Poppy comes back two minutes later with Summer's board under her arm, a new fin gleaming on the end, but Summer is preoccupied.
She walks over to her mum who is still on the phone, unsurprisingly, a betrayed look on her face.
"Wait, I'm confused how can you be in Chicago next week and also here in Shorehaven?" she asks, and Margot opens her mouth as if to speak, but sighs instead, holding her hand over the phone to block out the noise of her daughter.
You can hear them still arguing as you debate telling someone about what Bax did – he loosened her find on purpose. First of all, why? What did he have to gain by sabotaging her? Maybe you should wait to hear him out before telling anyone, but would he even have a reasonable excuse? What excuse is there for this?
Summer suddenly stops arguing with her mum for a second as an announcement rings out from the commentator that there are only five minutes left in the heat. She looks torn for a millisecond, debating whether or not arguing is worth it anymore with her place on the team at stake.
After a tiny hesitation, she makes a beeline for the sea, leaving Margot looking slightly perplexed on the sand as she raises her phone to her ear again and begins talking. However, this time, she says her goodbyes and hangs up, watching as her daughter frantically paddles out to catch a wave before the set has passed.
Summer manages to catch one of the best waves of the set, pulling off some difficult manoeuvres and managing to complete the whole wave with no mistakes. Cheers from the audience fill the air as she rides the wave in, and among the happiness you feel for Summer, you can't help but feel a little satisfaction that Baxter's plan has failed.
She manages to score an 8.4, which puts her in second place to a girl from Queensland and means she's through to the next round. Which, you suddenly remember, means she's staying in Shorehaven, if her mum is going to keep her word.
"So, Torres managed it in the end?" you swivel around to see Baxter standing behind you – surely he must know you figured it out from him lying about 'tightening' Summer's fins.
"No thanks to you." you reply, and Baxter scoffs.
"I knew you'd realise what I did when her fin fell off," he says, and you're surprised at his bluntness. "But that was just a risk I had to take."
"Why'd you do it in the first place?" you ask – Baxter has never shown any dislike for Summer, nor for the need to sabotage her in a comp as big as this; it seems so out of character. Baxter has always seemed so casual, so easy going - the never-ending shrugs are evidence of that - and now he's done this to Summer out of the blue, and you can't help wondering if there's more to it.
"Look, I can't tell you, okay? But trust me, I never wanted to sabotage Summer." he says.
"Well, you made a pretty good impression of it today!" you exclaim in response, and he looks around as if he's worried about the volume level of your voice.
"Look, there was a good reason for doing it, I swear," he responds, then appears to reconsider what he just said. "Well, maybe not a good reason, but trust me, I had to do it."
"Whatever." you reply, and Baxter throws his hands up.
"Look, what even Is the problem here?!" he bursts out suddenly, taking you by surprise. "She still got through!"
"The problem is that you're sabotaging your own teammate! Do you even realise that there are plenty of people who would like to have made the team and didn't? Plenty of people who would be taking this opportunity a lot more seriously than you are!"
"Like, your brother?" he responds - why's he being so weirdly cryptic and secretive? He's clearly trying to deflect from what you said.
You find yourself shifting your weight from foot to foot, surprised at his guess. You clear your throat. "Yes, and?"
Baxter sighs. "I appreciate my place on the State Team, is that what you want to hear?"
"Not if you don't mean it," you snap back. "And you can't say you value your place on the team if you're going to pull shit like this!"
"Look, I'll tell you why I did it at some point, okay?" He quietens his voice. "Trust me, there was a good reason."
"So, you want me to just keep this a secret?" you reply incredulously.
"If Summer didn't get through, then I wouldn't, I swear. But she did, and there was no harm done!" He puts up his hands in defence.
You're about to counter his argument (there's no way he wouldn't have cared if you'd snitched on him if Summer hadn't gotten through), when you hear a familiar American accent growing nearer by the second.
"Y/n! Guess what?!" she exclaims.
"You're staying?!" you ask as Summer comes bounding up to you.
"Hell yeah I am!"
"That's amazing! I think we need to celebrate." Poppy says, coming over with Bodhi, and Summer looks like she's about to agree when the Subtropix representative, Molly, approaches the group, holding a clipboard, as per usual.
"Great heat, Summer," she says. "You wouldn't have any interest in joining our shoot in Byron Bay next week, would you?"
You watch as Summer's smile widens and she's practically bouncing with excitement. "Um, yeah, a lot of interest, Molly, a lot."
"And Y/n? Will you round out my Victorian group?"
You barely realise she even spoke to you, and you have to do a double take. "Really?"
Molly nods, and you can't seem to get the words out to agree.
She smiles. "I'm going to take that as a yes. So it'll be you two, Bodhi, Poppy, and of course, our Queensland hotshot, Wren."
Wren is there almost on cue, turning around from where she was standing with Ari, a coffee cup in her hand.
"You'll take Summer and Y/n under your wing won't you?" she asks.
Wren hesitates, then puts on that sweet fake smile. "Of course I will."