Waves, Sunsets, & Coffee

Chapter 6.1

"Hey." Ares says as he called me from my phone.
"Ares, what's up?"
"Nothing much. How's Liam?" He asks
"He's alright. He got discharged just awhile ago and now he's just resting here."
"Oh good. Anyways, I wanted to ask you. Do you wanna go surfing?"
"Today? But I thought the waves were out this season."
"The big waves are out. But there's still enough to have fun. So what do you say?" He asks and I hesitate since I've never been surfing.
I have this fear of drowning and basically any activity that will restrict my airway, I'll usually pass.
"Come on Alex! Who are you to pass such an activity like this? It'll be fun." He says after noticing my hesitation.
"I dunno Ares, I really don't like to drown."
"I'll be there. Plus the waves are low and not that strong. And, it's not everyday that you'll get to see me in just board shorts... so..." He says, teasing and flirting with me, so I ride with it.
"Oh really? Or are you inviting me just because you want to see me in my bathing suit? Are you thinking about my body right now Ares?"
"Perhaps. So, are you in or out?"
"Alright, I'll do it." I finally say, knowing I'll regret this decision when the time comes and I drown.
"Great! Oh do you have a rashguard?" He asks.
"Nawp, but I have swim shorts."
"It's alright. Just wear something you like and I'll pick you up there."
"Sure, see you."
"Yeah, I'll be there in ten."
We ended the call and I took a shower. It was only a quick one since I still wanted to put caffeine inside my body before going.
I put on my orange bikini and shorts and a loose shirt on top.
"Alex, where you going?" Keith asks.
"Surfing. With Ares. You guys wanna come?" I asked them.
"Who's going surfing?" Enzo suddenly asks, coming into the living room.
"Alex is."
"Hey can I go?" Enzo asks and Keith shakes her head no. "What? Why?"
"Let them have their fun." Emma says and I roll my eyes.
"Just come if you want. Doesn't matter really." I say, and we heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" I say, knowing it'll be Ares.
"Hey." He greets the others and they greet back.
"You guys want to join us surfing?" He asks and Enzo's eyes lit up. He was about to say yes when Keith nudges him in the stomach.
"Nah, you guys go ahead. We have something to do anyways." Keith says for Enzo and he pouts, not being able to surf.
"Well, we'll be going now." I say.
"Be back by ten!" Emma shouts and I chuckle at their childishness.
"Do I really have you back by ten?" Ares asks.
"Nah, they're just playing."
"Good, cause I got plans for today."
Five minutes into the drive, I've noticed that we were going to the town, rather than the beachside.
"I thought we were surfing?" I asked.
"Yeah we are. But we need to get you the proper gear first. The best ones are near the city. Plus, have you had breakfast?"
"Coffee duh. My all time favourite breakfast." I say.
"Alex! We're going to surf and you only had coffee?" He says and I shrug it off.

"Hey Drew!" Ares greets the man who's probably in his thirties and gives each other a bro hug.
"Ares! My man! I haven't seen you for a while. What's up?" The man named Drew says.
"This is Alex. She—" Ares gets cut off by Drew's gasp.
"Am I dead? Is this an angel coming to get me? My my bless my soul." Drew exclaims and we both laugh.
"Hi. I'm Alex, and no I'm not an angel. I'm here with Ares." I explain.
"Girlfriend?" Drew asks Ares and we both shake our head no.
"You forgot the space in between. We're friends." Ares explains.
"Friends? Friends with this girl? Get out of here!" I'm pretty sure Drew's convinced that we're together and that Ares is dating an angel.
"Get your head out of the clouds Drew. Anyways, we're here for surfing gear. For Alex." Ares says and Drew leads us further in his shop and into a door that has a sigh which says "authorized personnel only".
"Aren't those the surfing stuff?" I question, pointing at the front of the store where there were surfboards and suits.
"Yeah, but for Ares, he only gets the best of the best." Drew explains and as he turns on the lights to the room, my mouth drops open at the number of surf boards displayed all around and other surf gear that I know nothing about.
"Woah!" I say, not being able to contain my amazement at the beautiful boards around me.
"These boards are made specifically for professional surfers. It has the highest quality you can look for a board around here. I only keep these for Ares and famous people who go there to surf obviously." Drew explains as I look around, admiring the boards.
"So, have you ever surfed before?" He asks and I shake my head no.
"Ah I see. I have the perfect board just for you. Come come." Drew gestures me to the far end of the room where there were three long boards by the wall.
"Since it's your first time, it's best for you to use a long one. Perfect for balancing." He explains.
"Do I just choose which one I'll get or...?" I asked.
"Yeah. Go ahead. I'll meet you guys in the front for other supplies." Drew says, leaving me with Ares.
"The pink and white suits you." Ares says and I scrunch my face.
"I mean, it's nice, but, pink is too... girly. Not to be sexist or anything." I say.
"Oh so like I hate blue 'cause it's too boyish." He says and I laugh. "Something like that."
"Well, if pink is too girly, and blue is too boyish, then the perfect color is..."
"Green."
"Green." We both say at the same time and my eyes widen.
"Copycat." I accuse him.
"Please, green has been my color ever since." He says.
"Well, the green one it is!" I say, grabbing the ombre green surfboard and going back to Drew.
"Good choice. Here are the other things you'll need." He says, showing other surf gear that I am yet to know what it is and what it's for.
I saw Ares bring out his wallet but I stopped him.
"I'm paying Ares. So put that back." I say and he doesn't listen. God he's just as stubborn as me and I don't like it.
"You know what? Consider this as a gift for blessing this place with a face as beautiful as an angel." Drew says and I shake my head no, not being able to accept his offer.
These must cost a lot and I'm not walking out of here full of surf things that I got for free.
"Drew, I can't accept that. Let me atleast pay for the surfboard." I pleaded and after some convincing, he finally agreed.
"Alex, I invited you to surf. Let me pay." Ares says and I roll my eyes, ignoring him.
"Let's split it then. Alex." Ares says and I sigh, agreeing, just so he can stop being stubborn.
"Have fun out there! Ares, you take care of her alright?" Drew says and Ares nods. "Will do."
"Let's go!" I excitedly said as I pulled him towards the car.
"Woah woah! We're not surfing just yet." He says and I frown.
"But why?" I asked.
"You just had coffee for breakfast. You need energy before you go to the waves. Come, I know a great breakfast dinner around." He said as we put the gear to his car and tied the surfboard on top of his board on the roof of the car.
We walked just across the road where a small dinner stands.

