As usual, I don't own anything. Read and review, please!
Love Rhyleigh xoxox
How many times had Bec Sanderson heard the words 'it'll be okay' in her lifetime?
The answer was too many.
Sometimes, she would take the words, taking the comfort they provided.
Others, they were the last thing she needed to hear.
For example, take the time her first serious boyfriend had broken up with her. Her father had hugged her, threatened to kill the boy, and told her that it would be okay. Her mother had done the same thing, telling her everything happens for a reason.
Her brother, however, was the only one she believed. Joe had taken her out to the pier, and let her take out all her anger, hurt, frustration out on the ocean. They had been surfing, letting the ocean soak up all the unwanted emotions. In the end, Joe had hugged his younger sister, and told her that 'everything was gonna be okay'.
And Bec had told Joe the exact same thing when he wasn't accepted into Solar Blue Academy. They were closer than regular brother and sisters, but had drifted apart when she was at Solar Blue.
Solar Blue was the best year of her life. She would never forget the early morning training sessions, the freezing cold water hitting her face, and the other kids.
Her roommate, Perri, in all her Gold Coast fairy princess (a nickname Heath had coined up for her in the early days) glory. Perri's pearly whites were the first thing she saw in the morning when she woke up and the last things she saw when she went to bed at night. Perri was an only child, Bec was the only girl. It was that they had bonded over. They were like sisters.
All the girls were.
Fly. The little blonde cutie, her bright blue eyes sparkling, no matter what. Bec had loved and teased the baby of the group, defending in the same movement. Bec was probably the most protective of the younger girl, for the simple reason that she saved her baby brother. Without Fly, her brother Ben would be dead.
Anna. Bec had to wonder how she could have ever not liked her. It was a family thing, Bec knew. But she had grown to love the blonde. Everyone loved Anna- all her little quirks. Every morning, she would stand at the counter, a piece of white bread between her pointer finger and her thumb, demanding to know how they could call that piece of sponge 'bread'. And every morning, it made Bec giggle, no matter how serious the mood in the house was.
Matt. Her cool as a cucumber brainy buddy, who always had something to say, even if it wasn't appropriate. Bec wasn't as close to Matt as she was to Heath and Edge, but the bond was still there.
Heath Carroll. A joker from the start- although one couldn't stay mad at him for long. His charming, cheeky grin was what caused people to crack. Bec had laughed at a countless number of jokes he had cracked- then again, she had also been the reason for many of the jokes. It didn't matter, however. Everyone loved Heath. It was impossible not to.
And then there was Edge. Bec had spent the first third of the year fighting with him, the next third fighting her attraction to him and the final third falling for him. Edge was strong willed- and very opinionated. They had had countless fights over small things, and had countless kisses, to make up for it. Bec never dreamed she'd go to Solar Blue and find her dream man, but according to Deb, that was what happened every year. Bec would put her life in his hands- and had done so.
Twice.
They had absolutely nothing in common, the seven Solar Blue surfers. Apart from a love of the water and surfing.
As Edge had put it one night, before their announcement, if they were in the street they would never even acknowledge each other. They had what was only to be described as a 'fishbowl friendship'- a friendship formed only because they were in such close proximity, constantly.
Perri had glared at him across the room. According to Perri, they would remain great friends, even after they left Solar Blue. They had shared too much over the twelve months to drift apart.
Their announcement night, however, was what did it for Bec. Simmo and Deb had hired the hall for the entire night, which was a good thing. They never made it back to the house that night- and when they found Simmo and Deb asleep in the corner, she had just smiled.
Fly hadn't been able to keep her eyes open on the dance floor, and Heath had carried her to the side of the hall, letting her sleep in his arms. Eventually, he had dozed off, his arms around the smaller girl. Anna and Bec's brother Joe had fallen asleep in each other's arms, and Bec hated to interrupt. Perri and Matt were curled up in the corner, dead to the world, and Bec had smiled at their sweetness.
Of course, she wasn't left out of the teenage loving. She had no idea what time she had crashed, but she had crashed in the muscular arms of Dean Edgely himself. and she had woken up in the same position.
Edge, of course, had thought it would be a wonderful idea to 'step into the future together. (The others had jeered and teased Edge about being the sentimental type, but they had agreed.) They had ran along to the boarding house and located their cossies from the surf-off the day before- the only things that weren't packed into their suitcases and bags- and surfed the morning away.
They had run up and down the beach, tearing up the waves, knowing it was their last time at Blue Water Beach as Solar Blue surfers. They were determined to make an impact.
And they had- the footprints in the sand were a reminder of the good times they had had throughout the year.
So, while Bec waited outside the Solar Blue boarding house for her mother's car, Deb had put an arm around her. Being the local, Bec was in walking distance of the boarding house, and would no doubt see the new year of intakes at some point.
"It'll be okay, Bec", Deb had assured her.
Bec had grinned and beared it, because if she didn't, Deb could bring up some of the things she had heard throughout the year. The walls were not the thickest, and the girls weren't the quietest when it came to truth or dare pillow fights.
But there she was. It was pitch black dark, the moon and the stars the only light. It was amazing her parents hadn't found out that she had snuck out- but then again, she had been doing it regularly since she was twelve. She wasn't doing anything mildly wrong, just using the fresh air to clear her head.
Chuckling slightly, Bec remembered the one time during the year that Anna and Perri had snuck out to go to a party. Simmo had found her climbing back in their bathroom window, way past curfew, and had lost the plot completely. Bec and Fly had cowered under their doonas, listening to the whole thing.
Perri had been amazed, after all the times Bec had snuck out, that no one had caught her.
Blue Water Beach had a different feel to the one it had had at the beginning of that year, Bec noted. Maybe because she was just the local Blue Water girl, and not a Solar Blue surfer. Solar Blue had had numerous competitions and countless training sessions- Bec would never look at the steps the same way again.
But there was something else different about the deserted beach.
The footprints that had been made only hours before were gone. But the spirit of the people who made them still lived on. As Bec sat in the middle of the deserted beach, burying her toes in the sand, she was flooded with memories of Anna, Edge, Fly, Heath, Matt and Perri.
Edge had been wrong. There was no way that their friendship was simply fishbowl. The seven young adults had been together for a year, and a year was too long to be considered 'fishbowl'. It didn't matter what they did, they had done it as a group. Not many people could say that.
And Blue Water Beach was the home of their escapades. Their memories of the beach would live forever in their hearts- it was a fact.
Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.
-Author unknown
