Twin Surfers

Ever since we were young, my twin brother, Adrian and I had been best friends. We used to surf together at the beach near our house, you see, we lived in California where it’s always sunny. But then he made new friends, he changed. Sometimes we build a blanket fort and watch movies together like we used to after surfing, but the last time was six months ago and we haven’t surfed together since he made his new friends, three years ago.

I made new friends too, my best friend, Taylor. She doesn’t surf, though. She’s into gossip and shopping. When I hit the waves, she sun bathes.

One weekend, Taylor and I were at the beach, she applied sun lotion before putting her sunglasses on and lying on the polka dotted beach towel, that clashed with her stripy bikini, face down. I cleaned my surf board and got it ready for the waves.

I raced out to the water until I was waist deep before lying the board down in the water and climbing on top. I started paddling out to the big waves, some splashed on top of me as I went further and further. When I was about a hundred metres out I sat up, and waited for the next suitable wave. As I waited I noticed two jeeps pull up in the parking lot. Even from a hundred and fifty metres away from the parking lot, I could tell who it was. It didn’t matter how far away I was, I would always be able to tell who my brother was; his sandy blonde skater hair that was an identical colour to mine, his wide gangly frame.

He looks around and his eyes linger on me for a second before he turns back to his friends and starts pulling surf boards off the top.

I turn back to the waves and see a fairly big one coming towards me. I get ready to jump up and before I know it, I’m riding back to the shore. I caught a glimpse of Adrian watching me from where his friends had started to set up their towels and beach chairs. I laid back down on the board and paddled out again.

I surfed for a half hour before I retired to the sand with Taylor for a while. I laid my towel down and pulled my book out from the safety of my beach bag. I was reading Mercy by Rebecca Lim, it was about an angel who was cast down for reasons she still hadn’t figured out. She moved from body to body of female humans and helped them out of the bad situations they’re in, (list of bad situations and names). That is until she wakes up on a school bus full of teenagers in the body of Carmen Zappacosta, a choir girl with standing up for herself problems. She houses with the Daley family, where she meets the mysterious Ryan Daley, who is desperately trying to find his twin sister, who was kidnapped two years previous. I opened to my bookmark and began reading.

A couple hours later I was almost finished my book, so I decided to head back out into the water. I grabbed my surf board and ran back out. My brother and his friends were in the water. I locked eyes with my brother and offered a small smile.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence, waiting for a big wave. Adrian’s friends joked around until one of them pointed out, “Dude, look at that wave!” He hit the guy next to him on the arm and pointed out. Everyone turned their eyes to wave. Grabbing the side of my board, I prepared to jump up. Everyone else followed suit.

I was up on my board laughing as I surfed the wave until suddenly I was knocked off. I screamed for help and I heard my brother swear as he dived in after me. I went under, the salt stung my eyes but I fought to keep them open for as long as I could. I could see the blurry outline of my brother trying to reach me but I was running out of breath and sinking fast because I was out of energy. The last thing I remember before everything went black was strong arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me up.

I sat up coughing, I hear someone sigh in relief as a hand came in to contact with my back, patting it. My eyes open and I see my brother sitting beside me. My brother immediately wraps is arms around me as soon as I stopped coughing. I hug him back and he whispers my ear, “Are you okay, Alex?” I nod my head in the crook of his neck. Taking a deep breath, I try to pull away but Adrian shakes his head, ”Nope, I’m not done hugging you. You almost died and we hardly do anything together anymore.” If I wasn’t grinning after that, I sure as hell was from what he says next, ”How about, when we get home and we don’t smell like the ocean, we set up a blanket fort in the lounge and watch some movies tonight. We can even watch those ridiculous rom-coms you love so much.”

I kiss him on the cheek and pull back to respond, “Definitely.”

Taylor walks up to us with bags in her hands. She’d wrapped a towel around her waist but she still wore her bikini top. When she sees I’m awake she puts the bags down and pulls me into a hug. “Oh my gosh, you scared me to death. I thought you were going to die or something. Never do that again.” Taylor rants at me as I hug her back, laughing.

“I’m fine, Tay. What’s in the bags?” She pulls away from me and grabs them,

“Food. I figured you’d be hungry when you woke up because you’ve been surfing most of the day. There was a fish and chips shop down the road.” She looks over to my brother and says, “By the way, you owe me $7.35. I pay for my best friend’s food, not her brothers.”

Adrian laughs and nods his head.

We ate in silence and when Adrian’s friends walked up to us, ”Adrian, we’re gonna get going, are you coming or what?”

Adrian shook his head at the guy who spoke, “No, you guys go ahead I’m gonna catch a ride with Alex and Taylor, Will. I’ll see you on Monday.” They wave goodbye and head for the Jeeps they came in.



Three hours later, Adrian and I were lying on a pile of blankets and sheets in the middle of the lounge room. The coffee table was pushed to the side, with books piled on top to hold the sheet on top of us up. We had a bowl of chicken fingers each and a bowl of mayo in between us. The lights were off and the start of The Other Woman was starting.