Summer and May

Chapter Three: May

$300 wasn't as much as I was hoping to make last night, but it helped with the $12 I spent on beer this morning. My dad let me drink with him sometimes, but he typically limited me to two drinks. He knew I had some experience outside of our 1,200 square foot house, but he played aloof to that. He trusted me enough, which is why he let me drink with him in the first place.

The bottles clinked as I put them in the back of my Jeep Wrangler, and I heard the screen door softly hit the door frame about ten seconds later.

"What's your plan today, kid?" Dad asked, his arms folded over his chest.

"Kayaking with Summer. It's Sunday!" I reminded him. This was our weekly tradition for as long as I could remember. First church, then lake.

"Only this time, you're bringing beer, huh?"

I rubbed a scuff on the passenger side door. The candy-apple red exterior was usually in pristine condition.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I plan on sleeping at Summer's again after. Her brother is having some friends over."

"Woah," his body slung off the side of the house quicker than I'd ever seen. "What friends?"

"I don't know. Some of his buddies from Brown. I'll be safe, you know that."

He hugged me tight, kissing my head. "I know it. Have you, uh, talked to Summer yet?"

My arms went limp. "Not yet, I..."

"She needs to know how you feel, hon. You can't let this summer get away from ya."

"I know." He rubbed my head, ruining my messy-bun. "Thanks." I snorted. "Love you!"

He tapped the hood, waving me off. Summer's house was exactly 1.3 miles away, but in a completely different world. People on my street had broken screen doors and campers in their yards, and Summer's neighborhood had their own private dock with boats more expensive than a celebrity's net worth.

I dropped my beer off in the garage, waved to Luke, and grabbed my kayak out of it's own holder in the garage. Summer's family always made me feel like one of their own. Her mom kissed us both goodbye before we took our kayaks out to the dock.

Per our routine, I helped Summer into hers, then pushed her out into the water. I gently glided into my seat and caught up with her.

"Our usual route today?" I asked, combing my hair behind my ears. My dad had messed up my bun to the point of no return. Leaving it down, tucked behind my ears, was my next-best option.

"I was thinking of something else, in the spirit of adventure."

I grinned, following her downstream. We picked Sundays as our lake days because it was always quiet. Vacationers were headed home, families were sitting in their living rooms, adults were hungover. It was like all of Shimmer Lake belonged to us. That was, until we heard the shouting and splashing of the Golden Twins.

"Oh, brother." I titled my head to see Noah and Alex Golden doing backflips off a rope swing they hung when we were ten. I couldn't believe it was still going strong.

Summer and I laughed synchronously at the usual fashion of the Goldens. Noah and Alex were a lot like me and Summer; Alex was popular, back from college for the summer. Noah was sweet, and valedictorian of our class. He didn't get out much, but I always knew him as a nice guy. Noah clearly let loose with his brother, and whoever the other guy was who was climbing to the rope swing now.

We floated aimlessly as we watched him climb the ladder two steps at a time, wrap his hands around the rope, and glide through the air. I hadn't seen him before, and I'm sure if I had, I would have remembered him. Then again, we weren't really close enough to see.

A wide smile covered his face as he made his way down to the water, curls falling onto his forehead. From head to toe, he was touched by the sun. He had the fear of nothing on his face, and shouted loudly before his body hit the water. When he rose up, he shook his hair out, and I don't think neither Summer nor I were breathing.

She pointed a finger at him after another long moment of silence. "Him. He should be the one."

"Huh?" My paddle made a thud as it rocked against my kayak.

Her eyes nearly sparkled. She pushed her sunglasses to the tip of her nose, then looked at me like her point was obvious. "The one you should lose your v-card to. Him. That's the one." She kept her eyes on me, pointing to the handsome stranger climbing out of the water.

I slapped her hand away. "Will you stop pointing!?" She pointed again. I slapped again. We fought like little girls until I groaned. "Fine! Okay, stop!"

She breathed in with excitement, still reeling. "I'm serious, May. He's hot—clearly new to town, or else we would've noticed him already. Which is perfect, because there are no strings attached. Come on, let's go talk to him."

