Page 90 of Beyond The Break

“It means I won’t be surfing in the Qualifiers.”

I swallow past the thick lump in my throat as different emotions flicker across his face.

Pain.

Sadness.

Uncertainty.

Fear.

I reach over and grab his hand, wanting to comfort him the best way that I know how to.

“Will you be able to surf professionally again one day?” I know the fear of losing surfing forever was what held him back from putting his full effort into practice.

“If I complete the new recovery plan the physiotherapist put together for me then I should be able to, one day.”

I begin tracing circles across his palm, distracting myself from the tightness building in my throat.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice cracks at the end.

“I wanted to, believe me I did,” he releases my hand to remove the hat from his head and run a hand through his messy hair, “but I was scared that once I said it out loud it would become more real.”

“Has it?” I ask.

“Yeah, it has,” his voice quiet, “but at least now we have no more secrets between us, so I guess there’s a positive to this.”

My stomach churns as guilt claws its way up my throat. Now would be the perfect time to tell him that I ran away from a town that was convinced I was their bad luck charm.

I need to tell him.

No,my voice of reason speaks up,he’ll blame you for everything that’s gone wrong since you joined the team. He’ll believe you really are a bad luck charm.

I let fear make the decision for me, choosing to press my lips together and nod in agreement with him as he pulls me closer. As much as I want to tell him about the articles that have haunted me, it could risk everything I’ve worked so hard to build here.

I could lose my place here.

I could lose Griffin.

One day, I’ll be able to tell him, but today isn’t the day—no matter how badly I want to tell him the truth.

I scooch over and snuggle into his side as he wraps his arms around me. We sit there until the sun disappears past the ocean and then return to the car, driving home while snacking on the strawberry Danishes he bought at the café.

Finally,back at the house and freshly showered, I take a seat in front of my laptop, waiting for Griffin to finish his shower. I open Instagram and notice there’s an unread message waiting for me.

As I open the message and begin reading, my world tilts on its axis. At the start of the message is a picture of one of the original newspaper articles that were written about me years ago.Town’s Bad Luck Charm, Eliana Ward, Causes 0-5 loss for the Wildcats.I close the picture and re-read the message written underneath it.

Leave the Shredders by Monday or this goes public. Do you want to be the reason they lose, too?

The tightness in my chest makes breathing impossible, my eyes becoming blurry while I read the message over and over.

It’s time to leave.

TWENTY-SIX

GRIFFIN

I wake up before sunrise,buried under Eliana’s brown hair as she snores quietly beside me. Pushing her hair away from my face, I slowly sit up and gently crawl out of her bed, careful not to wake her. My wetsuit sits on her computer chair, and I grab it as I walk to the bathroom, closing her door behind me.

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