Author's Notes: Hello everyone! Sorry for the longer wait for this chapter.

There are several reasons why this chapter update took so long. Writing from a character's POV doesn't come as naturally to me as other styles of writing. I wasn't completely sure of the arc of this chapter. And this is the first time that I'm attempting to have some actions taking place in real-time in the POV format.

As you can likely guess, this chapter switches between Cody and Bridgette's points of view. Also, being just as obvious, this chapter will have the teens surfing! I must give a MASSIVE shout out to the following fan-fiction writers for offering me some much needed knowledge on the art and practice of surfing: Baelparagon, malzi21, and TDDolphin! Even though this chapter took too long to get out, the comments from you three helped this chapter get out so much quicker than it would have otherwise! You all deserve of a round of applause from all of this story's fans!

I have more to say, of course, but I'll save that for the endnotes.

Here's the seventh chapter of "A TDA Love Triangle with Betty, Cody, and Gwenny": Laughter in a Barrel

(Cody's POV)

Don't stare! Don't stare!

But…we're at the beach…and its sunny…and there's a girl in a bikini right next to me!?

She's not just "a girl"…she's Bridgette. You know, the girl who you found CRYING a few days ago over a bad breakup with a guy who was ultimately only after her body!?

I know, I know, all right! That's why I'm here in the first place…to make her feel better.

Exactly. Remember that. You're here for her, not you! If you make it about you and take advantage of her…you'll be no better that Geoff or the guys who bully you back home.

Ok, ok…I promise I won't look!

Yeah, good. Ok, I can do that. I'll just have to not focus on her body.

I won't pay any attention to her amazing looking body. I won't give a second thought to her curvy and athletic body, or her ridiculously toned arms and legs…

…or how you can see the outline of a feminine looking six-pack starting to be chiseled on her stomach…

…or how her skin is glowing like its been kissed by the sun…

…or how the sunlight glints off of her long angelic blonde hair, making her look vaguely divine thanks to how the hair that frames her face causes it to be bordered by radiance…

…or that her boobs are partially exposed in a tiny blue bikini that reveals how the sweater she normally wears makes them appear to be a whole cup size smaller than they are!

…or…or…

…Uh? Uh…why am I suddenly drooling a little and I can't get my eyes to close? And why does my face suddenly feel so much warmer under the same amount of sunlight?

Goddamnit, Cody! You're doing it again…only its worse this time! I can't believe that I've been walking since getting to the beach and switching to swimwear without bump-

BUMP! DING!

Curse…you…trashcan!

I am briefly stunned as I feel my back fall onto burning hot sand. I just lay there stunned.

"Cody! Cody, oh my God!" A voice called out with her voice full of concern and worry. Even though I already knew whom the voice belonged to, I saw her face fill my vision.

Bridgette was looking down at me, her ocean-green eyes overflowing with sudden sadness as her face was again framed by the heavenly aura of the sun hitting her hair.

It was so hard to process. She was so beautiful and yet she was so concerned about me. While I'm serious about this being about her and not me, that made me feel really good. Plus the fact that I could see the tops of her tanned breasts didn't hurt my mood either.

Hey, don't judge me! I've been very good at stopping myself from just ogling her. And, I did just collide with a metal trashcan onto some burning hot sand…I think you can cut me some slack!

Even if you people can't, thankfully it looked like Bridgette could as she offered me her hand. Taking it, and secretly enjoying the feeling of holding her hand, I'm pulled upward.

"Cody, are you ok? Did you get hurt anywhere?" Bridgette asked with concern. Its starting to amazing me how much compassion she can have for a guy she's only known for like two or three days. But hey, that's a feature I wish a lot more people I knew had.

"Oh yeah, Bridge. I'm good. It takes a lot more than hitting a trashcan to hurt me."

"You mean like a grizzly bear?" Bridgette asked with a hot smirk.

I was briefly stunned by the question, seeing how a sassy side matched her nice side.

"Yeah…yeah, like that." I finally say, not sounded as confident as I would have liked while wiping off the sand that had clung to my back.

