Chapter Thirty-Seven

❝Eye contact. This is it.

This is how souls catch fire.❞

It was back to the summery days in Bond Beach.

     Little kids screaming in happiness. Waves crashing against the shore. Vendors calling out their Buy Two, Get One Free! sales and lifeguards blowing their whistles at reckless tourists. It almost felt like the old days, where summer had just begun.

    "We need a seasonal fruit platter with natural yogurt, table six!" El yelled to the back of the shack, already writing the order of the next customer. "And that'll be berry and banana pancakes for you, miss?"

    "Yes, thank you, dear," the old woman smiled at her.

     But a day like the old days meant that it was busy, busy, busy. El wiped the sweat off of her forehead, burying her face into the towel before flipping it onto her shoulder.

     And met the happiest sight in front of the counter.

    "Theo!" she gasped, hand over her mouth. "What are you doing here?"

     Theo grinned, his blue eyes glinting with mirth. "Hello to you, too," he raised an amused eyebrow. "Thought you might be hungry."

     He dangled a paper bag at her, the fried stain on the bottom and the smell of it already confirming El's guesses.

    "You got me chicken tacos?" she let out, holding the paper bag as gently as she could like it was a newborn baby.

    "I know that as much as you love this place," he said in a low voice, leaning in close, "seafood and salad bowls are something you get bored pretty easily. I just wanted to pass this to you before your break."

     El grinned so wide. She wasn't used to people dropping by at work and leaving her alone to continue it. It was usually someone distracting her or someone not visiting at all. Travis hadn't even —

     Stop, she thought. Stop comparing them both.

    "You're an angel," El gushed, looking up at him. "Thank you."

     He smiled. "You don't need to thank me, love."

     She freaking loved it when he called her that. El stood on her tiptoes to brush her nose with his, absolutely infatuated with him. Theo let out a low groan from his throat and tipped his head downwards, stealing a kiss on her mouth.

    "Oh, God!" Jeff had appeared and threw his hands in front of his face. "Jesus fuck, get a room!"

     Wanda slapped her towel on Jeff's head.

    "Well, well, well," Zach sauntered in, slumping himself on a stool that became designated for him. "Someone's getting a little action this morning."

     Theo pulled away and gave a side-eye to his best friend. "Don't you have a championship to win?"

    "Surfers' break." El silently passed him a glass of cold lemonade, and Zach winked at her, the two already on a routine. Then, upon observing the shack, frowned. "Where's Daisy?"

     "Uh." That came from Jeff, who had a stupefied look as he stared at something past him, on the beach. "There she is."

     The blonde was strolling her way to Anchor's, capturing every guys' and girls' attention, but the gang was used to her looking like that. No, they were mostly shocked because... she wasn't alone.

    "Hey, squad," Daisy chirped when she arrived. "This is Julian, if you guys remember."

     El squinted at the tall, tan-skinned guy. She did remember him; wasn't he the same guy who was with them during the Firelight Festival?

    "I do," Theo said, deadpanned, giving Julian a look. Huh. He must've said something to him the first time they met. 

     Julian shrank underneath Theo's gaze. "N-nice to meet you all again." Then he spotted Zach, who to him must've been a friendly face. "Oh, hey, man!" he slapped Zach's back, and the latter almost choked on his lemonade. "Great waves back there."

    "You, too," Zach grunted.

     Daisy's new buddy was probably the most oblivious guy in the world. 

    "Hey," he started at Jeff, eyebrows furrowed. "I don't remember you. Who are you again?"

     The boy gulped. "Jeff."

    "Huh. I don't think I've ever actually met anyone named Jeff before."

    "It's short for Jeffrey."

     Julian's mouth twitched. "Like Jeffrey fucking Dahmer?"

     The tan surfer proceeded to laugh at his own joke like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Daisy let out an airy laugh as well, but it was obvious to them — or at least to El — that there was nothing remotely genuine about it.

    "Oh, Julian," Daisy wiped a tear. "You're so funny, babe."

    "The best and brightest," Theo muttered. El elbowed him, and he only rolled his eyes out of good nature.

     Later on, when the surfers' break was over and the supervisors were calling them through the speakers, El sneaked closer to her friend. 

    "So are you two official then?" she whispered.

    "Officially fucking?" Daisy asked nonchalantly, looking over Zach and Julian reuniting with their fellow competitors. El couldn't quite figure out who she was admiring — knowing Daisy, it was probably both. "Yeah. It's the Australian accent. And the sculpted ass."

    "You know I can still hear you," Theo stated matter-of-factly.

    "You were meant to." Daisy turned back at the two. "Come on, let's watch them!"

