Sébastian mimed a thud, then sat down and looked sad.
‘Oh, poor Sébastian.’ Lili leaned over and kissed his cheek.
He smiled and pointed at his forehead. ‘Five stitches and they have called mele clown des vaguesever since.’
I leaned over to see the scar on his head.
‘Thatisa very sad story,’ I said, playing along.
‘But it was not that sad because in the hospital was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. A nurse who did my stitches. I was in love.’ Sébastian winked at me, and I laughed.
‘Delphine, tell Margot aboutLa Vague d’Or,’ Antoine prompted.
She shrugged. ‘There is nothing to know. I came fourth.’
‘You were amazing,’ said Lili, stroking Delphine’s leg.
‘Amazing is winning. I lost.’ She shook her head. And it was the first time that I felt like I was on the same page as Delphine. This was exactly how I’d felt when I was swimming. To win was everything. Ecstasy, euphoria. Second place? Might as well have come last.
‘You did not lose!’ Lili protested.
Delphine took a drink of beer. She shook her head. ‘This time, I will win.’
‘Yes!’ Sébastian leaned in and clinked his drink against hers. ‘Et, Antoine?’ Sébastian looked at him and Antoine smiled before pushing his hair back off his face.
‘My first competition? I was thirteen.’
‘Les Jeunes Vagues?’ Lili asked.
‘Ouais,’ Antoine nodded. ‘I had been training for months. Everybody expected me to win. And I did well. I had the highest score when I went into the finals. But during the final, I saw a kid who struggled with the current.’
Everyone was silent as Antoine told his story. There was no laughing like there had been for Sébastian, or encouragement like for Delphine, just silence.
‘And nobody else noticed. And he was getting tired trying to paddle. Then I helped him out and missed my heat.’ The way he said it, like he was so desperate to make it sound as if it was no big deal, made me think it had been the total opposite.
I watched Antoine, who wasn’t looking at anyone now, just staring into the sand.
‘To Antoine.’ Lili held up her drink. We all did, except Antoine, who didn’t have one.
‘What about you, Lili?’ I asked, interested to know her story too.
She grinned and glanced at Delphine before looking back at us. ‘Not my first, but my favourite. A year ago. I had been surfing maybe for three years, and I still was not good.’ Delphine nudged her in support.
‘C’est vrai!’ Lili laughed. ‘I had no business being at any competition. And I wiped out in the first heat. But I stayed to watch the finals. And this girl?’ She turned to Delphine. ‘She was riding the waves like she owned them.’
I smiled at the story. ‘And that was when you started going out?’ I asked.
Lili snorted. ‘Non, then Delphine went out with Antoine.’ Lili flicked sand towards him.
‘And then Lili stole my girlfriend,’ Antoine said.
‘You were never meant for each other, and I did not steal, it was at least a month after you two broke up.Yourtrue love is still to come.’ Lili smiled, then turned and kissed Delphine gently on the lips.
‘I think it is time to go,’ Antoine said. Then he stood up.
‘Le flicreturns,’ Sébastian said before standing too. I pulled myself off the sand and watched as Antoine yelled across to the bonfire.
‘C’est l’heure. La marée monte.’
