Above the waves

10

~Nate~

It's Wednesday. The day of the Major Malibu League championship. This championship is newer than others and has a Minor Malibu League as well. They target varsity surfers from schools across and near Malibu.

Josh and I and our families drove here last night and our hotel's pretty nice.

I look out at the beach beneath us and feel the breeze mess with my hair.

"You okay, Nate?" Mom asks from the doorway.

I turn to look at her and smile. "Nervous but yeah."

She motions for me to go near her and I do. She gives me her motherly hug and I'm thankful for her presence.

"Thanks mom."

She smiles at me and leads the way to the lobby. Tasha and dad went ahead to the beach to find a good spot to watch the competitions.

We walk to the beach and I get more hugs from Tasha and dad.

"Go knock 'em dead, Nate. We claim the victory!" Dad shouts.

Tasha and I laugh and I mess up my sister's hair. "Thanks for the support sis."

She swipes my hand away and smiles. "Of course. There's more support on the way."

I look at her confused and she shrugs.

"Go on. Josh is waiting." She says with a knowing smile, pushing me away.

I walk ahead but look back at her, confused. She shoos me away and I keep walking to where Josh waits.

He lifts a hand in greeting.

"You ready?" He asks checking out his board.

I place mine beside his. "Yeah. We're gonna do this."

***
The whistle blows and we paddle. I focus only on me and the waves, not looking to those around me.

In a few seconds I'm up in the biggest wave of the meet.

As I finish off with some more tricks, I look out at the beach to my family and nearly topple off my surfboard.

The horn blows. "Surfers come in."

Josh meets up with me and we paddle and walk back to shore.

"You killed it, man." Josh says with a wild smile, high-fiving me.

I congratulate him back then we trudge to where our families wait.

I keep looking down at my feet as we approach and I feel Josh stop beside me.

"Uh, Nate-"

"I know." I whisper back, cutting him off.

I look up and find myself staring at beautiful hazel brown eyes. She smiles shyly and I find myself staring. She's here.

She raises an eyebrow and an amused look crosses her face. I shake the clouded thoughts and smile back. A real genuine one.

I can feel everyone watching but I can't help but stare at her.

"Congratulations, Nate." She says with a small laugh.

I blink a few times and shift from one leg to another, realizing that I'm still holding my surfboard. I drop it and stand, grinning sheepishly.

"Hey. Uh, thanks. I mean, hi." I stutter. I want to internally slap myself.

She laughs now and I look around and see everyone smiling and relaxed. Guess this is such a touching happy scene.