The morning before the day of the Subtropix 360 trials, you get up early and head downstairs for breakfast. Marlon's already sat at the table as your mum moves around the kitchen.
"I'm going to see Manu this afternoon about the biased judging at Jackson Bay. That judge Roberts better not be on the panel for Subtropix." she says to Marlon, who rolls his eyes.
"It was my own fault I lost at Jackson Bay." he mutters. "I don't want Manu to think I'm complaining. He hates me enough already."
"He doesn't hate you, he just..." she trails off when she sees you loitering in the doorway. "Come in, Y/n, I was just..."
"Are you still considering moving to Anchor Cove?" you say to Marlon, accidentally cutting your mum off.
"I don't know." he says quietly, as you take a seat opposite him on the table.
"Manu does rate you, y'know." you say. It's been nearly a week since you and Marlon properly talked. Besides trying to avoid him questioning why you've been practically been limping around the house for the last few days, you also hadn't forgotten about your fight last week. But as long as Marlon has put the thought of moving clubs out of his head for now, you decide you can try and be civil to him again.
"He might rate me but he doesn't like me." Marlon says, and you can't help feeling a pang of sympathy for Marlon. It's a kind of unspoken fact amongst the board riders that Manu doesn't particularly get on well with your brother. "I'm sorry, by the way. For trying to use you to let mum move us to Anchor Cove."
"It's fine." you reply, then an idea pops into your head. "But if you felt like you had to make it up to me, you could help me with something."
"Help you with what?" he says cautiously.
"Teach me to do a pop-shuvit."
He scoffs. "No way. Listen Y/n, you can either do it or you can't, and you've tried before and it's pretty clear you can't."
"Oh my god, Marlon you're not that much better at surfing than me! Just teach me how to do it!" you exclaim.
"Why do you even want to learn it?"
"Because it's Subtropix, Mars! If I get the wildcard spot, the rest of the rounds are based on public voting! I need to look cool." you say.
He laughs. "You won't need to learn it because you won't even get past the first round of the trials." he says, taking his empty plate to the sink.
"Please Marlon!" you ask.
"Marlon, just teach her and I won't go talk to Manu." your mum sighs, obviously fed up of your bickering.
You raise an eyebrow at your brother, who rolls his eyes and sighs. "Fine. Meet me at the beach in an hour."
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You grab your wet suit and board from the garage, and cycle down to the beach. It's already getting ready for the 360 down there as you weave your way in and out of a plethora of banners and flags scattered about the cliff tops.
"Y/n!" you hear Poppy call, and see her ushering you over. She's sat with Summer and Bodhi on the fence around the area for spectators. You jump off your bike and walk it over to them.
"Hey Y/n." Summer says. "I see you're ready for your heat." she says, gesturing to your board and wet suit.
"Nah, i'm just practising with Marlon. The comp doesn't start 'till tomorrow." you say.
"Well, are you ready for your first Subtropix?" Bodhi asks with a smile. Sometimes it seems like Bodhi's questions have a hidden meaning underneath. Like for some reason, that question seemed to you like she was asking 'are you ready for your first Subtropix because we've all done it before and are more experienced than you?'. Maybe you're just being paranoid because deep down, you're actually incredibly nervous.
"Of course I am." you reply confidently, before Poppy grabs your arm and gently leads you away.
"Y/n, are you okay? I haven't seen you all week. Ari said he hasn't either." she says under her breath.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine."
"Y/n..." she says, raising an eyebrow.
"Poppy! I'm fine, I promise. Listen I've gotta go meet Marlon on Back Beach. See you later." you call as you pick up your board and head down to the beach, avoiding eye contact with Poppy. You know she's just worried about you after last week, but you just can't keep having the same conversation with her. One of these times someone's gonna find out.
Marlon's already waiting on the sand as you stumble down the rocks.
"You're early." you say.
"So are you." he replies dryly.
You don't want to tell him the real reason you got here so early was to make sure you could get your wet suit on without him seeing the still prominent gash on your shin from last week.
"Well, hurry up. I've got things to do." he says sharply.
"Marlon, I'm literally early." you mutter.
You slip off your clothes so you're in your bathing suit, then try earnestly to hide your leg with your wet suit, but you wince as the fabric rubs against the wound, and Marlon looks around.
"What the hell is that?" he says urgently.
