I hope you like this chapter but I will try to keep a majority of the chapters in Hannah's point of view. Please keep in mind that when the actual competition starts I don't actually surf so I'm trying to get this as accurate as possible from what I've learned from movies and the internet! Please vote and comment!

~

Sam's POV

From the moment he sat down at our table at Seaside Grill, I knew Hannah wasn't telling me something. She tensed up, which never happened when she was around him. They were always so at ease with each other. She only tensed slightly, but I was able to catch it. I thought I finally knew what it was: she liked my little brother.

I wasn't surprised really. It was about time. They hung out together 24/7 and they had this special friendship bond ever since they were toddlers that no one could explain. Everyone assumed it was baby telepathy or something, but it continued as they got older. They knew each other so well and deeper than most people would ever know each other. It was like destiny that they would end up together. It was ironic how they were born exactly two months apart on the dot and our moms had this weird feeling that before they were even born that they'd become best friends.

From the looks of it, it didn't seem like Hannah wanted to do anything about her little crush on Ryan and she was simply stalling fate. However, I wasn't sure how Ryan felt about her either. He was definitely attracted to her, but I could tell that neither of them wanted to take their feelings any further because their friendship was at risk despite being two puzzle pieces that fit together. I didn't want to meddle because Hannah was my friend and wasn't super impressed with me not confessing my feelings to Evan and Ryan was my baby brother. I knew once the time was right or things had gone horribly wrong, then and only then could I intervene.

The one thing that puzzled me was why Hannah never told me. It probably would've been awkward because he was my younger brother and all, but I thought Hannah and I were closer than that. I knew sooner or later she would end up admitting it to me herself or I would hint at it enough that she would tell me on her own.

I heard a car door shut from outside. I peeked through my blinds to see Evan walking up to my front door carrying tulips. I smiled, pink tulips were my favorite.

He was way too good for me and I hated it. I didn't deserve him, but he always said how he didn't deserve me. I felt horrible for what I was doing to him. I just couldn't get those three words to come out of my mouth. I'd find myself lost in a moment and right as they were about to come out, I would catch myself and say something along the lines of "I like you a lot."

He first told me after prom that he loved me and all I did was kiss him. So, I guess that was returning the favor but I never said it back afterward and now he just looked at me, hoping for something more. He was too good of a guy to bring it up and say something, but I knew he wanted some commitment while I had grown scared of commitment after many of my previous bad boyfriends. Evan was one of the first guys I had dated for a long time and I liked, possibly loved. I didn't want to tell him how I felt because it could scare him since he was ready for commitment.

I could hear my parents and the Golds talking to him from the other room. I ran out into the family room with my arms out ready for a hug. He smiled when he saw me. I ran into him and he wrapped his strong arms around me. His hugs made me feel so safe.

"Hi," I said so happy just to see him

"Who are the flowers for? Is there another girl you're not telling me about because I swore we told Lisa and Megan we were going to that party."

"Well, the last time I checked you were my girlfriend. Let's ditch the party and go on a date instead."

"Yay!" I squealed. He never failed to surprise me. We hadn't gone on a romantic date in a while and I missed just going out with Evan instead of hanging out at a loud party.

"And I guess the flowers are for you," he said, handing them to me. I smiled while I inhaled the nice smell. I kissed him on the cheek and said, "I still have to get ready."

"I can tell with the whole one earring thing going on."

I walked back to my room grinning. I knew tonight was the night I had to tell him and get over my fear of commitment because right now not telling him was just hurting him and I didn't want that. Evan was the kind of guy I didn't want to see hurt, ever.

I put on a white dress that looked gorgeous with my tan and slipped on some tan heels. I put my other earring on and was ready to go. I walked back down the hall and into the living room.

Evan looked at me and said, "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I said, grabbing my wallet from the table. "Bye, mom. Bye, dad. Bye, Tyler. Bye, Savannah."

They all said in unison, "Bye! Have fun on your date."

Evan put his arm around me as we walked out the door. He opened the car door for me and I got in.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"It's a surprise."

We ended up going to this quiet and romantic place right on the beach where you could look out at the ocean. It was perfect because it was almost a full moon. There was also a place where you could dance and it was just the perfect night. After we went for a walk on the beach holding hands.

