Stronger Together

Chapter 20

"Okay calm down there's still 2 hours til the competition starts."

We tore apart the hotel room

"Oh fuck!" I heard her curse

"What?" I asked

"Your necklace is no more." she held up my broken necklace

"No! It must've gotten caught on my hoodie. I can't compete without it. Lia what am I gonna do?"

"Look let's get on the water, I'm sure once you're warmed up you'll get in the groove of things."

"I've never surfed without my necklace or dad around. I can't do this Lia." I shook my head

"Don't go using the C word."

"I didn't even say cunt." I told her confused

"No nimrod 'Can't' you know it's forbidden. There's nothing you can't do. Now let's go."

I reluctantly slipped on my crocs and grabbed my board

At least I have dad's board maybe that'll bring me good luck

I got in the water and started warming up and trying to ride some waves. Let me tell you the waves were huge and they hurt. I couldn't maintained balance. I had been in the water for maybe an hour and I knew I couldn't do this

I got out the water and ran straight to Lia

"I can't do this. I need my dad, call him." I started hyperventilating

"My phone is in our room I'll tell Jared to go get it."

"Okay." I panted

She came back 5 minutes later and I felt light headed

She helped me steady my breathing then about 10 minutes later she spoke again

"Hey look who Jared found." she pointed behind me

I saw my dad along with my entire family and Lucy

I ran and hugged dad

"I'm freaking out! I broke my necklace you gave me and now I can't ride any waves. I'm out of my league this is too hard for me. I'm gonna embarrass myself. I can't do this." I rambled

"Hey, Hey, Hey, none of that. You can do this! You made it this far and it wasn't because of some necklace. It's because you're a talented surfer. If anyone has this in the bag it's you Valkyrie. And even if you were to come in last place you'd still be my winner. Lets take some deep breaths and get out of your head. Right now you're your own worst enemy." he told me

"Right, I got this." I told myself unconvincingly

"You got this." he reassured

"I got this! I got this! I can do it." I chanted

"But if you need another good luck charm you can take my necklace."

He took out a shark tooth necklace from under his shirt

"Thank you." I put it on

The announcer called my name and my three opponents name out to the water since our heat was about to start

"Now go out there and kick some ass!"

I nodded but walked over to Lucy

"I think I might need a good luck kiss." I whispered to him

"In front of your family? You want me to die?" he asked

"Please, it'll help calm me down."

He groaned then grabbed my face and pulled me into a deep kiss