Page 55

Alexa Play: Shiny Happy People by R.E.M

T he day of the surf competition came quickly.

It felt like I blinked, and then I was suddenly standing on Leviathans Beach, staring at the biggest crowd of people I’d seen since moving here.

The beach was packed. There was even a news van and reporters there to televise it. Goliath had outfitted me in a new wetsuit, and it was the most expensive thing I’d ever owned.

They’d wanted me to use a new gunboard, but I’d refused. I had my pink shortboard with me, and the thought of switching it out felt like I was betraying it or something.

“It’s an inanimate object, surf star.” Jet had laughed.

He didn’t get it, clearly. This was my favorite board, and it hadn’t failed me before. If I was going to do this, it would be on a board I felt comfortable on.

The crowd was buzzing with anticipation, and I was right there with them. However, my inner circle was not as excited.

The weather had turned. This day was a far cry from the blue skies and even tide I had ripped previously.

Today, the sky was a dark, angry grey, and the peaks were cold and sharp. Within the first hour, I’d seen two massive double-up waves crash onto the beach, which seemed to alarm Jet and Kai.

Don’t even get me started on Jake.

His entire body was tense. He’d been stiff as a surfboard next to me when I woke up, and the muscle in his jaw kept pulsing.

I could tell he was holding back a slew of warnings and protests about me surfing on a day that wasn’t perfect conditions, but he kept them to himself, and I was thankful.

“If it wasn’t safe, they would postpone the competition,” I assured him over breakfast, and he’d just given me a dark look and nodded.

His silence spoke volumes.

It would have been easier to brush off his grumpiness as him just being his usual paranoid self if I hadn’t been getting the same tense vibes from Kai and Jet.

Even Turtle was on edge.

“Finn Man, some of these waves are looking rough, bro,” he said, eyeing the third sixty-foot double-up that was currently demolishing the death zone. The majesty and power of it sent thrills of excitement through my entire body.

I shrugged. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be careful. No one else looks like they’re planning on pulling out,” I said, trying to stay positive.

The other surfers were all doing their pre-surf rituals. I’d seen several surfers who were personal idols of mine, and I was having a hard time not acting like a star-struck uber-fan.

Even Mike Gurallo had come to watch, and he shook my hand !

I, of course, forgot how to speak again, and I’m pretty sure he thought I had brain damage or something, but I was too busy eyeing up the swells to worry about that right now.

“Yeah, well. Most people are fucking morons,” Kai grumbled. He, unlike Jake, hadn’t kept his thoughts to himself.

He’d told me straight up and in no uncertain terms that I was an idiot for riding today.

When I’d looked to Jet to call off his dog, he’d just pursed his lips and admitted that he agreed.

Thanks for the support, assholes.

Sylvia walked up to us, her shiny clipboard in her hand and her expensive running shoes crunching in the black rocks that made up the beach.

“You ready, Summers?” she asked, giving me a smile.

Finally, someone who was just as amped as I was.

“I was born ready,” I grinned at her, and she beamed at me.

“Hell yeah. That’s what I want to hear. Follow me; the lineup is being announced.”

I nodded, saying goodbye to my unofficial team. They all watched me go with worry painted on their faces.

“Good luck, Finn Man,” Turtle said, his voice softer than normal and his brown eyes full of concern. I frowned at him.

“Hey man, I’m gonna do great. No stress.” I winked at him. “Let’s have a bonfire with Shelly tonight to celebrate.”

He gave me a tentative smile and fist-bumped me.

“Hell yeah, man. Let’s do it.”

I nodded and saluted the guys before following Sylvia to where the other athletes were gathered around an official-looking dude with a headset.

She wrapped her hand around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

“How you doing? You okay? Nervous at all?”

“I know this is gonna sound like I’m trying to flex, but I’m not,” I chuckled. “But I don’t get nervous. I don’t feel fear. It’s a whole thing. ”

She looked at me, surprised. “Wow, really?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. I process fear as excitement. When I was a kid, I couldn’t understand what held people back from doing epic shit, and my mom had to literally explain what fear was to me.” I laughed, and Sylvie looked impressed.

“Well, we clearly hit the jackpot with you, Summers. You’re gonna go places in this industry.”

I beamed at her, giving her a dimple-popping smile.

“I hope so! This is like a dream come true.”

