Caught Inside

Chapter Twenty

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." – Hebrews 4:12

For Alana, walking into school Monday morning was almost like walking down the red carpet. As soon as she was done celebrating with the surf team, the rest of the student body swarmed around her like paparazzi. She had barely taken a step into the breezeway before she was bombarded by a group of girls who congratulated her on getting in the newspaper. "You're so talented," one of them gushed.

During another incident, this time directly in front of her locker, a couple guys said they had watched her video and were stunned by how well she could surf. "You deserved to win that competition," they added. "You're the best girl I've seen in the water."

All the attention was mortifying to Alana, who hated being in the spotlight. She weakly headed to first period with her head down, scrolling rapidly through her phone. If she couldn't slip by unseen, then at least she could send a message that she didn't want to be bothered.

But when fifty-three notifications popped up, Alana stopped on a dime. Fifty-three? How was that even possible? She scrolled halfheartedly through all the comments, tweets, and posts, not realizing that she had a whole fan club right at her fingertips. To her, it was a little creepy that so many people knew who she was and what she had done. People who hadn't even watched the competition were congratulating her on the win. Those who had seen Trevor's films expressed their interest in watching Alana surf more. "Post another video!" they cried. "Keep winning competitions!"

The feedback was overwhelming. Alana stumbled into her psychology class with her fingers numbly clutching her phone. When Mrs. Vargas announced Alana's presence to the whole class, it only deepened her embarrassment. She just wanted to take her seat and be treated like a normal student, not hailed as the surfer girl movie star who made the front page.

Fortunately, once class started, things dwindled down and the day resumed its familiarity. Alana could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The onslaught of attention was over, at least for now.

While first and second period gave Alana some much-needed elbow room, walking from class to class in between periods was a whole different story. She couldn't remember the last time so many people had known her name. And when did guys start paying attention to her? The smiles and words of encouragement that came from all directions were disorienting.

Alana escaped to her third period English class and made a beeline for her seat. A few students congratulated her on placing first and being in the newspaper, so she was forced to smile in acknowledgment. As soon as Maya walked in the door, Alana had never been happier to see her best friend's face.

"Hey, celebrity," Maya said, plopping down in the desk next to Alana's.

"Oh no, not you too."

"I'm just kidding." Maya reached back and tied her brown hair into a messy bun. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

Alana frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay, okay. Everyone's all excited because no student has ever accomplished as much as you have before," Maya said. "It's a small school, and out of nowhere comes this surfer chick who gets in a movie, lands the front page of the newspaper, and seals a sponsorship deal all in one stroke."

Alana just sighed. "It's getting to be annoying."

"What? The attention?"