Above the waves

8

~Nate~

I walk into the cafeteria with Josh and heads turn as we walk.

"What's up?" I ask under my breath.

We walk confidently to the surfer's table where other guys and our girls are gathered. We keep our eyes forward but I know we both notice something's different.

"I think it has to do with the surf meet. Why else would they look at the surf table?" Josh answers in a low voice.

We approach the table and Amanda turns to me with an annoyed face.

"We have competition."  She says, shoving a paper into my hands. And by we she technically means me. Or Josh and I.

It's the flyer for the upcoming surf meet in Malibu. Not too far from here. The others watch my reaction as I read the names of the finalists.

For the senior division, Josh and I are in and of course the famed rivals, Clinton and Shaun. For four years we've been rivals, the four of us taking turns as champions. Also, our two rivals are not only opponents in the surf meet but also in person. They literally hate us and will do anything to pull us down. Last year they put glue on our surfboards. Thankfully we found out an hour before the meet and got to sort of wipe things off. We were still affected though. Basically every year they have something up their sleeves and sometimes they take it to school even if our high schools are quite far from each other.

I give the paper back to Amanda and she scoffs.

"Losers." She says under her breath.

Josh and I high-five everyone else, get our food and eat with everyone else. We talk about the surf meet and how only a few of them can go on the road trip to Malibu Surfrider Beach to support us. Others have their own meets coming up and need to practice.

We finish lunch and go to our last two classes.

"We got them this time." Josh says clapping me on the back.

I match his smile. "We'll both get into the championship. They better watch out."

Josh and I meet after classes to surf at the beach. We try to spend as much time as we can on the waves when the girls are busy. Thankfully they have some shopping spree today so Josh and I can catch some waves.

After surfing we stay at the house, finishing homework and talking.

"Man, you should seriously talk to her. I didn't know you were still so affected." Josh says with a low whistle. "Your sister's right."

I sigh. "But like- we're seventeen. It's not the same as apologizing when we're kids."

Josh chuckles. "In case you didn't know, you ruined that apology as a kid. So make this one count. It's pretty clear that it's eating at you. You bring it to school and surfing too. I can see it."

I cover my face with my hands.

"Why is this so complicated? I was doing fine 'til Tasha brought it up." I mumble.

I feel Josh's hand on my shoulder. "Nah man. You weren't fine. You were just delaying and denying it. When the truth is brought into the light, it sometimes hurts. But when you get it out and fix everything, man it feels good."

I look at Josh and see his sincere and firm belief in this.

"Okay. I'll talk to her soon. Just not now. Still got a meet next week."

Josh shrugs. "Your choice."

We finish our school stuff then work on our balance again.

A message from church suddenly flashes and I nearly fall.