Chapter 12: The competition (Part 2)

*2.5 hours later*

Nova's POV

"On 2nd place, Nicholas Jones!" we hear. I'm kinda disappointed, that Chic won over him, but hey, he's still my brother and I'm happy for both of them.

We cheer as loud as we can, and it's loud, cause all the Honey Badgers are here who don't feel embarrassed. I'm so in love with them.

"And on 1st place in 2000-2001 born boys' category.... Charles Willson!"

We as loud again. I already know so many of the Honey Badgers and they really like us and they missed mom so much, so they cheer too.

He gets his trophy just like Nick and the others did. Someone takes pictures and so Chic pulls Nick and invites the other boy on 3rd place to stand on the 1st podium. I chuckle as the three of them try to fit.

Once they've done the pictures, they come to us and Nick hugs me, lifting me up from the ground. I giggle and he places me back down after kissing my cheek. I hug Chic as well and he teases me as always.

"Now. 2000-2001 born girls! In the first heat are..." and he says 6 names. I'm not in it. I sigh, so nervous.

"You'll be fine," Nick tells me.

I sigh, "Let's hope so," I say.

"You wanna cuddle or watch how they compete?" he asks me quietly.

"I need to watch, but we can cuddle and the same time," I smile at him.

"Oh really?" he smirks.

"Uh-uh," I say.

He kisses my nose. "Okay, but that towel isn't helping. It's soaked," he says and drops it on the sand.

"It's warm when you finally get dry anyway," I chuckle.

"You're dry, I'm not," he smirks.

I slide my hands over his biceps, "You're dry," I smile big.

"And you just got to do that," he smirks.

I chuckle and take his hand, "Come on I need a good place to see what techniques these girls have," I say.

He sits down on a good place, in front of the Honey Badgers, but also a little to their left, so we'd have a little privacy. Though our friends are pretty close, but who cares.

He stretches his legs out and pats his muscled thighs for me to sit down. I smile and sit onto/between his thighs and cross my legs on his lap. He pulls me against his body and wraps his arms around me.

I smile and turn my head a little. He's looking at me with these beautiful greenish eyes full of love. I put my hand on his cheek and kiss him. Until the siren goes on. I pull away and smile at him and he pecks my lips one more time.

I turn my head back and we both start looking at my possible opponents. The red one, who Jordan talked about, is there.

*Time pass, 30 minutes*

"Next round. Novella Willson,..." I zoom out to take deep breaths.

"Hey," Nick whispers, his chin on my shoulder. I look at him with my head. He kisses my cheek. "I love you, you'll do amazing out there," he says.

I smile. "I love you too, baby," I say and kiss him.

We both get up and walk to the others and to my board. Everyone is quiet, not telling me anything, which I appreciate. I attach the board to my ankle and get it under my arm.

Em is the first one who hugs me. I smile and hug her back and kiss her hair.

Then I start going, but my brothers catch up with me. "Not leaving without a hug," Jordan says my words and he hugs me, lifting me up.

"Dude, I'm holding my board," I chuckle.

He kisses my forehead and then I hug Chic as well, who ruffles my hair before I push his hand away.

"Bye," I say.

"Yeah, BYE," Chic says like he would be mad at me. I laugh and walk into the water.

I paddle to the others and one girl (orange) says good luck to us, though she seems like a bitch and means it more like 'good luck, you can't beat me anyway'.

I see some pretty great waves. I hear the siren and we all start paddling towards them.

I keep paddling, knowing that I can't catch that wave anyway. The orange has caught it, but only gets 3 points, so that was unnecessary.

The others go and fight over one, that isn't even so good. I just sit here and look for a normal one. I see one forming a little further away. I paddle towards it and some girls start following me, knowing that I saw something.

I catch the wave, pop up and show some skills. The commentator says so many good things about me and announces that I got an 8.8. I smile so big and paddle back to the other girls. I get a smaller wave, but still get to do something and get some points. And I catch more and more.

"That girl is a wave magnet," I hear about me and chuckle.

When the whistle comes, we all paddle back towards the land. We go to the judges and they tell us that I passed and orange passed. And our final round is in an hour. I thank them and start walking back to my family, but the sponsor stops me.

"You were great out there," he says.

"Thank you," I smile.

"So, do you know who I am?" he asks with a smirk.

"A surfboard shaper?" I ask.

"Yes. AND I also have a company for wetsuits, bikinis, whatever you name it," he says.

"Wow. That's awesome," I say with a big smile.

He smiles, "Thank you... I'll find you after you get your trophy, I want to show you something," he says.

I nod, "Okay," I say.

He chuckles at me, "You're adorable," he says before walking away. He's like 35 or something, but cool.

I start walking back to my family but get stopped by purple and red. Fucking hell.

"Hey Nova," purple smiles.

"Tina, Ginger," I say.

"Looks like you got yourself a sponsor," Ginger says jealously.

"Not sure about that yet. It's possible, but not 100% sure. You both passed, right?" I ask. They nod.

"Well see you in the water then," I say and wanna go past them, but they won't let me.

"Let me go to my family," I say.

"Your family being a bunch of bears? Oh yeah, we saw how you made out with that younger Honey Badger," Tina says.

"You're pathetic. No wonder why no normal Northsider wants you," Ginger continues.

