The Pick

The Pick - Chapter Twenty

Chapter 20

The beach was crowded and wild. People were running everywhere, and there were many hot guys all over the place. But that's not what caught my eye. 

The water looked perfect, it was blue and shining in the sun. The waves were huge and easygoing. It looked like the absolute most perfect place to surf. I turned around to ask Bray if he wanted to surf, but when I turned around he was frowning. 

"What's wrong?" I asked him, I tilted my head to the side, mocking a lost puppy. 

"Our boards haven't arrived yet," I groaned. I wanted to surf so badly! 

I heard shouting and turned around only to see a crowd of shouting and cheering people formed in a large circle. All of a sudden a loud voice called out through, what sounded like, a megaphone. 

"Hello ladies and gentle-dudes! Hah, alright now. Here we have 29 of the 30 surfers who will definitely be surfing at Nationals! Is there anyone else out there?" There was cheering and wild commotion. Bray shoved me forward and I slyly made my way through the crowd. 

I finally made it to the center of the group where there were all guys standing. Figures, I'm the only girls competing. 

"I am," I called out and all eyes looked towards me. 

"Alright, alright! Whar's your name, pretty miss?" He winked. I rolled my eyes. 

"Olivia. Olivia Montgomery," I heard murmurs of approval as they recognized my name, then me. 

"Come on down Olivia!" 

I made my way to where there were 29 guys standing there. Towards the end I saw Mike, who had finally registered that I really was the finalist for Virginia. 

"Hey," I said, a fake smile plastered on my face. My voice masked with untrue enthusiasm. I've never felt so fake in my life. 

"Well lets see what these dudes and dudette can do! There's 30 surfboards over at The Shack over there, go get 'em!" 

I walked a moderate pace, not wanting to look overly excited to go surfing in that beautiful ocean water. It looked so peaceful, like it was waiting for the right time to power up and throw a challenge at someone. 

I finally got the The Shack where the surfboards were located. There were only three left, so I decided on the biggest one which was orangeish/red with a white stripe down the middle. 

I heard murmurs of "how's she gonna ride that?" and "she should've taken the smallest one" but mentally dismissed them. 

I stopped where the guys were in a line and joined them. I pulled off my coverup and set it aside. I felt the stares from hundreds of people but ignored them. Sure I had a pretty good body, I didn't think I was sexy enough for people to be staring at me, jaws dropped open. 

I saw the guy in front of me, a black surfboard in hand staring at me sculpted stomach and decided to embarass him, "You should close your mouth, you might catch flies!" 

The speaker came on again, counting down, "3... 2... and 1.... GO!"

I took off running, surfboard in hand. I jumped on it as soon as I was deep enough in the water. I almost immediately spotted movement and went after it. I noticed a coupled guys behind me, so I decided to kick it up a notch.

I started rapidly paddling and got to the wave, it was just cresting. I stood up and whipped it. I then leaned back but stood up just in time to rip to the right. I rode the wave for a few more seconds before it died, and front flipped off. That'll show them!

~*~

I stepped out of the bathroom, still thinking about how much fun I had at the beach. I smiled remembering how Jake had gotten jealous when I was talking to one of the guys. I scrunched my went hair and grabbed a towel. I wrung out my hair.

I was only wearing a sports bra and underwear, and was praying neither of the boys would stare, or would even be there for that matter. Luckily they weren't there.

I rummaged through my drawer and finally found what I was looking for. I put on my short Abercrombie shorts and put on my hot pink cami tank top. I added my lacy blouse from Hollister over top of it.

I left my hair so it could do what it wants. I fell in wet waves down my back, and I was pretty sure it would look a lot better once it dried.

I walked over to my bed and picked up my phone. It was an iPhone 4S, I had gotten it for my birthday this past December. It was white, and over it I had a dark purple case with a green letterings that spelled out SURF. 

One new message. 

It read: 

'O, do great at Nationals. I'll be there watching' 

The number was unknown, but I knew who it was. Only one person would call me O and I can't stand them. I felt like ripping my hair out, but decided against it. It'll probably effect my head injury somehow. 

i blocked the number and ignored the text, not wanting to deal with him today. I went down the the pool and found Bray and Jake. Jake looked annoyed while Braydon wore a flirtatious smile and I laughed. Typical Bray!

I came up behind Jake and covered his eyes with my hands. 

"Guess who," I spoke in a smooth yet husky voice. 

"Uh.. uh.. Hold on, I know this one... It's uh... Oprah!?" 

I laughed. "Nope!" 

He scooped me up in his arms and I laughed more then I have in a while. It felt really good, too.