Bridgette then brushed some specs of sand off of my chest, and I ever so slightly shake at feeling her fingers slide across my body. Then she got closer to me, much, much closer to me, as she studied me from a couple of angles, likely making sure there were no unseen injuries. After she did so, her face was literally less than two inches from my own.

"Yup! Your good." Bridgette said with as sincere smile. Then she got a slight smirk. "Please be more careful, ok? I don't want you injured before we get a chance to surf."

"Ah, so me getting injured is fine so long as it's while surfing?" I ask, smirking back.

Bridgette laughed at that. She had a very pretty sounding laugh. Hopefully I can get her to laugh often since that would likely help her move on from Geoff much quicker.

After that, we reached the surf shack on the beach. The roof was made of straw, or at least it looked that way, and there were fake surfboards sticking out of the sand around it.

Waiting behind the counter was a guy, likely in his mid-twenties, who looked vaguely like a young Hugo Weaving. "Hello. Can I help you two with something?" He asked.

"Hello. I'm Cody Anderson. I had booked two surfboards to rent for today last night."

The guy behind in the shack counter flipped through a record book for a few seconds. "Ah, yes! Here you are. Cody Anderson. Two surfboards. For the entire day."

"That is what I just said." I say with a accidental roll of the eyes.

"So, Mr. Anderson, what kinds of boards do you want?"

Crap! There are different kinds of boards!?

"Uh…um…what kinds of boards…are there?"

The surf shack employee raised an eyebrow at me, looking at me like I had grown a second head. Dammnit all! Why didn't I do any research into what surfing involves!? God, I must look like such a loser to Bridgette!

"Hi, hi, hi…he he he!" Bridgette starts to giggle in such a girly way that was so cute.

This completely makes up for me looking so dumb just now!

Bridgette stopped giggling, after a few attempts behind hand likely out of politeness, and said, "I'll handle this, Cody. We'll take one longboard and one shortboard, please."

The guy nodded his head as he went to find whatever those kinds of boards are. In fact, know that I think about, I wonder which of those boards is for me? The short one, I bet.

"Hey Bridgette, what kinds of boards are those? And which am I using? The short one, right?" I ask, likely annoying some of you since that's what I just thought almost word for word. But hey, its what I was thinking before speaking. Sorry about that.

Again, for some reason, Bridgette giggled. I was confused…but not complaining.

"No, no, Cody. The shortboard is for me."

"Uh…why is that?"

"A shortboard is more experienced surfers. They are more maneuverable and require more expertise to use. Timing is critical on them since there's less board and a greater chance of a slip up. Now, a longboard, on the other hand, is better for people who are just starting to surf. They are more stable, more buoyant, and can ride waves that are too small for shortboard too. And since your just starting out, I think you should use that. Uh, no offense, Cody." Bridgette explained with real expertise before looking a little bashful.

I saw an opportunity and I decided to take it.

"Well…I am offended, little lady." I scold in a self- mocking manner. For good measure, I place my hands on my hips. "I'll have you know that I surf plenty good every single day. I can channel surf my T.V. like nobodies business!"

Again, Bridgette chuckles in that adorable way that makes me just want to hug her.

But then I turn down my awesome aura of sexy and suave, as difficult as that is when you're an unstoppable beacon of it like me, and start to feel a little nervous.

Bridgette seemed to notice this shift because she asked, "Cody? Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling fine. I'm just a little nervous. I've never surfed before and I'm worried that I'll make a fool out of myself." I say softly, not really wanting to say it.

"Aw, Cody," Bridgette said sweetly, her eyes growing in size just a little bit, "there's nothing to be nervous about. Even if you do wipeout, I won't think you're a fool at all."

As simple as that reassurance was, it really did make me feel much better. I smiled at her.

"Besides, you might find that surfing is easier than you imagine." Bridgette said with a smile of her own, proving that she is better looking than me while wearing a smile. Heck, she looks better than me in any instance.

"What makes you say that?"

"People who are on the skinner and shorter side tend to find surfing easier because of their body type not creating as much resistance as someone who is taller or chunkier." Bridgette said matter-of-factly.

I was silent for a moment. Part of me wanted to think that she was just saying this to make me feel better but considering that this is Bridgette, she's probably telling the truth.