"No!" I whisper-yelled, even though there was no chance they could hear us from a hundred feet away. "Just because he's hot, doesn't mean I should have sex with him. My brain doesn't work like that."

She giggled to herself. "Mine does." When I rolled my eyes, she corrected herself. "Either way, why don't we just go talk to him? Remember our new friend adventure?"

I hesitated. He was climbing up the ladder again, and I found myself wanting to watch him. "N-no." I forced myself to say. "You know me. I'm not just going to walk up to some guy I don't know. I'm not good at that stuff like you are."

She huffed, rolling her blue eyes around. "C'mon."

"Nope."

"At least admit he's good-looking, so I know there's still a human in there." She snapped at me, and I wagged a finger in her face. There was no denying the instant attraction I felt. I didn't need to see this man up close to know that he was handsome.

"Oh yes..." I breathed. "I'm not denying that."

I watched his muscles flex as he reached for the rope. When I heard Summer removing her life jacket, I ripped my eyes away.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting his attention." She shrugged, like a mastermind who planned this all along. "Last call, May. If you won't have him, I will."

I knew she was probing me. He was the second boy we'd ever both deemed good-looking, and she wanted me to take the bait. The pact we made two days before was meant to be taken seriously, but I had no interest in pursuing someone over some silly pact.

"Then take him." I challenged. She narrowed her eyes at me, and I stuck my tongue out. "Nice try. I'm curious though... what are you about to do?"

She smirked. "You'll see."

She gripped both sides of her kayak, shifted all her body weight to one side, and flipped her kayak entirely.

"Summer? What the hell!" I shouted. Summer was the best swimmer at our school—there was a whole room in her house dedicated to her trophies and medals—but I couldn't help but feel scared. Her life jacket floated with the current, reaching near where the boys where.

"Oh, shit." I said under my breath. Summer was one clever idiot.

Noah and Alex were busy climbing the ladder, but the other one noticed the commotion Summer had caused. He swam towards us immediately, like only an athlete could, reaching Summer's fake-flailing body in seconds. He wrapped his arms around her, both of them drenched. Summer coughed, wiped the water off her face, and took deep breaths. She was too good at pulling this off.

The stranger looked scared and relieved both at once. He breathed heavily, staring down at Summer in his arms while she ran her wet hands over her face and through her mermaid-like hair. All I could do was sit there and stare, mouth wide open.

"Thank God," she shuddered. "I can't believe I was so dumb!"

"Are you alright?" He asked, staring at her past his wet hair draped to his forehead.

"Yeah, I think so." She exhaled, wrapping her right arm around his neck. "Thank you."

She wrapped herself tightly around him, her bright pink suit clinging to the white swim shirt she was sporting. She stared into his eyes, but he was staring right past her at me.

The look was so piercing that I nearly lost my breath. His icy blue irises laid on mine for a small moment before returning to the wet girl in his arms.

"Here, let me help you." With Summer in one arm, he used his other to flip her kayak back over, and place her in it. His biceps were immensely impressive, and I knew I'd have to stop staring before I looked entranced.

She was starting to fail at playing the part, because she was blushing as hard as I was. She exhaled dramatically, situating herself in the kayak. "I'm so sorry, I can't believe I did that. And now I'm... I'm all wet." She looked down at her tits bursting through her bikini and soaked white shirt, and I rolled my eyes just a little. She was overdoing it, and I had a feeling this guy was catching on.

He lightly chuckled, standing in the water right at his large shoulders. I pretended not to notice as the small waves clapped against his chest. Dear Lord.

"Sum, are you alright?" I asked, genuinely curious. I also needed to refocus on the task at hand, which was to help Summer get the guy.

She nodded. "Besides feeling stupid, I'm fine. Thank you, um..." she tilted her head and batted her lashes, a trick I was familiar with.

"Jeremy." He answered her, seemingly unaffected by her charms.

"Jeremy," she said languidly, letting it move around her tongue like honey. He glanced over at me again, and I simply froze. He seemed to have an affect on both of us.

"I'm Summer." She smiled, extending her hand toward his. They shook, and I watched her eyes flicker. Summer had found the boy she wanted to spend her summer with.