Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 86 - Talent Search

And he's off with Wren again; she's muttering something in his ear, undoubtedly about you. You're about to sink into a chair to watch the next girls' heat, when you hear someone swear a little ways away behind the tent. You cautiously poke your head around to see Baxter kneeling over Summer's board, the tip of his finger on one hand bleeding while he holds a screwdriver in the other.

"What are you doing?" you ask, and Bax jumps, the screwdriver falling into the sand with a thud. He breathes out, laughing awkwardly.

"Oh, um, Summer just asked me to tighten her fins," he says, shoving the screwdriver in his pocket and getting up from his knees. "Just cut myself a little." he says gesturing to his bleeding finger.

You spare a look at Summer's board: the fins look normal, and you're not sure why Summer would ask him to tighten them, but you don't think much more of it as Baxter puts on a casual smile and changes the subject.

"So, how'd you go?" he asks, and you're not sure if he's genuinely interested or just asking for the sake of it, as a way of directing the attention away from himself.

"I lost." you say, crossing your arms.

He laughs a little, then shrugs. "Yeah, well, these comps don't really matter."

"Maybe not for you," you reply, a little irritated at his lack of care for this sort of stuff, whilst he's on the State Team and other people, namely Marlon, are not. "But my chances of getting a sponsor today are shot."

He smiles again. "Don't worry about it. Most sponsors don't even care about results if you're not a performance surfer. Especially Subtropix."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you're asking my opinion, BluGravity is the way to go - it's less...problematic than Subtropix. But if you want an easy way into sponsorship, you don't have to be a performance surfer."

"So you think I could do what Bodhi does?" you ask.

"Why not?" he smiles, and he picks Summer's board up from the sand and places it back on the rack, just in time for her to come get it before she starts her heat. "Anyway, I suppose we should cheer on our teammates." he says, boredly, stepping in front of you.

You follow him around the side and into the tent where Elo is giving Summer a pep talk. Wren is looking pleased with herself, talking to Molly from Subtropix with a huge smile on her face, which you can't tell is fake or not.

Summer makes her way to the starting line, looking confident, completely at ease. Her mum is on the phone a little way away, and you suddenly remember what Summer told you yesterday: if she doesn't win a heat today, her mum is putting her on the first plane back to New York. No pressure then.

Summer, Bodhi and the other three girls in the heat sprint into the water when the horn blares, and surprisingly, Summer is the first to catch a wave. She does well, scoring a 6.8. but the other girls (one from Queensland and two from New South Wales) are just too good. They both post scores higher than 8 on their first wave, and continue doing well after they paddle out again. It seems like you've really underestimated how difficult Nationals are going to be - how can you even have a chance of winning there if none of the girls on the team can even get through one heat in a talent search comp?

Summer is up again, catching her second wave of the heat. She manages to pull off a few turns, and she's killing it, but a quick glance at her mum tells you Margot is not yet impressed; she's still talking rapidly into the phone, and you swear you heard her say something about Chicago.

Summer is just about to snap off the top of the wave, when all of a sudden, she falls, leaving her board flailing in the white water. There's a low murmur which spreads across the Victorian tent, and across the beach.

"What the hell happened? She was doing great!" Poppy sidles up next to you on the sand as you wait for Summer to resurface. She eventually does, and you spot her trying to grab her board in the swirling water. Two seconds later, she's riding it in, and you share a worried glance with Poppy: was Summer hurt? Has something happened?

When she's in the shallows, Summer jumps up from her board and starts hurtling towards the beach, yelling something incomprehensible. At first glance, she doesn't look hurt, but there's something about her board that looks...wrong. It's missing a fin, you realise, and a creeping sense of dread comes over you as Summer reaches you.

"Poppy, I need my fins!" Summer yells, and Poppy takes the board from under her arm.

"Yeah., don't worry, okay? We'll fix this." she says before sprinting to the tent.

Summer breathes out dramatically, probably running on adrenaline as she kneels on the sand. She says something to you, but you don't really hear. There's only one thing on your mind.

Baxter Radic is a selfish prick.