Page 5 of Below the Barrel

The Lower Trestles is our first wave on the World Surf Championship Tour and one of the easiest and safest surf spots on the itinerary. In today’s competition, surfers will be paired based on their overall points, aside from Maliah and I. Regardless of how we score today, Gabriel has already pulled strings to ensure we’re paired together. It’s all part of his master plan to get Maliah and I back onto speaking terms.

“Whatever,” Maliah grumbles from beside me.

She’s looking a lot better than she did on the plane ride here. The Gravol I gave her knocked her out almost instantly, and she was able to sleep through the rest of the flight without a care in the world about the constant turbulence.

I, on the other hand, refused to sleep the whole flight down. I’m positive the pilot was new because I’ve never been on a flight that had me fearing for my life, until now. I had to make sure Iwas awake in case the plane nosedived, and I had to be the one to save Maliah from drowning in her sleep.

“I’m serious. A single point can be the difference between a World Champion and a loser.” Gabriel runs a nervous hand through his hair, his brows pulled together as he stares at Maliah.

“Don’t worry, Gabriel.” She frowns at him as she sinks into her seat with crossed arms. “I didn’t come this far just to lose.”

“Good.” He sits back in his seat with a satisfied smile and looks out the window as the driver parks the car and opens our doors.

After climbing out, I hold my hand to help Maliah exit the car, but she swats my hand away and climbs out on her own, brushing past me wordlessly. I stare at her back as she walks away and feel a familiar ache grow in my chest.

Maliah and I are from two different worlds.

Where she grew up in a high-class, wealthy family, I grew up in a low-class, low income one. I knew from the very first day that I didn’t deserve her. That someone with my upbringing could never be good enough to keep a girl like her in my life.

I join her and Gabriel on the sand as we stare at the SurfFlix camera crew setting up. Not only are we competing for first place in every competition, but each of us will also be followed by a camera crew, recording everything that happens behind the scenes.

“Do you have any tips to share for Lower Trestles, Gabriel?” I ask, turning to face him.

“Lower Trestles makes the perfect wave, it almost looks fake, but it’s an easy wave to break and should be a piece of cake for you both to surf.”

“Perfect,” Maliah says quietly.

We continue to watch the camera crew set up until a producer approaches us. Her dark hair is tied back in aponytail and loops through her baseball cap. She chews her gum obnoxiously as she looks down at her clipboard.

“Name?” she asks, tapping her pen on the paper.

“Koa.”

“Do you have a last name, Koa?”

“Foster.”

I watch as she checks off my name on her list and shuffles over to Maliah, asking her similar questions until she finds her name and checks her off.

“Follow me.”

We both glance at Gabriel who just shrugs and follows the producer towards the camera crew. I follow his lead and shake the hands of everyone there, Maliah following suit.

“This is your assigned camera crew. They’ll split up into teams of five and follow you individually whenever you’re not together,” the producer says, her Bronx accent more noticeable now.

“Thanks, Jackie,” a tall, slender man with sandy blond hair and brown eyes says as he smiles at her. “My name is David, I’m the headman for this team. If you have any feedback you want to share with me about the team over the next year, I’m your guy. How about we get started filming your intros?”

“Sure,” I reply cooly, not missing how his eyes roam over Maliah with too much interest.

Within seconds, we’re split up into our separate crews, shaking hands with each person and posing for B-Roll shots with the ocean behind us.

“You should smile, girls love a guy with a nice smile,” Vincent, the cameraman, says.

He’s a short Italian man with a staring problem. I roll my eyes and force a half smile while he circles around me. I’m not a fan of the idea that we’ll be recorded for the next year, but it waseither that or drop out of the tour, and I wasn’t going to leave Maliah to do this without me.

I stare past my team to where Maliah stands with David, twirling her golden hair around her finger as she laughs halfheartedly. My fist clenches as I watch, recognizing that she always plays with her hair when a guy makes her uncomfortable. As much as I want to run over there and tell him to fuck off, I know that will only piss her off. Maliah can handle herself in this situation, so I bite my tongue and continue with the rest of the shoot, but by the end of it, I’m quieter than usual as I stew in my annoyance.

“I will never get used to this.” Maliah groans as we rejoin Gabriel, who’s been on his phone for most of the time.

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