I reacted to this information with a proper amount of restraint and grace.

"Finally! My body type is good for something! My high school's gym class can suck it!" I shout loudly in joy.

While doing so, I raise both of my arms up like I was Rocky Balboa after defeating his most iconic foe…stairs! Vertical ascension was truly his goddamn kryptonite!

Despite my reaction likely being more crass than she's use to, Bridgette giggled again.

I'm on fire, ladies and gentlemen! I'll be here all week! Remember to tip your waitresses!

(Bridgette's POV)

Yeah, I called it while eating breakfast…Cody sure has a way of making me laugh!

I'm honestly not completely sure what makes Cody so funny to me. I guess it's a combo of his jokes, the way he says them, and that adorable little gap in his teeth when smiling.

But I'm not exactly going to start complaining. I feel so light and happy right now…and we haven't even gotten our boards yet.

Despite my good cheer though, I notice something every now and then. I notice Cody's eyes looking at me before they dart away quickly. I'm…unsure how to feel about that.

On the one hand, seeing Cody ogle me, however briefly, makes me feel uneasy given what has happened to me. A part of me is worried at Cody; despite him being so nice and me not being interested in him, might just be another sex-obsessed creep like Geoff. But on the other hand, I can't lie when I say that it feels a little good to know that Cody finds some features of my body to be good enough to briefly stare at…somehow.

Among many other things, this whole episode with Geoff has made me question my appearance. I know, I know…it's horrible that of all my kinds of pain that's the one I focus on. But…part of the reason why that one is so bad is because it was already there.

Despite what a lot of the guys I know say, I don't think I'm that attractive. I'm just so plain! I often feel like just your generic granola girl. I don't have huge breasts like Lindsay. I don't have curves like Leshawna. I don't have any uniqueness like Gwen.

I mean…I'm so horribly plain that I normally wear a one-piece swimsuit while surfing. Uh…not that I'm insulting any of you girls who wear one-piece swimsuits…honest! I'm sure your all beautiful…probably much more so than me, that's for sure.

So, why did I wear a bikini today? Maybe because I need someway to feel good about myself and this is the only way I know how; maybe because I feel the need to "reward" Cody? Maybe…ugh! I don't even know why this would be a reward for Cody, at all!

Cody doesn't know me as well as he thinks he does. I'm so far from that perfect blonde you always see in movies! I have so many flaws. I vomit so easily. I demand that people always recycle. I can't trust my own two feet to not send me to the ground. I can't see even the smallest bit of animals being in pain. I've used the men's locker room to change in more times than I'd ever admit to anyone. I'm usually too forgiving for my own good. And, let's not forget, I feel the automatic need to lock lips with any muscular guy I see!

"Here you go, Mr. Anderson. One short board and one long board. Enjoy the waves." The surf shack employee says as he brings us two surfboards.

I take a look at the two surfboards and find that I'm very pleased with what I see. The shortboard is about six feet long and it made of hardened koa wood. The longboard, on the other hand, is just a little less than seven feet long and is made of polystyrene foam covered in layers of fiberglass. But what I'm sure Cody likes most about it is the paintjob on it. The shack clerk must have been very perspective because Cody's board had the face of Darth Vader on it. Yeah, that seemed to have pleased Cody quite a bit.

"Great! I'm sure this board will be awesome. Now let's hit the water!" Cody says with gusto as he starts to run towards the water.

"Cody, stop!" I shout loudly after a second of delay thanks to his suddenness.

Unable to help myself, I chuckled again at seeing the confused expression on his face.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, no. Nothing's wrong. But what are you doing?"

"Uh…heading towards the water. You know, to use the nice board I just rented. You do do this in the water, right?"

I chuckle again. What can I say, he might not be the suave ladies' man he thinks he is but he sure does know how to keep a girl laughing. And I'm very grateful for that.

"Yes, yes you do. But that doesn't mean we start in the water." I say, causing him to raise his eyebrow in confusion. I should have realized that this would happen.

