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surfing inside of the tube- being covered by the wave.

When I arrived home from after my date, my mother was sitting down on the front porch reading a book. I thanked Dawson for taking me out with a kiss on the cheek before exiting the truck.

"So are you guys official yet?" My mother asks placing her book down beside her. "You look lovely by the way."

"Thank you mom." I say sitting down beside her. "It was just our first date but I feel as though it may become something more."

She wraps her arms around me and pulls me up against her body. "I'm happy for you Ainsley, he seems like a really good guy."

"Anyways, I'm pretty tired so I think I'm going to head upstairs." I respond with a smile.

"Goodnight dear."

"Night mom." I say giving her a kiss on the cheek before making my way inside and up into my bedroom.

I turn on my lights and let out a loud blood curdling scream.

My heart is beating a thousand beats per minute as collapse against the wall. "What the hell Jess."

She gets up off of my bed and makes her way over to me. "I was planning on leaving but then I wanted to hear all about your date. And I kinda fell asleep." She says with a laugh.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry Ains. Anyways how was it!? Was it everything that you imagined?"

"It was perfect. I don't know how I got so lucky." I say as everything that happened this evening came flashing through my mind.

"As much as I'd love to hear more, my mother probably thinks that I was abducted so I'll call you later and you can give me all of the details."

Jessa walks out of my room, sneaks out of the back door, and starts walking down the beach over to her house which is a few blocks over from mine.

I make my way into the bathroom and wash the makeup off of my face before pulling my hair out of the French braid.

My now crimped hair hangs over my shoulders as I strip out of the romper and change into a pair of shorts and an oversized tee shirt.

I grabbed a glass of water and laid down on my bed. My phone rang from inside of my purse as I reached for it and pulled it out.

Hey Ains. Tomorrow we should head downtown to sign up for the Chancier Surf Meet. -Dawson

Okay what time?

I'll come get you tomorrow, sleep tight babe 🖤 -Dawson

I plug my phone into the charger on my bedside table and turn on some music as I sit and drink the glass of water.

My eyes drift towards my window and out towards the ocean. Small lights from boats speckle the dark waters as the moon creates a pathway down the centre.

I stand up and make my way to the window, opening it as a gently breeze ruffles my curtains.

It's quiet. Very peaceful, as the only sound comes from the waves crashing against the shore.

I soon find myself being lulled to sleep by the sounds of the ocean as I decide to make my way over to my bed and allow the darkness to over take me.

---

I bury my face into my pillow in attempts to block out the sound emitted from my ringing phone.

My eyes glance towards my white alarm clock perched on my bedside table, The bright green letters reading 8:39

The phone is yet to stop ringing as I give in and reach across my bed for it.

"Hello." I grumble into the phone.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Says the soothing voice from the other end. "How'd you sleep?"

I pull my phone away from my ear to glance at the caller I.D. Dawson. "I slept perfectly until I was rudely awoken at this early hour."

His laugh can be heard from the phone. "Anyways, I just called to let you know I'm on my way."

"Mmkay."I respond with as I flip over in my bed and pull the blankets closer against me.

"I'll see you soon Ains." He says before the annoying beeping can be heard signalling he hung up.

I throw my phone down against my pillow as I slowly pull myself out of my bed. My feet slide into my white fluffy slippers as I make my way into my bathroom.

Im shocked by the person staring back at me in the mirror. My blonde hair as tangled and all over my face as bags are prominent underneath my eyes.

Reaching for my concealer I swipe a small amount below my eyes and blend it in with my fingers before moving to work on my hair.

I gather my knotted hair up into a high messy bun and secure it with an elastic as I make my way back into my room with my toothbrush in hand.

The doorbell rings from down below as I run back into the bathroom and rinse my mouth out before heading downstairs.

I check my appearance one last in the mirror before opening the front door with a "hey."

"Don't you look wonderful." Dawson says stepping inside my house closing the door behind him, as he wraps me up in his arms.

I smile and snuggle up against his shoulder and his head rests against mine.

Just then my stomach chooses this time to rumble ruining the moment. "I didn't have a chance to eat yet." I say shyly as Dawson laughs.

I move away from his body and make my way into the kitchen as he takes a seat on one of the bar stools.

