hell of a summer

Chapter twelve

Jonah Davids

I watch Travis pull his shirt off in front of me, and I literally almost killed myself. I don't know if i've just never seen him shirtless before, or if i've never seen him in the sunlight before, but he looks good. I mean, what eighteen year old boy has abs? All of a sudden, i'm hyper aware of the fact that I probably haven't walked over a thousand steps since summer break started, and make a mental note to start forcing Tessa to go on walks with me.

Travis turns and looks at me, a confused look appearing across his model worthy face as he notices me staring. I feel my face heat up, or maybe that's just the sun hitting my cheeks. Entire way, I go to speak then close my mouth again. "Uh, are you gonna swim in that?" He asks awkwardly, gesturing to my shirt with his pointer finger. I shake my head and instantly regret it as I go to lift my shirt off.

I know i'm not big, but i've never been known as the skinny guy. I've also never been known as the muscular guy either. I'm not exactly dad bod material yet, so I guess i'm just average. So basically, I feel like an idiot standing in front of Travis and looking just average when he clearly spends majority of his days at the gym.

I feel Travis's eyes burning into me as I take off my shirt, and I try to avoid his gaze. But, when I look back up to meet his face, he's staring at me with a look he's never given me before. He looks like when someone zones out while thinking really intensely about something, except there doesn't look like there's a single thought behind his eyes. I gulp, and try to joke off any of my weird behavior.

"It's okay, you can stare, I would too." I say with a confidence that I don't actually have. His face seems to flush at this statement, and he runs a hand through his curls then shoves me away. During this strange interaction, Antonio and Sophie caught up with us, and I smile at the little girl who's now completely smothered head to toe in sunscreen.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure a thin layer would've done just fine." Travis grins and Antonio gasps, covering Sophie's ears as if Travis just said the worst swear word in the world. "No sunscreen equals wrinkles and cancer! Do not enforce your nasty opinions on my child." He whispers as if she'll hear him, making travis roll his eyes.

Sophie looks out at the people in the deep green lake, splashing and screaming with laughter. She gets a look of terror and looks over to me, and her tiny voice actually starts to speak in my direction.

"What if there's monsters?" She exclaims nervously, hugging her arms to her body. I feel so honored that she expressed this fear to me, a stranger, that it actually touched my heart. (Is it obvious that people don't need me very often?) I get on my knees to try match her level then point to the people in the water, "Don't worry, there's no monster. Look at everyone having fun!" I say in an overly excited tone of voice to comfort her, but she still whispers back in slight fear. "But what if there is?"

I grin, looking up at Travis from where he stands and whispering, "Then we'll sacrifice Travis." Sophie instantly bursts out giggling, and Travis slaps the back of my head. "Oh you're such an ass-" He starts, and Antonio shoots him a glare. "A meanie, I meant..." He attempts to correct himself, and we all burst out laughing. They start walking towards the lake, and I walk up behind them. Antonio starts putting a life jacket on Sophie, and Travis stands at the edge of the lake that has an 'eleven feet deep' sign and touches his foot to the water. He hisses slightly, taking it out and saying "Damn, that's cold."

A grin creeps across my face as Antonio gives me a 'don't do it' look, almost like he can read my mind and knows exactly what i'm about to do. I do it anyways, of course. I push myself into Travis, and hear Antonio, Sophie, and a few strangers already in the water make a loud gasp. We both hit the water with a hard splash and as soon as the cold water hits my ears, I realize that I clearly underestimated how cold Travis actually meant. How are all those people swimming so casually in this water, and why is it the water so cold when it's ninety degrees outside? I feel Travis push my head farther in the water, and I finally swim up enough to get my head out.