"Contrary to popular belief, all training for surfing starts on land. Before you can even think about getting in the water you need to practice mounting your board, swimming on your board, standing on your board and proper foot placement on your board." I explain.

"Why? Why do all of that on land when surfing happens in the water?"

"Because you need to be confident that you can do those basic but vital steps. Even in the shallow parts of the ocean, its still always changing and unstable. But solid earth, even sand, is far more stable than water. In fact, think of the sand as a kind of halfway point between earth and water. It's solid like earth but shifting like water, having features of both. Thus making it more ideal for basic training than normal earth or water."

After thinking of it for a few seconds, Cody nods his head. "Ah, I guess I can see that."

I smile. "Very good. It's start with the basic of the board before moving on to surfing."

(Cody's POV)

The instructions on the surfboards themselves didn't take that long. There's the gist of it. The front of the boards were called "noses", and they help drive through the water. The bottom of the board has fins at the back that help keep the board from going sideways. And finally a rubber leash that connects to our back feet joins us to the board and that reduces the chances of our board zooming off and hurting either others or ourselves.

Once that was done, Bridgette instructed me on how to mount, swim on, stand on, and place my feet on my surfboard. I can't say exactly how long it took but it was likely a long time. And while there were a few brief moments where Bridgette sighed in frustration, she was for the most part reasonable and patient as I learned all of this.

Eventually, I was able to do all of these tasks on the sand to Bridgette's satisfaction.

Now, you'd except that I'd be taught how to ride the waves next, right?

Wrong!

"Alright, now let's get into the etiquette of surfing!" Bridgette says.

"Etiquette, what? Not to be rude but do we curtsey the waves and ask them to ride them as if we were having a dance with them?"

Bridgette chuckles. "Surfing is riding waves but when surfing there more to consider than just that."

"Like what?"

"Mainly the areas of the beach water and those in that water."

I raise one of my eyebrows.

Again, Bridgette chuckles. "Ha, ha. Sorry Cody. I bet you didn't expect a lecture today before you even got in the water, right?"

"Well, yeah…that's right. But still, it's interesting. I always thought that surfing was just riding the waves." I say, being completely honest.

"Thanks." Bridgette says with a smile. "Even so, I'll try to keep this part brief. And since we appear to be the only people surfing today, I won't say what applies only to other surfers." After a pause, she enters this kind of mode where she becomes a surfing mastermind. Its kinda hot, honesty. After all, before today I knew NOTHING about surfing. Aside from channel surfing, of course. And the fact that Bridgette can remember and recite all of this just from memory is extremely impressive, like how Gwen knows a lot about history, art, and movies. "Now then, the water closest to the beach is spilt up into three areas. The first area is near the shore, which belongs to the swimmers who have the right of area. You never try to ride your board either entering or leaving the first area. In the shallows surfers have to get out of their way and avoid them. The third area is the deepest area, where it's the deepest and the biggest waves are created. But we will be only using the middle area. The waves that form in the second area are the best ones for people just learning how to surf. Now there will still be some swimmers but not many. The many things you have to worry about are body surfers and boogie boarders. Even though it's expected that they will look out for you, you still must be mindful of them."

"Why is that?"

"Because, as you'll soon discover, it is very easy for your board to slip away from you. And with the speeds that these waves can send it, it can do serious damage to anyone who it hits. Also, it's the area where you will be sent rocketing through if you successfully ride a wave. Sometimes a moving surfboard can reach twenty or more miles per hour. Imagine the damage that these hard boards could do if they hit someone in the head."

"Yikes." I say, genuinely surprised and little frightened. "I had no idea surfing could be so dangerous."

I must have said that in a way other than what I intended because Bridgette laughs again.

"Most people don't. But don't worry; the person most likely to get hurt is you. And that brings me to actually riding the surfboard!" She says with a sweet, slightly sinister smile.

"That's how you transition to riding the surfboard!? Jeez, that's just so encouraging!" I nearly shout, only half playing up my worry about riding these Beelzebub boards.

The fact that I got Bridgette laughing so hard that she was holding her stomach helped…but not as much as I would have preferred. But her laugh and smile are nice.

"Sorry, Cody. I couldn't resist. The opening was just too perfect." Bridgette says smiling.