I stopped walking. I turned to him and said, "Thanks so much for this, Evan."

"Anything for my Sam."

I leaned up and kissed him. We just looked at each other and I could see the light from the moon reflecting off his blue eyes that resembled the waters in Greece.

Come on, Sam, now's the time to tell him or you might lose him, I thought.

"I...I..." I stammered and tried to get it out, but just started crying.

I couldn't do it. I wasn't ready. It wasn't the exact right moment to say it even though I felt it. College was approaching quickly and I didn't want anything holding me back. Saying I love you may not have been such a big deal for some people, but it was a huge deal for me because I had never said it before and it meant that we were completely committed to one another.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Evan asked thoughtfully while pulling me into him. He lightly stroked my hair as I cried.

I pulled away from him. I couldn't take this anymore. He was too good for me and if I couldn't be that good to him, it wasn't fair.

He tilted my head up and asked, "Sam, tell me what's wrong."

"You," I said while tears poured out of my eyes.

"What?" he asked, gently wiping the stream of tears coming from underneath my eyes with his thumb.

"You're too good for me."

"No, I'm not. Sam, you're too good for me."

"Just stop. We both know that since you told me you loved me I haven't said it back. You keep being so nice when I know you want commitment and I'm not sure if I can make it that official yet by saying those words." My breaths started to get shorter like I was hyperventilating. "I can't seem to get the words out. So, break up with me if you have to."

"I don't want to break up with you. Do you think I really care if you make it official or not by saying words?" I nodded. "Well, I don't. I know you've been scared of commitment in the past, but I just had to say it back in the spring because I was tired of not telling you. I want you to say it when you're ready, not because you have to."

I pulled him into a hug. I didn't deserve anyone who loved me as much as Evan loved me. I knew that when the time was exactly right, my brain and my mouth would finally be in sync and I would tell the guy I loved how I truly felt.

~

Hannah's POV

I woke up the next morning as a breeze ran across my bare arm. I heard people walking in the front door, but my eyes didn't feel like opening. I was sleeping so soundly that I didn't ever want to wake up. I had a great dream about winning the competition and I wanted it to last forever. That great feeling and dream didn't last too long once I heard Spencer's obnoxiously loud voice talking to Blake in the kitchen.

"Whoa, it looks like they're taking things up to the next level," he teased.

I opened my eyes and spun my head around to see them plopping grocery bags onto the counter. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. Ryan's arm was around my waist and my body was curled into his side. I guessed we had fallen asleep on the couch sometime during the movie.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, annoyed from being abruptly woken up.

"Ryan spent the night here. Looks like our little Hannah's not so little anymore," Blake said.

"You have a twisted mind," I said getting up and trying to hit his arm.

"Blake seriously that was probably the best sleep I've ever had," Ryan said, waking up with his brown hair all messy.

He repositioned his body on the couch so his legs were now stretched out and drifted back to sleep. I was about to walk back to my room to pass out when I saw my two best friends walking up to my door.

"Ah!" I yelled.

"Jeez, could you be any quieter?" Blake asked annoyed. I ignored him as did they while I hugged Alana and Bethany.

I had missed them even though they were only gone for a day. They were the best friends I could have asked for. I was the determined, stubborn, and subtly sweet one. Alana was the cute, caring, and always happy one. Bethany was the bold and funny one. We were like the dream team.

"You guys just made my day a thousand times better," I said grinning.

"Go get changed," Alana said, pushing me toward my room.

"We have work to do," Bethany added.

All I wanted to do was sleep when I had even more training to go, but then I remembered I could surf today and I had to beat Miranda. Her face looking sad and angry after losing the competition while I stood on the podium receiving my first place trophy was the image that fueled me. I changed in less than a minute, grabbed my board, took a banana from the fruit bowl, and followed Alana and Bethany out to the beach where Johnny and Brody were standing.

"Wow, she's fast," Spencer commented on my way out.

They all formed a line like yesterday. I guessed Johnny had assumed Blake's role today for the second day of training. He paced back and forth in front of everyone and announced while I ate my banana, "Today, instead of your family guiding you through land training, your extended family, a.k.a. your best friends, will be helping you in the water."

