Tidal Waves (L.H.)

Ten

The ocean taunts me. The innocent looking surface hides a dangerous foe beneath it. The only thing standing between me and moving on to the U.S. Open is this vas expanse of water. The last round of the competition will begin any second and I'll have to force my body into the sea yet again with exhaustion already weighing my limbs down.

This time, I'm wearing a black rash guard. The girl standing next to me, Mia, is in pink, Ashton is in blue, and the last boy, whose name I never caught, is wearing white. I'm sad Jenna didn't make it out of the last round with me but also glad at the same time since now I don't have to go against her again. After this round, one girl and one guy will be the winners.

The horn sounds and I'm slow to react. By the time my body slams down on my board, the other surfers are almost to the line up, ready for the first wave. Each push of my arm through the water sends fire along my muscles. I've been in many competitions but I've never felt pain like this before. My whole body hurts and it's becoming a struggle to even think clearly.

It's all mental, I remind myself. You can do this.

I forget about my sore muscles the minute I stand up, claiming my first wave. I pull as many tricks I can, trying to gain the most points in a shorter number of waves. I bail into the white wash and immediately resurface, the cool water refreshing my mind.

This round by far lasts the longest in my mind. Finally, the horn sounds signaling the end of the round and I slowly make my way back to shore to hear the results.

What a fantastic competition today! The announcer's voice booms across the shore. We have seen some great displays of athleticism here.

Just get on with who won, I think bitterly. All I want to do right now is collapse on my bed and sleep for a few days.

Ladies first. The winner, with a winning wave of 9.7, one of the highest scores overall toady, is Mia Andrews!

My heart sinks as Mia steps up to the platform and accepts her trophy.

That leaves Skylar Hall as our second place winner for the competition.

I take my place next to Mia who congratulates me. I smile and say the same thing to her. I'm given my trophy and shake hands with the man who runs the competition.

Now for the men. The first place winner with a winning wave of 9.4 is Ashton Irwin!

I genuinely cheer for Ashton as he steps up beside Mia. I still don't catch the name of the other boy who stands next to me. He gives me a polite smile but remains quiet. After all the pictures are taken and people begin to walk away, I quickly find my parents.

"You did great honey! Second place is amazing!" Mom beams while dad takes the trophy to admire it.

"Thanks. I'll meet you guys at the house. I'm going to grab something to eat," I say trying not to sound as upset as I really am. Truthfully, I think I'd be sick if I tried to eat but I don't want to hear my parents say that I did good when in reality, second place will not take me to the U.S. Open.

"Okay," dad says taking my board to the car for me, "Just don't be home too late." I nod as mom hands me a dry shirt and pair of shorts. I pull them on after I dry myself off. She kisses me on the cheek then catches up to dad.

I gently slip off the rash guard, replacing it with the shirt my mom gave me, then head to the sign in tent. I hand over the rash guard and turn to walk away when I hear someone call my name. Looking over my shoulder I see a guy waving at me with a small smile playing on his lips. Then it hits me: he's the guy from the diner the other day. Kate gave me his number but what was his name?

The guy finally makes it to me and he stands there a little awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "Hi," he laughs to cover up his embarrassment.

"Uh, hey. Tyler, right?" I ask hoping that I'm right because if not, I'm going to look like a complete idiot. The wide smile tells me that I'm correct.

"You, um, never called..." he trails off, his cheeks going slightly red whereas my face drains of blood completely.

"I'm so sorry about that. I've just been so busy getting ready for this competition." I bite the inside of my lip feeling more stupid as this conversation goes on.

He waves my reply off. "Of course. No worries there. It looks like your training really paid off. Second place! That's great!" All of his words string together and he's talking really fast, giving away that he's just as nervous as I am. Before I can get a reply in, Tyler's eyes focus on something, or someone, behind me, causing me to look that way too.

Just my luck. Luke is walking towards us, a certain glint in his eyes.

"Hello," he says very formally. His eyes shift from me, to Tyler, back to me, then to Tyler, before staying locked on me.

"Luke, this is Tyler. Tyler, this is Luke. We go to school together," I say motioning to each boy in turn. Tyler reaches a hand out to Luke, who slowly returns the friendly gesture. Luke turns his body so he's only facing me.

"Michael, Calum, and I were talking about getting something to eat," he begins then glances at Tyler briefly. "Would you two like to join us?"

"No thank..."

"We'd love to," Tyler cuts me off, giving Luke a broad smile that holds a meaning not so friendly. I'd really rather not enter this bloodbath.

"Great," Luke mumbles, clearly unhappy with the response. "Let's go then. Wouldn't want to keep the boys waiting."

The three of us make it to the main part of the beach where Michael and Calum join us, distracting Tyler long enough for me to corner Luke.

"What are you doing?" I hiss, trying to keep my voice down.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

This makes my blood boil. I narrow my eyes at him, "You ignore me for weeks claiming you "can't date a surfer" but then show up here and pull a stunt like that. Explain yourself."

Luke smirks then lets out a short laugh. "I don't have to explain myself to anyone. Besides, you don't want to be with him. He's not a good guy." I roll my eyes at this.

"Oh yes, because I'm so willing to take your advice right now."

"Fine, but when you come crying to me because he broke your heart, I'm going to say I told you so."

"You're impossible," I mumble. I want to yell and scream and jump up and down but I contain myself. There's no need to make a scene right here and now. Besides, Luke's not worth it.