Learning To Love - Jamie Campbell Bower

Beachy Talks

"Ok Jamie, do you know how to dive under a wave?"

"Dive under a- is that even a thing?" He digs his feet into the sand. We're currently sitting on beach towles, watching the waves roll in from out to sea. Jamie has ditched his singlet and sunnies. The water is perfect, not flat like a pool, but not crazy-wavey either. Fair sized waves roll in and crash onto the shore, foamy whitewash fizzing and fading.

"Ok, so when we get in it'll get deep pretty quickly, but as long as you swim fast you'll be able to reach the sandbank, where the waves break, without getting smashed up tooooo much." I smile. Jamie looks genuinely nervous. "Sandbank?" He says. "The sandbank is a shallower part of the beach, you'll be able to stand. It's where the waves tend to begin to crash, and if one's going to crash straight on top of you, you need to dive under it." I explain.

"Ok, so... how do I do that?"

"It's easy peasy, just before the wave hits you, dive forwards under the water until you can touch the sandbank, wait a second for the wave to roll over, and come back up again. Simple!"

"Do I need to do it for every wave?" He seemed less nervous now.

"Nah, you'll be able to judge if you can just float over the wave than under." I stand up, and he follows me to the waters edge.

"So.. you said we need to be fast right? To get to the sand bank?"

"Yup." I eye the surf. "Just wait for this wave to crash, and we'll go." The last wave of a set smooths out into foam.

"Ok, ONWARDS INTO THE SEA!" I battle cry, taking Jamie's arm and plunging into the surf.

"For Narnia!" Jamie yells as the water climbs up to our waists. The sand drops from under us and I can no longer touch the bottom.

"Ok! Swim!" I shout. We paddle madly across the gully until I attempt to stand and am able touch the sand again. I grab Jamie's arm. His head pops up, wet hair plastered to his face.

"You can stand, now." I chuckle, he looks like a wet golden retriever, with only his head showing out of the water.

He stands, the water reaches just below his hips now that he's on the bank, my hips are submerged. "You did it!" I say. "I did it!" He joins in my celebration. I look out to the sea again. "Ok, under or over?" I ask Jamie, looking at an oncoming wave.

"What do you mean?"

"Should we jump over the wave, or dive under?" I clarify.

Jamie serveys the sea. "Over?" He glances at me.

"Correct!" I cry. "One..two...three!"

I jump, so the wave doesn't submerge my head. When I was a little girl, my dad used to be able to lift me high into the hair with his arms, and I'd giggle, flying through the air with my dad's embrace. My dad couldn't do that anymore, but everytime I jumped a wave, I'd get the same sensation, getting lifted into the air, defying gravity...

The wave passes, and my feet meet the bank again. Jamie has survived, it seems, he grins at me. "This is fun!" He says, splashing the water with his hands. "Totally!" I agree. My eyes are scanning the ocean again. "Never turn your back on the ocean." My dad would warn me whenever I went out by myself as a kid. "Uh oh, here's your chance to test out those diving skills, this waves coming straight for us!"

"Heidi I'm not sure I can-"

"Here." I hold out my hand to him. "On the count of three, I want you to take my hand and dive under with me, and then follow me back up. Ok?"

"Ok," He takes my hand.

I watch the wave draw closer. "Ready? One...two...three!"

The sound of the sea gulls and crashing waves dissapears into silence as I dive under the water, eyes closed, Jamie's hand in mine. A shadow passes over my eyelids as the bulk of the wave passes over us. A second of underwater serenity, and I'm pressing my feet to the bank and kicking off, draging Jamie up to the surface. Our faces break the water, gasping. "Wow." Jamie gasps, taking in breath. "That was incredible." He says, turning to me. "Easy?" I ask. "Easy." He agrees.