CHAPTER ONE

Everybody loves a good day at the shore. With the sun, the sand, and the sound of friends, there’s no better way to kick off summer than a trip to the beach!

Some people, though, don’t want to sit under an umbrella all day. They want glory, they want danger—and they know exactly where to get it.

Skye has always been one of those people.

“Angel’s Peak!” Skye said.

Along with his friends Ray and Finn, Skye made his way to the Blue Horizon Open, the biggest surfing contest in this part of the state. It was a tradition of theirs to participate in it every year.

“I thought you’d be sick of this place by now,” said Ray.

“Why? Just because I came in second place a couple of times?” Skye asked jokingly.

“A couple of times is a bit generous, don’t you think?” Ray laughed.

“Laugh while you can! This year, all of that changes. I’m due to take back what’s rightfully mine!” Skye said, determined.

“Not if Noah has anything to say about it,” Ray reminded him.

“Oh, you just had to bring him up, didn’t you?” Skye complained, crossing his arms at the mention of his rival’s name.

“The guy who’s won the Blue Horizon Open the past five years? Yeah, he’s a little important,” Ray said.

“Enough, both of you!” warned Finn. “We’re getting close to the other surfers. I understand being competitive, but they shouldn’t have to deal with you arguing.”

“Aye aye, Captain Finn.” Ray saluted him.

“Be serious, Ray,” said Finn. "Fighting with each other won’t help. In fact, with every distraction, you get further from winning.”

Skye turned back to Ray, ignoring Finn’s words. “Maybe he’s important, but people won’t be thinking about him for long. This year, I’m going to be on everyone’s minds.”

Ray and Skye kept talking as though Finn wasn’t there.

“Hey, listen to me!” Finn shouted. “It’s not that I don’t want you to win, Skye. I do! I just don't want you to focus so much on beating Noah that you don't surf safely."

“Trust me, I’ll do just fine,” said Skye. “And when I win the Golden Surfboard this weekend, I’ll remember everyone who doubted me. That includes you, Ray!”

CHAPTER TWO

On their way to the event, Skye and his friends ran into some familiar faces who were happy to see them. They paused momentarily, having a quick banter with the group.

“Ray, good to see you! Remember to smile!”

“Hey, Skye! Good luck! Remember to stay on your board this year!”

“Yo, Finn! Sorry you have to keep those two in check!”

“Very funny, guys. We’ll see what happens this year, won’t we?” Ray laughed.

“I’m always surprised by how well you handle being teased,” Finn praised.

“We’re competitive, not childish. We can tell when people are joking,” Ray said.

“Not to mention, it’s a waste of energy going after everyone who makes fun of us,” Skye agreed.

Soon enough, the chit-chat ended, and it was time for the competition to begin!

“Welcome, everyone, to the Blue Horizon Open!” said Lena, the head lifeguard, to the crowd of surfers.

“Look, Skye, it’s your girlfriend,” Ray teased.

“Ha, yeah, I’m not that lucky!” Skye said, smiling.

It was a good thing that she was far away. Any time Skye got close to Lena, her beauty left him unable to speak.

“We know you all want to get in the water as soon as possible, so let’s get the boring part over with!” Lena yelled, gesturing to the stage. The crowd roared in excitement.

Skye felt a playful nudge against his shoulder. “I can see what you see in her,” Ray said.

“She’s a fan favorite for a reason, you know,” Skye said.

“She’s honestly inspiring. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her frown,” said Finn.

“If she’s ever been in a bad mood, I haven’t seen it,” agreed Skye.

“We’ll call each of you out in groups of two! There will be three judges: me, my talented coworker Caroline, and our sponsor, Mr. Manfred. For those of you competing here for the first time, Mr. Manfred is the one who makes this all possible!” Lena said, passing the mic to him once she finished.

“Thank you, Lena,” said Mr. Manfred. “Good morning, everyone! You will have fifteen minutes to ride one wave, and you will be judged on style and degree of difficulty!”

“Straight and to the point! He’s speaking my language,” Finn said.

“Though it’s hard to take him seriously in starfish swim trunks,” Ray laughed.

“If you’ve competed in a Blue Horizon Open before, you already know the first-place prizes! Bragging rights for a year, and, of course, the Golden Surfboard!” Mr. Manfred announced.

“Here we go!” Skye said excitedly.

“To help us with the reveal, please welcome last year’s champion, Noah!” Mr. Manfred announced.

The smile on Skye’s face disappeared when Noah came out. Skye knew him well. How could he forget the man who’d beaten him five years in a row?

“Thank you, all! I look forward to a good challenge this year,” Noah said.

He pulled back the sheet hanging beside him to reveal the prize everyone would be fighting for: the Golden Surfboard!

