It's warm outside, the first week of summer. We're wearing shorts. We walk through the woods until we come across a small concrete cove. There's a small pile of sticks and our names drawn on the wall with sharpie. We sit in front of the water. I can feel the mud seeping into my socks, it's cool and almost feels good. You grab some rocks and throw them as far as you can. The rocks feel hard and sharp against my thighs and butt. I'm beginning to sweat. It's so humid near the water. Despite this, I'm so comfortable being there with you. I take off my shoes and socks and place them next to my book bag. I walk across the sharp rocks into the cold muddy water.
"Be careful, you don't want the fish to bite your feet!"
"Oh, bite me."
I walk farther until the water is just below the hem of my shorts. You start to come out and you stand beside me. You look at me kind of weird, and before I can ask what's wrong, I'm completely submerged under the water. I can hear you laughing. Once I come up for air, you're still laughing. I come up next to you and kick you in the back of the knees so you fall in. We're both soaked.
"I liked these shorts ya know"
We sit in the cool water, trying not to acknowledge the amount of mud on us. Eventually we leave the water. We gather our things and walk out into the grass. I lay down in the sun, trying to dry off. I can feel the mud drying and caking on my legs. The sun feels warm but not as over bearing as it once was. The grass is soft and itchy. It finally feels like summer.
