As you get home that evening, the house is in darkness, apart from the light coming from Marlon's window.
You ascend the stairs cautiously, each one seeming to creak louder underfoot. You notice Marlon's door is slightly ajar, and poke your head round the threshold to see him on his phone in bed, still with the main light on. He looks up at the sound of the door creaking open slightly.
"Congratulations." he says, turning back to his phone almost immediately, although his mind seems elsewhere.
"How'd you find out?" you ask, suddenly anxious - how would he react? Knowing you made the team and he didn't?
"The team list is posted online." he replies bluntly.
"Oh," you walk forward, taking a seat at the end of his bed. "I'm sorry."
He scoffs. "What are you sorry for? You made the team."
"I know," you nod sadly. "But, as much as I deny it, I would have liked to have surfed Nationals with you."
"Yeah, well, that's not going to happen now, is it?" he huffs, slamming his phone down on the blankets with no noise.
"It might," you shrug. "You're still on the team-"
"Will you stop saying that?!" he shoots back sharply. "I'm not on the team; I can live with that. I don't need you to lie for me."
"Okay." you mutter under your breath, rising to your feet. You shut the door on your way out, although the light stays on for the rest of the evening, and when you randomly wake up at half three in the morning, it's still on. Maybe he's just fallen asleep with it on, you think. Or maybe he's not sleeping at all. Either way, you know not making the team properly has gotten to him.
Thanks to your routine of getting up early to surf, you wake up at something-to-six, and decide to head out to the club. Whether anyone's there or not, you can use some of the gym equipment at least - you want to feel ready before training tomorrow.
After getting something to eat from the kitchen, you grab your bike out of the garage and begin to make your way down the coast path.
When you reach the club, you're surprised to see Poppy downstairs - she's wearing gym clothes, her hair is a mess slightly and there's a sheen of sweat across her forehead.
"Hey," you say, making sure you don't startle her. "Have you been working out?"
"Yeah. Just want to get in a head start before tomorrow," she breathes out, grabbing a water bottle from the counter top. "What are you doing here?"
You shrug. "Just woke up early."
"Well, it's pumping out there at the moment," she throws a hand over her shoulder towards the sea. "You want to get out there?" she offers.
"Yeah, sure." you nod with a smile.
"Cool, let me just go get changed." she says, heading upstairs.
You wander around the club aimlessly while you wait, Running your hand along the rack of boards opposite you. When you turn to the boards again, you jump backwards slightly when your eyes meet someone else's.
Baxter is on the other side of the boards, and you breathe out a laugh as he raises an eyebrow innocently.
"You scared me." you say, as Baxter saunters round to meet you on the other side of the wall.
"Sorry," he says, a slight smile appearing for an instant but disappearing again.
"What are you doing here?" you ask casually.
"I drove Wren down. She's going surfing with Ari." he replies, and you groan internally; surfing with Wren is not your ideal Sunday morning. "Are any of these yours?" he asks, motioning to the boards he was hiding behind.
You glance along the rack. "Yeah. The one at the end." you say, gesturing to your old spare board - it's at the end because it hasn't been used in months. Baxter reaches the board and pulls it out three quarters of the way.
"It's nice. Better than what you're riding now." he says.
"I like my board." you reply, sounding slightly more offended than you actually feel, and you hope he doesn't think he's insulted you.
"Yeah, well you've got talent getting on the State Team riding that thing." he says casually.
It sounds like an insult, but it's anything but. Your brow furrows. "Thank you?"
"You're welcome," he replies, wandering round to the other side of the counter, so you're both on either side. "I could get you a board." he says simply.
"From the shop, or...?"
Baxter just shrugs.
"So, where's Wren?" you ask, trying to avoid an awkward silence. You really don't care where Wren actually is.
"Getting her surf gear out of the car," he replies, turning towards the direction of the car park, then back at you with a pause. "You ready for training tomorrow?"
"Yeah. I think so. I mean, I've never been on a State Team before."
You expect him to offer some sort of encouragement or something that draws on his experience on the Queensland State Team, but he just nods.
"Hey, Bax, can you get my board off the roof? It's stuck." you hear the jarring voice of your beloved team captain heading towards you, and you quickly busy yourself by grabbing the kettle and beginning to fill it with water.
Baxter sighs, and without any trouble he makes his way towards the car park. You keep your eyes trained down as the kettle slowly fills, feeling Wren's presence too heavily as she seems to pace around the club.
After placing the kettle on the stand, you lean back against the counter top awkwardly, avoiding Wren's gaze. Just as the kettle boils, letting out a high-pitched whistle, Baxter returns carrying Wren's branded Subtropix board under his arm.
"Here you go, sis." he sighs, handing it over to her.
Without even saying thank you, she takes it and leans it against the wall as she pulls up her wetsuit from her waist to her shoulders. "Have you seen Ari anywhere?" she asks, the question is posed to her brother, although you can't help feeling like there was something in there pointed at you. She knows you're listening. She knows that she's the one seeing Ari soon and not you.
Baxter shakes his head and points his gaze at you in question, and you just shrug as you pour boiling water into a mug. You wonder what's taking Poppy so long.
"Right well, I'm heading out so it doesn't go flat, if you see Ari let him know where I am." she orders to her brother, who nods again dismissively.
"Isn't she just a ray of sunshine this morning," he mutters under his breath, and you nearly laugh, but you purse your lips. "You fancy making me one of these too?" he gestures to the cup of coffee you're pouring milk into.
"Sure," you say, surprised. "Need a pick-me-up?"
"Yeah," he replies, leaning forward on the countertop so he's immediately opposite you, only ten inches or so away. "Early morning, driving Wren around to her boyfriend."
"You could say no." you offer, eyes down, focusing on pouring another cup of water.
"Could I?" he replies, then shrugs. "Can't disobey our captain now, can I?" he replies, but that can't be the real reason. Baxter doesn't seem like the sort of guy to lay down and let his sister boss him about.
You push forward the mug of coffee, this time you meet his eyes, and his don't move away. They're not skittish like yours. Bax takes the mug in his hand gazing at it for a moment.
"How do you say 'coffee' in Portuguese?" he asks, seemingly genuinely interested, although you can't think why.
"Café." you reply.
"Café." he repeats, mimicking your accent affectionately. "Sounds nice."
You're about to respond, but at that moment, Ari comes bounding into the club, grabbing his board from the rack and barely sparing either of you a glance.
"Your girlfriend's looking for you." you say, breaking eye contact with Bax and look down at your own cup of coffee, stirring sugar into it as Ari grabs one of his boards. He stops, board under his arm, seeming to assess the situation as he looks between you and Baxter.
"Yeah, thanks." he replies, looking slightly confused just as Poppy comes downstairs.
"You ready Y/n?" she says, and you nod, thankful for the way out of the awkward situation.