𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗬𝗪𝗢𝗢𝗗

the art of surfing||obx cast

08/2019, age 14
filming season 1

Saying theadora was nervous to learn how to surf would be the understatement of the year.

thea had never been a very strong swimmer. She couldn't even keep herself above water until the age of nine, and often still doggy paddles at the ripe age of fourteen. she tried surfing one summer after sixth grade, but it was such a traumatizing experience she lasted a max of fifteen minutes before demanding her friend bring her home. after that, she vowed to never lay so much as a finger on a surfboard again.

that was, of course, before landing the role of maxine pierce; a young teenager living on the island of outer banks who's main hobby is surfing and swimming with her friends.

while a stunt double was going to be doing their major surf scenes, the cast still needed to be familiar with the basics and comfortable in the water. when she was first told this, theadora wasn't nervous. she considered herself a pro when it came to swimming in calm, gentle waters.

the ocean was neither calm nor gentle.

"you'll do great, thee. promise." One of thea's older co-stars, madelyn cline, tries reassuring the girl as they arrive at the beach.

"don't make promises you can't keep." theadora kicks off her flip flops before sinking onto her towel that lays atop the sand. they had started production a few weeks ago but were going to be filming their first surfing scene soon, hence the current practice.

as she was by far the youngest on set, theadoras cast and crew members were constantly checking in on her. her director, jonas, had told her time and time again that if she wasn't comfortable with it, they could have her stunt double do every single one of her surf scenes. while the offer was tempting, her other co-stars were all going to be in at least one of the scenes, and thea hated the idea of being the only one opting out. as the youngest, and by a lot, she often felt the need to prove herself; as both an actress and person.

and so, the teen hikes her giant surfboard up under one arm and follows her cast mates towards the ocean.

____

this was a huge mistake.

that much became clear the moment thea even attempted to climb atop her board. the waves were much bigger than she had expected, and were already threatening to knock her overboard, causing her grip to become white-knuckled.

"you good, thea?" rudy calls from a bit further out.

"yup. just peachy." theadora lies, wobbling side to side on the board.

the majority of her older cast mates were already familiar with surfing, especially chase. thea refuses to make a fool out of herself; but, more than anything, she just wants to impress her new, older friends.

perched atop her board, theadora notices the first wave approaching fast. chase effortlessly stands up, catching and riding the wave with ease. one by one, thea watches as her cast mates climb up on their boards. the majority was able to at least balance on their board shortly before falling, with a few deciding to sit on the board and let the wave gently push them forwards.

by the time the wave reaches thea, however, this is no longer an option.

the wave had broken, and was at its peak height; that moment shortly before a wave reaches the shore and begins to die down.

"you got this thea!" j.d calls from his spot on his board, sitting a little closer to shore.

thea can only pray that he is right. she takes a deep breath, preparing to stand on the board by lying flat and paddling forwards, waiting for the wave to hit. the moment she feels the rush of water, thea moves her hands up into the front of the board to help push into a standing position, just as they were taught on land before moving into the ocean.

before thea was even able to rise all the way, the giant wave slams into her, sending the young girl flying off her board. her ankle still attached to the tether, the board juts out, tugging roughly on the teens leg. desperate, thea scrambles to get back above water, her efforts futile due to the waves continuing to knock her back down. in her panicked state, theadora manages to get caught underneath the board.

being the closest in proximity to thea when she went down, chase immediately paddles towards her, pulling the panicked girl from underneath her board.

"hey, you're good thee, i got you."

theadora coughs, clinging to her surfboard as though it is a lifeline. "get me out of this damn ocean,"

chase nods, grabbing hold of the board before calling out towards maddie cline nearby. "can you take her in?"

madelyn nods, quickly joining the pair. "i got you, thee. you okay?"

theadoras eyes dart behind maddie. "there's another one coming, there's another one coming."

"okay, okay. can you sit up and we can just glide over it?"

thea begins to panic. "it's fucking huge, there's no way we're just gonna calmly glide over it. it's gonna kill us."

maddie tightens her grip on the younger girls surfboard, grabbing onto her ankle tether just as this second wave reaches them. thea yelps, closing her eyes and holding her breath just as she is knocked overboard once again. this time, though, madelyn was also briefly knocked under, prohibiting her from rescuing theadora sooner.

hitting her head on the large board as she goes down, thea opens her mouth to curse, which immediately results in her swallowing salt water, causing her to choke and cough. the coming waves become increasingly aggressive, repeatedly slamming the surfboard into theadora and shoving her back under the water.

finally, the rest of the cast reaches the pair having sensed maddie's urgency when she popped back up onto the surface. luckily, madelyn had grabbed ahold of theadora the moment she returned above water herself, having never let go of thea's tether. maddie helps drape thea across her surfboard as the younger girl coughs and gasps for air.

thea continues violently coughing up water as madison begins pounding her back while simultaneously helping to safely steer the board back to shore.

"holy shit!" jonas exclaims, racing towards the edge of the beach to meet the group before helping stand thea upright. "you alright, thea?"

theadora groans. "i'm never going in the ocean again. thought for sure that was gonna be the end of me."

the group laughs, but theadora knew she was not joking; and, honestly, so did her cast mates.

she speaks !
this is god awful, i know.
i'm in the process of merging
my other two teen/cast one shot
books into this one, so a lot of them
were written 1-2 years ago. bare
with me lol