CLICKS - The Dolphin Prophecy

CHAPTER 10

“They’re my lucky pair,” he said, placing them over my eyes. He secured the seal and then carefully drew the band down over my hair—trying not to grab any loose strands in the process—and pulled my ponytail through.

His hands were quick and firm as he adjusted the fit and I forgot all about why they were there on my temples and focused only on the gorgeous guy in front of me who suddenly looked silver. The borrowed goggles were exactly the color my dolphin’s eyes had been. I wondered if this was how we looked to her. I thanked him with a quick kiss on the cheek that stuck to my single-second-of-touching rule.

“That’s all I get for my lucky goggles?” he asked.

“For now,” I said with a wink that didn’t quite work and that he didn’t see, considering my eye was surrounded by plastic.

“Okay,” he smirked. “I wouldn’t want to distract you.”

“Jerk!” I punched him, but I was laughing, which was light years away from my freak-out just minutes earlier.

With the light shaded from my eyes, I could focus on the competition. I recognized most of the other swimmers in my heat. The Guard had two members competing in the female race. Both were much older, closer to my mom’s age, and just in it to have fun. I felt confident that I had the knee-boarding part locked. Hopefully that could buy me any extra time I’d need if I couldn’t lasso the buoy the first or second time.

Just take it slow, Mica sent, reminding me of the frustration I felt before. His well-intentioned thoughts had the opposite effect. I had calmed myself down—with Blake’s help—but now I could feel myself begin to freak out again. Unfortunately, there were not too many places I could get away from a person who could come into my brain. Instead, I focused on absorbing as much of his knowledge as I could. His confidence calmed me down, in a way his advice could not.

With my brother in my brain, and my boyfriend’s goggles on my face, I was ready when the gun went off. I took off on my knees, paddling as quickly as possible in the water, getting out in front of most of the pack right away. I ignored the sun, the crowds, and the other competitors to spot the target one hundred yards away. The ring strapped on the front of my board became my focus as I approached the target. I got close enough and tossed the ring, missing by a couple feet. I pulled it back to me and tossed it again. This time, a wave interrupted and I missed by just inches.

Pulling the ring back, I looked around. There were others approaching their buoys, and one person was already headed back. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes this time, remembering what my previous throws had felt like. This time, when I threw, I knew instinctively that I had it even before the ring hit. I pulled back with enough force to capture the buoy but not lose it again, secured the lasso to the ring, and turned my board back to the shore. With every ounce of strength in my arms, I pulled the board, the buoy, and myself to shore, and came in third. Not first place, as I would have liked, but much better than I’d feared.

At day's end, they handed out the certs for each event and tallied up all the various scores for ranking in the Surf Carnival as a whole, so far. I placed seventh for the day, twentieth overall. Which was ok, considering I had a big fat zero for the first event. Mica took third place for the day, and second overall, so far. Mica had killed it with the buoy, snagging it from thirty feet out, saving a ton of time and placing first in that event. Blake had missed his buoy completely, coming in twelfth for that event, which brought him down to fifth overall for the day, and fifth for all of the events in the Surf Carnival, so far.

Blake gave Mica a fist bump and silently walked down the beach with just a tiny wave to me. I started off after him, but Mica stopped me with a thought and a grab to my elbow.