Freedom To Surf (Jesse Polock Daughter Story)

Longevity

Riley's pov

The day of my first ever surfing competition, and representing Bondi, so not a lot of pressure, heehee.

Well, there is kinda a lot of them, but most lifeguards are going to be patrolling the water, so most likely not staring at me (uggh), I hope I don't make a fool of myself, I have no trouble doing that, but still, I would rather not in front of, I think, 1,000 people.

I am currently having a mental breakdown over this, stretching and warming up, got to make sure i am flexible incase I have to do a emergency escape dismount of my board, which as we all know is so nice and not terrifying, the fear of getting my head sliced by the unmanned board has never crossed my mind once while escaping a board. You know what they say, the possibility of a sliced head is better than a possible broken neck from hitting the sand bank, let's be honest the only thing I am optimistic about is getting in trouble.

I am preparing my wet bag, (a bag that holds everything I need that can get wet), I was told to do this, I don't plan to wrap a towel around myself as I am swimming, so maybe I should just pack everything in a regular bag, but this is the more "professional" way of doing things. According to my Dad who did and continues to surf, not so many back breaking (remember when he broke his back?) waves and surfing combinations anymore though, which is great since he is a father of uhm three. and having a broken back or being sentenced to a wheelchair isn't a way to parent two young boys who are younger than age 5 and a really responsible teenage girl. well... partly responsible, I am a lifeguard at 15.5, so that's gotta count for something.

(time skip to Bronte)

"And next y'all are trained professionals and accidents do happen, but let's try not to have any mishaps, or I don't know.. none of you please crash head first into the sandbanks and end up with broken necks." The event coordinator who was talking about the rules, says, I feel like he was targeting someone with that. "but most importantly have fun." Thanks dude for the cheery introduction.

How this is worked and judged is that the beach and ocean are split into halves with a imagery line, there are 12 competitors and six rounds, with a final round to determine the winner. You're paired against someone who apparently has a similar skill set to you, and well he just said professionals and I am literally nowhere near that, so this will be interesting. I caught a glimpse of my "partner" and, well, she has the reputation of being kinda mean for a reason, she also looks like a weightlifter. This will be either easier or more difficult. Then again, I am probably between a string-bean and a feather, that's not too inaccurate honestly. (A/N I don't condone body shaming and nor do I think people who are larger are bullies, this is just to have a difference in my characters.)

We continued eyeing each other until someone bumps into me, I turn and it's a really muscle toned guy, he is wearing-a tight pair of swim shorts and blue and white striped shirt, which means this hunk is one of the safety personnel here. As much as I would like to get saved by him, I don't want to get saved at all, in fact I don't want to be in the position of needing saving or help, I am a lifeguard for a reason.

I look at my number which is tapped onto my seat, number 7, which means I will be going in round 4? or something like that. Either way I have a long time to contemplate my life choices up to this point, like what had I done to race against a person who looks triple my weight and keeps glaring and snarling at people. Yep, she seems really kind and nice. She reminds me of Maddie, my old best friend, she was triple my weight but the kindest and jolliest person you would ever meet, the only thing these two have in common is size. Maddie was always a great shot putter, which I remember her always telling me is a bigger ladies sport and not to tamper with it, I always told her not to tamper with my sport surfing, not because she could not do it, but because it was my thing.