- surfing feelings ⛅️ | ari gibson | a surviving summer fanfiction

part 6 - the elephant in the room

Manu had called an emergency meeting for the Boardriders Club to review our progress before the drive to Jackson Bay. The group had to figure out our ride situation and the house roles when we go to Ms. Sousa, Marlon's mom's sister's house. That's a lot of s's. When we all shuffled into my living room, Bodhi and Marlon were sharing a bag of chips in the loveseat. Ari and Summer came in afterwards looking tired and anxious for the upcoming comp. It was the only things on our minds lately and Bodhi was especially preoccupied. Marlon and Ari had a natural talent for surfing so they didn't look too worried.

Since Poppy had always been very goal-oriented, she overprepared for any upcoming competition even though it was obvious she'd always get at least one medal. Poppy had been a good sport about me getting first despite her overcompetitive nature but now Summer had been marked a sub which means now she can come to the progress meetings.

I realized with the stress of everything, the group hasn't been able to truly hang out and unwind for a bit. Maybe tonight I can convince everyone to sneak out like we did a year ago going skinny dipping. Ari sat down next to me on the couch while Manu was setting up the projector and I saw my turn combo on my last wave play. I wanted to cringe seeing my surfing face and my crush watching it.

Ari squeezed my arm slightly and whispered into my ear, "You were great. Really." I blushed and just nodded quickly hoping my hair hid the color on my cheeks. Summer joked about my face looking like I was about to poop. I had to stifle my laugh and Marlon snorted.

"Wow, Ari, your bottom curve is really weak. You need to train more." Marlon said between chomps of chips spewing out. I really didn't know what Bodhi saw in Marlon. He was like a little big toddler in the form of oozing testosterone.

"Shut up, Marlon." Bodhi hissed.

"It's given if someone had taken a break for a year. But Ari bounced back fast in the quarters two weeks ago." Manu reassured and gave snaps to Ari. Summer clapped and Poppy and I followed. It was like Ari had his own fangroup.

I leaned to Poppy and nudged her to check her phone. Are you down to head out later? Manu and Prawnie are going to the store out of town to buy new boards on discount before 12 AM.

Poppy looked at me and smirked mischievously. She copied the message and sent it to Ari and Bodhi. Everyone looked at me with wide eyes and nodded. Manu was too busy in his natural teaching element to notice.

━━༺❀༻━━

After Manu's lecture, we heard the van roll out and Poppy and I scrambled to get ready for a midnight outing. "Oh my god, it's been too long since I've done something bad. With Dad and Lia gone, Manu has been on my tail about surfing schedules." Poppy said as she combed her hair roughly. Poppy's hair was a pretty brown gold that I loved so much. Lia is my mom's name. I smiled bitterly since we both had the shared feelings of resentment for being left on our own to deal with these weird emotions.

"Tell me about it. When Ari came by to drop off your towels, I literally had to kick him out before the intermediate classes came." I said and regretted speaking too much. Poppy didn't know I had talked to him and she gave me a weird look. I got a notification from Bodhi sharing an Instagram post about the surfing agency looking for young, talented surfing personalities for a future photo shoot. You winning first place will make you such a great fit! Bodhi had included a bunch of emotes and hearts with the DM.

After I helped Poppy tangle out her long hair, she helped me put mine up in two loose braids and shake out my front layers. We took a photo and sent it to Bodhi and met the other four on the stairs by the bay.

The group had decided to go crash my workplace since the security cameras had gone out recently after my coworker spilled milk on the outlet. When I unlocked the door, everyone found a seat in pairs. Poppy and Summer. Marlon and Bodhi. It was Ari and I left. I chose to sit with the girls. Ari awkwardly sat by Marlon and the two shuffled around in the booth seat.

"Oh my god. Can you two not be so awkward?! It's been a lifetime since the incident." Summer said. I cringed hearing her mention to it as "the incident". It put a sour to the mischevious mood we had. I wish I could be as reckless as her. "I want to play Truth or Dare. It's basic but it'd be fun to save my special game for when we go to Jackson Bay. Overnight! Luciana's sister's house looks so nice. I looked it up online."

"Okay, I choose... dare." Bodhi smiled.

"I dare you and Marlon to not try to kiss each other all night." Summer smirked. Marlon complained like the giant manchild he was and Ari rolled his eyes. I guess he still isn't accepting the fact they're dating. She then nodded to Poppy. "Poppy pick someone."

"Alright, I have a truth for Ari." Poppy said. "Is it true that you tried to eat breakfast the other day when you were in the water?"

"You can't ask that! Manu had us up at 5 A.M. for the best waves. I was starving!" Ari protested.

"Marlon go." Summer said. I put on my music and Can I Call You Tonight? by Dayglow started playing. (literally the song i'm listening to rn <3)

"I dare Mina and Ari to go into the closet for three minutes." Marlon sneered. Summer whooped in glee and pulled my hand up. "We have to switch it up because Poppy what kind of boring question was that?"

"Couldn't it be Poppy or Summer instead?! I'm really not-" Summer had shut the door closed from the outside with a chair after pushing me and Ari into the dark closet. My heart was beating and my head was pounding like crazy. I wasn't ready to immediately confront Ari after hugging him so rashly the other day.

"This is awkward." Ari said and I felt his warm breath on the top of my head. It was only me who was making things weird. He took a deep breath and then put his nose closer to my head. "Are you wearing perfume?"

"Yeah, what about it? I don't always smell like seawater and sweat." I snapped. I felt him grab the edge of the sink behind him to lean back on. The darkness began settling in and pressure built around my body. Marlon and Summer didn't know but I had mild claustrophobia ever since I got stuck in a cabinet when I was younger during hide-and-seek. That's why I was so adamant to even let Summer go instead of me before they shoved us in here. Ari's firm hand came on my shoulder as he balanced on the sink.

"I never said you did. It smells nice though." I heard him smile.

Actually, in all honesty... I put the perfume on because after Googling how to make a boy notice you. My cheeks pinked and I felt sweaty. To my surprise, Ari pulled me in. The hug was different than from before where it was just pure angst. It was gentle and soothing. I looked up to Ari. "Can you actually tell me what happened at Stairway that day? You and Marlon used to be best friends. Now everything's a tug and war between you two."

"A lot of things." He breathed and looked down back at me. The tension became a really obvious elephant in the room.

A few seconds seemed like an hour when he came closer and suddenly...

The door finally opened to Summer's excited face. Ari immediately let go of me and I stumbled back before rushing out of the closet.

The rest of the night was fun and games while eating ice cream until our stomachs were sick. I couldn't help but notice that Ari and I kept making quick glances of eye contact throughout. Poppy was still giving me a weird look before going to sit with Ari. I got a gut twisty feeling after seeing that.

I tried to ignore Ari and mingle with the girls after that. I walked home with Poppy around 11-ish feeling giddy and a zoo stomping in my stomach.

Tomorrow was Jackson Bay. And hello to finals after that.

a/n: bro y'all are really getting spoiled today?!!!?