The crowd burst with excitement at the sight of the trophy.

Skye had no words. He could only look on in silence and awe.

When the speeches were over, Ray turned to Skye and said, “Well, I hope you’re not disappointed he showed up.”

“Quite the opposite. I wouldn’t have it any other way!” Skye answered.

“Good to hear! It’s like they say: To be the man, you gotta beat the man!” Ray laughed.

“I’ll be on the sidelines. Good luck out there, you two,” said Finn. “I hope either of you comes in first rather than Noah, of course!”

“Well, now I definitely can’t disappoint,” Skye said.

CHAPTER THREE

“All right, everyone! We’ve waited long enough! Let’s get started with the first round!” Lena announced.

The surfers in the crowd cheered.

“Up first, we have two Angel’s Peak veterans! Everyone, give it up for Skye and Noah!” Lena said enthusiastically.

As the crowd cheered, Skye said to Noah, “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

Skye braced himself for the nickname Noah called him every year, the one he gave Skye to remind him that he'd always come in second.

“What do you want, Silver?” Noah asked.

“Still using that nickname, huh?” Skye said.

“Still haven’t given me a reason not to, huh?”

Skye laughed through Noah’s insults but couldn’t deny their sting.

“Still traveling by yourself? What, you haven’t found anyone that will put up with you?” Skye taunted.

“I have all I need—me, myself, and I. Unlike you, I don’t need to count on others to bail me out if I’m not good enough,” Noah said.

“Surfers, are you ready?!” Lena called, raising an airhorn.

“Maybe if you practiced surfing as much as you practiced talking, you’d actually beat me this year,” Skye answered back, fumbling for a good comeback.

“That doesn’t even make sense. This is why I don’t like you. You can barely make a comeback, let alone surf,” Noah said.

“Why you—!”

With the blast of the horn, the young surfers were given the go-ahead to run into the water.

Out in the ocean, the two surfers laid on their boards. If they saw a wave they didn’t like, they’d paddle past before the wave had a chance to grow.

“Insult me all you want, but once we’re finished here, I’ll make sure there’s no question about who the better surfer is,” Skye called to Noah as he paddled by.

Noah quickly found his wave. It was small and safe, certainly not the kind of wave that would win a competition.

“That little thing is the one you’re going with? Maybe this year won’t be so hard after all!” Skye laughed.

Suddenly, everyone could see why Noah picked that wave. In a matter of seconds, the wave had climbed to a towering twenty feet!

On the shore, Mr. Manfred announced, “And there it is! Noah, our returning champion, has found his wave. And I must say, it is a beauty!”

The seafoam from the bottom of the wave quickly gathered to form a frothy crest at the top.

Noah wasn’t slowing down either. Some would be satisfied with the praise for simply riding a wave that size, but Noah wanted to leave no doubt about who was the best.

“What a move! Noah is tempting fate by riding near the top of the wave! If he pulls this off, it’ll be hard to catch up to him!” Mr. Manfred continued from the shore.

Noah rode out the wave smoothly, performing slick tricks and keeping his balance all the way through.

“And he sticks the landing! Clearly, he saw something in that wave that nobody else did, and now he will be rewarded handsomely by the judges!” Mr. Manfred praised Noah like he’d already won.

The judges were amazed, giving Noah tens across the board. Noah’s sixth win only became more and more certain.

With a perfect finish, Noah gracefully picked up his surfboard and enjoyed the audience’s applause.

“Looks like you’ve got a fan club!” Skye yelled from his board.

Noah didn’t bother replying.

Now, it was Skye’s turn to match Noah’s perfect score from the judges.

Like Noah, he waited for his moment. He found an opening in a wave and surfed the inside until it resembled an ice cream cone from far away.

“All right, Noah. You wanna show off? I can show off, too,” Skye muttered to himself.

At the end of the wave, Skye saw light break through the top. This was his opportunity to put to sleep the ghosts of his past and finally outdo Noah’s performance.

“Now or never!” Skye said.

He rode near the top of the wave, only thinking of beating Noah.

“I’m gonna do it! I’m doing it!” Skye exclaimed.

For a brief moment, Skye became everything he dreamed of. Like Noah, he earned the “oohs” and “ahhs” of the onlookers. All he had to do now was stick the landing.

However, luck was not on his side. In his attempts to show off for the crowd and keep up with Noah, he lost his focus and fell off his board, hurtling toward the mouth of the ocean.

“No, no!” Skye cried.

He reached his hand to the sky before falling hard into the waves. Just like that, his chances of winning were gone.

“Move, move!” a lifeguard yelled. While Skye was falling, they quickly sent out a lifeboat to pull him out of the water.

