Chapter 41
There were four of us in the first heat. Everyone picked up speed as we neared the water, breaking into jogs and looking straight out to the ocean. I glanced at Delphine as she threw her board on to the water and started to paddle. I followed her.
We all paddled out. No talking, only the sound of the ocean and the hum of the crowd on the shore. I felt sick. These girls knew what they were doing. They looked almost professional, the way they paddled, the way they watched the waves.
And then one girl went for it, paddling hard and catching her first wave. She was amazing. And the hole in the pit of my stomach grew.
Delphine took the next wave. My heart was in my throat when she surfed, hoping she’d do well. And she did. Perfect form. A perfect wave.
I kept watching the waves, but I found something wrong with all of them. Until it came. The most beautiful swell I’d ever seen. And I knew it, I knew this was the one. I started paddling hard, then almost fell off my board as a girl cut right across me, taking the wave.
‘Hey!’ I said. But nobody did anything. That was my wave. And she surfed it beautifully. I kicked the water, my heart beating harder than ever.
I saw a yellow board in the corner of my eye. Delphine was back.
‘Fear is excitement without the breath, Margot. Breathe. This next wave is yours.’ I glanced at her, and she winked at me.
I took a deep breath. She was right.
I took my eyes off the shore and focused on the next wave. I paddled hard. Harder than ever, then popped up, and there it was, the rush of adrenaline, the cool water on my hand and the exhilaration that I’d only ever felt on the board.
I cut back into the wave and did my best to keep my form as I finished.
I was so in the zone that the cheer from the shore sounded distant, like it came from miles away. But I couldn’t stop smiling as I paddled back out into the water to catch more waves.
Delphine was incredible. Every wave she surfed was perfect, and like Sébastian had said, it was the best two that counted. There was no way she wouldn’t make it to the next round.
I surfed four more waves, and by the time we’d all returned to the shore, I was exhausted.
Sébastian and Lili met us at the water and took our boards.
Lili and Delphine kissed in celebration and Sébastian high-fived me.
‘That was amazing, Margot! You were so much better than the other two,’ he said far too loudly, as we both looked at one girl in my heat who threw her board on to the sand.
‘Thanks, Sébastian,’ I said, smiling.
We walked back to their little camp where Felix was waiting. He kissed me on the cheeks, and I hugged him in response.
‘I am so tired.’
‘Well, you will probably have to do it all again.’ Felix nodded towards the judges’ table where one of them was standing up with a microphone. And as she spoke, Felix translated for me.
‘Conditions were challenging today, with cross-shore winds affecting wave selection. All competitors have demonstrated remarkable skill. The judges have now deliberated. It was an extremely close heat with only eight points between first and fourth positions. The results will now be displayed on the scoreboard.’
I grabbed Felix’s hand as the numbers flashed on the board. ‘I can’t look.’ I turned in towards him and closed my eyes. ‘You look.’
‘I think you want to look, Margot,’ said Felix. And I could tell that he was smiling.
And when I stared at the board, I couldn’t believe it. 12.50. I’d come second! And Delphine was first.
I threw my arms round Felix, and he lifted me up.
‘Delphine!’ I called when I was back on the sand. And she grinned at me, with Lili holding up a bottle of beer in her honour.
She walked over to me. ‘We still have a long way to go, but it is a good start. Well done, Margot. I knew you were something special.’
And when she said it, I saw Felix glance at me with a smile.
‘We are the champions!’ Sébastian sang as he joined us.
I laughed and sat down on the sand, watching the next heat, with the sun beating down on me.
My good luck didn’t end with round one. My next round finished with Delphine in first again, me in second, but it still didn’t guarantee qualification to La Vague d’Or – there were more rounds to come.
Lili had made us sandwiches. Baguettes with cheese and ham, which we ate gratefully after round two.
The next round was tense, with the stakes getting higher each time, and you could feel it in the water, the way the other competitors were silent as they watched the waves. There were no smiles and no conversation, not even with Delphine.
I scored 14.10 and Delphine dominated with a 16.23. Second place by the skin of my teeth.
Even Lili and Sébastian had started to tire, with Sébastian actually falling asleep on the sand. There was no sign of Antoine. But I wasn’t disappointed. Today was about surfing, not about boys.
We rested in between rounds, but by the time the semi-finals came round, I was still completely exhausted.
‘I can’t do this,’ I whispered to Felix.
‘Of course you can. Only this round and the final, and then that is it. You belong out there.’
I looked at him, into his steady eyes as I took a deep breath and stood up. Then our next round was called.
‘Good luck, Margot! But you will not need it.’ Felix smiled.
I would one hundred per cent need it, but he’d calmed me, if only for a minute. And I was grateful.
The wind was different now. And as I sat on my board watching the waves, I found it harder and harder to pick out the best ones.
They were unpredictable, choppy, with huge lulls between sets.
But the other girls seemed to know what to do; they rode the waves like they were perfectly formed.
And when I tried? Everything fell apart.
I lost control, falling off mid-wave. I swam back, slamming my hands into the water as I paddled.
The microphone blared across the shore in French. Delphine paddled towards me. ‘It is about you. They said the competitor in black needs a significant score. The conditions are deteriorating and wave selection is critical.’
Fear is excitement without breath. Breathe. I repeated in my head what Delphine had told me earlier. I took a deep breath.
‘Thanks, Delph–’
But she had gone, taken another wave, and surfed it like a pro.
I thought about Rue again. How she fell and fell again and still got back up. So that’s what I did. I surfed the next three waves like I had nothing to lose.
But I felt sick when we waited for our scores. I saw Delphine’s first. 16.6, first place. And I was so happy for her. She deserved it. Then I saw my score: 13.93. Fourth place.
I sighed in disappointment, trying to hold back tears. Lili ran over to hug me.
‘Margot! The finals!!’ she squealed.
‘What? I came fourth. I didn’t get through.’
Felix appeared beside me. ‘They’re taking four, the top four qualify, and the final is used for seeding position,’ he said. I couldn’t believe it. I could barely contain my excitement. I hugged them both with aching arms.
Then I walked down to the water, just to look out at the ocean, the thing that had almost killed me but made me feel more alive than ever. My chest swelled with pride. I’d done it. I’d got into the finals of the qualifier. Nothing could feel better than this.
‘Nice moves, Princesse.’
The hair on my neck stood up before I even turned round. I closed my eyes, scared to open them in case it wasn’t real.
But I could feel him. The heat of his body standing behind me, the warmth of his breath on the side of my face. I turned to face him, and it was like he’d become even more beautiful since that night in the storm. No top, just his black board shorts.
‘Thanks,’ I said with a smirk.
‘I leave for two days, and you steal my moves? That cutback? Parfait.’
‘I had a good teacher.’
‘Thanks.’
‘I was talking about Delphine.’
‘Oh yeah?’ He grinned and moved even closer to me. I bit my lip and found myself staring at the tattoos on his chest. I reached out and pointed to one where his heart was.
‘What does that mean?’ I pointed at the quote, En art comme en amour, l’instinct suffit, brushing my hand against his smooth skin.
‘Ah,’ he said. ‘It means “In art as in love, instinct is enough.” Anatole France. He was a writer.’ Antoine’s voice was low and soft, and it melted into my ears as the noise of the crowd behind us disappeared into nothingness.
‘Do you think that’s true?’ I asked with a slight tilt of my head.
And he answered by kissing me, pulling me into him, his hand in my hair, our mouths salty and in sync under the French sun.