Sweetest Confusion

Chapter Six: Surf Date

"Hey Josh, you still up for tonight?" I asked as we left the school grounds.

"I'm down. I just checked the weather this afternoon. Seems like the waves are going to be awesome tonight." He winked

"Awesome. Meet you at my house, say 3?"

"See you there." He grinned.

- 

I stuffed my towel in my tote bag and was grabbing my wetsuit when Josh walked into my room dressed in swimming trunks.

"I don't think you're going to be needing that. It's pretty nice outside." He said. I shrugged and threw the suit back into my cupboard before collecting our boards from the beach huts we stored them in. 

"Seems like there are quite a few people out there today," I noted as I was waxing my board.

"The waves are pretty nice today." 

"I'm done. You ready?" 

"I was born ready," he laughed.

"Okay weirdo."

We ran into the water, surfboard at our side, enjoying how the cool water felt against our hot skin. Once we were lying on the board we began paddling out to sea. Josh and I had been surfing buddies for a few years so it was a tradition that I caught the first wave then after that, it was fair game.

We paddled as far as we could before we spotted the perfect waves rolling towards us. The two of us lay against the board, allowing the wave to carry us to the top before I stood up to ride the wave as it crashed over my head. Josh was further down the wave than I was so he just carved a few cool moves before the wave rolled out.

Both panting, we laughed just laughed as the adrenaline coursed through our bodies. I looked at him with a challenging glint as we spotted a massive wave heading towards us. Without another word, we paddled as hard as our arms allowed us to. We both managed to catch the wave but I pulled off a nice barrel, while he settled for a simple carving instead. A crowd began gathering at the beach as more and more surfers paddled out to catch these waves. Josh continued to catch more waves while I let the current carry me back to the beach. 

"It's nice to see you out on the waves again Maddi. We miss you during competition season." Sawyer, my former surfing partner said when I made it back to shore. I grabbed the towel he was holding out for me. 

"Yeah, but I realised I wasn't enjoying surfing when I was competing. There was too much pressure to do well. It wasn't something I had planned on pursuing professionally either." I admitted as I dried my hair.

"Fair enough. By the way, I got an endorsement from Ripcurl!"

"That's amazing! I'm so proud of you. If anyone could break it professionally it'd be you." I grinned, immensely proud of my friend.

"Thanks, Maddi, it means a lot coming from you."

"What are you saying?"

"Only that you're one of the best surfers out there, even Josh thinks so. You're a natural. If you're up to it, you should join the circuit again. I know everyone would love to see your face again."

"I don't know Saw."

"Just think about it okay?" He told me. "You want to go out again?"

"I'm quite tired I think I'm just going to wait for Josh to finish up here and then head back for dinner." 

I lay my towel on the sand, pulled a book out of my bag and got lost in the story. 

"Hey, you ready to go?" Josh asked when he finally made it back to shore. 

"I'm ready when you are. You looked good out there. I see you've been trying out some new tricks."

"Yeah, I want enough time to perfect them for the next US open."

"You're going to compete this year?" I asked, packing up my things.

"I think I'm going to give it a try. It'll be the last thing I want to do before I head off to college."

"You do realise you can still compete even if you go to college," I told him.

"Yeah but I don't know where I'll end up or if I'll get time to practice." 

"Fair enough. Hey, my parents are out of town. Do you want to come over for dinner?"

"What did you make this time?" He asked.

"Spaghetti meatballs." I grinned.

"Oh you know I'm down for that." He laughed.

We locked up our boards before making our way back to my house. I showered quickly before heating up the leftovers. I portioned out the food into two bowls and set it on the kitchen island.

"I was talking to Sawyer earlier," I said.

"Oh really? Haven't seen that dude in a while. What's he up to?" 

"He's trying out different beaches to train for his next comp. He's finally got that sponsorship with Ripcurl like he always wanted." 

"That dude is going to go places," Josh said as he stuffed his face with pasta.

"Yeah, he's incredible. Sometimes I like just watching him surf you know. He's so graceful on the water." 

"Tell me about it. If anyone deserves that sponsorship it's him."

"He told me I should compete again." 

"You should Mads. You're a great surfer." 

"I like surfing, but the whole competition aspect of it just takes the fun out of it."

"People should see your talent. You shouldn't hide it." He placed a comforting hand on my back.

"I get that. I don't know. I always felt that surfing was more of a hobby than anything. I like what I have right now. Competitions are a whole other thing."

"Listen, I'm not going to force you into anything. I think Sawyer is right though. Give it some thought, hell even if you come to the US Open and you hate it then at least you gave it a shot."

"Hm, yeah maybe you're right," I said quietly, my mind drifting off. 

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edit: 05/02/2020