Chapter 8
The word got out about the surfing competition around school, and on Monday, everyone was talking about it. Random people that Sam didn't even know started to walk up to her and congratulate her on winning first place. Rachel, the school newspaper's head columnist even asked Sam to meet her during lunch so she could interview Sam about surfing. Just one surf meet made the school go up in a craze about the surf team, and how their only girl was named their best surfer.
"So, how does it feel to be the only girl on the surf team?" Rachel asked. "And not to mention the only girl that was competing on Saturday, and you took first place even." She had her tape recorder pointing towards Sam.
Sam smiled. "Well, it's not really anything." She said.
Rachel scrunched up her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.
"I mean," Sam tried to find the right words. "Being a girl on the team doesn't mean that I'm different from any of the other guys. I just happen to be the only girl that loves to surf so much that I'm not intimidated by the other guys that I surf with them." Sam told her as Rachel nodded her head. "As for winning first place, that I wasn't expecting." She smiled as they both laughed.
"Did you expect to do so well?"
Sam shook her head and smiled. "Not really. Since it was my first competition for a school, I wasn't sure if it'd be like the other ones I've been in." She said.
"So you were in other competitions before?" Rachel asked curiously.
Sam nodded her head. "I used to compete back home in Hawaii before I moved up here. I didn't have a surf team at my old school, so I just surfed with local sponsors and everything." She explained. "But this was my first school competition. So I just got on my board and hoped for the best." Sam smiled. Rachel asked Sam a few more questions on being from Hawaii, how long she's surfed and how she got started. Rachel told her that the article she was writing would be out in next weeks edition of the school newspaper.
After school Sam had regular surf practice, so she quickly left school to go home and get her things and went to practice. Coach Bedolla wanted to talk to both Robert and Sam when they got there. By the time Robert showed up, there were already some of the other guys in the water practicing.
"Okay." Coach Bedolla said, walking over to both Robert and Sam who were standing off to the side. "Since you two did so well on Saturday, you're getting today and Wednesday off." He told them.
Both Sam and Robert looked at each, somewhat shocked their coach was letting them off the hook for a few days. "Really?" Sam asked.
Coach Bedolla nodded his head. "Yep. After Saturday, I got a few phone calls from the management that put together the invitational on Saturday." He began to explain to them. "They were so impressed by you two that they'd like to do an interview and take some photos for their magazine they put out every month." He said.
Robert looked as if he was about to pass out when Coach Bedolla told them. "What?" He gasped. "Are you serious?" He asked, looking at Sam who was also smiling.
"You mean it?" Sam asked, still shocked about the whole thing.
"You bet." Coach Bedolla smiled. "They wanna meet you guys at Shark's Point this Saturday." He gave both of them a hug and let them skip today's practice. They were still both shocked and surprised about what Coach Bedolla told them.
About a half hour into practice, Robert saw Avery walking up to them. "Great." He said and lightly slapped Bradin's shoulder which made him turn to see Avery.
"What?" Sam said, following Bradin's glare towards her left. And sure enough it was Avery with his 'million dollar' smile.
"Hey Sam." Avery said.
Sam stood up uncomfortably. "Hi." She said. Robert and Bradin stood up as well.
"So, I heard you took first place this weekend." He said. "That's awesome, since it was your first competition, right?"
"Well, no." She said. "I've been in competitions before, just not for a school team." She explained.
"Oh." Robert said, not expecting to be proven wrong. "Well, maybe I can take you out to a victory dinner sometime." He said and gave Sam the sweetest smile.
Robert and Bradin looked at each other, both ready to pound Avery to the ground. "What do you want?" Robert said bluntly.
Avery turned to Robert. "I think I was talking to the first place winner, not the third place." He smirked.
"What did you say?" Robert said, taking a few steps closer to Avery.
"You heard me." Avery stepped closer to Robert. They were both ready to beat the crap out of each other right there, and they would've, if Bradin didn't step in.
"Hey!" He said loudly. "Cut it out man." He stepped between them. "We don't need coach getting' on our case about it." He said to Robert who backed off.
Avery looked at Bradin. "Was I talking to you Westerly?" Avery snapped.
Bradin tried not to get mad at Avery when he took a deep breath. "Look man, will you just get out of here?" Bradin tried to ask calmly.
