The day of training, you're out the front door on time for once. You and Marlon grab your bikes and head down to the club - Manu's offered to drive you all to Anchor Cove for the first training session, and you're thankful that you can all go together.
When you reach Poppy's house, you lean your bike against the skate ramp and head over to where Poppy, Summer, Ari and Bodhi are waiting by the van for Manu. Poppy smiles warmly, but Bodhi barely acknowledges you.
"Hey!" Poppy says, grinning. "You ready to go? Manu's just packing up the van."
"Yeah," you say, slightly breathless from your ride here, and you grab your bag and drop it to your feet for now. "How's Manu?" you ask, knowing he had his fingers crossed that he might be selected as the State Team coach, but there was word the other day that a new coach had been brought in from Queesland.
"He's a bit disappointed," she says. "It's so unfair. There's no way the new coach will be better."
"Yeah, I mean, do we even know who they are yet?" I ask.
"Nope," Poppy replies as you follow the group towards the van and jump in the back seat. "Although someone rumoured it was a coach who'd already won National titles, so..." she shrugs casually. "Could be handy."
Eventually, the van pulls up outside the Anchor Cove training facility and you all head out into the fresh air, a cool breeze whipping your skin as you push open the door of the van.
"In here team!" you hear Wren call, and turn to see her waving at the group from the doorway of the back entrance to the facility. Bodhi, Marlon and Poppy all start heading towards their captain.
"Go on, run to her." Summer mutters to Ari, and you're not sure if it was intended for Ari to hear, but he does all the same.
"Is there a problem?" he asks, turning to you both with a perplexed look on his face.
"Wren called her an entitled brat. To her face." you say without thinking, and Ari gives you a weird look.
"What, she actually said that?" Ari raises one eyebrow incredulously.
Summer shrugs. "Pretty much. Right after the announcements. It was intense."
"Well, I'm sure she didn't mean it." he says dismissively.
"She definitely did," you say. "I heard everything." You're not sure if it's the right time or place to admit to this, but Ari will definitely not believe Summer alone. He won't hear a word against his new girlfriend.
"Yeah, I mean, give me your interpretation." Summer asks smugly.
Ari hesitates, thinking deeply. "She was just surprised! None of us made the State Team after our first year of surfing."
"So what, she's intimidated by my crazy natural talent?" Summer smiles, and Ari scoffs.
"So American." he mutters as you all start strolling aimlessly towards the door.
"Just tell her to drop the jealous girlfriend act. It's basic, even for Shorehaven." Summer says.
You hold open the door for both of them, and let it fall shut once you're all inside. The training facility is huge, expensive gym equipment littered everywhere, and in the middle, a young woman, whom you suspect to be your new coach.
You see Poppy close up a locker on one of the walls, and follow her lead. You shove your bag inside one of the lockers and change your shoes.
"Hey," someone whispers in your ear. "I'm sorry about Wren." Ari says, taking the locker next to you. You keep looking straight ahead.
"Try telling that to Summer," you shut the door of the locker with some force. "Wren didn't say anything to me," you lie. "Besides, I thought she could do no wrong. You were defending her two minutes ago."
"Yeah, well, I know that she can get a little..." he's cut off by the sound of a dominant voice which quiets the group.
"Okay, is everybody here?" the voice says. "I'm Elo Radic, your new coach." she says, and your face drops. Radic.
"And my sister." Wren leans around Ari to tell you and Summer, as if rubbing it in even more. You suddenly wonder if Wren's family connections may have played a part in her becoming captain.
"Congratulations on making the Victorian State Team," Elo starts. "It's no small feat. It's just a shame that you guys haven't brought home a national title in, what is it? 20 years? Well, lucky for you I coached Team Queensland to the winning podium three years running," she smiles and holds up three fingers to emphasise her point. "The reality is that surfing is an individual sport, and it's my job to work out what drives you, to bring out your very best in the water."
"Hey coach, what's Sousa doing here?" Griff speaks up. "He didn't make the cut."
Elo looks vaguely annoyed, like Griff is questioning her judgement. "Marlon and Bodhi are our subs. Back-ups in case of injury," she glares at Griff harder. "Or, if I decide that you're out of your depth."