"Yeah…yeah, I guess it was." I admit, realizing the same thing.

"Ok. So, first, you get on your stomach and paddle out until you get to the general area. Once there, you sit and wait for the right wave. Now, this can take a very long time. The right kind of wave should be one that you notice forming right away and is surging up at least thirty feet high, give or take, a little before it reaches you. Are you following me?" Bridgette asks.

I nod my head.

"Second, after seeing if a wave fits those criteria, you point your board in the opposite direction and start swimming towards the shore. This is done to match the speed of the wave. If you're too slow the wave will just pass under you and if you're too fast it can be dangerous. If done correctly, the wave should just begin curling in and foaming at the top by the time it catches up to you. You'll know if the wave is the right kind when you feel the board began to be pushed forward by the wave's momentum. Understood?"

Again, I nod my head.

"When you're feeling that, you need to push yourself upward with a push-up motion to your knees, and then to you feet. As you can imagine, this is difficult to do while moving. This is where most people fall off, as their feet need to be staggered to give themselves a base while removing their hands from the board. The problem usually stems from their center of gravity, you need to keep it in a general area in order to get up and maintain balance. Do you need me to repeat anything that I just said, Cody?"

For a nice chance of pace, I move my head from side to side instead of nodding this time.

"If you remaining standing, you next need to use your legs to guide the board while your hips control your height. You need to stay low higher on the wave while straightening yourself out. From there, you ride the wave. Good to finally get to this point, isn't?" Bridgette asks with a slightly self-deprecating smirk.

Despite my growing fear, I laugh at that. She laughs too.

"Riding the wave, perhaps not shockingly, is probably the hardest part, since you need a constant control of balance and it's best to lean into the board, otherwise you'll come toppling off. And when you're trying to change direction, only make slight changes, otherwise once again, you'll probably just fall right off. If things go right, you'll ride the wave as it pushes back to the beach before it fades away into the rest of the ocean. Now, since you're likely to not nail this on your first try, let me explain what to do if something goes wrong at any point in what I just told you." Bridgette says before briefly pausing.

While trying to hide it, I gulp while waiting for whatever Bridgette is about to tell me. After all, how bad could it be, right?

"One of the most dangerous things for surfers is to hit the ocean bottom at a wrong angle or to hold their limbs out. When you do fall or worse, if a wave throws you, you should assume the fetal position, stick your chin to your chest, and allow yourself to roll with the current. It is the best way to prevent injuring your limbs or head, both of which are a lot more dangerous in the ocean than they are on land because either injury makes drowning a far more likely possibility. But since there aren't any reefs around; we don't have to worry about you becoming a human pinball bouncing into one. So there is that advantage. Even so, since the ocean is always ebbing and flowing on its own, you could be sent flying towards the ocean floor in a manner of seconds. Look, I'm sorry for being so blunt Cody but I have to make sure that you understand what to do if something goes wrong. Roughly fifty people each year die because of surfing accidents, mostly from drowning."

Ok, remind me again why I wanted to do this!? Oh yeah…to make Bridgette feel better. The things I do to help out a girl! And…see her in a bikini.

No, no…you're doing again, Cody! Stop thinking about those amazing breasts of hers!

Remember, you're here to help her find the strength in herself to move on from Geoff.

But at the moment it seems like it's me who's in need of finding their inner strength because I can't stop myself from slightly shaking. Bridgette must have noticed this because she came right up to me with a sympathetic look on her beautiful face.

Then she did something that I didn't see coming…she hugged me, she hugged me tightly.

Bridgette is only slightly taller than me so our faces are just about level with each other. Luckily her face wasn't pressed against mine but was resting on my left shoulder instead. Speaking into my ear, Bridgette said something about how thankful she was that I was doing this with her despite my fears. I couldn't make it the exact phrasing but I was pleased to hear it, even if that wasn't the greatest reason for me being pleased right now.

I'm trying to not be creepy but she smelled great! The aroma flooding my nostrils was like coconut and wet sand, almost like she just came from Hawaii. And her hair is so soft and luscious.