Alana was going to reiterate how the scoring of the competition worked and the key to getting sponsored. Bethany was training me on paddling. Johnny was helping me with my form and duck diving. Brody was teaching me how to get better at 360s and other tricks to maximize my overall score.

When Johnny finished his speech, he finished with, "Let's get started."

~

I sat on the beach across from Alana with my legs crossed. She had a whiteboard and was re-explaining how the competition would go and about sponsors even though I already knew what the competition would be like. I had done a lot of research in the past. I wanted to be a professional surfer, but my chances were slim unless I got sponsored. If I won this, it would make my chances even higher and I would be closer to achieving my "Plan A."

I think they planned to torture me because all I wanted to do was surf while they stuck me on the beach while I watched them all surf and have fun. Bethany made me paddle on the beach for an entire 15 minutes. Then she went on to explain something completely random that wasn't even about surfing. I kept my legs crossed, but my foot kept tapping against the sand. I just wanted to get in the damn water. It had only been a day, but a day in the summer without surfing felt like an eternity.

"Hannah, I think you've got something wrong with your leg. You should really think about getting it checked out by your doctor," Bethany commented in a high-pitched I know you're suffering but I'm oblivious tone while writing more nonsense on her whiteboard about how she loved Alana's hair.

"Bethany!" I whined.

"Fine. I want to test this thing too, but it keeps beeping," she said getting up and brushing the sand off her legs. I jumped up instantly and grabbed my board.

She bought this new waterproof watch that she was dying to use so she timed me to see how long it took me to get out to the waves. The only problem was these waves were different from the ones at the North Shore and I wouldn't know exactly what to expect during the day of. The North Shore got pretty dangerous, but the semis and finals were only in the smaller waves while the other rounds were at different beaches in Oahu.

I sprinted to the water and started paddling where Johnny was waiting for me.

"Don't just go and grab the first wave you see," he started to say, but he was a second too late.

I was already standing up on the first wave I saw. It was such a rush. I loved the feeling I got when I surfed. It was like I was finally alive after being in a coma. I liked to compete, but the actual surfing and being in the water part was just as great.

"Ah," I said while paddling back over to him.

"Done?" he asked.

"Yep," I replied. Then I looked over and saw another one swelling. I waited for it to come by and I stood up on my board. It was amazing. I wanted to stay out there riding waves like that all day and all night.

"Seriously, Hannah?" he asked as I came back.

"Sorry, I'm ready to start now."

Johnny trained me in duck diving, which was when you dove under a wave if it was too big to go over. Then Brody helped me with 360s and other tricks that could impress the judges. Training today definitely wasn't as bad as yesterday when I couldn't even step foot in the water.

Bethany's watch said it was 5:30 p.m. and it looked like everyone was ready to head in while I wanted to surf more. We never ended this early on regular days.

"What are you guys doing?" I yelled.

"There's night surfing tonight!" Alana cheered.

I had totally forgotten. Johnny's older brother, who was going to be a junior in college, was back in town and throwing a party with night surfing because of the full moon. They had a big house over by Alana's neighborhood and there was a path that led straight to the beach. The waves were fun to surf by his house so I was pumped.

We went our separate ways to get ready for the party and I walked across the porch into my house. I saw my dad sitting on the couch while my mom sat at the counter drinking lemonade.

"Hey, honey," she greeted.

"Hi, mom."

"Why are you back so early?"

"We're surfing at Johnny's tonight," I said, about to turn into the hallway to my room.

"I want you to stay in tonight," she said, not looking up from her magazine. "You haven't been home in a while with all this training going on and night surfing isn't all that safe."

"But mom!" I complained.

"No buts."

"Ugh!" I yelled while stomping into my room and flopping on my bed.

My parents were pretty laid-back people and put their foot down occasionally, but my mom never made me stay in during the summer unless someone important was coming over for dinner. This was so unfair. It was summer and not a typical summer. I had so much going on and even though the waves tonight weren't practicing material, I would still be out surfing.

I grabbed my phone off my side table and texted my group chat with Alana and Bethany.

Help! My mom won't let me go. -Hannah

I got an instant reply from Alana. But Savannah's so chill? -A

I thought so too. -Hannah

I've got a plan. Alana call me. Just stay at home and be ready at 10. -Bethany

I wasn't exactly sure what was about to happen, but hopefully, they were coming to break me out of my house.

