The Diary Of A Teenage Girl [COMPLETED]

02/03

Sat in a boat, I looked up at Xander. He'd convinced me to let him teach me how to roll. We'd been having a freak warm week in the UK and the water levels were down at the moment due to lack of rain.

He'd called me telling me how this was the perfect time and didn't let me hang up until I promised I'd come down. This really was like my only chance given the water levels were more than likely to be high the next time I were to go paddling. It was undoubtedly going to rain soon seen as England was rainy enough without any extra water particles evaporating into the air.

So here I was.

He smiled at me, passing me my paddles before going off to get in his own boat.

I pushed away from the side and paddled further out into the river then waited for him to join me.

The sun shone down on the river reflecting light everywhere. The water was calm and flat, unlike the previous times I'd been kayaking. Usually the river was high with the wind blowing the water into waves, causing white caps. This was definitely a nice changing. Water like this made me want to go kayaking all the time. I had always loved water, I think that was why kayaking kept calling to me, even throughout the winter. In the sun, it was just amazing though. It created a whole different dynamic.

Xander made his way over to me, the sun shining down on him as well. The water droplets in his hair glimmered in the light.

"You ready?" He asked.

I nodded, I wasn't quite sure if I actually was but I was going to have to be.

He positioned his boat at the top of mine in a way that anyone looking from a birds eye view would think we were trying to write the letter "T".

"Capsize then." He said to which I pulled a face.

"Are you not going to tell me what to do first?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "Fine, I'll demonstrate."

Then he capsizes his own boat and whacks the water with his paddle before returning to the surface.

I glared at him. "That wasn't helpful. Like at all."

"Where did this attitude come from?"

"It's always been there." Which was true, I'd just hidden it before but now I don't feel the need to be nice to him. That's what happens when someone breaks up with you. When I thought about it, it still hurt but I'd definitely moved on. Him breaking up with me wasn't at the top of the terrible things that have happened to me since starting sixth form. There were other things for me to worry about. Like my ex-best friend dating my ex-crush then said ex-crush assaulting me whilst still dating her.

"Fine then, if you're gonna be salty about it I'll show you again." Then he went into instructor mode.

"First, you hold your paddle to the side of the boat and point your wrists to the water." He demonstrated as he spoke. "Then, when you've capsized, you hold your paddle at a right angle to the boat and slap the water."

He capsized and showed me what he just said and resurfaced from the water.

"You got it? Or you want me to go through it again?"

"Can you show me again, like how you do it actually under the water, but slower this time?" I smiled at him sweetly.

"Any slower and I'll drown. Now, unless you seriously need me to go through again, and your not just plotting my death, capsize and try." He smiled back at me sweetly.

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. Then I set up and capsized.

I tried to repeat the step he had told me, the resistance of the water making it harder than it had looked. When I managed to finally get my paddle out to what felt like a right-angle, I slapped the water, aiming to lever myself back up to the surface.

This seemed to be the wrong approach.

My boat stayed under the water and I started to panic. I dropped my paddles, letting them drift in the water, and banged on the bottom of my boat to let Xander know I had failed to complete the roll, just in case he couldn't already tell by the fact that I wasn't happy breathing on the surface yet.

The nose of his boat neared my fingers and I pulled myself up, a rescue technique kayakers like to call a t-rescue.

"Well, what do you think went wrong there?" He asked, smirking at me.

I glared at him. My hair was wet sticking to my face at all angles which probably added to my exasperated look. "How the hell am I supposed to know? You're the fucking teacher!"

"Okay, well, instead of just slapping the water and waiting for some magic to happen, you need to flick your hips to direct the boat upwards." He demonstrated a hip flick by rocking his boat from side to side using his body.

I nodded before trying again.

This time, I was a little more successful given the boat moved as though it was going to resurface before flopping back down again, making me feel like a bird with clipped wings trying to fly or a turtle trying to get back on its feet after rolling onto its back.

It took me a few more tries but then eventually I got it. Then I tried to do it a few more times but was yet again unsuccessful.

After what seemed like the 4000th try, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the clubhouse. All the other kayakers who had been on the what previously had all gone in as well as the sun that had once been keeping me warm.

I was starting to shiver has the wind had picked up and the clouds had appeared and I was really looking forward to a nice hot shower in the changing rooms.