You, Me, and the Aussies

Chapter 1 - Riley

Chapter 1

Riley

I dug my board under the wave feeling the strong current as it crested above me. When I was sure it had passed, I lifted my head up to surface, pulling the nose of the board up with me. It floated on the water as I repositioned my body on it and then paddled out farther. As more and more waves reached me, I did the same, ducking under and resurfacing. When I was far enough out, I hefted my upper body up and straddled the board.

            Looking out across the blue-green sea, I waited for the perfect wave. Then I saw it, a round hill of water rising slowly until it eventually formed into a perfect wall. Eagerly, I quickly paddled towards it. Just before the wave came I turned my board around. I paddled strongly with the wave, and then I swiftly pushed my body up off the board until I stood with my arms stretched out for balance. I felt like my stomach was in my chest as me and my board dropped into the wave.

            This was always my favorite part. I felt like I was not longer just an ordinary human; I was flying, like a bird in the sky only on water. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, giving me an icy clarity as I focused on being in the wave.

            When I saw the barrel of water form, I nearly shouted with joy. I leaned forward, urging my board on into to perfect curve and stretched my arm out into the water, feeling the water splash on me as I raced through the watery cave. I quickly glanced up; looking into the shinning blue-green water, a chill went down my back. The barrel was my favorite place to be, and not many people got to experience something so amazing. The feeling of being surrounded in water was just something that wasn’t easily described.

            Knowing I needed to get out of the barrel, I leaned forward again. For a little added kick I drifted up to the crest of the wave, did an off-the-lip* before swiftly coming back down and then jumping into the water.

            When my head emerged from the salty sea water, I heard my best friend Piper calling me. I paddled over to her and as I did so she shouted out, “Hey, nice wave Riley! You keep getting better and better.”

            “Thanks!” I shouted back and kept on paddling. The waves had calmed suddenly and now there were only small crests coming in. I finally made it over to her and then straddled my board like she was.

            “I can’t believe we have to leave this place,” Piper said, “But I’m kind of excited too.”

            “Yeah… I can’t imagine anywhere being better than Oahu though,” I objected.

            “But think about where we’re going! Australia! That’s like one of the best surfing areas in the world!” Piper said excitedly.

            “Yeah I guess that will be pretty cool,” Riley agreed, “You know I don’t like change very much.”

            “Yes I do!” Piper laughed.

            And I don’t want to move again, I thought.

            “What do you think it will be like?” I asked.

            “Hmm… well all the actors from there are hot; that must mean something,” she said with a playful smile.

            “Yeah cus we’re only going there for the guys right?” I replied sarcastically shaking my head, “I mean, I’ve never been outside of the U.S…. do you think the people will be different?”

            “Don’t know. I’ve heard they’re pretty nice,” Piper said with a shrug.

            “I hope so…”

            “I think we should head back, it’s getting dark,” Piper suggested.

            “Yeah I think so too,” I said.

            We both laid back down on our surfboards and paddled to the white sand of Sunset Beach. As we walked out of the water, I looked up and realized the sun was already setting.

            “Look!” I said to Piper, while pointing at the horizon. She turned around to see where I was looking. Pink swirls intertwined with orange glow radiated across the sky.

            “I wish I had my camera!” Piper said.

            “Yeah, same here. It’s nice that we get to see one last amazing sunset here…” I replied, wishing I didn’t have to leave the home and place I had grown up in since middle school. Even then, moving from Santa Cruzto Oahu was a hard change; I had to find all new friends and go to a different school, but I was so glad that I met Piper. Maybe I won’t regret having to leave after all; at least I don’t have to leave Piper behind. I thought, trying to be optimistic.

            We watched the sun sink into the ocean and then headed over to the lockers where we had stored our things. We threw on t-shirts and shorts over our bikinis and then hiked back to my Nissan Exterra where we strapped our surfboards to the roof rack. I unlocked the car and we both hopped in. As soon as we were heading down the dimly lit road, Piper turned the stereo on full blast. We sang along to one of our favorite songs, belting out the familiar lyrics, when suddenly, Piper turned the music down.

            “Oh my word… I just realized something,” she said with wide, somewhat amused eyes, “Aussies drive on the opposite side of the road!”

            I inwardly sighed. “That’s right! I totally forgot about that… it would be so weird…” I said, trying to picture myself driving from the other side of my vehicle.

            “I guess we’ll have a lot of things to adapt to,” Piper said with a shrug and then apparently the conversation was over, because the music started pounding once again.

*A surf move where the surfer snaps around at the breaking part of a wave and comes back down.