"Do you want anything to eat?" I ask as I pull out the toaster and a loaf of whole wheat bread.

"I'm good thanks. I had something to eat earlier this morning."

I nod before placing two slices of toast into the toaster. "So where exactly do we go and sign up for the contest?"

"Town hall. There's some small booth which is set up outside advertising the competition." He says as I grab the jar of peanut butter as well as a handful of strawberries.

I place my two slices of peanut butters toast as well my strawberries onto a plate before taking a seat next to Dawson.

He reaches out and plucks a strawberry off of my plate before placing it into his mouth. I pout slightly and slap his arm before taking a bite of my toast.

"So we need to work out a training schedule if you want a shot at winning. Three to four days surfing and one to two of weights and cardio."

I laugh at his words. "Why do I need to lift weights?"

"It will make you stronger. You'll be able to move through the water quicker as well as quadricep strength hopefully can improve your balance."

"Good luck with that. I'm the weakest human being on this planet."

His laugh fills the air as he takes another one of my strawberries. "I'll be sure to make it a guide to lifting weights for dummies."

I place my plate into the dishwasher along with other utensils in the sink. "I'll just go change quickly and then we can be on our way."

I quickly make my way up the wooden staircase and into my room as I search for a pair of jean shorts. Finally, I find a pair of ripped black ones as I quickly change into them.

Stripping out of my oversized shirt, I grab a blue tee shirt and slip it on. I decided to leave my hair in the messy bun as I reach for my purse and head back downstairs.

"I'm ready." I say standing at the bottom of the staircase as Dawson gets up from the chair and makes his way over to the front door.

I slip my feet into a pair of worn out black sandals, as I lock up the door and start making my way down the driveway.

We both hop into his white truck and begin making our way down the oh so familiar roads.

Light grey clouds loomed overhead as small speckles of rain dot the windshield. The beach up ahead is littered with hundreds of people despite the change of weather.

The average sized business buildings started to get closer together signaling that we were entering downtown Chancier.

Vehicles lined the narrow streets as patrons walked up and down the sidewalks peering into the many shop windows.

At the end of the long road was a marvellous building which was the town hall.

It was a historic monument in Chancier built a meer hundred and twenty years ago. The circular red roofs and creme coloured bricks made it look quite medieval.

Dawson parked the truck in the first available spot that we could find. Unfortunately, it ended up being quite a walk to get the front gate.

A man greeted us as we stepped foot onto the yard. Gardens of bright coloured flowered covered the green grass as we made our way down the cobble stone path.

We looked around for the booth outside but figured that they migrated inside due to the chance of rain.

Dawson reached for my hand as we walked up the large staircase to the front doors. A young male dressed in a green outfit opened the door for us welcoming us to town hall.

Once we were inside we were greeted with a cool air conditioned breeze. To our left, several tables and poster were set up highlighting the local Chancier Surf Meet.

He lead me over to the booth where a lady with brown curly hair greeted us. "Can I interest you two in taking part in the Chancier Surf Meet. There's competition for both beginners as well as them experienced folks."

"Actually yes we are interested." Dawson responded. "We planned to come down here to register."

"Oh brilliant." She says turning around and shifting through a filing cabinet before pulling out two booklets of papers. She handed one to Dawson and myself.

"The registration process is quite simple. I'll first ask you to fill out basic information. Your name, height, age, weight, anything that has to do with you. Then it will proceed to ask you about your surfing level."

I flip through the pages, skimming over the word as I drown out her talking. My wandering mind is then interrupted by a clipboard and pen being shoved into my hands.

She directs us over to a small stagnation set up so that we can fill out all of the forms.

"Dawson." I say quietly as he looks up from his boomlet with pen in hand. "What category should I place myself in?"

"Advanced. By the time that I am done training you, you will be the best surfer to hit the waters."

I let out a small laugh before shading in the box for advanced. We both finish the rest of the questions in silence.

It takes us roughly ten minutes to make our way through the endless pages. I probably signed my life away about twenty times.

We handed our booklets back to the woman and were about the leave when she called us back.

"Ainsley, glad to see you back out there again. Your dad would be proud."

That sentence alone was enough to send chills down my spine and cause me to become a mute.

"I heard he's even going to be in attendance."

---
Wc: 1952