“What the fuck is this joker doing here?” a nasty voice interrupted our conversation, and I turned around to see Kyle Tully glaring at me.

Oh yeah. Forgot about this guy.

“Bro, close your mouth; you’re gonna burn someone’s retinas off with those teeth,” I grumbled, trying not to smirk at how red his face got.

Sylvie snorted next to me, and we exchanged an amused look.

“How the fuck did you get into this competition? You didn’t even try out! I would know. My dad organized this!” He puffed out his chest like nepotism was something to brag about.

“Relax, Tully. Don’t hurt yourself. Save that aggression for the waves, yeah?” I brushed him off, already bored with whatever this altercation was.

“Kyle, focus!” a man who I assumed was his coach barked.

“No! I want to talk to someone about this. That man assaulted me! He shouldn’t be allowed to compete.”

Sylvie raised an eyebrow at Kyle but then spoke directly to his coach.

“Get him under control. This is unprofessional.”

Tully’s coach nodded, grabbing him by the arm and tugging him away.

“Let’s go, Kyle. You’re gonna get yourself disqualified.”

I had to resist the urge to flip him off as his coach manhandled him to the other side of the lineup.

Somehow, I didn’t think that would be professional .

“What a little prick,” Sylvie muttered, scribbling something down on her clipboard.

“Tell me about it,” I mumbled when the official headset man finally started talking.

We were all assigned to our respective heats. If you don’t know what a heat is, it’s basically a timed set where multiple surfers compete at the same time.

As I was officially a Goliath athlete and they were the competition’s biggest sponsor, I was given a big fat shiny number one.

I cheered silently to myself about the fact that I was going to be up first. However, my excitement was squashed when Tully was assigned to the first heat. Likely because of *nepotism* . Yay.

But I didn’t let it get to me.

He could eat my ocean spray. I was gonna set the bar so fucking high they would be naming the next competition after me.

Sylvie walked me to the shoreline, running me through how the process was going to work.

She pointed to the west side of the beach.

“Line up starts there; they want the first heat out in five. They’re running with a flag system,” she explained.

“Green flag means heat is in progress, and y’all can catch waves.

Yellow flag indicates the last 5 minutes of the heat, signaling you need to wrap up your strategy.

Red flag means the heat has ended; no waves you catch after this are going to be scored.

Got it?” she asked, and I nodded, basically bouncing on the balls of my feet in anticipation.

“Got it. I’m so fucking ready!”

She smiled at me, chuckling.

“Alright. Good luck, Summers. Make us proud.”

I winked at her.

“You bet!”

Another Goliath rep called her name, and she left me to strap on my tether and get in the water.

“Hey, baby.” I glanced up from fucking around with my ankle strap to see Jake standing next to me .

He had his teal board with him and was in his swim trunks. He never wore a wetsuit, and I assumed it was because the dead didn’t get cold.

Suddenly, the world fell away, and it was just me and Jake.

“Hey,” I breathed, smiling at him so big I felt like my face was going to split in half. “You coming out there with me?” I asked.

He gave me a soft smile that was a little too sad for my liking.

“Of course I am.”

“Really?” My eyes pricked, and for a second, I felt weirdly lucky that no one but me could see my boyfriend. It was fucking sick that he could come out to the lineup with me and see me off before I started my heat.

“Yeah, baby. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Fuck, I love you.”

He grabbed my chin and pressed a soft kiss to my mouth. I closed my eyes and inhaled his coconut scent.

“Mmm. That’s all the luck I need, babe,” I hummed against his lips, and he chuckled.

“You’re going to need more than luck.” He pulled away and turned his gaze out to the ocean.

The violent peaks crashed and roared in the distance, white eruptions of seafoam rupturing in deadly bursts.

It was easy to imagine the barrels of each wave as hungry mouths, looking to devour those of us foolish enough to venture out.

Fucking sick.

“The double-ups are savage today,” Jake commented, his tone level but dark.

“Yeah, no kidding.”

He shot me a loaded glance.

“Remember your training. When in doubt, don’t paddle out. Even if you only catch one wave during the heat, it’s better to catch one perfect swell and execute it well than risk a wipeout trying for multiples that are high risk.”

I nodded. “Yeah, got it. ”

“Alright. Let’s go, shark bait,” he grunted, adjusting his board under his arm.

“Let’s go slay some Leviathans.” I grinned, and together, we paddled out into the chop.