BXBX NOVEL Chapter 93: Fire
"Mia!" I shouted, scanning the churning water.
Lucas was already there, diving beneath the surface.
Suddenly, Mia\'s head broke the surface about twenty feet away from me. She gasped for air, her arms flailing, as another wave threatened to push her under again.
"I\'ve got her!" Lucas shouted, reaching Mia just as she started to go under once more. He grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him and onto his board.
Mia was coughing and sputtering, but she was okay.
"Help me get her to shore!" Lucas called out.
Charlotte and I flanked them as we all paddled back to the beach.
"What happenned?! Is Mia okay?!" Sam\'s voice carried from the shore, panicked.
We reached the beach, and Alex rushed over. He dropped his board and waded into the shallow water to help.
"Grab her other arm!" Lucas instructed. Together, we lifted Mia off Lucas\'s board.
She was groggy but still grinning, clearly shaken but trying to play it cool. "I think... Caugh!" she rasped. "I got a bit too ambitious... Caugh! Caugh!"
She kept coughing, her face red and eyes teary.
Sam rushed to her side, his hands searching for her and finding her shoulders. "Mia?"
"I\'m okay," Mia told Sam.
Lucas kneeled beside them; he changed from his normal carefree mood to one of genuine concern.
I glanced at them. "You really gave us a scare, Mia. Maybe you should take a break."
Mia chuckled, shaking her head. "Hahaha, there is no way I\'m going back out there."
"Let\'s get you out of the sun for a bit." Charlotte said.
We gently helped her onto a blanket, and Mia sighed, half-laughing.
"You got wiped out big time," Alex said, still looking a bit shaken himself. "Now I\'m definitely not getting in there. I\'m fucking scared, man."
Just then, Lucas, who had been standing near the water\'s edge, cupped his hands around his mouth, "The Breakers do not mess around!" he yelled then he turned and dove right back into the waves.
Alex ended up sitting on his surfboard, dangling his legs in those very waters.
Mia lie with Sam on the beach enjoying the scenery while we got back to surfing.
Wave after wave, pulse after pulse.
But it was getting colder.
Lucas was like "Just one more wave." for about 20 more waves.
"Jack!" All of a sudden, I heard Sam yelling from the beach.
I turned to look at him.
It didn\'t seem that urgent.
"Jack!" he repeated.
Before I could respond, Charlotte paddled over to me on her board; she reached out and gently placed her hand on my shoulder.
She looked sexy with wet hair.
"I think it\'s getting a bit cold," she said softly, her eyes locking with mine.
"Yeah, you\'re right."
We paddled back to shore together, catching up with Lucas, who was finally calling it a day. The water lapped at our feet as we made our way up the beach to our little camp.
As we reached the camp, I grabbed a towel and turned to Sam, who had been waiting for me. "What is it, Sam? What happened?"
"You won\'t believe this," he said, holding out his phone, the screen glowing with a news alert.
I frowned, drying off with the towel. "What is it?"
Sam took a deep breath, his voice low as he spoke. "The SEC just halted trading on all stocks involved in the… you know what. Everything\'s frozen. They\'re saying it\'s the biggest halt since WorldCom accounting fraud."
"Monster Beverage too?" I asked, still fairly calm.
"Yes... Mark just called me and told me this. Mia helped me look it up."
I held out my hand. "Give me that phone for a sec."
Sam handed over his phone, and I quickly scanned the news updates.
"The SEC is taking immediate action to investigate trading histories for signs of manipulation and naked shorting. Until a clear resolution is reached, trading in these stocks will remain suspended."
"Okay..." I muttered, scrolling through the headlines. "Don\'t worry," I told him as I handed the phone back. "We can\'t do anything other than wait and see, but we should be fine."
"Hopefully they will open trading soon..." Sam said.
As the sun set, turning the sky orange and pink, we carried the wood and grill down to the beach.
We set up around the fire with beach chairs, cushions, and a big log we used as a bench.
Lucas got the fire going, and soon it was crackling and glowing.
We gathered around, finding spots to sit.
We set up a campfire grill over the fire. Lucas had long roasting sticks with him as well but I just put my sausages and snacks on the grill.
We opened up some beers.
Alex has been waiting for that since ever.
"Who wants some marshmallows for the fire?" Mia asked, taking out a bag of marshmellows.
"Yum! Marshmallows!" Charlotte said excitedly, grabbing the bag. "Jack, can you find me a stick to roast a marshmallow? I\'ll roast one for you too."
"I got you," I said as I cleaned one stick and handed it over to her.
She took her task with relish.
"Aa!" Mia moaned when her marshmallow caught fire from being too close to the flame.
As Charlotte handed me the marshmallow, I grinned and accepted, savoring the sweet treat.
Maybe savoring it a bit too slowly, as a second later she had another one for me.
After about an hour of roasting marshmallows and enjoying the fire, we moved on to munching on sausages from the grill.
The night came quickly and the sky was a deep, dark blue, dotted with stars.
Charlotte\'s long copper hair was catching the fire\'s glow as she sat on my lap with a sweet smile, enjoying her beer.
From this distance, I noticed her breasts were bigger than usual. \'Is she wearing a push-up bra?\' I thought.
Alex, who was a bit tipsy, leaned back with a satisfied grin.
He took a long sip of his beer. "Man, this is totally chill. I could die here...."
"This is really nice and all..." Lucas said, pausing for effect. "But do you guys know what\'s even better than this?"
We all turned to him. "What?" Charlotte asked.
"Boat racing," Lucas said with a grin.