Surfers Paradise

Chapter 15: Paddle Surfing and Pranks

 "Paddle surfing?" I asked while trying to get the last bit of mayo out of the jar for the sandwiches I was making for everyone.

"Yeah, it looks super fun," Bethany replied from where she was sitting across the counter.

"What happened to real surfing?" I asked.

"You should try something new," she suggested.

"I should train but sure," I replied, finishing another sandwich. Bethany smiled.

After the competition, everyone came over to my house. Ryan and Johnny were watching television on the couch with Sophie while Alana and Brody were whispering to each other on the other couch.

"What up people?" a voice asked walking through the front door. It was Blake. Older brothers were obnoxious most of the time, but compared to the normal older brothers mine were obnoxious all of the time. "I hear that we got a winna in the house!"

"Just don't," I said, my nose scrunched up.

"Little sis you rocked it," Spencer said, rubbing the top of my head and effectively messing up my hair. I glared at him.

"Aw thanks, sis," he said grabbing a sandwich.

"Hey!" I said swatting at his hand but he had already taken it and walked down the hall to his room.

"Your brother's so funny," Bethany said smiling, still looking in the direction he had walked.

"More like annoying," I replied while cutting a tomato. "Now, I have to make one more."

"It's fine. I'm not that hungry," she replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

I topped off the last sandwich and announced to everyone, "Sandwiches are ready!"

They all swarmed over and put them on their plates then we all headed out onto the deck. The waves looked perfect today and the sun was shining bright and high. It was the perfect setting; I had just moved on in the competition and me and my friends plus Sophie were sitting on my deck eating on a picturesque day with perfect waves rolling in behind us.

~

Paddle surfing was interesting. For starters, it was less work than surfing because we had to stick to the smaller waves in fear of toppling over. I had to admit, it was very relaxing especially after a day of competition. It worked my arm muscles, but I was going to stick to regular surfing. The waves looked so nice farther out but I promised Bethany I would try something new for once.

We paddle surfed for an hour before Sophie complained so much that it drove us all crazy. She went back to Bethany's place, Johnny had to go home for family stuff as did Brody and Alana. Bethany had gone into the house for a snack and was frantically running back to the water.

Ryan and I were both laughing, wondering what that was about while we watched from our boards.

"Maybe she ate one of those spicy peppers my brothers are always putting in our fridge to fool people," I wondered out loud.

The trick had worked on me once and it was horrible. The peppers looked exactly like normal ones except they were 1000 times hotter. I put it in my mouth and spit it out in the first five seconds because my mouth felt like it was going to burn off. To make matters worse, Spencer got it on video and now I had to relive that moment a million times over.

Even though Spencer had gotten some pretty bad things of me on video over the years — the pepper thing, me falling into a mud puddle in front of a cute guy after my shoes were tied together, my awkward hand sunburn on my stomach, me slipping on butter they put on the floor — he got some good stuff too. He had videos of me and all of my friends having fun, me surfing (actually, he got a lot of me surfing), me driving and not crashing, me signing up for the competition, me during my surprise birthday party. I think he even captured some of us down at ANS.