“I’m fine,” Skye protested as they threw him a buoy. “Just give me an ice pack and I’ll be good!”

“You just hang on. We’ll have you back on the beach in a couple of minutes!” the lifeguard said.

“I told you, I’m fine!” Skye argued, but he was already being towed back to shore.

Skye didn’t have much time to defend himself. Before he knew it, he was back on the sands of Angel’s Peak.

Like the good friends they were, Ray and Finn were waiting there for him.

“We all saw what happened out there! Are you okay?!” Finn asked, alarmed.

Skye stepped off the boat. He tried to walk on his own, but he was swaying to and fro, shaken up by the wave.

“Thanks, guys, but I’m fine. I swear,” Skye said.

“Are you sure?” Finn asked.

“Yeah, I just need to catch my breath.”

“Skye, are you okay?!” Lena asked, running toward him.

“Oh, h—hey, Lena. You didn’t see that, did you?” Skye asked.

“Yeah, I did. I came as soon as I saw!” Lena responded.

Skye’s mind went blank. Once he realized he’d wiped out in front of Lena, his mood changed for the worse.

“Thanks, Lena. But I’m fine.” He turned back to Ray and Finn. “You know what, I’m going back to the hotel. Finn, you have the key to the room, right?”

“Yeah, it’s in the bag. Here, let me help you,” Finn said.

“Thanks, but I’ll get there myself,” Skye responded.

“Come on, Skye, what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t help you?” Ray said.

“I said, I’ll do it myself!” Skye insisted.

Shrugging off his friends, Skye went to dig through their shared bag.

“I don’t know what your problem is. We just want to help!” Ray yelled.

“My problem is that I just embarrassed myself in front of everyone I know!” Including someone I’ve had a crush on for five years, he thought.

Ray and Finn were shocked. It wasn’t Skye’s first loss, but they’d never seen him act like this. This wasn’t a competitor’s spirit. This was him losing control.

Skye paused, realizing that his ego was getting the best of him. He sighed.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t necessary. I just need some rest. I’ll see you guys later,” Skye said.

In fifteen minutes, everything had gone wrong. All of the confidence within Skye had vanished. All he could do now was ask himself what was next.

CHAPTER FOUR

Eight hours later, Skye woke up with a jolt.

“What time is it?” Skye asked.

“Relax, it’s only 10:30 P.M.,” Ray answered.

“Ray! Did you make it to the finals?”

“Yeah, we have ten hours or so before we have to be back at the shore,” Ray said. “That means you have ten more hours to rest.”

Skye leaned back in his bed. He remembered what happened earlier that day and put his hands over his eyes.

“So, I take it I didn’t win?” Skye said.

“You’ve got more important things to worry about right now,” Ray said.

“I know, I know. Still, I can’t help but think about what happened earlier.”

“I can’t say I blame you,” Ray said, trying to comfort him. “Wipeouts are bad enough. It must be a bummer falling like that in front of a crowd.”

“It’s not like this is the first time I’ve lost. My failures have been haunting me for the past five years,” Skye said. “I thought if I could win first place, I’d finally have a shot with Lena. Now, well… I guess there’s always next year, isn’t there?”

“See, that’s your problem,” said Ray. “You’re too worried about beating Noah, beating me, impressing Lena. You think you have so much to prove, so you forget about all the fun you should be having.”

“Meaning?” Skye asked.

“Think of all the good stuff around you. You’re on a beach with friends for a whole week, and it’s not costing you a penny.”

“When you put it like that, it does sound pretty good. What’s gotten into you that’s making you so supportive?” Skye asked.

“I’m just trying to help a friend out. Sure, we go back and forth, but what kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t there for you at your lowest?” Ray said.

“I appreciate it, Ray, and I mean that. I was gonna root for you either way, but it’s good to know you have my back.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Skye added. “I’m sorry about yelling at you earlier.”

“That? That was nothing. Just make sure you’re cheering me on when it matters!” Ray said with a smile.

Ten hours later, the final round of the Blue Horizon Open was ready to begin. The first set of finalists, Noah and Ray, lined up on the shore.

“Surfers ready?!” Lena called.

“Good luck, Ray! Bring home the gold for us!” Skye yelled.

“You’re in a good mood,” Finn said as he applauded.

“Yeah. Ray and I worked out some stuff last night,” Skye said.

“Good to hear!” Finn said. “Yesterday, I saw a side of you I wasn’t used to seeing. It was kind of scary.”

“Turns out all I needed was a good night’s sleep.”

Just as she had the day before, Lena blew the horn to signal that the surfers could get into the water. But when Noah and Ray started paddling into the waves, something grabbed Skye’s attention.

