you both confusedly. "Err, okay I'll go ask someone else."

"No, no, sorry it's me, I mean, it's mine," Ari stutters, and the girl smiles as she hands it back. "Thank you."

"Oh, don't thank me I shouldn't have picked it up in the first place," She laughs, barely sparing you a glance as she focuses on Ari. "I'm Wren."

"Ari," he replies. "This is Y/n." He nods to you.

"Cool. Nice to meet you. I just moved here from Queensland." she says.

"Why?" You ask, and as you say it you realise it sounded a little rude, but you barely give a damn when Wren turns to you in surprise as if she'd forgotten you were there.

"Oh, erm, I came with my brother and sister." she nods with another sweet smile.

You don't reply or point out that her response doesn't answer what you actually asked.

"Well, are you joining the Boardriders team? I know that Manu would be pleased to have you. He's our coach-" Ari rambles on like he can't get his words out in time. Knowing that no one is paying you much attention, you grab the wax out of Ari's hand and head back to your board on the sand.

"Who's that?" Marlon sidles up to you, nodding in the direction of Ari and Wren still chatting away. "They seem to be hitting it off."

"That's Wren." You reply, beginning to scrub wax along the board.

"Who is she?"

"Some girl from Queensland." you mutter.

"Wait, is she the girl in all those photos? That's insane, she's sponsored by Subtropix and everything." Marlon exclaims excitedly - you don't know why both boys are suddenly gushing over this new girl; from what you can see (which appears to be more than the others), she's nothing special.

"So? Bodhi is too." You reply.

"Okay, relax. I was just saying," he shrugs in response. "You're up against her in your heat, y'know?" he says, nudging your shoulder and pointing at the list of names on the wall by the official's tent.

"Great."