Be Your Everything

e i g h t e e n

"Lennie, just give it up!"

"Never!"

Luke paddled over and looked at me with an amused expression. I climbed onto my board and sat up while I waited for another wave to come. I hadn't landed the Kurrupt flip yet, but I wasn't ready to give up on it just yet. By now, I had gotten used to the waves on the West Coast, but I was having to adjust my tricks to the differences in the water.

"You're getting a sunburn," Luke said with a poke to my shoulder. I watched the skin change from white to red, but I wasn't about to let a little sun make me go in.

"I'm fine, Dad," I huffed dramatically, which made him chuckle at me.

"Save the 'Daddy' talk for when we have an audience," he countered with a devilish wink.

"Are you flirting with me, Hemmings?"

"In your dreams, March."

"Uh huh, sure," I sit back on my board and wait for another wave. "You don't have to stay out here with me, you know. You can go in and hang out with everyone else."

"No way, watching you wipe out is hilarious!" He told me as another wave came my way. "I just can't believe you're still at it."

I positioned myself on my board and focused on each detail of the trick that I needed to nail. With my thoughts in check, I gave Luke a confident smile while I waited for the wave to come and pull me to the shore.

"Luke, you should know something about me: I am unstoppable, not because I don't have doubts or failures, but because I continue on in spite of them."

The next thing I knew, I was on my feet. I saw Luke behind me, watching me from his board. On the shore, Calum and Ashton's attention was fixed on me, and I suddenly felt the pressure to not fall into the water again.

I guided the front of the board to the top of the wave and pushed with all of my leg strength to get the board airborne. As the board rotated underneath me, I stood up as straight as I could, slowly the speed at which I was spinning. With the tail secured in my hand, I released my grip as soon as the board was straightened out, letting it lay flat against the water once more as I landed. My mouth dropped open from shock as I floated to shore with Ashton and Calum cheering for me while the rest of their friends clapped. I threw my arms above my head in celebration and stepped off my board once I'd gotten to shore and was met with cheers from the group.

"Looks like we've got a regular Bethany Hamilton in our midst," Ashley chided happily. Casey nodded wordlessly and smiled at her.

"Thanks you guys!" I exclaimed as I grabbed my board from the water, "I've been trying to nail that trick for months."

"Looks like practicing paid off in the end," Ashton praised me. Luke came bounding up from the water and looked at me in surprise.

"Lennie, you actually did it!"

"Don't act so surprised!" I told him with a laugh at his bewildered expression. "I told you I was going to get it. Sometimes you just have to be patient."

"I guess so," Luke offered me a high-five and I accepted it immediately, only to be booed by Ashley and Rena.

"That's the best congratulations you can give your girlfriend? A high-five?!" Rena quirked an eyebrow at Luke, challenging him to do better.

"We're civilized people. We know how to control ourselves," he argued while turning to Michael, "unlike some people I know."

Michael looked up from his phone after sensing everyone's gaze on him. He looked around without a clue as to why everyone was staring at him and shrugged before returning his attention to his phone.