Scratching The Surface

Chapter 8

Like clockwork, Clarke was at the beach training. Finals having finished, Clarke had more time to focus on her surfing. She cut back her hours at the coffee shop and spent hours at the beach. If she wasn't running or lifting weights, Clarke could be found out on the water working on her surfing skills.

The only thing that sucked for Clarke was not seeing Lexa at all. With finals and surfing, Clarke hadn't had a chance to see her and Clarke hated it. They'd texted each other throughout the week, but it wasn't the same and Clarke really wanted to see her, but they each had their own things to focus on at the moment, so she would have to wait for a good time.

She could admit she missed Lexa, more than she thought she would. Clarke wasn't used to missing someone like this; with Finn she never missed him like this. With football practice starting back up for Lexa, it limited their time even more because it wasn't just one practice a day, it was two. Lexa had explained that during the summer, it was that way until the season started back up. Clarke knew Lexa was really excited about it and didn't want to distract her which is why she came up with being friends with benefits for that reason.

Clarke took a break and sat down on the shore and couldn't help but look for Lexa. It had become a habit to look for the brunette and Clarke wasn't sure what to think about it. She still felt bad for the way she'd up and left last week and she hadn't had a chance to apologize yet. Clarke could have said sorry over the phone, but thought it was too impersonal.

She wanted to apologize in person, knowing it was the right thing to do after what she did.  Clarke knew it was shitty to just leave her in bed after sex, Lexa probably felt used and that wasn't what Clarke wanted Lexa to feel.

Clarke wanted to be able to look in Lexa's eyes, so Lexa knew Clarke meant how truly sorry she was. Surfing is the most important thing to her, but it didn't give her the right to act that way towards Lexa. She wanted to make things right between them.

She didn't deserve it.

Like they promised, Raven and Octavia had been helping when they could. It was often as they both were super busy with their own things, but Octavia was going to take her out a jet ski later so Clarke could catch some bigger waves and Clarke was excited to test her skills out in the open ocean.

Once her break was over, Clarke trudged back into the water with the other surfers. With her increased training, she was only by herself at her usual time. She missed the solitude and missed the time she got to spend with Lex, but Lexa hadn't come by all week. Having other surfers around ruined the atmosphere, but Clarke was determined to overlook it. She knew she wasn't the only one training for the competition.

As soon as Clarke was able to register for the competition, she put her name in and scrolled through to see who else was registered. It was an invite only competition and it was an honor to be chosen. It turned out it was mainly pro surfers with a few other locals. Clarke was ecstatic that she was chosen to enter among all the other talented local surfers. It also made her slightly more nervous to go up against more experienced surfers, but Clarke was still determined to prove she had what it takes to go pro.

Clarke spent another hour or so out on the water before calling it quits so she could meet up with Octavia. Knowing if she was late, her best friend would be pissed and that wasn't something Clarke wanted to deal at the moment. Clarke vowed that as soon as she could, she would be to track down Lexa and talk to her.

She just hoped that Lexa would listen.

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Lexa smiled down at the green and black practice jersey in her hands, the number 31 looking back at her making her smile. It'd been her number since she started playing football. She remembered when she held her very first jersey with this exact number and the happiness she felt to be a part of something extraordinary when all she heard was girls can't play football.