"And what if I don't want to?" Avery replied.
"Then we'll just have to do somethin' about it." Robert said, pushing Avery by the shoulders. Robert and Avery then went for each other, pushing and shoving one another back and forth.
"Hey!" Sam yelled which made them both stop. "Will you just chill out!" She said loudly.
Avery caught his breath. "And let this punk go, don't think so." He said, then pushed Robert back a few feet. They continued to push each other around while Sam and Bradin tried to pull them off each other.
"HEY!" Coach Bedolla said, running up to them. "Got a problem here?" He asked loudly. Robert and Avery stopped pushing each other and backed away.
Robert dusted his clothes off. "No Coach." He said softly, then glared at Avery.
"Good." Coach Bedolla said.
Avery straightened his shirt and grinned. "Don't think this is over Livingston." He said and glared at Robert who glared back. "You too Westerly." He snickered then turned to Sam. "Maybe we can still grab a bite to eat Sam." He said as she scoffed. He gave Robert and Bradin one last glare and turned away.
Coach Bedolla looked at the three of them for a few moments. "Sam, can I talk to you over here?" He asked, gesturing to walk with him. Sam followed him, and Robert and Bradin watched Avery walk down the beach.
"God I hate him." Robert said in disgust.
"What the hell was his problem?" Bradin blurted out.
Robert looked at Avery, then turned to Bradin. "Bradin." He said, calling Bradin's attention. "Do you like Sam?" He asked him plainly.
Bradin looked at Sam then smiled slightly. "Why, is it that obvious?"
"Kinda man." He said as they both smiled. "I'm just sayin' that, uh, Avery might like her too you know?" He said. "So, if you're wanting more between you and Sam, you better do something soon. Before he does." He said.
"Yeah." Bradin said quietly.
"Besides, I really don't wanna see Sam with that jackass." He said, gesturing in Avery's direction.
Bradin smiled. "You're right. I've gotta do something." He said and looked at Sam.
"Sam." Coach Bedolla looked at her. "Was he bothering you?" He asked her.
"He's just some creep in one of my classes." She told him.
Coach Bedolla nodded his head. "Some of the other boys told me he has this thing against surfers or something."
"Yeah." Sam agreed.
"So if he ever bothers you again…" He told her.
"Don't worry Coach." She reassured him. "I can take care of him. He's just got this deranged idea that I'm interested in him, which I'm so totally not." She said. "Besides, the other guys would like to beat the crap out of him, so I'm sure if he bothered me again, they'd be all up on him." She said as they both laughed.
Coach Bedolla smiled. "Okay, but just let me know if he does anything to hurt you okay?" He said, very concerned for Sam.
"No problem." She answered.
The rest of the guys on the surf team found out about the little scrap that went on between Robert, Avery and Bradin. Needless to say, none of them liked Avery, but this made them hate him even more. Throughout the entire week they exchanged glares and stares with Avery every time one of them saw him. Sam didn't like being in class with him, and she really hated the fact that she always started her days off by seeing him. Even though he acted like a total jerk at the beach, he still talked to Sam as if none of it had happened; as if he was a perfect Prince with no flaws. Sam tried to ignore him as best as she could, but she couldn't help it if he tried his hardest to make sure Sam noticed him.
Saturday came and both Robert and Sam were excited to go to their interview. Coach Bedolla also went along with them, and left a substitute coach with the rest of the boys to practice that day. Robert and Sam were both interviewed for about a half an hour. They asked them questions about surfing, why the like it, how long they've been doing it, basically the 411 on their surfing interests. After, they wanted to take some snapshots of the two of them in and out of the water. So Sam and Robert posed for the camera together and individually on the sand with their surfboards. Then they went in the water to get some action shots of them surfing. By the end of the day, both Robert and Sam were thrilled that they did this.
Coach Bedolla drove them back to their teams practice, and everyone wanted to know everything that they did. It was an exciting moment for the entire team; since their teammates would be mentioned in a surfing magazine. Bradin was excited for Sam, knowing that she really did deserve all that she was getting. But he still wasn't sure how to make their relationship more 'official', as Lucas had put it. That was something Bradin still needed to work on, and fast.
