"For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light." – Luke 8:17
By the time he retrieved his books from his locker, Cole felt as if he was walking on air. He couldn't keep the smile off his face. Not only had he just surfed some extremely fun waves at C Street with the team, but Coach Kerr had finally seen Trevor's video. He'd been very impressed and asked Alana to email the file to him right away.
"I might have to ask this friend of yours to film our entire surf team," he added, which made the gang even more excited than they already were.
On top of Coach Kerr's reaction, Cole was also thrilled about the surf competition going down tomorrow at Emma Wood State Beach. Usually the spot offered small, gutless waves, but with a big swell peaking over the weekend, Cole knew they were in for some huge sets. His dad said that when the swell direction and period were right, Emma Wood became a whole different surf break. One time, he told Cole, waves had been barreling up and down the entire stretch of beach.
Though bigger waves were often scarier and harder to ride, Cole hoped and prayed that the forecast was right—even if it meant the surf competition would be cancelled due to dangerous conditions.
But it wasn't the anticipation of huge surf that put the smile on Cole's face. His mind was stuck replaying his conversation with Alana over and over again. It seemed like every time they talked—even if it was a quick two-minute conversation before first period, like today—they grew a little closer and learned to appreciate the other person a little more. Cole felt like the luckiest guy on earth. He had developed the biggest crush on Alana over the course of their surfing safari, and it had stunned him to find out that she had a bit of a crush on him too. Their agreement was to take things slow, kind of "feel out" their relationship, and not rush into anything too quickly. While it frustrated Cole to see Maya and Jake so enthralled with each other as a couple, he knew his relationship with Alana had to be seen differently. She wasn't a "romantic" sort of girl.
Cole's thoughts suddenly backtracked to Maya and Jake. His smile slowly dissolved as he realized that they had been acting sort of awkward around each other lately. In fact, though they still sat next to each other during lunch, they hadn't talked or whispered together like they usually did. Cole figured they had gone through their first major fight, and it would be no time before they were back to normal. He made a mental note to ask Jake about it anyway.
Suddenly, a kid rushing down the breezeway accidentally knocked shoulders with Cole. "Sorry!" he exclaimed sheepishly.
Cole was on his guard at once, but when he realized it was some freshman he hadn't seen before, he relaxed and gave the kid a brief smile. He hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders and tried to shake off the memory of what Logan and his pals had done. So far, there hadn't been any other incidents since then, and Cole hoped it would stay that way for the rest of the school year.
As he rounded the corner of the breezeway, he suddenly caught sight of Koa, who was forcing his way through the crowd up ahead. Cole darted between two groups of girls, both of which immediately smiled and giggled when he raced by. Out of habit, he inclined his head and acknowledged, "Ladies," which elicited a chorus of "Hi, Cole!" in reply.
"Koa!" he said once he reached his friend. He squeezed between two guys and tapped Koa on the shoulder. "Hey!"
Koa glanced over at him. "You heading this way?" he called above the noise of the crowd.
"Yeah!" Cole waited until they were clear of the breezeway before attempting to make more conversation. "You know, I feel like we haven't been able to talk much lately. Are you excited for the comp tomorrow?"
"Definitely," he replied. "Though big waves aren't exactly the best for longboarding..."
"True." Cole paused, waiting for Koa to say something else, but his friend seemed to be silent today. Something told him that maybe Koa wasn't looking for company right now. His eyes flickered in the opposite direction, and that's when he saw her, sprinting down the stairs directly towards him.
Their eyes met, and her mouth opened in a perfect O. Cole was also surprised, but even more so because of how different she looked that morning. Her hair was slightly tangled, her clothes a bit wrinkled, and her makeup looked like it had been applied without a mirror.
Something in her expression, though, tugged at his heart. She looked so afraid. The way her eyes bugged out at him gave her the appearance of helplessness and innocence, something he'd never seen before in Taylor. But when she brushed past him on the way to her class, her face contorted into its usual sneer, and she muttered, "Anderson."
Cole stopped in his tracks and turned around, but she was already a good few yards ahead of him. He figured her class was on the other side of campus, and she probably didn't want to be late.
You don't want to be late, either, he reminded himself, so he shook off the encounter and turned back towards Koa. To his surprise, Koa had continued walking without him. He was already a good ten or twelve yards away.
"What is with everyone today?" Cole muttered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Everyone was avoiding him like the plague. At least in his first period art class he could forget about his social problems and get in "the zone." Maybe a little creative time was what he needed to get his mind off the awkwardness of the morning.
By 7 a.m. on Saturday, the awkwardness was certainly gone, but it had been replaced by nervousness. The entire gang felt the pressure to perform well in the surf competition that was due to start in half an hour. The girls' shortboarding Round 1 was up first.
Alana squatted down on the damp sand and bounced lightly on the balls of her feet to get the blood flowing in her legs. She had a sweatshirt pulled over the top half of her body, while her navy fullsuit had been folded down to her waist. As she rolled onto the pads of her feet and balanced there, she pulled up her tangled white-blonde hair into a tight bun. There were two heats in Round 1, and she and Maya had been separated. That meant the lineup was going to be extremely tense—more so than usual because Alana wouldn't have anyone friendly to talk to.
She did a few more light stretches to loosen up. She closed her eyes, ignoring the slight sea breeze and crashing of waves in the distance, only focusing on her muscles and body movements. She smiled when she remembered that Dylan and Tammy were coming later that morning to watch her surf—provided she made it through Round 1, of course.
