A Drop In The Lake

his golden ticket

Cameron

My crew finishes putting the boat onto the racks and I come back out of the boathouse to help collect oars, when I hear, " ... 'Hey, sorry for being so weird earlier and just staring at you, but I think you're like insanely attractive, and I was just wondering: what planet are you from?"

I notice that it's coming from the two girls that were rowing, stern pair, in the women's 1V boat. The girl I had just overheard was the one that locked eyes with me in the most intimate stare-down I've ever participated in.

Trying to be sly, I slip past the rest of my crew and right into their conversation, supplying, "Earth."

At the sound of my voice booming behind her, her body goes completely rigid, while the girl beside her turns towards me. I smile at her and then direct my attention back to the girl that looks like she was caught with her tits out. She now stands, facing me with cloudy-grey eyes widening in acknowledgment. The evening sun shines behind her, casting a golden hue onto her red, freckled face, giving me a chance to fully look at her. Her head stands a good foot below me, while the path of her body screams dedication; her toned arms and tight tummy clench underneath her tank top while her chiseled thighs cast a statue-like shadow. My eyes track their way back up her body, settling on the sensual rose color of her lips.

Noticing me checking her out, she begins to fidget, while her friend pipes up saying, "Hello handsome, my name's Brooklyn, but my girls call me Brook." She pauses to turn to her friend. "And this is Alessa, but we call her Ale. Although you need to earn that honor... but... she is wildly interested and insanely single, so I have a feeling that won't take long... Have fun kids." She finishes, as she skips to return the oars she's holding back to the boathouse.

When Brooklyn's out of earshot, I address Alessa again. "Hey." I drawl, oozing comfortable confidence. Something about this girl makes me just want to talk, not sure what it is, maybe I'm just out of it after the pieces coach had us doing.

"Hi." She replies stiffly.

"So, I'm insanely attractive?" I question, looking to see that faded crimson red color re-encompass her face.

Rather unexpectedly, Alessa's body relaxes as if feeling the same comfort I do. However, what she says next tells me something different. "Maybe in a past life, but I'm afraid I was talking about your two-seat." I glance over my shoulder to see Peter walking down to the dock to pick up our oars, pausing to flush an ugly pasty pink.

Because I'm new to Harvey Cedars, I needed to get a bunch of physicals and shots and shit before I could row with the guys, but because of my family's impeccable rowing history, they knew who I was right away. They expect a lot from me. Jack needs me to be the clout chaser. Anthony needs me to be his golden ticket. Pete just wants to know everything about my fucking personal life, and Matt just wants me to be my parents. Too bad for him though, cause — news flash — I'm not. My only goal in joining this team is to kick ass at Head of The Charles. If we can even make it.

"Ouch babe, I think you just bruised my ego." I retort, noticing my prolonged silence.

Now it's her turn to be left speechless, except rather than engage me, she mumbles some string of expletives under her breath and heads off to the boathouse to put her oars away. Her movements are thick with irritation as her brown-black hair floats behind her.

Our practice wraps up about twenty minutes later, after a hearty talk from the coach and a cool down. I'm sitting on the bus that will take us back to campus, waiting for the girls' team to finish taking their sweet time, when Anthony walks up to me. "So you talkin' to Ale?"

It takes me a moment to completely register what he just said, but when I do I notice a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Yeah... is there something wrong with that?" I return, feeling slightly defensive.

"No, not at all, just as long as you keep your head in the boat and out of her pants." He returns, getting more irritated.

"Hey, man, look... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk back like that. Is there something I should know?" I reply, taking on a slightly more sincere, yet highly inquisitive tone.

"It's nothing, she's just bad news, that's all I've heard." He takes a deep breath, realizing how much he's come onto me.

"Plus, rowers don't really work here." He adds rather ominously.

As if sensing my question, he follows up, "It's just that rowers can get kinda competitive so a lot of rower couple relationships turn kinda toxic."

I look back at him, obviously confused by how he got a relationship out of just talking to a girl. Despite myself, I let it go and settle into my seat, dismissing him.

Anthony heads to his spot at the back of the bus, and as the girls' team funnels onto the bus, I notice the seats filling up fast. "You've got to be kidding me!" A voice comes from above.

I look up, a smile already plastered on my face in recognition of whose voice is sneering at me. "Hello, beautiful."