I glanced back at the shoreline, peering through the crowd of people. It had been a few weeks since the end of the Australian leg of the tour, and we were back in the United States for a comp. Specifically, I was sitting out on my board next to the Huntington Beach Pier. The waves weren't quite as nice as they had been in Australia, but you could only ask for so much.

No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't seem to spot my parents on the beach. They had promised to visit because it was one of the closer stops to home, and I was itching to see them. The escape from home had been nice at first, but the distance wasn't easy.

One of the surfers from South Africa was taking off on a wave and managed to get tubed for a few seconds at the end of the wave. Cheers could be heard from the shore, and I groaned internally. Just another five points that would have to be recovered within the next ten minutes.

Frustrated that I had simultaneously wasted time looking for my parents instead of the waves and had lost my lead, I turned back to the horizon. It was astoundingly flat at the moment. The seconds ticked by quickly, and my mood was not improved when another surfer asked for a score check.

"No need to rub it in my face," I thought spitefully. There were only a few minutes until the heat would end, and only the winner would advance to the semifinals.

Finally a small set was visible on the horizon. I maneuvered my board into a position to catch the second wave and took off, gliding on the surface of the wave. It was starting to close out, so after a frantic glance at the lip I decided to attempt an air to get a few more points.

The second that I was in the air I realized that it wasn't going to end well. The wave was moving too quickly, and all of my momentum was going straight up instead of forward. My board continued into the air as I released the rails and tumbled into the water below.

Wave after wave crashed over me, and by the time that I was able to reach the surface and paddle anywhere the loud cry of the buzzer filled the air. The South African surfer raised her hands in triumph, already knowing that my meager pair of turns wouldn't be enough to upset her.

The water pushed me back to the shore quickly, and I made my way up the beach with my head down. Plenty of people had already gotten their autographs this weekend, and they had at least caught me in a good mood. I had almost made it to a tent when a pair of firm hands grabbed me by the shoulders.

"You're good River, it happens. Come see your mom," my dad peered down into my eyes with a soft expression.

Whenever he attempted to calm me down after a tough loss, I only ended up getting more frustrated. Hearing that I hadn't surfed well only made me feel worse about myself, and I struggled to shake myself out of it as he led me over to my mom.

She rushed into my arms with a hug, beaming and completely disregarding my soaked jersey. I forced a smile as I leaned over her shoulder, stiffening up as I tried to lose the edge of my frustration.

"Hey, hon. I missed you so much," my mom sighed after releasing me. "I'm sorry that it didn't go better today, but we can head back to our rental and forget about it.

Just as I was turning around to head back to the Ripcurl area and collect my stuff, a pair of strong arms engulfed me.

"You didn't think that I would miss out on a chance to see my baby sister, did you?" Evan grinned at me as he set me down.

I groaned into his shoulder before seeing another pair of figures behind him. They each gave me a hug, albeit a slightly less enthusiastic ones than Evan's. "How did you guys get here?" I wondered.

"We figured that we would put our one weekend off from baseball to good use." Will said as he released me from his hug.

"Well then, I'm sorry that I couldn't put on a better performance."

They each took their turn at attempting to cheer me up after the loss on our way back to the tent. Sand flew wildly on occasion when I decided to give it a particularly aggressive kick, but overall, I was starting to relax. Just as we were about to drop off my surfboard and head out, a familiar figure emerged from the tent.

"Hey, tough loss there River. Sorry it went down that way," Enzo called to me.

I shrugged in response. "It is what it is."

He stood in the same spot for a few more seconds and shifted his weight back and forth uncomfortably. From behind me, three pairs of eyes were boring into him and probably looked slightly intimidating, even to a world-class surfer.

"Oh, my bad. Enzo, this is Evan, my brother. And that is Will and Noah, they're close family friends from back home," I introduced the groups.

Will was the first to break the silence. "Hey man, nice to meet you. I was on the phone with Riv the other day when you were talking to her, you seem like a cool guy."

Enzo looked pleased and the two exchanged a quick bro hug. Noah followed suit and Evan did the same, saying that it was great to meet him.

"Evan also is a little fanboy over you," I said to Enzo quickly with a smirk.

A look of betrayal flashed across Evan's face. It had already been obvious that Evan had skipped the entire "intimidate my little sister's male acquaintance" phase just because he adored Enzo, and it was even better to expose him for the fan that he was.

Enzo laughed slightly, his face splitting into a wide grin. "I'll get you an autograph anytime that you want it, man. I may not know River well, but I'm willing to assume that if she puts up with you you're deserving of an autograph.

My brother blushed slightly and shook his head. "Sorry that she had to make this awkward, but yeah, I think that you're a great surfer. I'm not even quite prideful enough to pass up an autograph."

I shook my head at the two of them while Enzo excused himself to meet up with people on the other end of the beach. My stuff was all gathered in one corner, and within a few minutes all of my boards and other equipment were being carried by the boys and myself.

Evan led the way through the maze of people and cars to a rental that was parked overlooking a cliff and the beach. Thankfully, he had the brains to rent a truck that had room for my boards in the back. Unfortunately, that left a rather tight squeeze for the two people who missed out on the front seats.

"You both know the rules," Noah said as he gestured to the back seat.

Will raised his eyebrows at his brother, "I'm taller than you though," he muttered.

"Sucks to be the second place sperm." 

I made my way around to the other side of the truck, jumping up into the back seat. The older pair almost always established a monopoly on the front seat, so unless Will or I was unusually proactive, we got stuck in the back. In this case, Will's knees pressed up tight against the passenger's seat in front of him. Even with his legs bent at an extreme angle, there was no way that he would fit in the seat properly.

"Dang, did you get even taller?" I questioned as I looked over at his contorted form.

"Hit 6'2" a month or so ago I think," he smiled like a proud little kid, showing off his dimples.

"6'3" according to the roster, isn't that right, Willy?" Evan piped up from the front.

"Hey, at least it has potential to be believable. You, on the other hand, have no chance of passing for anything over five foot eleven," Will defended himself.

"Well, if you ever make it to the big leagues because they think you're 6'3" you just need to give Jesus a shoutout. Then he might forgive you for this lie you're telling," I elbowed him from across the seat.

"Joke's on you, Jesus forgives me no matter what," he grinned back before we settled into a comfortable silence, minus the rapping that occasionally broke out.

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur. The boys had to finish some of their homework that they refused to do on the plane, and the two families spent plenty of time lounging around the rental house. A couple of hour long Uno games were played, which consistently ended with Noah throwing his cards on the floor after he forgot to call "uno" for the third time. I managed to settle into a more relaxed state than I had previously been in, and I was at least in a healthier mental state going into the next competition. The weekend break was good, but it was about time that I got paid.

So I have this habit of starting a chapter right after I publish one and then leaving it unfinished for three weeks... so uh yeah here it is? Also sorry this was kind of slow but I promise big things are coming in the immediate future! As always, thanks for reading, you guys are legends and I can't believe that anyone reads anything that I write. Stay alive out there :)