When Alana drew one leg beneath her and extended the other, forcing her to rotate in the opposite direction, she glanced up and saw the gang conversing in a tight circle. As her elbows dug into the sand, she studied them curiously. It didn't look like they were having one of their normal conversations—their heads were bowed together and Cole was gesturing wildly with his hands. Something was definitely up.
Alana switched legs, but her eyes were still focused on her friends. Only when Maya happened to look up and meet Alana's gaze did a look of surprise register on both of their faces. Alana was a little peeved that she had been caught staring, while Maya appeared caught off guard and tugged on Cole's sweatshirt sleeve to get his attention.
By now, everyone in the gang had turned to look at Alana. She smiled knowingly. "Having secret meetings without me?" she called.
Cole gave her a sheepish look and jogged over. "Sorry," he said a little breathlessly. "We were planning some top-secret stuff."
"And you didn't think to include me in your plans?" She rolled off her left leg and sat Indian-style in the sand. The bottom of her wetsuit was now completely covered in damp sand grains, but she didn't mind. She would be getting in the water soon anyway.
Cole gave her an apologetic look. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but...we were talking about you. We couldn't exactly include you in our conversation."
"I see." Alana raised an eyebrow. "I hope you only said good things about me."
"Only the best," Cole promised.
Alana chuckled and allowed him to help her to her feet. She figured they had been planning for her birthday, since that was the only major event coming up soon. If that wasn't the case, then they were probably discussing her sponsorship. Some Roxy scouts were on the beach waiting to see her results in today's competition.
The thought of her surfing being scrutinized by professionals made Alana even more nervous. She shoved her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt and followed Cole towards the gang.
"You ready for Round 1?" Maya asked, placing a hand on Alana's back.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," she said noncommittally.
"You're going to do great," Cole reassured her. "You always do."
"Everyone on this beach knows that you're guaranteed a spot in the semifinals," Blaine said, gesturing to the throngs of people around them. "You've never placed worse than sixth in a competition before."
"Way to make me feel the pressure," Alana said, eliciting a round of laughter from her friends.
"No, but seriously, you'll be fine." Maya gave her a tight hug. "Just surf like you always do. Don't think about whether or not you'll place first, or whether or not there are scouts on the beach watching you. Just get out there and kill it."
Alana bit back a smile and nodded. "I'll try," she promised.
After the announcer quieted the beach with instructions for the first heat of the morning, Alana jogged over to the judges' booth and received her temporary jersey. She tugged it on and headed to the shoreline along with the other girls in her heat.
With her shortboard squeezed between her legs, she bent down and rolled up part of her wetsuit on her right ankle. After fastening her leash, she folded the wetsuit back down over the Velcro to secure it, and pulled her shortboard up and underneath her arm.
Alana heard the hoots and hollers of various people behind her. She picked out her own name a few times, along with the name of another girl from the Ventura High Surf Team named Amber. But as soon as the announcer's voice came on the speakers, Alana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tuned out the voices and let her mind focus on the sound of crashing waves, the way the sea-breeze whipped stray hairs around her bun, and the feeling of damp sand underneath her feet. Her toes wiggled their way deeper between the grains. Then the air horn sounded.
The girls sprinted into the water. By the time Alana opened her eyes and leaped forward, her long legs had already secured her a spot in the front of the pack. She glided onto her shortboard and began paddling. Long strokes. Even paddles. Drive and glide.
A huge crash and spray of whitewater jerked everyone's attention to the horizon. Alana felt her heart beat a little faster as she observed the big set looming outside. She had surfed larger waves than these, but only for fun. Having to surf overhead waves in a competition was a different matter. She still needed to be cautious and calculating, but without the risky moves she would usually attempt while freesurfing. This was a whole new ballgame.
While her mind began formulating different strategies, Alana let her body run on autopilot. She duckdived under a few small waves, navigating her way through the churning whitewash. Fortunately, the girls didn't have to duckdive under any of the larger set waves, as the ocean went calm minutes before they reached the critical area of the impact zone. It was a clean paddle to the lineup, where they sat upright on their boards and waited for the next waves to show. Alana bobbed up and down with one leg bent over the center of her board, relaxed and at ease—or so she appeared.
In reality, her heart was pounding. Now that she was actually in the water, her adrenaline had skyrocketed. She could only imagine what would happen when she finally caught a wave.
To the left and right, the girls could see other waves breaking along the stretch of the beach, along with some surfers attempting to catch and ride them. But inside the competition area, which was marked with buoys, the beginning of a set was just arriving. Alana glanced over at her opponents and saw a hint of fear in their eyes. Good. They're just as scared as me.
The first wave that rolled towards them was small—by that day's standards—but one of the girls paddled into it anyway. The other three competitors watched over their shoulders as she was suddenly pitched off her board when the wave jacked up at the sandbar.
Alana swallowed. She wouldn't make the same mistake. These waves were fast and hollow, which meant smart positioning and fast maneuvering were needed.
Unsurprisingly, the other girls let the remaining waves in the set go by. They paddled quickly over the other four swells. Each one was slightly bigger and steeper than the last, and when Alana saw the fourth loom up in front of her, she could already feel the powerful offshore spray from the folding lip.
Before a single thought of hesitation could cross her mind, she swiveled her board around and stroked into the wave. She was suddenly picked up and jolted forward, and below her, the blue-gray water receded rapidly into the rising crest of the wave. Alana didn't let her eyes linger on the ten-foot drop, however, as she focused her gaze on a patch of water slightly to the right. That was where she needed to go if she wanted to make it past the whitewater that was soon to follow.
With her hands gripping the rails, she stood up, just as she had done fluently and fluidly a million times before. Then she dropped into the wave.