     El's eyes lit up, not once hesitating at the proposition. But that thought alone made her stop — in what seemed like a long time ago, she wouldn't have done that. Her heart would've raced with anxiety and she'd hide in Anchor's in hopes of avoiding Travis. Now, all she could think about was supporting her friends, and to see the clear blue waters up close. To see the ocean again.

     She looked behind to Jeff and Wanda, a surge of thrill pooling in her chest. They both gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

     El's response was to jump off the counter.

***

    "And running up for the semi-final round, the stakes are getting higher than ever! Today, each surfer will have to show their own potential during this heat in order to win a spot for the final rounds of the East Coast Surfing Championships next week!" 

    "But remember, folks," the announcer added ominously through the speakers, still louder than the cheerful supporters, "there's only three available spots! Pick your bets!"

     El, Theo and Daisy were at the front and centre of the crowd. 

    "To win the semi-final round," El yelled, eyes trained on the surfers ahead, "or as they like to call it, heat, they have around half an hour to catch the best waves possible! Every wave is rated from one to ten, and only two best waves of each surfer is counted, so Zach has to have something close to a 20/20 to pass for finals!"

     There was no response, so she turned to look only to find Theo and Daisy's dumbfounded stare. 

    "How did you know all that?" Theo gazed at her with something that resembled like awe.

     She grinned. "I know things, Theo," she teased. "Don't you?"

    "Are you guys flirting?!" Daisy asked loudly, looking back and forth between the two of them. "If you are, then you guys are fucking weird!"

     Twenty minutes had passed. None of them admitted it, but the semi-finals were making them all tense. At some point, even Daisy Clementine, known for not staying still most of the time, actually stopped and bit her nails at the scene. 

     Amongst the chaos, El felt her phone buzz in her back pocket.

     She frowned at the screen. It was a notification alert she'd set up a while ago — an e-mail from... Warwick University.

     Oh, stars.

    "You okay?!" Theo asked, trying to see what she was staring at.

    "Give me a sec!" She took the time to read the contents of the e-mail despite the noise of cheers and announcements filling up the beach. Orientation day. Class schedules. We're all very delighted to meet our future students.

     Her stomach was suddenly acting up.

    "Uh oh," another announcement came from the speakers, though El could barely here them as if water were running through her ears. "It seems like one of the surfers got into a little accident — is it the red-headed fellow? Ah, yes, he's experienced a tough wave — common these days — got struck right to the sea. He's going to be fine, folks, but unfortunately he's not going to quality for the next round."

      With Warwick, we'll bring you one of the best educational experiences in this country!

     "Oh my God!" Daisy slapped El's shoulder in excitement, shaking her into reality. "Zach made it to the finals! And Julian! And — "

    "Travis," Theo finished, his voice in disbelief.

     Travis. Travis. He was the reason she was in Warwick, wasn't she? The whole reason she'd applied? It was to get closer to him, and he'd had asked her to, didn't he? Nicely. But it was her decision in the end.

     Right?

    "El?" Theo frowned and squeezed her waist, noticing she'd gone still. "You okay?!"

     She was tired of lying. "No," she affirmed, looking at him in the eye. "Not really. Can we go somewhere quieter?"

     "Yeah." Just like that, he turned serious. "Of course."

     Once he led them out of the crowd, he turned to her, his expression already grim. After all they've been through — individually and together — he was probably expecting the worst.

    "What's wrong?" He flitted his eyes over her features.

    "It's Warwick University," she bit her lip. "I hadn't told you this, but I got accepted there a long time ago — before you came here — it's a well-known school, and it's got a good reputation, and I was planning on going there, but..."

     But everything happened.

    "...I don't think I want to anymore."

     She was ready for him to judge. Judge her for not wanting to go to college. A lot of people would. Instead, he put his hands on her shoulders, like he was telling her to breathe.

    "Okay." His voice was the epitome of confidence. "It's okay. It's not the end of the world. You do what's best for you, love. You make your own route. Even if it doesn't involve a degree in the near future... or any future."

    "You really mean that?" 

     It wasn't like she didn't want to go college, but it was more of why she got accepted to that particular one. The one who applied was a different Eleanor McKinney; the one who wanted to go to Warwick was someone from the past. Someone who wasn't her now.

    "Why would I ever lie to you?" Theo kissed her forehead. "I'll support whatever you do, El. Hell, I'd follow you anywhere even if it — "

     His words abruptly stopped, as if realising what he'd said, and what that sentence held open. The biggest question mark so far.

    "And what about you?" she asked quietly. "College?"

     He breathed in and out, slowly, dreading to give a response. Then he sighed, pulling her into a hug. El could hear the rapid heartbeat in his chest. But it was not a question left entirely unanswered.

     Because they had one certain answer — and that was each other.

A/N:

Wanted this to be (more) light-hearted but apparently I'm incapable of writing chapters that don't end with me in tears.