But more than that I noticed that those beautiful breasts of hers were now being pressed into my chest. I feel these two massive and firm orbs against my bare chest that are only covered by a thin layer of fabric that was her bikini top.

I was so stoked right now! Yes, I made a surfing pun. Be thankful that this is the first one.

Anyway, uh, not to be crass…but this was getting me at full mast right now!

Thankfully, despite me wishing it wouldn't end, Bridgette ended the hug.

"Alright, now there's one last thing I must tell you…and this thing might be the most important thing of all." Bridgette says, entering her surfing instructor mode one last time. "Your going to have to learn many things but the first thing is how to fail. You're going to fail a lot. But don't feel bad and think that you should stop trying. No one ever rides their first wave, or even their fiftieth. They fail, again and again and again. Even experts at this will fall off their boards or miss the wave so many times. By the time I rode my first wave right, the number of failed attempts was in the hundreds. Despite that, I kept trying and as a result surfing has given me so much joy in my life. There is nothing that I have encountered which matches the high of riding a wave just right. You just have to weather out the rough periods because joys afterwards will be worth it."

Not knowing why, what Bridgette just said made me think of something. I saw an opportunity and I decided to take it. Without considering if I should say it or not, I say, "Yeah, that's a really good point, Bridge. Please try to remember that as you are moving on from Geoff and this breakup. Just like when you were learning how to surf, it's just one of those rougher period before the joys to come afterwards that will be worth it."

In my head that sounded like the perfect thing to say, a real movie-equse moment of poetic wit and metaphor, you know? But the moment after I had said it, I wanted to attempt to ram my surfboard down my throat!

The reason was because of the good cheer and happiness on Bridgette's face vanished. Those beautiful ocean green eyes of hers grew and started to get moist, with tears. Her mouth wasn't smiling anymore but was instead quivering against the rising emotions.

In one shot all of the good work that I had done with building Bridgette up was ruined! I somehow made her feel even worse than she did at breakfast this morning!

For the longest time, neither her nor me could say anything. It was so awkward that I was almost praying for something huge and heavy to fall out of the sky and crush me flat!

Finally, after what felt like several weeks compacted into a few minutes, I spoke up.

"S-sa-sor-sorry, Bridgette. I-I-I couldn't resist. The opening…uh, was just too perfect." I say rubbing the back of my neck, suddenly feeling more nervous than at any point before this, fearing that she would react badly to this and end up an emotional wreck.

The pause that followed was felt like the longest in my entire life.

"Yeah…yeah," Bridgette says slowly looking away from me, looking like her mind was wrapping around that idea. Then her eyes return to me. "I guess it was." She says slowly again. After that, her slightly quivering mouth changes…into a small but strong smile. Her ocean green eyes still seem moist but I don't think it's because of sadness anymore.

Seeing that smile, however small, instantly made me feel the best that I felt today. Even more than a tight and long hug that was the closest I've gotten to feeling a girl's breasts!

Not wanting to let anything sour this moment, I grab my surfboard hold it high over my head. While doing so, striking the most macho pose I can think of, I say confidently, "Let's get in that water, Bridge! 'Cuz the Codemeister gonna nail his first wave right!"

As I run towards the water, I hear Bridgette right behind me, with her laughter filling the air. Hearing that laughter fills me with a feeling of invincibility.

Yeah…I'm gonna ride my first wave perfectly!

(Bridgette's POV)

"Crap, crap, crap, CR-!" Cody yells as his surfboard starts to lose balance and he tumbles into the churning white foam of the wave's front for the twentieth time today.

Sadly for Cody it was a big wave and it turned him into a human tumbleweed as it looks like he's doing three or four fully realized cartwheels while the wave rolls on.

As always, my feel my chest tightens after Cody stops spinning but he's still under the water. It isn't until I see Cody shoot up out of the water in frustration that I loosen up. And as always, as I see Cody spit out some salt water and mildly cursing, I laugh loud.

It so wrong that I get so much joy out of seeing Cody's failure and frustration but its so damn funny! A part of me can't help but wonder if he's acting so over the top on purpose, like he's playing up and exaggerating his emotional state for my reaction?

