I threw my arms round Felix, and he lifted me up.
‘Delphine!’ I called when I was back on the sand. And she grinned at me, with Lili holding up a bottle of beer in her honour.
She walked over to me. ‘We still have a long way to go, but it is a good start. Well done, Margot. I knew you were something special.’
And when she said it, I saw Felix glance at me with a smile.
‘We are the champions!’ Sébastian sang as he joined us.
I laughed and sat down on the sand, watching the next heat, with the sun beating down on me.
My good luck didn’t end with round one. My next round finished with Delphine in first again, me in second, but it still didn’t guarantee qualification toLa Vague d’Or– there were more rounds to come.
Lili had made us sandwiches. Baguettes with cheese and ham, which we ate gratefully after round two.
The next round was tense, with the stakes getting higher each time, and you could feel it in the water, the way the other competitors were silent as they watched the waves. There were no smiles and no conversation, not even with Delphine.
I scored 14.10 and Delphine dominated with a 16.23. Second place by the skin of my teeth.
Even Lili and Sébastian had started to tire, with Sébastian actually falling asleep on the sand. There was no sign of Antoine. But I wasn’t disappointed. Today was about surfing,notabout boys.
We rested in between rounds, but by the time the semi-finals came round, I was still completely exhausted.
‘I can’t do this,’ I whispered to Felix.
‘Of course you can. Only this round and the final, and then that is it. You belong out there.’
I looked at him, into his steady eyes as I took a deep breath and stood up. Then our next round was called.
‘Good luck, Margot! But you will not need it.’ Felix smiled.
I would one hundred per cent need it, but he’d calmed me, if only for a minute. And I was grateful.
The wind was different now. And as I sat on my board watching the waves, I found it harder and harder to pick out the best ones. They were unpredictable, choppy, with huge lullsbetween sets. But the other girls seemed to know what to do; they rode the waves like they were perfectly formed. And when I tried? Everything fell apart. I lost control, falling off mid-wave. I swam back, slamming my hands into the water as I paddled.
The microphone blared across the shore in French. Delphine paddled towards me. ‘It is about you. They said the competitor in black needs a significant score. The conditions are deteriorating and wave selection is critical.’
Fear is excitement without breath. Breathe.I repeated in my head what Delphine had told me earlier. I took a deep breath.
‘Thanks, Delph–’
But she had gone, taken another wave, and surfed it like a pro.
I thought about Rue again. How she fell and fell again and still got back up. So that’s what I did. I surfed the next three waves like I had nothing to lose.
But I felt sick when we waited for our scores. I saw Delphine’s first. 16.6, first place. And I was so happy for her. She deserved it. Then I saw my score: 13.93.Fourthplace.
I sighed in disappointment, trying to hold back tears. Lili ran over to hug me.
‘Margot! The finals!!’ she squealed.
‘What? I came fourth. I didn’t get through.’
Felix appeared beside me. ‘They’re taking four, the top four qualify, and the final is used for seeding position,’ he said. I couldn’t believe it. I could barely contain my excitement. I hugged them both with aching arms.
Then I walked down to the water, just to look out at the ocean, the thing that had almost killed me but made me feel more alive than ever. My chest swelled with pride. I’d done it.I’d got into the finals of the qualifier. Nothing could feel better than this.
‘Nice moves,Princesse.’
