Young Lather

Let It Begin

"Hey, it's double triple again!" Teri yelled it when we showed up again at The Falls, but nobody really paid attention. 'Double triple' is what someone started to call our group of friends because, duh, there's three guys and three girls. Double triple. Yawn.

Most of the same kids were still there, and a few more had come. Someone had started a fire. It was still light out, but you could tell it wasn't going to last too much longer. A few people were in the water now. Maybe five in clothes, or at least some clothes, but Lonnie and this other senior in their underwear -- Lonnie in tidy whities, which was a mistake, because he was butt ugly to begin with, and that cold water wasn't doing his package any favors. Teri was into him, though, so lucky Lonnie. Somehow, he was managing to keep a cigarette lit in one hand, and a beer unspilled in the other.

The keg was still going, so Track headed over for another. If I'd had ten bucks, I think I would have started too -- I was feeling... I don't know... good. Just plain solid good. School was out! It came over me in a rush. And then...

"Yeah baby! School! Is! Out! Wooooo!" ...That was me. Yeah, well, sometimes I let loose, ya know? A few people cheered a little.

People were lined up at the diving rock now, wearing whatever worked. No skinny dippers yet. I watched for awhile, but then scanned the scene to see who was still there. ... Pretty much everyone who usually lasted at parties, but even a few who would normally be long gone -- like Connie. She was talking to a couple of the nerd seniors who hung out in the library or computer lab a lot. No surprise. I looked around to see if Track was eying her again, but when I spotted him, I caught him staring at me, not Connie. He turned away fast, but it was weird. He looked almost mad at me, but I couldn't imagine why.

Archie was drinking a beer! First time I'd ever seen that. I knew he didn't have any money for the keg, but maybe he'd had enough to buy the can of Bud he had from someone... like Dara, who was right next to him, and who was also drinking a can of Bud. Dara always had money, so now I figured she must have bought it for him, or maybe just hit someone up for two freebies -- people liked Dara. Archie and Dara were definitely not looking at me. I'm smiling, because now I think they wouldn't notice of a bear walked through. Sure enough, after about thirty seconds I see Dara sort of pull on Archie's shirt to bring him closer, and she kisses him on the mouth, short but sweet.

This is huge! Oh my god. I mean, I sort of thought something was starting up, but the starting up looks like it's pretty much done, I think. I stare. Archie looks like an idiot, standing there like maybe he just got hit in the head, hard. She kisses him again, short and sweet again, and then — what the fuck? He starts to get all panicky. He steps back, pulls out his phone, and checks it, talking all the time, stepping back, stumbles on something and falls on his ass, but bounces right up, still talking to Dara, still looking, lifting his beer, checking his phone, and then he turns and almost runs out the trail that goes up to the road, shortest way home. Dara looks stunned.

Quick, I climb up to where she's standing. "It's just Archie, Dara," I say, and then she looks at me. "It's just Archie," I say again. "He's so shy." She stares at me, but then smiles.

"I know," she says. "But... I mean..."

"Oh yeah," I said. "I saw. You kissed him nice." She looked down. "It was nice," I said again. "I mean it wasn't a secret, right? You're here at The Falls. A few people must have seen." Though, actually, I'm not sure anyone but me had noticed. People were doing their own things.

"I thought he liked me," she said. "I thought he wanted it."

"Oh he does. He did. It's just Archie," I assured her. "He's so shy. Nervous, you know." She nodded. "I mean, you should have seen him when we swam." Uh oh.

"What?"

Uh oh. "Well..."

"Tell me!" she demanded, stepping closer. Girls kind of scare me when they get serious.

"Just.... Well,.. He was watching you. When Track was finishing puking." I tried to get a look on my face that said, 'that's all, that's it,' but she saw right through it. She knew there was more. I don't lie well. ...I don't lie at all, really.

"And...?"

"...You gotta swear—"

"I swear!" she swore.

"Well..." And then a feeling came over me, like an older feeling. A sex feeling. Like, this is the kind of thing you can talk about serious like. "Well when he got undressed to swim after he was watching you—"

"He was like the second person to go in!" She'd noticed. "He's never the second."

"Yeah, well, he wanted to get in fast with no one seeing, because...."

"...Because?"

"Because he had a hard on. You know, a boner."

"I know what a hard on is," she said, not seeming that she really did. "A boner. I know that." Again, though, like maybe she knew but didn't really know. She didn't have any brothers or anything. But I wasn't going to teach her anything. "Like... Like an erection?" I nodded.

"So he definitely likes you," I finished. "I mean, because that was right after he was staring at you, so..."

Now she smiled. She looked at me slow. "I won't tell," she said. "I won't. I don't want to embarrass him." I nodded a yes. "Thanks," she said. "So I understand."

"He's just shy," I said.

Then she smiled and looked at me steady. It felt a little weird. "Like Track," she finally said.

"Track?"

"Yeah," she said. "Like Track feels. ...About you."