Either way, I can't deny that watching him continuously mess up is making me feel good.

Even though I've been in too much of a funk to ride any waves, I feel so good right now.

I see Cody, after finally catching his board as it had shot away from him, paddling towards me. As he does, I see that the reflection of the sun just starting to set is reflected in the ocean.

Cody and me have been at this for like five or six hours and neither of us have ridden a wave. Though I was naturally disappointed in myself for messing up so many times, it wasn't too bad. If nothing else, it gave Cody a chance to laugh at seeing my failures.

As much as seeing his failures made me laugh, I was pleased to see that he was enjoying himself as well. If it wasn't for his laughter I'd be worried that his constant failures would be putting him in a bad mood. After all, no one likes to wipe out while surfing. In particular when the ocean is as shockingly cold and chilling, as it seems to be today.

Cody's been a real sport about this whole day. I won't keep him out here for much longer. I just want to try to successfully ride at least one wave before calling it quits.

I see one starting to form a distance away. I start to paddle my way towards it. As I do so, I can't help but think of what had happened every single time I tried to ride a wave before. My thoughts would shift to Geoff, our break up, and how horrible it makes me feel. No matter what I do, those thoughts won't leave my head and make me wipe out!

Even with that knowledge in mind, I paddle out towards the right edge of the wave. It's still forming, but I can tell that it's going to be a hollow wave, meaning that I'm going to be attempting to do what is called a "backdoor", taking off behind the peak of the wave and surfing through the barrel to the other side of the barrel.

I approach the mouth of hollow wave's forming barrel. Gulping, I cross the threshold.

Once inside of it, I get myself on my feet and start to ride through the hollow wave.

Let me tell you, I had forgotten how scary it can be to ride through a wave's barrel!

Why? For one thing, the roar of the wave fills your ears with nothing but a loud crashing rumble. The feeling the sound of the barrel creates must be something like it is to be deaf. On top of that, the water that surrounds you is ready and able to crush you beneath it. But most of all, it is so easy to be get crushed…only the tiniest shift in equilibrium will do it.

Even though the crushing power of the wave is the most dangerous factor, for me now what is the worst is the deafening roar. It cuts you off from everything else but yourself. It forces you to almost travel through your own psyche as you travel through the wave.

Not long after entering the barrel, the roaring rumble of the wave morphs into other sounds. It changes to familiar voices and repeated conversations and thoughts. I hear Geoff's voice as we argue for hours before he breaks up with me. I hear the scathing self-loathing in the countless remarks I've made to myself in my despair. I hear the criticisms of myself that I made in a sad attempt to understand and justify the break up. I hear the laughter of Geoff that he bellowed out near the end of our argument after our break up.

The sounds surround me, trap me…hover around me like an inescapable presence. They are given monstrous added depth and power as they shout within the wave and my head.

They are so loud…so strong! I'm powerless before them. I can't do anything. I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. I'm hopeless.

I feel my feet start to stumble over themselves, causing the board to subtlety shift around. I know that this is bad and will result in the worst wipe out of the day but I can't help it. I can hardly see…the tears in my eyes make everything but the savage, loud voices blurry.

Oh, this is it! At any second I'm going to fall into the wave and be crushed by it! Why did I think that I could avoid it!? How could I hope to defeat this omnipresent force!?

How could I ever think that there was anything else!?

But then, there's a change. Within the matter of seconds in which this all took place, I can't give an exact length to how long it took for this chance to take place. Sorry for those of you wishing to know. So instead, I'll describe what had chanced.

The sounds, the voices…had chanced. They had become lighter and softer…sweeter. It was still familiar voices and repeated conversations and thoughts, but these were of a different kind.

I hear Cody's words of comfort after he found me crying alone in that storage room. I hear the soft but sincere belief that I had felt as he said those words of comfort. I hear my own laughter, which had come out easier and easier throughout today since breakfast. I hear Cody using my own words for another purpose, switching surfing for relationships.

I'm sure that I must sound like a crazy person by now but as I continue to ride the wave's barrel it felt like the new positive voices were in a verbal battle given literalness with the old negative ones. Again, I must sound like some kind of escaped asylum patient.