You glance up when you hear footsteps approaching casually from the door, and nearly trip over the skipping rope when your eyes settle on Baxter. He's wearing sunglasses, headphones around his neck and in clothes not exactly suitable for training. He saunters up to his sister, who looks less than impressed.
"Ah, sorry sis, did I miss your big inspirational speech?" he asks casually.
"Burpees. Now." Elo says, then turns to the rest of us. "All of you. Until I say stop."
"What happened to 'surfing's an individual sport'?" Summer asks.
"It's called accountability, Torres. Burpees. Now."
Elo begins setting up a circuit of physical fitness exercises as you get down and start doing burpees. Baxter does the same, a few feet away from you, and you glance over at him and his lazy form as he doesn't even complete five burpees in the time the others do twenty.
"Okay, everyone up," Elo says, and you push yourself off your front and onto your feet with a sigh.
After an hour or so of physical fitness, and a random argument between Marlon and Griff, Elo calls you all over to the trampoline, and has you gather around the edge.
"Right, so, ten years ago aerial surfing was underground," she explains. "And now, it's pretty much expected on the mens' tour. And by the time you guys turn pro, air revs and full rotations: they're going to be expected for the girls too."
Wren steps onto the trampoline tentatively, jumping up and down for a while until she eventually commits, and...fails. She steps off the mat, embarrassed.
"Bit of an anti-climax." Poppy mutters, and you try to hide your smile.
"She's always been bad at airs," Baxter whispers to you. "When we were younger she was scared of going on the trampoline in our back yard."
You try to stifle a laugh.
"Y/n and Baxter!" Your head snaps up to meet Elo's eyes. "Seeing as you think this is so above you, you both can go next."
Baxter rolls his eyes before casually stepping forward and jumping for a couple of seconds before flipping forwards without much effort. It's not a complex move, but it's good enough, and there's scattered applause before it's your turn to step on the trampoline.
You jump a few times gaining height and speed, before tucking and doing a simple front flip. You even land on your feet, thank god, but stumble on the unstable mat beneath you and fall back.
"You've both still got a lot to work on," Elo nods. "But good job." she turns to her sister, who looks slightly apprehensive. "Wren, you could learn from them."
"Guess our fearless captain can't do everything." Summer says loudly, and you watch Elo turn to face her with a surprised but expectant look on her face.
"Go on, America. Show us your stuff." Marlon says, and Summer steps confidently onto the trampoline.
After a couple of jumps, she pulls off a complex aerial and steps off the mat to loud applause, and a few shocked faces - when did she get so good?
"Yes, Summer!" Elo exclaims. "Good technique, that's more like it!"
Summer hops off the mat towards you, Baxter and Wren below the trampoline. You notice Baxter is smiling widely, almost laughing to himself for a second.
"So you can flip upside down?" Wren spits at Summer, but quietly - so no one else can hear. "My eight-year-old cousin can do that."
"You must really hate her too, then." Summer grins wryly, and you feel a strange sense of satisfaction wash over you as you watch Wren's smile falter.
After everyone has done one aerial each, Elo calls you over to the main floor to cool down, getting Wren to lead you in some stretching.
"Good job this morning, guys," Elo says, strolling around and eyeing each of you in the circle. "We've got a lot to work on, but we've also got a lot to work with. Pack up your things, take a lunch break and we'll meet again this afternoon for a surf."
You grab your things from your locker, trying to avoid Ari's gaze as he opens his locker next to you. Once you're all outside, you stick with Summer for a couple of minutes, watching the others gather their things, and you're about to decide what you're going to do for the next hour or so, when you hear Wren speak to Ari in a low voice.
"Me and Bodhi are going to head into town for lunch," she says to Ari. "You're coming, right?" she asks, almost forcefully.
"Yeah, yeah, totally." Ari smiles, taking his girlfriend's hand in his.
"How about it, Pops? Lunch, me and you?" Griff asks, and Poppy hesitates before turning to you and Summer.
"Yeah, um... you guys want to come too? We can make it a team thing?"
You suspect Griff won't be too pleased with you tagging along, but that's a bonus, right? You and Summer share a glance and shrug. "Sure, why not?"