The warm breeze did nothing to dry out my soaked hair. The waves had been absolutely pumping for the semifinal heats, and I had been catching waves and diving under them at an insane rate. My hair had no time to dry in between waves because there simply was no time.
We were only five minutes into the semifinal heat. It was the first heat of the day, after only the quarterfinals were surfed yesterday due to inclement weather. Things had been going well so far; I had lost in the first round that determined seeding, but had successfully dug my way back heat after heat.
The current heat would be tough, but I was feeling confident in the water. I paddled hard for a wave that everyone else had passed by, taking a few quick strokes before popping up onto the board. After two wide turns I managed to stall and make my way into a small section of tube. While the waves were shaping up nicely for getting tubed today, any cover that I could get would boost my score, so I would take everything that I got.
My board dipped smoothly beneath the incoming wave as I duck dived below an incoming wave, allowing for a moment of peace before I would resurface. Opening my eyes gave me a glimpse at the ocean floor, and I had to rip my mind away from thinking about Will's accident.
Things got easier once I was back above the waves, analyzing my competitor's movements. They were catching plenty, but I had managed to steal a couple of the biggest waves of the day, so they weren't able to showcase their more powerful moves.
Twenty five minutes in had me at the top of the leaderboard, but with last-place in priority. That meant that the other three girls had a chance at any wave that they wanted before I did, which led to a bit of a waiting game.
I picked one out on the horizon and worked my way into a position to catch it, but just as I was beginning to paddle one of the surfers from Brazil showed up on the inside of the wave. Forced to yield priority to her, I turned back out into the lineup.
The call from the beach came a few minutes later, announcing that she had earned a 5.65. "What a waste of a wave," I thought to myself.
The announcer began to give the thirty second warning, and I snagged a wave that was on it's way in. Performing a few quick turns and a modest air, I laid down on my stomach and let the wave take my in, pumping my fist to get the crowd excited. The next heat was the final, and I could use as much momentum as I could get.
Cheers from the crowd and pats on the back carried me up to the usual Ripcurl pavilion where I met Coach John. "Good job, kid," he praised, "just do the same thing next round."
"I pay you how much for feedback like that?" I asked him with a smile.
"Too much, that's for sure. You have twenty minutes until you're back out there."
I nodded and glanced around, "Have you seen my phone?"
"Nope, and you're not getting it. You have bigger things to be worried about right now, like your job. Will is perfectly fine, I would have heard from your dad if he wasn't."
Guilt seeped into my expression. "I'm sorry, it's just that it's been six days being away makes me nervous," I relented.
"You're not his mother River, and he's doing just fine. What we all need you to do is grab something to eat if you need it, and get back to your visualization."
I retreated into the tent area to grab one of the bars that my sponsors provided me with. After downing it I returned to the beach, analyzing the waves before closing my eyes and picturing myself surfing them.
Ten minutes later, I was back in the water and paddling after the veteran surfer from Maui who dominated this event annually. It was no surprise that she had made the final, which relieved some of the pressure on my end.
The first few minutes passed with us both catching some minor waves. Attendance on the beach grew as people arrived for the upcoming men's heats, and the cheers were louder after each wave was surfed.
My first wave earned me a wear 3.7, which was followed by two even lower scores. The two lower ones ended in wipeouts due to failed air attempts, so the result was unsurprising. Finally, a larger wave came by that I was able to drop into a perform a pair of aggressive turns. The lip allowed for me to get a large amount of spray off the top, which earned some whoops from the beach.
Sitting on a combined 11.2 from the 3.7 and the latter 7.5 put me 5.6 points behind my opponent. That required me to earn a 9.3 in the next six minutes, which was a doable but not necessarily likely feat.
Deciding that waiting for a powerful wave to come along was my best option, I sat out in the lineup gazing at the horizon. For a day with a good swell, there wasn't much happening. With two minutes left, one finally began to build up. Thirty seconds later I was dropping into one of the biggest barrels of the day. It arched several feet over my head and I glided through it for multiple seconds before popping out the other side and performing one final turn on the dying wave. It wouldn't be enough, but it was at least a fight.
Sure enough, the call came in to be a 9.0, and I made my way back to the beach and onto the podium with a loss by 0.2 points. Coach John took my board as I stepped onto the deck and received my trophy, smiling for the cameras and at the winner of the event, who was spraying champagne all over the stage.
After all of the post-competition interviews were completed, I made my way back over to the Ripcurl section of the beach. A figure cut diagonally in front of me on their way to the beach, and I raised my hand in greeting to Enzo.
"Hey, nice surfing! That tube was sick at the end," he called in his slightly accented English.
"Thanks, best of luck with your heat," I cringed internally at the formality of my words.
"Appreciate it, you sticking around to watch or no?"
I thought for a second, weighing my options. "I actually think I'm going to get home, I have a flight to catch and I'd like to check in with Will if I can. Make sure that things are going okay over there."
"Oh yeah, how's he doing? I heard about the accident from some of the guys, that sucks."
"He's alright. Alive and conscious, so we'll take it," I offered.
"Well, best of luck to him, I hope that he heals well. And have a great off-season, looks like with your results I'll be seeing you again on the tour in the fall."
He turned back towards the ocean with one final wave, and I grabbed my phone from my backpack. Glancing at the lock screen, I saw that I had eighteen new texts.
Evan: Second isn't that great but I guess it will do
Mom: River, your dad and I are so proud of you! Text us when you get home!
Alani: My girl, killing it!!! I'm taking half credit after all of those morning practices with you :)
Noah: Good work kid, just heard about your result!
And finally, a whole essay from Will.
Will: please don't suck, I stopped watching the Dodgers for you
Will: ok this isn't too bad
Will: River that air was sick let's gooooo
Will: what a turn
Will: yeah, spray that other chick in the face
Will: aight I hate priority, you could have surfed that wave better
Will: by the way I have an infection in my back but we gucci don't worry
Will: finals lets go best friend
Will: geez just stay on your board dude
Will: kidding, you're doing great
Will: but do better so you win
Will: GET ABSOLUTELY BARRELED THATS MY GIRL
Will: ok you may have lost but that was pretty awesome
Will: has anyone ever told you that you're good at surfing?
While his messages were endearing, there was one in the middle that I got a little caught up on. I typed out my response as fast as I could before pressing send.
River: Your back is infected?!
Thankfully, his response came almost immediately. "Yeah, but it's really not a big deal, I just told you so that you wouldn't get mad when you came back and found out. Besides, I thought that we were talking about you," read the message, and I had to hold myself back from scoffing out loud.
River: Well thanks for the support, I guess I'll be seeing you soon.
I closed my phone and shook my head before grabbing the rest of my gear and heading out of the beach. My flight left in two hours, and I needed to grab the rest of my stuff from the rental house before heading to the airport. Then it would be the time to figure out what was actually up with this infection.
Yo what's good?
My personal update is that today I watched my first organic chemistry videos and I'm already ready to die :))))