Dear Future Husband

July 7, 2019

Dear my beautiful babe,

April was right.

I feel less dead inside.

After we talked, I decided to grab a surfboard and hit the beach.

I learned to surf when I was ten and I try to hit the waves at least once a year because I really love doing it. I wasn't the best at it, but I could hold my own on some of the toughest waves and enjoyed it nonetheless.

So I went out and I surfed.

They were pretty decent waves and it was a beautiful day to be surfing, and for the first time in a while I felt a little better about the whole situation. There was definitely still guilt and regret, but I didn't feel it nearly as much when I was riding the waves.

I was sitting on my board during a lull after a massive series of wave after monstrous wave just enjoying the coolness of the water on my legs and the warmth of the sun on my back just relaxing. I tried not to think of anything but the physical sensations I was feeling in that moment. It was kind of really nice, almost like meditating, and it really just put me at peace.

My moment was disrupted when I felt someone come up next to me. "Might want to start paddling!" They shouted, pulling me from my daze.

I looked up to see a big ass wave growing before me. Most would've seen it as a threat or something to swim away from, I saw it as a challenge and something I just wanted to sink my teeth into.

I started paddling quickly towards it as it climbed higher and higher, putting myself just before it and spun my board around so the wave was behind me, then starting paddling towards the beach as I felt the water swell beneath me. A second later, I was up on the board with the water roaring behind me as my board sliced the top of the water.

It was probably the best wave all day, a beautiful 8 footer. Usually on a wave of that height I get swallowed, but this time I rode it all the way until the end and it was amazing.

The wave settled about twenty feet from shore and I dove off my board to finish the perfect ride, coming out of the water laughing and cheering.

"Pretty sick, right?" I heard the surfer from earlier say behind me.

I turned and came face to face with your classic, So-Cal, surfer chick wearing a wetsuit with crazy sea kissed hair.

"Incredible." I replied. "Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem," She smiled, running a hand through her hair. "Ready for round two?"

"Hell yeah!" I said, getting back on my board and paddling out with her.

We sat together on our boards patiently waiting for the next big wave as a series of small ones passed under us.

"You from out of town? I've never seen you here before." She asked me.

"Yeah, Seattle, I'm on vacation."

"Ah." She said, nodding as she eyed my chest, making me feel self conscious. "I can tell, if you were a regular surfer you would've known by now that you need a wetsuit to avoid board rash."

I looked down at myself and shrugged. "It's more authentic this way. The first surfer didn't wear a wetsuit."

She laughed. "Touché. I like the view better this way anyway." With that, she started paddling off into the horizon.

I was taken aback by that comment. Was she checking me out?

I followed her into the ocean as another wave started to build and I made it just as it started to crest. I rode it for a few seconds before I lost my balance and tumbled into the water, being jostled around the strong current.

I came up coughing as I fumbled around for my board, finding it and pulling myself up on it.

I heard a sweet laugh from next to me and opened my stinging eyes to see the girl back on her board, paddling closer to me. "Yeah, you're definitely not from around here with form like that."

I rolled my eyes, coughing up sea water. "Sorry, the only water you can find in Seattle is either from the Sound, or falling from the sky."

"Well then, Seattle boy, let a Malibu girl show you how it's done." She motioned towards the vast ocean and began paddling out with me not far behind.

"You bend your back too much, bend your knees, you have more strength there." She said as she adjusted herself on her board.

"Noted." I said, shaking the water out of my hair. "How long have you been surfing for?"

"As long as I can remember. I've lived here my whole life, this beach is my playground that I never seem to grow out of." She replied. "How about you?"

"Only about 7 years." I said. "You've probably surfed more this year than I've done in that time though."

"You're probably right," She laughed, looking out at the water. "Heads up, another big one is coming."

I caught that wave and took her advice, bending my knees more and keeping my back straight and to my surprise, I felt a lot steadier than I did before.

I rode at least ten more waves like that, talking to the girl in between every one. I learned her name is Rena, she's seventeen, and she lives a few houses down from where I was staying. Both her parents are professional surfers and they own a restaurant along the beach.

I've got to say, it was kind of nice meeting someone my age on this trip rather than being alone or having to spend all of that time with my family. I know what you're thinking, a hot surfer girl my age is someone that I would definitely start putting the moves on, but I just didn't have any desire to. Despite the great day I had, I still have Alina on my mind and I still have this feeling like if I tried anything with this girl I would be cheating on Alina. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake that feeling and I wasn't going to try to. I had done enough of that today.

Around five, I saw my family starting to pack up on the beach and I knew that they were getting ready to go home and prepare for dinner, so I paddled back to shore with Rena.

"Thanks for helping me out today, Rena." I said to her.

"No problem, I hope I can see you again to help you a little more." She said, biting her lip.

It was obvious she had been flirting with me all day and I had responded each time with a polite, platonic refusal which she seemed to not pick up on. Either that or she was really persistent. "Yeah, uh, maybe I will."

We went our separate ways and I helped pack up the remainder of the beach gear.

"Who was that girl?" My mom asked me as she folded a beach chair.

I knew what was coming next and I really didn't want to talk about it. My better mood had faded and I was back to feeling like shit and I did not want to talk about this right now. "I don't know, we were just surfing near each other."

"It looked like more than that." Rick commented. "Does your girlfriend know about this?"

I took a deep breath to keep from lashing out. I had no idea what I was going to say to that, if anything.

"Well it obviously wasn't more than that so you saw wrong." April snapped back.

"April, enough with the sass it was a simple question." My mom replied.

After that the conversation ended, and I owed it all to April. Today she really saved me in a lot of different ways and I had a greater appreciation for her than I did before. It was nice to know that I had someone in my corner now that I didn't have Alina.

Times like this, I needed someone to have my back.

-Grant
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Sorry for the late update! I've been on vacation and didn't get a chance to update so be prepared for a good week's worth of chapters!

Love you all,

-RavenclawMaven1198