But it is what I hear. And to my horror, I still hear the negative voices winning out. They are still stronger! They will still overpower me! They still…

…

No…

…

NO!

I refuse to allow that! I refuse to let those negative voices win! I refuse to be hopeless!

I will not be crushed by this wave…or this break up! I cannot be crushed by them!

There is more than these voices…and I'm going to prove it! I'm going to ride this wave!

My eyes harden themselves, forcing out the forming tears. My legs become like steel. Crouching down, I find a powerful current within the hollow barrel leading to the other side. I feel the amazing speed of it beneath my short board of kao wood. I ride it.

I rocket through the barrel at a much faster speed. The heavy, negative voices are left behind in the wave, there echoing effects remaining but much weaker than before.

Even though it is made of water, the wave along my side is almost solid in structure. Using that, I place one of my hands on it, using the wave itself to balance myself. As I bob up and down to match the currents of the wave that is propelling me forward, I feel my fingers as they gently rake against the shimmering blue that is my ride and support. With my meager human fingers chipping off beads of blue and white from the elemental wall of water, I see how those beads come together into larger streaks, as they splash off of the roaring wave. Behind me those streaks brush up against my back as they rocket past my moving form. They leave small deposits of the salt from the sea on my back.

For all of its power and volume, this wave is just water. It can be subtly sabotaged easily. My fingers can break off pieces of it. It can brush up against my back and not weigh me down. I can use its very power against it in order to escape it suffocating embrace.

I can use it to reach the light at the end of the barrel!

And that's exactly what I see. I see the red-white rays of the slowly setting sun.

As the other end of the barrel gets closer and closer, the negative voices lose volume. Soon it is mostly the positive ones remain. Reverberating around me is the softness and joy of the past few days. It warms me up as does the rapidly approaching solar rays.

I'm at the very precipice of the hollow wave's barrel's other side. I'm almost through!

The roaring of the wave and the despair bellows out one last desperate attempt to reclaim me. It sounds like the cruel laughter of Geoff that had torn me into pieces a few days ago.

I almost fumbled…but then I hear the sweet laugher of Cody and myself overpowering it.

With one last final push, I find myself being blasted out of the wave's barrel!

Suddenly I can see more than shifting blue. Suddenly sound returns to my ears.

Looking around over the ocean, I see the beautiful red-white of the setting sun. I see my dark blue despair given warmth by the recent but soothing beams of radiant energy.

Instead of the roaring of the waves, a new sound fills my eardrums. It takes me a few seconds to recognize what it is but I finally recognize it, as I'm about to make contact with the ocean once again.

It is Cody, cheering and applauding as if he has just seen a masterpiece of a film.

But in his zeal to praise my efforts, he ends up knocking himself off of his board.

As I make contact with the cool but no longer chilling water, I find myself laughing.

And there you have it! Cody and Bridgette surfed! I hope you liked this chapter.

I have to be honest; I'm only partially pleased with this chapter. I question if I devoted too much time to the explanation of how to surf and I feel like the final sequence with Bridgette riding through the wave's barrel could have been better. Please let me know your thoughts on these matters, ok?

All right, now I have to do something that I really hate myself for doing. I have to ask for your help, fans of this story. You see, starting from the fourth chapter, I more or less knew what I wanted the chapters up to this point to be. But now…I'm not sure of where to go next. I have some ideas for chapters likely half-way through but I have no ideas for what comes immediately after this chapter, both in terms of the character's emotional progression and for activities that they could do.

So, despite all of my instincts screaming against it, I must ask you all for your help. Please tell me any ideas you have for how the emotional progression of Bridgette, Cody, or Gwen could go (meaning either Cody's thoughts towards either girl or either girl's thoughts towards Cody) or for activities that they could do together, ok? Also, for activities, I would prefer things that can be done within the hotel since pretty much all of my ideas for activities in the later chapters involve things outside of it. I'm completely serious when I say I have NOTHING for the next few chapters! Any and all suggestions, however few or small they may be, could help me out a lot!

As always, until next time, please: read, review, alert, favor, and spread the word!