"Have you seen yourself with a bathing suit or a wetsuit, girl?" Tina laughs, "You are the fattest girl in this competition. That's probably why you got a sponsor. He feels sorry for you."

I feel a tear on my cheek, "You have no fucking idea, how much I've worked for this. Now go to hell and go out of my fucking way," I say, my nails going into my palms.

"Ooh. The girl next door is feisty," Ginger says and pokes me into the stomach.

"Fuck off, honestly. Why did you even come to talk to me?" I tell her.

"Just informing you, that when we're done here, you better stay at your house. The rumors about you and that bear dating will spread pretty quickly on Twitter. OR you have another chance.. Give us some waves," Ginger says.

"You're blackmail-"

"She's not finished. You tell the sponsor, that we deserve it more. And you let us win the first and the second place... Overall, who would want to sponsor a fat bitch like you," Tina says.

I slap her and feel everyone looking at me as she slaps me back. My brothers run to me, making the girls run away.

"Hey, what happened?" Chic asks worriedly.

"Nothing," I say quietly, and start walking towards the Honey Badgers, who are all looking at me in shock.

"Nova," Jordan says and grabs my hand what's in a fist to stop me but ends up opening my fist. I see blood dropping onto the sand.

His eyes widen as he's looking into my eyes. I pull my hand away carefully and go to my friends and Honey Badgers. I unattach the board from my leg and start walking towards the woods.

"Nova where ar-" Bella starts.

I turn back at them, "Can you find some waterproof patches, please?" I ask her. She sighs and nods.

I walk into the woods, where I know is a water fountain. I go there and then look at my bloody palm.

"Fuck," I whisper. I've opened my scars again. I put it under the water and hiss at the feeling.

I feel someone's hand on my shoulder. I wince and look at him.

"You scared me," I sigh and look back at my hand.

"Baby what did they tell you?" Nick asks.

"Nothing," I almost whisper, tears on my face.

I'm done with the water, so I put my mouth there and drink it a little. After that I wipe my mouth dry with the back of my hand.

I turn to him and now he can see all my tears. He sighs and wraps his arms around me. I hide my face into the crook of his neck and cry with voice.

"You were amazing out there," he says, making me smile a little. It's so him. He doesn't pressure me into talking, making me want to talk to him myself.

"I'm not going to do the last round," I tell him, pulling away.

"What!? Why?" he asks in shock.

"They um.. The girls were from my school. They're cheerleaders and one of the bitchiest girls from our school... They said they're gonna spread rumors about me dating a Honey Badger," I say and he seems to get mad. "And then you're gonna get hurt and I'm gonna get hurt. Unless I leave them the first places and tell the sponsor they need it more," I say, tears streaming down my face.

"What? Nova, no. I can't let you do that," he says.

"Nicky, I love you. Even though the ocean and surfing is basically like my home, I want to be with you. And I'm not competing the last round. I can't see you getting hurt," I cry.

"I'm not gonna get hurt, baby. A bunch of northsiders can't do anything to the Honey Badgers," he says.

I sigh, "But everyone will know, and-"

"And you might get hurt for that, that's true. But we can talk to the Honey Badgers, tell them if they hear anything about anyone planning to do something to you, then they'll tell us. And I can get them to protect you. Seriously," he says.

I sniffle, "Would that mean that we'd get to be together?" I ask. He smiles sadly and nods.

"Like in public?" I cry.

"Yes, in public. Everywhere," he says.

I hug him and he hugs me back. He kisses my hair. "You need to go out there and show them that you don't give a shit about them," he says.

I chuckle quietly and pull away. He wipes my tears away and pulls my forehead against his lips for a few seconds.

"I love you," he says.

I smile, "I love you too," I say.

"What happened with your hand?" he asks and takes it into his to look at it.

I move my nails on my scars softly and then let it go. His eyes widen, "How is that possible? Have you done it before?" he asks.

"Yeah and I don't know. When I get mad and try to hold back the desire to punch someone, I do it," I say.

"Why?" he asks sadly.

I shrug, "Keeps me distracted I guess," I say.

He sighs and we start walking towards the beach.

"You know that everyone is calling you the wave magnet?" he asks, making me laugh.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yep," he says.

I smile, but then sigh. "Do you think I'm fat?" I ask and look at him.

He looks at me, "What?!" he laughs, "Nowhere near," he says. I smile sadly.

"Hey," he says and stops us before we get to the beach. I raise an eyebrow. "You're beautiful, okay?" he asks, seeing that I'm still sad.

I nod without emotions. He raises his eyebrows. "I'm serious. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. And you look AMAZING in this suit," he says.

I smile now and hug him again. "Thank you," I say.

He puts his hands onto my waist and lifts me up. I wrap my legs around him while giggling.

He looks at my face admiringly, "Remember when you told me, that you liked how I stared at your face not your body the first time you saw me?" he asks. I nod.

"I didn't stare at your body, cause I didn't want to make you uncomfortable... I would've totally stared at your body otherwise," he says, making me laugh.

"Well thank you," I say.

He smiles and we kiss for a while. "Do you wanna get down?" he asks.

"Not really, but I prefer to keep this to ourselves and do this some other time again, when we're alone," I smile, making him laugh.

We kiss one more time and then he places me back down. "Let's go talk to the Honey Badgers," he says.

"Wait, as in right now?" I ask. He nods. I sigh and let him take my hand and we walk back to the beach.