My Superhero

Chapter 14

“Paddle!”

“This is ridiculous,” I groaned, my arms cutting through the air. The sun was scorching down on my bare back, making me sweaty and uncomfortable. A whole half hour had already passed as I lay down on the white surfboard which had formed a dent in the golden sand, paddling into the air then jumping up and balancing on the board when Scott ordered me to do so.

“Now stand,” his voice was sharp, his eyes searching for any mistake. At the sound of his voice, I jumped up in an explosive motion, my hands pushing my body up and my feet landing right where my waist had been mere seconds ago. A triumphant smile made its way to my lips. Finally, I’d landed.

“Nice job, now paddle,” Scott ordered once again, this time nodding approvingly at my perfect stance.

I looked at him incredulously, “Again?”

“Yes, I saw you wobble,” he said, folding his arms. I mentally kicked myself for letting Steve convince me to do this stupid lesson. My legs were aching, my arms felt weak, and I was completely and utterly out of breath.

I groaned and laid back on the board, my feet a couple of inches away from the back end of the board. My arms paddled through the air furiously, wanting to get it over with. Scott walked back and forth in front of me, monitoring my movement.

“You’re not bending your elbows enough,” he remarked, still pacing in front of me. “Do this in the water and you’ll end up with two broken arms,”

Ok, now that’s just pure exaggeration.

I huffed and pointedly bent my elbows as my hands cut through imaginary waves.

“Alright, now stand,”

I repeated my previous move, this time almost losing my balance and landing face first into the sand. Scott’s hands were under me in a flash, ready to steady me if I fell. I regained my balance and looked at him sheepishly. He was such a tough coach.

“It’s alright, you’re tired,” he gave me a small smile; the first since we’d arrived at the beach. “Good job, we’ll continue tomorrow.”

I stared at him, frowning in confusion. “What do you mean?” I asked, “We’re not going in the water?”

“Nope,” he said, walking away. I scrambled after him, carrying the white board under my arm.

“Why not?” I asked again.

“You’re not ready,” he replied simply. Not ready?

“But we’ve been practicing for almost an hour!” I exclaimed, pointing at the spot where my board had been laying.

“We’ll try again tomorrow,” he said, glancing in my direction. We were walking towards the cluster of rocks where Ryan, Olivia, and Steve were sitting.

“There’s our little surfer,” Steve said with a cheeky smile as he spotted us walking towards them. The sweat was dripping down my neck, and I was pretty sure my hair was a mess. My short white and blue swim shorts were covered in sand, and my bikini top was not that much better.

“So how was it?” Ryan said with a cheerful smile.

“Exhausting,” I answered, dumping my board on the sand, then I felt a little rude. There Scott was, wasting a perfectly good morning to teach me, a random girl, how to surf. A grateful smile plastered on my face, I turned and looked at him.

“I forgot to say thank you, I appreciate you doing this,” I said shyly. Unlike Ryan and Olivia, Scott was extremely hard to get used to. The fact that the frown he wore almost never left his face didn’t quite help.