After our lunch, we drove back to the beach and right now, he's briefing me on safety tips and all I need to know as a first time surfer.
"Do you do yoga?" He asks and I nod.
"Part of mma training. Gotta be flexible." I say.
"Good. Well, we'll do some yoga stretches, work on your balance, and strengthen your core. You already got the right body, so just a little more tweaks and you're good to surf." He says and I groan.
"I didn't realize I had to do so much more before I got to surf. How hard can it be?" I complain, 'cause I just want to jump straight in the waves.
"Just a couple hours ago you were too scared 'cause you might drown. Now you want to ride the waves already." He says and I shrug.
"Got excited when I got my surfboard."
The next two hours were spent on more and more guidelines and yoga and stretching and more rules.
"Can I surf now?" I asked, getting impatient with every second.
"Nawp. 'Cause now, you rest before you take on the waves." He says and I groan.
"Come on!"
"Don't worry, it'll be worth it." He says and gives me a bottle of water which I gladly take.
Thirty minutes in, and now I finally got to go in the water. The moment Ares said I could surf, I immediately ran to the ocean and dived head first.
I simply love the cold water that the ocean brings.
"So do you want to surf or not?" I heard Ares say who was holding our two surfboards and I excitedly ran to him and got my green one while he had a black surfboard.
"You know, you gotta take off your denim shorts and shirt. Don't wanna get caught in the waves wearing that. Might strangle you." He says and I know he's playing a game.
I dropped my board and walked slowly to him as I slowly raised my shirt up, teasing him.
He stares at my hand, holding the rim of my shirt as I throw it over my head and throws it to the sand, leaving me in only my orange bikini top.
"Alex..." He warns as I put both my hands on his chest, slowly bringing it down as I heard him suck his breath.
"Don't want this to get caught in the waves do we?" I whisper behind his ear as I tugged on his shirt and removed it, exposing his well defined abdomen. I threw his shirt on the side, making my hands linger more on his warm chest.
I give him a smirk and winked at him, before giving him a light punch and running away back to the water.
"Alex!" He frustratingly said as he chased for me but I already jumped in the water.
After a few minutes of fooling and chasing around, I finally calmed down and let him guide me to my surfboard.
"Balance Alex, balance." He says as I laid down on the board and he pushes me away from the shore and towards the waves.

"Alex!" Ares shouts for the hundredth time as I heard him shouting for my name everytime I make a wrong move and fall to the ocean.
I've tried a thousand times to catch a proper wave and tried to ride on it for more than ten seconds but I fail every time.
It was a miracle that I haven't drowned yet.
I swim back to shore where Ares looks at me disappointedly.
"What? It's not as easy as it looks!" I say trying to get the water that got in my ears.
"Oh Alex."
"Hey! You signed up for this." I say in defense as I laugh at his demise. Yep, his fault that he got stuck with me.
"I know I know. Okay, let's try this again, but this time—" He says, instructing me on how to balance better and after a couple more tries, I finally got it.
"Woohoo!" I shouted as I was surfing properly already.
"Hold it Alex! Steady!" Ares shouts from the shore and I positioned my legs so I could get the perfect balance.
"That felt amazing!" I say as I surf back to the shore, and with my excitement, I jumped and hugged him, thanking him for teaching me.
"So do you want to know why I was stalling earlier with the guidelines?" He says.
"You were stalling?" I gasp as I playfully hit him for wasting my time.
"Okay okay I'm sorry. But the reason is this." He says as he faces me back to the ocean and only then did I realize how the waves were perfectly catching the light from the setting sun.
"Woah." I can't help but be amazed at the sight in front of me.
"Let's surf!" Ares says as he runs to the ocean with his board and I run after him.
"Try to keep up!" He teases.
"You doofus! You're pro at this and I'm not! But I won't pass down a challenge." I threaten him as we both caught the same waves and we fight to get the upper hand.