"It's nothing. Just cut myself on the rocks the other day." you reply dismissively.
"Y/n, that looks bad." he says, taking a step closer to you but you edge away. You glance down at your leg - it's bleeding again, the gash stretching right from your ankle to your knee, and you haven't surfed since it happened. But right now all you want to do is get in the water.
"Mars, I promise, it's fine. Mum knows; she said I could still surf." you lie through your teeth. You've just got to hope Marlon doesn't follow up your story with your mum later.
"Okay, I guess." he replies with a slight shrug, but you can still see worry etched in his face.
You pull on the rest of your wet suit in silence, then head out into the sea. After a set goes by, you sit on your board as the water calms down, and Marlon does the same.
"So how do I do a pop-shuvit?" you ask genuinely.
To your surprise, he laughs. "That's not really how it works." he pauses, sighing. "Catch this next wave, and just as it's closing out, reach down, jump then shove your board from under your feet so it turns. Then land."
You wait for him to continue, but it seems like he's finished. "What, that's it?"
"You wanted to know how to do it." he shrugs, and you curse under your breath as you line yourself up for the next wave.
You ride the wave pretty well, then you feel the pressure build as you reach the end; you jump and reach down for the board, but your hand only connects with water, and you fall face-first into the white water.
As you resurface, you see Marlon smirking. You can't let him win this, you think.
You go for another wave, and another, until you're so tired you can barely paddle. Each time you wipe out worse than the first.
Eventually, you're about to give up, when you see Ari paddling towards you and Marlon. He does his weird handshake thing with your brother, then turns to you. "Hey Y/n. What are you guys up to?"
"She's trying to do a pop shuvit." Marlon replies quickly.
"That explains why I've seen you wipe out about a gazillion times." he laughs, and your eyes narrow as Marlon joins in.
"If it's so easy, you do it." you say spitefully, and Marlon lays forward on his board and lines himself up with a wave. You and Ari watch him reach the end of the wave and execute a pretty good pop-shuvit, and you roll your eyes in annoyance.
"Hey," Ari taps the front of his board. "Get on; let's surf on the same board."
"Seriously?" you reply with a laugh.
"Yeah. It'll be fun." he replies.
"You don't have a tandem board." you reply, raising an eyebrow. "But I guess we can try." you reply, undoing your leg rope and pushing your own board into shore. When you see it wedge itself into the sand, you jump up on the front of Ari's board in a kneeling stance. Immediately, Ari starts paddling as if he didn't want to give you any time to change your mind.
You feel yourself catch the wave, and the weight of the board means you're being dragged down quicker, and you nearly fall off the front as you try to stand up. But you feel Ari's hands grab your shoulders and pulls you back. Once you're up and riding the wave, you can't help smiling as you just enjoy the ride, Ari controlling the movement of the board from the back.
All of a sudden, he whips the board up the wave, and you squeal as you both fall backwards into the water. When you resurface, water fills your mouth as it's wide open as you laugh.
"Oh my god, Ari, can we do that again!?" you yell, treading water as Ari pulls on his leg rope to retrieve his board from the white water.
He laughs. "In a minute. Looks like we've got company." he points towards the beach, where Summer, Poppy and Bodhi are heading into the water.
"What's up losers!" Summer calls as she paddles out. "I've seen you two fall off at least a dozen times. Thought it was time to show you how it's done."
"What she means is, me and Bodhi were coming out to practice for the 360, and she didn't want to be left alone." Poppy replies with a wry smile.
"Well I'm glad you're here Summer." you say. Literally nothing can ruin your good mood at the moment.
"Hey Bodhi." Marlon paddles over to his girlfriend, pushing her playfully off her board then kissing her in the water.
"Okay, enough of that." Summer says, rolling her eyes. "Haven't I gotta teach you guys how to surf?" she laughs.
You watch as the others paddle off, Poppy and Summer catching waves as Bodhi and Marlon tandem surf like you and Ari did earlier.
Ari jumps off his board to adjust his leg rope, and in that moment, you can't help but lean over and kiss him quickly, both of you hidden from the others behind a wave. As you pull back, you smile and you're suddenly worried that he might not have enjoyed that as much as you. Maybe he doesn't even like you. But the side of his mouth begins to curl into a smile.
"You must really like me, Y/n Sousa." he jokes, and you roll your eyes, playfully pushing his head under the water. You can't stop smiling though.