All I Am (Wattys2015) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Blue sat up straight when her alarm went off. It had been months – maybe even years – since she'd last been so energized upon waking up. And it was only 4:45 am.

Blue got up and pulled a bikini out of a dresser drawer. Both the top and bottoms were a plain mauve-ish pink. She quickly changed out of her t-shirt and shorts and pulled on her bikini. She then washed her face – so she looked semi-awake – and grabbed the wetsuit from her closet.

After a grueling 5-minute struggle in order to get it on, Blue finally succeeded. She zipped the wetsuit up, fixed the Velcro in place and then turned to the mirror. It looked...natural on her. Almost shockingly normal.

Blue slipped out the front door and shut it behind herself silently. Then she walked down the driveway and turned left, walking Marine Parade N road barefoot.

The waves were about 1.5 meters today. It wasn't stormy like the day before but it wasn't clear, either. The clouds cast a grey appearance over the water. But Blue loved these typical gorgeous winter days in New Zealand.

She approached Maddy's house, her heart racing. As she got close to it she saw him out front. He was kneeling with his shortboard on the ground, leaning over and waxing it. His wetsuit was rolled down to his hips.

Maddy looked up. His blonde hair was textured and tucked behind his ears like normal. He grinned while continuing to wax the board. "Looks good on you," he said, nodding to the wetsuit she was wearing.

Blue smiled self-consciously. It was tight. Too tight. In her opinion it showed off every imperfection of her body. She tried not to stare at Maddy's muscular upper-body. His skin was bronze all over, probably from all the time he spent in the sun.

"Well look at you. You seem so wide awake!" she exclaimed, amazed at how energized he was. "Aren't you cold?" she gestured to his wetsuit, which wasn't pulled up.

"Surfing's the only reason I would get out of bed before 8," he admitted. "Nah, I'm not that cold. Too excited to be cold." He finished waxing the board quickly before standing up.

He put his hands on his hips, still smiling. "So this is the board that I ride usually," he said, holding it next to him. "It's a 6' 1", fiberglass, extremely thin rails. Hard. It's called a shortboard, and one of the big things about these boards is that when you're sitting or lying on them out there," he nodded to the water, "they'll be under the water. If I'm sitting on a longboard, the top surface of the board won't be touching water. Not only will the whole board be underwater when I'm on a shortboard, but my legs will be too. I'll be underwater up to my waist," he explained, pressing his hand parallel to his ribs for demonstration.

"I'm going to let you ride this longboard over here," he said, pointing to a white and black longboard leaning against the frontside of his house. "Longboards are obviously way longer. Shortboards are for precision moves and aerials, while longboards are for smaller waves and longboarding maneuvers, such as hang-five and switch-stance. The longboards are going to be just as hard, but they have thicker rails and more surface area, meaning you'll have a way easier time learning. Does that make any sense?" Maddy looked doubtful that his explanation was clear.

But Blue understood most all of it. "Yeah, I think I understand," she replied.

Maddy looked relieved. "Alright, good. So I just finished waxing my shortboard because that's what I use. I'm really not into longboarding. I already waxed the longboard for you anyways, because the wax helps you stand up."

"Thank you," Blue said. She was getting excited.

"Do you want to grab it real quick and we'll head down to the beach?"