~

Alana's POV

"Okay, Bethany, I got it," I said into my phone while walking through the front door of my house.

I dropped my keys on the table in the middle of our entryway and sorted through the mail while I held the phone to my ear with my shoulder.

"Are you sure?" she asked again.

"Yes, Bethany. Now goodbye, I need to get ready."

"Don't you dare hang up on—" she tried to say before I pressed the end call button.

I walked up the stairs to my room and dropped my bag on the floor when I saw it sitting on my bed. A big brown box. It already had a couple of old school papers, sports medals, and flip flops placed in it. I immediately became filled with rage. I stomped over to my bed and forcefully picked up the box. My mom had to be kidding. She needed to be a little more discreet than leaving it right on my bed. What if my friends had been over?

I opened my window and a salty ocean breeze blew my hair over my shoulder. The sun was starting to set over the ocean and the beach was empty like always. We didn't have waves you could surf like the ones by Hannah's house, but they were still pretty crashing against the shore.

My mom was sitting on our porch below reading an issue of Glamour magazine. Good, she would be able to notice this very clearly, I thought. I sat on the window ledge and watched as the brown box dropped to the ground. My parents really should have thought about getting screens for our windows.

My mom jumped at the sudden noise and almost spilled her iced tea all over the table. She turned her body around and noticed me sitting on my window ledge with my back leaning against the side and a huge grin on my face. She placed her sunglasses on top of her head and brought her eyes down to the lawn to see what had just fallen.

When she noticed what it was, she said in her annoying mom voice, "Alana Grace Huntington! Get down from there, it's unsafe!"

My mom was one of those socialite mothers with nothing to do except socialize and fake smile with her similar friends all day. She had been irritating even before she decided to ruin my life. She always had something going and she was never home yet still felt the authority and power to order me around. Our dad worked a lot so my brother and I were only around for what felt like pictures and charity events.

I flopped my legs over the window sill so now they were dangling in midair and my back was no longer leaning against the side. I was only holding on by the ledge I was sitting on. I had been doing slight things like that to rebel against them. I stopped being her perfect daughter the moment the words had escaped their mouths. I wouldn't let her order me around anymore.

"Alana get down from there!" my mother screeched.

She had gotten up to stand underneath my window and had her hands on her hips. If I fell, I would have crushed her slim frame and a cast would not look so hot during next week's social event. I smirked down at her, finally having some power over her.

"I will ground you if you don't get down right this instance," she ordered.

I held my ground and so did she, neither of us willing to move.

"Alana, seriously?" my younger brother Jackson asked from the lawn holding onto his soccer ball.

I liked my brother and we got along pretty well, although he was a soccer-obsessed dweeb. He hated conflict and there had been a lot the past month. He was too relaxed compared to me and my mother but this wasn't his fight, it was mine so I glared at him to go away. He put his hands up defensively and walked back into our house.

I just continued to move my legs back and forth, hitting the side of my house in the process, while I smiled down at my mom who was scowling.

"Dude," Jackson said behind me, not meaning to scare me but he did and I almost fell. I caught myself on the sides of the window just in time.

I realized that I wasn't going to jump out of a two-story window only to prove a point to my mother, but I was going to stay up there until she eventually gave up.

"Jeez!" I snapped back at him.

"Are you really going to go this far just to rebel against mom?" he questioned, his brown eyes showing genuine concern.

"Jackson, I'm out here trying to fight for our rights." He rolled his eyes but I continued, "I suggest you do this too."

"I'll fight 'for our rights' another day with you. I'm heading to Carson's house," he said patting me on the shoulder with his hand that wasn't glued to his soccer ball.

"Fine, go become even more obsessed with soccer," I teased while lightly shoving him and trying to keep my balance on the window. He smiled and walked out of my room.

I looked down at the lawn and my mother was still there with her hands on her hips. I crossed my arms and looked down at her. I heard her phone ring. She was going to ignore it, but it rang a couple more times so she checked the caller ID.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath. It must've been someone higher up that she couldn't let go to voicemail.

She looked up at me and said sternly, "I have to take this, but I'm not done with this. Alana, I'm tired of putting up with you and all of this nonsense. Why must you do this? Either way, I'm moving you to New York, whether you like it or not."