tw: attempted sexual assault. summary at the bottom if you would prefer to skip there. 

After a semifinal loss at the Sunset Open, the job had brought me back to the mainland. The waves in California were nice, even if they didn't have the size and power of those in Hawaii. The goal for the Santa Cruz Pro was to win; slightly self explanatory, but I was hoping to improve from the last finish. Coach John was also on my back about how the rookie of the year needed to get a win under her belt to prove that it wasn't just beginners luck.

Coach John handed me the wax for my board as I prepared for the elimination round. I wasn't too worried, it was a girl who had qualified for the competition through a qualifying competition that allowed people who weren't on the tour to earn a spot in the event. The other woman barely hung on to her spot on the CT last year, and I had already beaten her in plenty of heats.

I rubbed the wax over the surface of the board until Coach John patted my back, signaling me that it was time to head out. "Go get 'em kid, don't forget to hold yourself inside a barrel for as long as you can. Don't get spit out too early in these conditions."

"Will do, coach," I answered with a nod before jogging out into the waves and throwing myself on the board. It glided forward on its own for a couple of seconds before I was forced to paddle to keep the board's velocity up. The other two surfers were on my tail, scrambling for the prime positions.

A set came in just as we reached the typical lineup location, and I locked onto a wave, getting a few hard turns in before bailing out the back. The score that came in five minutes later was only a three, which was disappointing for the amount of water that I threw around.

The older woman took off on her own wave, only managing one swooping cutback before she attempted an air, missing the rail grab and falling into the water. The other girl caught a wave after her, but it was small and wouldn't get her much in the points department.

Apparently the judges had other things in mind, though, because the announcer came back to give both women sixes. I gave Strider, the in-water announcer, a look as he told the cameras how both women had doubled my score.

Somehow, the same thing continued to happen. I would perform well on a wave, even landing a 360, and somehow winding up with fewer points than whoever surfed the next wave poorly. In general, I tried to refrain from grading other people's surfing in my head, but this was not adding up.

The girl from the qualifying series had just earned a 8.50 for her half a second tube. That was the highest wave score of the day, and I had literally watched Tatiana get a 7 for her five second tube earlier today.

"What is going on with these scores?" I yelled at Strider, who turned back around to update the camera on my lack of enthusiasm. It was definitely not the best move that I had ever made for my good Christian athlete reputation, but I was mad. The other two women glared at me as I paddled back, but I just raised my eyebrows.

I had priority and took the next large wave, smiling as it arced over me. The water tried to push me out of the pocket, but I dragged my arm through the face to stay covered by the water. A moment later the foam ball spit me out, and I raised my arms as the crowd on the beach cheered. That ought to be enough to get me out in front.

The judges clearly were not vibing with me today. One five point wave later had me nodding at the girl who had made it through to the next round. I was too petty about the scores to offer her my usual handshake, and I didn't care if anyone had anything to say about it.

"What the hell was that?" I whispered through clenched teeth.

"Don't say anything, your publicist is already on the phone for you," Coach John rolled his eyes as he took my board, pushing me into the closest empty tent. "Your surfing was fine, it was unlucky. I'll see you at six tomorrow for practice. You're not going home early, even if you're out."

He then handed me my phone and left me to listen to my publicist lecture me about my brand and image. "If you win awards and then complain about scores everyone will just think that you're a spoiled brat. We're trying to avoid that here," she counseled.

"Okay, I'll try not to do it again," I groaned, kicking the sand.

"Don't try not to do it, just don't do it," she said as I hung up. I grabbed my board and left the beach, choosing to walk back to the house instead of waiting to sit in a car with Coach John.

"Hey, River," a male voice called out behind me.

"Not a good time," I yelled back.

Enzo sidled up to me and gave me an award winning smile. I raised my eyebrows. "What do you want?"

"I was just going to tell you that you were right, that scoring was rigged. You should have blown them out by at least four points," he offered.

"It is what it is."

"So, I heard that you and Will got together," he stated, raising his dark eyebrows.

"Sure did," I really wasn't in the mood to be talking about anything, much less this. He followed me into the garage of the house where I was storing my board and stood next to me.

"Is it everything that you hoped and dreamed?" He pushed.

I groaned. "Enzo, I don't really want to get into this now."

