Lean on me

Chapter 27

A week and a half passed and Sloan was able to do pushups by herself, as well as stay on the skateboard while dodging the tennis balls that Grayson and Jared threw at her. Her paddling got faster and she was almost back to her normal speed. Jared still helped her with pull ups but that was mainly so she didn't fall and get hurt. 

Halfway through the week, instead of using the tube, they took out the water skis which gave more of the feel of surfing. Now, Jensen was in the process of tying Sloan's paddle board to the rope attached to the back of the boat. This way, she has something that's as close to a surf board as you could get without having an actual board, and Jensen could see how well she con control the actual board.

When the rope is tied and secured to both the board and the boat, the rest of the group gets on the boat while Sloan pulls herself onto her board. She gives the thumbs up before onto the rope as Jensen slowly pulls out of the cove, picking up speed when they get into the open water. Sloan waits a moment until he stays at a constant speed before taking a deep breath.

She releases her grip on the rope and puts her arm underneath her chest and flattens the forearm out, pushing herself up. She quickly finds her footing and is able to easily manipulate the board. She makes it go the left some, bracing herself for the wake. She goes over it flawlessly before reentering it then going to the other side. She manages to stay up for fifteen minutes before she leans back too far and falls into the water. 

When Sloan breaks the surface, she hears everyone on the boat cheering. She smiles before swimming to the boat, climbing up the ladder. Her feet have barely touched the ground when Jensen pulls her into a tight hug, making her laugh.

"Am I ready?" She asks. 

"More than ready." He answers. "How about, when we get back from the convention, we go to the beach and see how you do?" Sloan nods excitedly. 

"How am I going to duck dive?" She asks, having not thought about it until now.

"I can figure something out." He says.

"We need to get back to the house so you can get ready." Danneel tells her, coming up to her side. 

Tonight is the night that Grayson and Sloan are going on their first date and Danneel was helping her get ready. Grayson wouldn't tell Sloan where they were going and neither would Danneel, who Grayson asked for advice on where to go. 

It made her slightly nervous, not liking not knowing where she's going, but she trusted the two. Sloan takes a seat with Grayson at the front of the boat, enjoying the silence as they go to the house, the smile from finally feeling like she was surfing again never leaving her face.

When they reach the house, Danneel hands JJ to her husband before grabbing Sloan's wrist and practically dragging her off the boat and to her bedroom. She grabs a towel from the hallway closet and thrusts it into her arm before pushing her into the bathroom. 

"Mom, I don't have any clothes!" She exclaims. 

"Wrap the towel around you. We're both girls." She says with a shrug. Sloan laughs and shakes her head before closing and locking the bathroom door. 

After taking a long shower to soothe her aching muscles and drying off, Sloan wraps the towel around her before walking into the bedroom, where she finds Danneel standing in front of the bed with a bunch of clothes on it. She finally grabs a simple black dress and throws it at Sloan. 

Sloan grabs some underwear and a strapless bra from her dresser, making Danneel turn around while she changes. The dress had spaghetti straps and falls just above her knees, the skirt loose and flowy. Danneel hands her a pair of black heeled ankle boots that zip up in the front and Sloan quickly puts them on before Danneel gets to work on her hair.