“Am I going crazy, or is something out there moving?” Skye asked.

“Those are called surfers,” Finn joked.

Skye squinted. “No, I’m serious. Something doesn’t feel right.”

As the seconds ticked by, the moving shape began to take on the form of a very familiar creature—and definitely not the friendly type.

“Shark!” Skye yelled.

When the word slipped out, he couldn’t hold back—he had to protect the surfers. Without time to think, let alone grab something helpful, Skye ran in Ray and Noah’s direction, flailing his arms.

Ray must have heard Skye because he started swimming toward the shore. Noah, on the other hand, just kept on paddling.

“What, you couldn’t beat me, so now you’re trying to throw me off my rhythm? Did Ray put you up to this?!” Noah asked, not looking back.

“Look behind you, you idiot!” Skye called.

Jumping from the waves, the shark barely gave Noah time to lift his board before its weight came crashing down on him.

“Ahh!” Noah screamed.

The shark bit Noah’s calf and sent him tumbling.

“Get away from him!” Skye yelled.

Bare-handed and panicked, Skye struck the shark in the gills to scare it off.

Skye’s attack worked. The shark swam away for a moment, but it wasn’t quite done. It wanted to finish the job.

“Noah! Skye!” Lena called from the shore.

She swam right up to where Skye and the shark were, and the fight began anew. Lena hit the shark as Skye held it by its fin and snout, but her attacks weren’t enough. Luckily, Lena found her mark when she poked the shark in its eye.

“Sorry, they’re not on the menu!” Lena yelled.

Injured by Lena’s speedy attack, the shark swam away, and everyone rushed to the shore. They took a moment to catch their breath.

“Is it gone?” Skye asked breathlessly.

“I think so,” Noah said, gasping for air. He looked dazed. “I’m sorry, I just need to lie down for a minute.”

Lena and Skye helped Noah up quickly, their faces twisted with worry. “Come on,” Lena said, “I think you’re in shock. Let’s get you to a doctor!”

CHAPTER FIVE

With everyone uneasy from the shark attack, Mr. Manfred stepped up to the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m terribly sorry for the scare. Rest assured, anyone who would like it will be given a free week at our wonderful beachside Marsh Inn!”

While poor Mr. Manfred was trying to make things right, Noah was recovering in the medical tent.

Skye and Lena approached the tent to check on Noah’s condition. But before they could get in, Noah walked out of the infirmary shakily.

“Oh, hey! I’m glad to see you’re doing better!” Skye said.

Noah had a slight limp, but he still walked like a man on a mission.

“Yeah, the doctor wanted me to rest for a while, but I have something I need to say to you guys,” Noah said.

His eyes were on Lena, since he was too embarrassed to look Skye in the eye.

“I just wanted to say thank you. To both of you,” Noah said.

“Both of us?” Skye repeated, his voice full of shock.

“Did I stutter?” Noah answered with a smile.

“N—no! It’s just that I didn’t expect you to thank me, of all people,” Skye said.

“Whatever happened in the past is in the past. I owe you now, Skye.”

Even though Noah seemed grateful, it still came as a surprise to Skye that Noah would ever call him anything except “Silver.”

“It was nothing special, I just did what was right,” Skye responded. “I couldn’t stand back and watch you get attacked.”

“Of all the people on that beach, only you and Lena ran into danger to save me. I’d seriously be giving myself some credit if I were you,” Noah said before heading back with the nurse.

“Honestly, you should listen to him from time to time. Rival or not, he’s got his heart in the right place,” Lena suggested.

“I just don’t feel comfortable taking credit for something that anyone else could have done,” Skye argued.

“Could. Would. Should. You were the first one who did anything, and that might have saved him from serious damage.”

“You were out there with me, right? You should take credit too, y’know,” Skye waved her off.

He glanced back at Lena and noticed her studying him. Then, as if in slow-motion, she marched up to him, stood on her tiptoes and…

Boom! Leaning in, she planted a kiss on his cheek. Skye’s whole face went tomato red in response.

“I—Lena, um,” Skye tried to say.

He was shocked when Noah thanked him, but when Lena kissed him, he felt completely speechless.

“You did a good thing today, Skye. Lean into it!” Lena said, walking away with her signature smile on her face.

“I’ll admit, I didn’t see that coming,” Finn said, having watched the whole scene unfold with Ray from behind. Ray walked up to Skye and threw his arm over Skye’s shoulder.

“Well, look at you!” Ray said. “Maybe you should have saved someone from a shark years ago!”

“I know you’re joking, but that sounds crazy,” Skye laughed.

Still holding his cheek, Skye smiled widely, and his next words came as a surprise even to himself:

“Maybe I don’t need that Golden Surfboard after all.”