The Tour

four / the veterans

"This is something else," I said, surveying the beach from inside the Ripcurl tent. The men were surfing today so the women had an off day, and I had chosen to watch the competition with a few of the other girls. That, and we had a signing for Ripcurl in a few minutes when the last men's heat finished, so there wasn't much point in sitting alone in the house while I waited for the signing to start.

Sarah looked over at me and gave me a grin. She was a few years older than me and had been on the tour last year, so she was fresh off of the rookie experience. "Yeah, the QS is one form of professional surfing but was in no way the CT. Everything here is so much bigger, and even though you're used to seeing the same people at QS events it gets so much more intense when you know that everyone is at the top of their game," she responded. 

I nodded, gazing back out at the four surfers who were battling it out for a spot in the quarterfinals. Everyone who was here knew that they had talent, and plenty of them acted like it. Thankfully no one living in the Ripcurl house seemed to be out of hand, but I had already witnessed a few interactions among the men that showed that they thought that they were better than everyone else, even after coming off a last place finish in their heats.

The rest of the heat was fairly uneventful, and Sarah and I were ushered to a surf shop near the beach where a line was already beginning to snake around the sidewalk. People ranging from the ages of seven to their sixties looked up excitedly as we made our way into the store, cheering when they realized that their wait would be coming to an end soon.

Once inside the store, I found my way to the seat with my name tag at the end of a long table. It was clear that I was towards the beginning so that fans would have to notice me before moving on to the more famous members of the Ripcurl team. Every move that was made by the company was strategic, and it was clear that from a business standpoint they wanted all of their surfers to get as much face time as possible. Sarah was seated next to me, and I watched as a few of the male surfers trailed into the store, some of them still dripping.

One of them, a tall boy from Brazil stopped by me on his way to his seat. I recognized him from watching the tour, and I knew that he was a couple of years older than me and arguably the best up and coming male surfer. He extended one hand and offered a half-smile.

"Heard you're the new kid around here. My name's Enzo Santos, and welcome to the tour," he offered. I barely had time to shake his hand and offer my thanks before he was moving on to his seat, preparing to meet the hundreds of people who had lined up. He seemed pretty cocky but didn't appear to be a total jerk, so that was at least something. 

The fans began to crowd in a few minutes later, offering an endless line of congratulations and requests for autographs. I was in no way the most popular person at the table, but people still managed to pay m enough attention that my cheeks started to hurt from smiling within ten minutes. Most of them clearly didn't know anything about me and only wanted the autograph to add to their collection. That, and one of them straight up told me that they had no idea what I could do but didn't want to risk me going big if he missed having their napkin signed.

"Well, I appreciate that you at least think that there is a possibility of potential. Hope that you get a nice autograph on that poster of your real star," I smirked, nodding at the twenty year old's poster of Enzo.

The guy looked a bit bashful after that comment, and thankfully he moved on and a couple of young girls stepped up. They actually seemed to be interested in my journey up from the qualifying series, and I was thankful that they were able to wash the slightly sour taste out of my mouth.

After what felt like hours of signing, our representative from Ripcurl came in and announced that we had made it through the line and were free to go. I glanced over at Sarah to see her grabbing her stuff, and I stood up and waited for her to make her way out. Jaylin Lacher, a veteran member of the tour, approached me while I was waiting. She offered a close-lipped smile as she messed around with her blonde hair before stopping in front of me.

"Hope that you're having a good time so far, it's River right?" She asked.

"That's me, and yeah thanks it's been great so far. A really cool experience."

"Well, I'm happy to hear that. I'm sure that we'll get along great as long as you don't start beating me," Jaylin giggled, and even though it came off as playful it was clear that she had no interest in me getting any ideas about out-surfing her.

"I'll look forward to our friendship, however long or short it may be," I grinned back at her.

Looking over Jaylin's shoulder I caught Enzo snort and duck his head in laughter. Smiling to myself, I walked past her and back to Sarah, immediately pretending to be busy in some conversation with her.

"That was the funniest thing that I've seen in my life," Sarah gasped as we finally made our way into the Uber to head back to the house.

"I wasn't trying to be aggressive, I just want her to realize that I'm not going to bow down before her just because I've spent the last ten years watching her surf," I shrugged, looking out over the cliff to the ocean.

"I'm not sure that you accomplished avoiding aggression, but it was still great. At some point, Jaylin has to realize that she's not going to be hot stuff forever," she responded before opening and scrolling through her phone.

I sighed, looking through my own texts from today. Evan had seen me on the Ripcurl instagram and was asking if he could get an autograph too, and may parents had both texted me and wanted more updates about how things were going. Rolling my eyes at my parent's constant need for affirmation that I was still alive, I opened up the message from Evan. 

Evan / River

 Saw you on the Ripcurl instagram, can I have an autograph too?

Only if you say that I have no talent but you need it

 in case something crazy happens

That bad, huh?

Not really, there were some nice ones too

I just wasn't really the main attraction

Hey, it's tough to be when Santos is there.

Can't deny that man's level of attractiveness

Shut up, don't make it weird

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't be opposed to you 

getting to know him if it meant me getting to hang out with him

Are you using me for clout?

I'll let you know if he ever allows himself to stoop to my level

Of course I'm using you for clout

I gotta get something good out of you leaving for months

Way to turn that around, that was nice

I'm a stellar older brother

Now go to sleep so you surf well tomorrow 

No boys or alcohol

Wow it truly is your brilliant directions that keep me

 out of trouble and  off of the streets

By the time that I finished talking to Evan we were back at the house. Most of the girls were pretty focused on eating and heading to bed before their morning heats, and I followed suit. The television in the living room was broadcasting last year's competition, and I watched it for a bit, trying to get zoned in on the waves and the style of the competitor's surfing. No one here had more to prove than me, and I didn't want to waste any chance that I got. 

Allllllllrighty, another part in the books. That wasn't supposed to be a pun but now it's kind of making me laugh so I'm gonna leave it. Anyway, hope that you enjoyed it and I'll try to keep this moving :)