Page 97 of Paparazzi Perfect
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA
IVY
A wave washed over me as I lay on my board watching the sunrise.
It’d been tempting to curl deeper beneath the covers and fall back asleep. Instead, I’d forced myself up, splashed cold water over my face, tucked my board under my arm, padding across the sand as a kaleidoscope of color spread across the horizon.
As the rhythm of the ocean carried me over the crest of the waves, my mind drifted back to when Jai and I were kids…
I’d shake him awake before dawn to come surfing with me, he’d groan that I was the worst sister ever. Right up until we hit the water. Then he’d laugh, promising that the next morning he’d be the one waking me up.
But come the next day, it always started the same way—with me dragging him out of bed while he complained the entire time.
Surfing had always been my tonic. I’d grown up along one of the best coastlines in the world, and I never took that for granted.
The rise and fall of the swell while I wait for the perfect break.
That weightless rush when I ride the crest. The power surging beneath me when I’m part of the wave.
In those moments… I’m connected to something bigger.
There’s nothing else like it.
Life’s hurts didn’t disappear in the waves, but the ocean helped soothe the sting. I’d gone out that morning hoping to dull the ache.
Somehow it worked.
As darkness gave way to morning, the sky bled vivid oranges and pinks, and something inside me renewed.
Light spilled across the water just as a pod of dolphins broke the surface nearby. They circled playfully before vanishing beneath the waves, reappearing moments later to ride the swell beside me.
My chest swelled.
And in that moment, I knew… one way or another, things were going to work out.
With my board under my arm, I stepped back onto the sand and brushed water from my face before jogging up the beach toward the house.
It was a brand-new day.
For the first time in too long, I couldn’t stop smiling.
***
Guests spilled out of the living room where we’d gathered to watch the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix.
Even though most of us had to work the next day, nobody cared that the race—starting at five p.m. in Abu Dhabi—wasn’t beginning until midnight.
I was totally pumped. Even my friend Kobi—who’d moved to Sydney to live with her boyfriend—was coming!
Lila, Suki, Olivia, Sass, hordes of relatives, partners, friends, and neighbors had all squeezed into the house waiting for the race to start.
Sass had raved relentlessly about it for days. She’d even had a massive new TV installed for the occasion. Her dream was to watch a live race in Monte Carlo one day.
A car pulled up out front. I hurried out onto the deck when I saw Kobi climbing out of the back.
“Girl!” I called out excitedly. “Get over here. Oh my god, I missed you, babe.”
“Ivy, so good to see you too!” she said with a gentle smile, wrapping me in a hug. “How are you holding up lovely?” “One day at a time, but I’m good,” I told her, trying to sound convincing more for myself than her.
