Ocean Rules by Kate McMahon

Author:Kate McMahon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kate McMahon
Published: 2018-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

#18

‘She didn’t commit enough to her first turn, there’s no way she’ll get more than a 6.5,’ says the girl in green.

‘It’ll be close, but she’s totally out-surfed them the entire heat. It’s only fair she gets through,’ the surfer in pink says.

As the siren sounds to begin their semi finals battle, Jaspa listens to her competitors speculate on the fate of Mel’s final wave from the previous heat. Having found herself in third place with only fifty-four seconds remaining and needing a 7.2 to move into second, Mel scrambled into a set wave. As the five-minute flag was raised and Jaspa paddled out for her semi final, she saw Mel take off with a bit of wobble before finding her groove to complete a four-turn combination of an off-the-top re-entry, round house cutback into the pocket, then another off-the-top before finishing with an ally-oop aerial. But what if it wasn’t enough? Would Mel be genuinely happy for Jaspa and Carolyn if they made the tour without her? Jaspa would like to think so.

‘Yo, focus, focus,’ Carolyn says, snapping her fingers at Jaspa. ‘Quit worrying, we’ll find out soon enough.’

Jaspa diverts her eyes away from the shore, where she can just make out Mel pacing in front of the judges’ area like a panther. ‘Right, I guess we should think about catching our own waves!’ she says, smiling at Carolyn. ‘I’m just crossing everything Mel gets through so she has the chance to qualify with you.’

A surge of water swells up onto the sandbank, making a beeline for Jaspa. For a moment she thinks the wave has crept up on her too quickly and considers pulling back, then thinks, all that will do is fill me with regret. What if, what IF I just went for it? As the lip of the wave throws itself towards the beach, Jaspa presses her hands into the board to stand tall, her feet freefalling, not connecting to the waxed deck until she lands with a thump at the bottom of the wave. With her back to the foam, Jaspa jams her right foot so her fins slice through the ocean like razors, then collapses her back knee and grabs the board’s outside rail to race through the tunnel. A sheet of ocean whirls around her – it’s one of the best barrel rides of her surfing existence. The wave spits her out like a stone from a slingshot and Jaspa’s tummy churns as she’s propelled forward, finishing the ride with a series of four snaps that sees the nose of her board seamlessly reach beyond twelve o’clock. As Jaspa hears the commentators cut short their enthusiasm over her ride to announce the results of Mel’s heat, she sits on her board and stares towards the beach without a blink.

‘Thanks for your patience, folks. We now have the final scores for the women’s first semi final.’ The crowd falls silent. Jaspa closes her eyes and holds her breath.

‘Melissa, your final wave scored a 7.5!’

The crowd goes nuts as the announcer continues.

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