"Is he not everything that your brain cracked him up to be? Being permanently physically disabled might put a damper on things." He had moved in between me and the garage door and was getting closer to my face. "You know, he would never know if we did anything here."

"Enzo, what the hell? Get away from me, I'm not interested."

"I just don't think that you know what you're missing. Once you figure it out it will be simpler. We make more sense anyway, he's halfway across the ocean..." he trailed off, putting his arm over my shoulder and against the wall.

"If you need me to spell it out for you, fine, I love him! I left surfing for him, and that's worth a lot more to me than you! Stop, leave me alone," I shouted.

He smiled. "You just don't know what you're missing."

Enzo moved his lips towards mine, and I took the opportunity to grab onto his shoulders and ram my knee into his crotch. He groaned and fell down, and I took the opportunity to run past him to the garage door. "Stay away from me," I called, my voice cracking slightly.

I locked the door of the thankfully empty house behind me, running around to make sure that all of the other entrances were locked as well. My heart rate was up and I ran to my bedroom, fighting for air as I started to hyperventilate. My hands were sweaty and preventing the fingerprint recognizer from working on my phone, and it took three tries for my shaking fingers to unlock it. I pulled up Will's contact and pressed the call button as I curled up under the covers.

"Hey, I was just about to go lift, can I call you back later?" Will asked as soon as he answered the facetime call. When he noticed my blotchy skin he put down his water and went into his room in the baseball house, closing the door behind him.

"Is your roommate there?" I asked shakily.

He shook his head. "What's wrong? I know the judges were crap, but one lost heat isn't a huge deal, there will be plenty more this season."

I shook my head and took a breath. "It's not that. I, um, I was putting my stuff away in the Rip Curl garage, and Enzo walked in behind me, the boys live next door. And, well," my voice cracked and I stopped to try and keep myself from crying.

"River, you're okay, it's fine. Take your time, take some deep breaths," Will encouraged as he watched me carefully through the camera.

"He started asking me about you, and I said we were dating, and then he started making all of these comments about us. I told him to leave it alone, but he just kept going. And then he started saying things about how you would never know if Enzo and I got together behind your back," I paused as I watched Will's jaw clench, "And I kept telling him to go away, but he just got closer and then he was trying to convince me that we could be good together, and he tried to kiss me. I kept telling him to stop and he only got closer, so then I just kneed him in the crotch. He fell down and swore at me saying that he wasn't going to hurt me and that he just wanted to show me what I was missing. I went into the house and locked the door after that. "So you're physically okay right? He didn't force himself on you?" Will asked as he tugged at his hair in frustration.

"No, he didn't get the chance, I'm okay."

"I'm going to call the police there. Or the WSL office or something. And then I'm calling your brother and telling him. Geez, are you sure that you're alright? That's at least sexual harassment River, if not assault.

"No, please don't call anyone Will. Especially my brother. I promise that I'll tell my parents tonight and I'll talk to Rip Curl later. They'll manage it and if they don't then I'll go to the police," I protested.

He stared at me blankly for a moment. "Fine, but please tell me what you hear from Rip Curl. And can you give me Sarah's number so you can relax and I can tell her what happened?"

"Why, you going to flirt with her as payback?" My voice cracked.

"What, no, of course not, I was just trying to help but I don't need to," he stuttered, looking appalled.

I laughed a little, which combined with my tears very well. Any stranger seeing me now would probably think that I was going insane. "I'm sorry Will, I'm joking, please tell her."

His shoulders visibly relaxed and he smiled a little. "Okay, I'll do it right away. Please call me whenever you talk to the people in charge, I don't care what time it is."

My heart swelled a little and I smiled at his picture on the phone. "I'll talk to you later, thank you, Will. I really appreciate it."

"Good luck and stay safe. I love you, River."

He ended the call right after that, not giving me the chance to respond. Even with everything going on, his statement made me grin and clutch the phone to my chest under the covers. 

Chapter Summary: River loses during the elimination round due to unfair judges. Enzo follows her and attempts to convince her to break up with Will. River calls Will after the encounter and is upset, he comforts her and encourages her to get help from higher ups. He tells her he loves her before hanging up. This topic will be mentioned in the next chapter but there will be no further descriptions of the event. 

Thank you all for reading, I hope that I dealt with this subject in an appropriate way. Unwanted confrontation is never okay, and I hope that you are all able to find help if you need it. Feel free to message me if you need to :)