Into My Own

Four

I spent the next two weeks working at the store and then going straight home. They seemed to drag by more than usual, especially since I was still grounded.

My first Saturday of freedom finally came around, dawning gorgeously sunny to my satisfaction.

Mom seemed to be in a decent mood for once but that might have been because she wasn't done punishing me yet. and I got roped into mowing our huge lawn right off the bat. Whenever I mowed my eyes swelled up and I sneezed nonstop and she knew that, but I guess that was the point of the punishment. I did it without arguing, though, because Charlie was upholding his promise to take me to the river. 

"Wow, you look good," Torrin laughed smugly the second he walked in the kitchen where I sat on the floor stuffing food, water, and towels into a backpack.

"Thanks," I mumbled, reaching up to rub my swollen eyes. I hoped to God they would look better by the time we got to the river or I knew the boys would never let me hear the end of it.

His disappeared as Charlie ran down the stairs in a pair of basketball shorts, yelling something about his shoes.

I grabbed my keys and stuff and jogged out to my pickup.

Charlie crawled in on the passenger side and handed me my favorite sun glasses. "You forgot these on the table."

***

Thirty minutes later, we pulled onto the road leading down to our favorite place on the river, Pine Bar. I parked close to the bottom of the hill leading down to the beach and we got out.

The sand was already scorching hot, and we both ran down as fast as we could.

All the boys were sitting in the sand, accompanied by two guys I didn't recognize. As soon as I hit the beach, I kicked off my flip flops and tore off my tank top, hoping the water would help my swollen face enough that the guys wouldn't notice. 

"Coda!" Landon yelled, springing towards me. He easily picked me up and spun me around, splashing water everywhere. "How've you been, sissy?"

"Hi Landon!" I grinned, mildly surprised at his affection until I smelled the alcohol on his breath. "Bored, mostly."

"Yeah, it's been pretty lame since graduation. I still can't believe you guys got grounded."

The topic of graduation sent a customary pang of loneliness through me but I ignored it. "Yeah, it was stupid, but we shouldn't have been late." I shrugged. "Did you guys decide to replace me and Charlie?" I motioned to the unfamiliar guys sitting in the sand several feet away.

"Oh yeah. Guys, meet Ryker Murray and Kellan Dace. Ryker just moved here from Montana, and Kellan moved from down south." Landon introduced them quickly.

"Nice to meet you guys." Charlie shook their hands firmly, sizing them up. I followed suit, feeling self conscious about my puffy face and now my dripping swimsuit.

Ryker was shorter than the rest of the guys by a few inches and wiry. I had to hold my tongue so I didn't call him a runt. He had curly, reddish brown hair peeking out from beneath the ball cap shading his face. He looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on why, so I pushed it to the back of my mind.

Kellan was closer in height to everyone else and I had to crane my neck to look at him when he stood up. He had sandy blonde hair which stayed mostly hidden by a black ball cap that was tipped back just enough for me to see his blue eyes catch the sunlight.