Simon Birch

Simon Birch- Joe Wentworth Imagine

Sunday school was almost over, and the whole time you were anxious to get on out of there. It was a beautiful day, and your last day of summer vacation. You had your whole day planned out, and on the top of your list was to go swimming. Almost everyday this summer you hung out at the little pond right in your backfield. As you sat through the remainder of class, you couldn't keep your eyes off the clock, waiting for it to hit 10:00. The little hand was on the 9, and the big hand was on the 11 which meant you still had to wait another 10 minutes. Looking around the room you spotted your good friend, Joe, staring at you. You smiled at him as you both made eye contact. Recently you've noticed that Joe has been acting different around you, but you didn't know why. As the time went by, slower than ever, class was finally dismissed. Everyone, especially you, raced out the church doors, and ran home. You grabbed your swimsuit, and ran to the pond. Finally it was time to go swimming! As you jumped in, you made a comment to yourself about how cold the water was. You swam around, humming your favorite song, and having a blast when out of the corner of your eye you spotted Joe. He was sitting on the other side of the pond, looking your way. You decided to go swim over to him, and say hi.

"Hey Jan, I didn't expect to see you here." Joe said as you approached him.

"Yeah, well this is one of my favorite hangout spots, you know." You replied with a smile.

"Mine too! Soooo, long time no see. What have you been up to this summer?"

"Nothing much, really, just hanging around, and stuff. How about you?" You asked.

"I dunno, nothing I guess." He replied. Then there was a moment of silence, and you thought of a great idea.

"Hey! How about I race ya to the raft!" You said, excitedly.

"Alright! On my count.... three, two, one. GOOOO!" He said as he took off as fast as he could, heading toward the raft.

You started swimming too, trailing behind him by a little bit. You knew he was gonna win, he was a better swimmer than you, and he was already in the lead. Then just as he was getting closer to the raft, you noticed he started slowing down. You didn't know why, but you took it as the perfect opportunity to catch up to him. The faster you swam, the closer you got to him, eventually passing him up, and barely beating him to the raft. You took a seat on it, and he sat right next to you.

"You were about to win, Joe. How'd I beat ya'?" You said.

"Uhm, I dunno." He said shyly.

"Wait a minute..." You said after realizing something, "Did you slow down on purpose just to let me win?"

"Maybe." He said smiling.

"Come on, we both knew you were gonna win. You didn't have to do that." You said.

"It was unfair anyways, I got a head start. Besides, your a pretty good swimmer, you know." He said, flattering you. Then there was a moment of silence, and you didn't know what to say. "Jan, could I ask you somethin'?" He finally said.

"Sure, Joe. What is it?" You said, looking him in the eyes.

"What do you think of me? Honest." He asked quietly.

"Joe, your one of my closest friends, and you know that. Why?" You replied.

"No reason." He said, and then paused.

"Well, what do you think about me then?" You said smiling with a little laugh.

"I think that... you're one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen." He said nervously.

"Awh, stop it Joe." You said as you started to blush.

"Honest... I've been tryin' to tell you all summer." He said, and then stopped himself, looking down at his hands.

"Joe, you're too sweet." You say nudging him playfully.

"Jan?" He said, "Do you wanna go grab a coke later?" Just as you were about to answer he cut you off, "If you don't want to go, don't worry about it. I'll understan-"

You then cut him off, and said, "Joe, I'd love to go with you! It'll be fun." You replied smiling.

He looked up at you, kind of surprised. You both started giggling, until you scooped up a handful of water, and splashed it at him playfully. He then started splashing you back, and you both jumped back into the water, starting a water fight. This was definitely the best way to end your summer vacation.