Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 58 - In Time

The wind whips at your hair as you lean on the railings at the front of the boat, watching Jarrah Island steadily approach. The whole voyage (not including the delay) has taken about an hour, and Ari's heat starts in about 40 minutes. You would have made it there in time with the bus, but now it's been cancelled you're not sure.

"Hey." you turn to see Ari next to you.

"Hey. Where's Summer?" you ask, to which Ari throws an absent hand over his shoulder.

"Oh she's checking out the upper deck," he says. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" you reply.

"You and Summer seemed a bit...tense, earlier." he offers, and you suddenly feel a pang of guilt. Were you a bit harsh on Summer? She was only trying to help get Ari to his heat.

You shrug. "It was fine."

"Are you sure? 'Cos you did say you thought Summer was acting a bit...weird." he says, and you wonder if he's been thinking the same thing too. She's been weird ever since Stairway, and it's not been the same talking to her ever since.

"Yeah, but you said you thought it was just because of the stuff with her mum." you reply, and he looks thoughtful for a second.

"Yeah, yeah probably." he mutters. As if on cue, Summer appears behind you, holding a can of Coca Cola in one hand.

"So that's it?" Summer asks, nodding her head towards the island as she takes a sip of her drink.

"Yep. Jarrah Island." Ari replies.

"And it's going to take us an hour to get there." she says monotonously. Maybe now she's actually seeing how probable it is that Ari is actually going to miss his heat.

"Yep," Ari replies, eyes still trained on the island ahead which is gradually getting bigger and bigger as you approach. Summer looks at him in such disbelief that he sighs and admits defeat. "Okay, okay, I'll call Poppy and try and get my heat pushed back."

"Yo!" you hear someone shout, and turn to see Poppy's brother, Prawnie emerge from the door on the deck. "What's going on, guys?"

"Mate, what are you doing here?" Ari asks, doing some sort of handshake with him.

"Me and some of my mates are going to surf over at Jarrah Rocks. It should be sweet," he replies. "What about you? Your folks change their minds last minute?"

"Yeah, yeah, something like that." Ari lies, but it seems convincing enough, as Prawnie doesn't question it - he only pulls out his phone to check the time, which is getting closer and closer to the heat by the second.

"Cutting it a bit short there aren't you mate?" He says, putting his phone back in his back pocket.

"Yo Prawnie, please say you have the van." Summer says, and about half an hour later, you're sitting in the Shorehaven Boardriders van, squashed between Ari and Summer in the back behind a bunch of Prawnie's mates. Despite the original idea that you might get there on time, traffic on the road towards the beach completely ruined that proposition.

Ari groans, looking at his phone. "My heat's starting in five minutes, i'll never make it."

"Maybe the competition will be running late too?" you say, but that's a reach.

"Did Poppy reply about getting your heat pushed back?" Summer asks hopefully, and Ari checks his phone.

"Actually, yeah," he says, surprised, and turns to you. "Apparently your brother surfed my heat."

"Really? Why would he do that?" you reply - it's not exactly like Marlon to be so selfless, especially now he's on a different team. It would only help Shorehaven for Marlon to surf Ari's heat - not Anchor Cove.

Eventually the van arrives at the top of the beach, and the three of you dash out before Prawnie's even parked it.

"Hey skin of your teeth brother, c'mon." Manu says, frantically throwing a yellow rash vest at Ari when you reach the beach. He only just makes it to the starting line before the horn blares out and the four boys run into the water.

You make sure to let your mum know you're here now, before you and Summer sit at the top of the beach on the rocks, watching as Ari kills it in his heat, using the difficult waves to his advantage and defeating his opponents with ease.

You feel like you should initiate a conversation between you and Summer - the tension in the air is obvious now, but she doesn't seem too interested in talking to you, so you keep quiet, watching Ari intently.

Eventually, the heat finishes with Ari coming in first. You can hear Manu and the others cheering as he runs up the beach, and you're pretty sure you can hear your mum's voice in there too.

"So," you smile as Ari walks towards you. "We got here on time and you smashed your heat. Onto the next round now."

"Yeah, against your brother and Ahmed," he sighs. "I'm not getting my hopes up."

"I still can't believe Marlon surfed your heat." Summer says, standing up.

"Yeah," you agree. "It was nice of him." you mutter. Marlon has been quite nice lately - helping your mum let you get the bus with Ari, now this. Maybe the whole Stairway thing actually helped him.

"Okay, listen I've got to go get ready for the next heat, yeah?" Ari says hurriedly, giving you a quick kiss on the cheek and running off towards the officials' tent.

You spot Marlon, who's just picked up a rash vest for his next heat and is heading towards the starting line.

"Hey! Mars, what's up?" you say, smiling as you go over there, but his face is solemn as he pulls the rash vest over his head.

"Hey." he says simply.

"Good luck with your heat!" you say, but your enthusiasm doesn't do much to lighten your brother's mood.

"Thanks." he nods, looking ahead at the sea.

"Hey, what's wrong? Shouldn't you be excited?" you push him on the arm playfully.

Marlon sighs, looking like he's contemplating telling you something, and eventually appears to give in. "It's just...Griff and Sheridan want me to try and block Ari from catching waves in the next heat, so Ahmed can get the score he needs for the state team." he mutters, almost embarrassed.

"What? And you're considering it?" you reply incredulously.

"I already surfed Ari's heat, so they think I'm not committed to the club." he sighs.

"Well are you?!" you exclaim. "I mean, someone who's committed to destroying Shorehaven, which is what being in Anchor Cove basically is, would not try and help one of their surfers!"

"It doesn't matter. I'll never be allowed back at Shorehaven - Anchor Cove's the only club I've got now," he sighs. "Anyway, I've got to go." he says, picking up his board and taking his place at the starting line.

You hope he doesn't go through with Griff and Sheridan's plan. Not just for Ari's sake but for his, too. If he tries to stop Ari, he won't be in with a shot of winning, either.