Hold Your Breath

Chapter 11

I hate surprises. Especially one's that involve me not knowing where I am going. I'm pretty sure John could sense my annoyance, but I couldn't get him to crack, no matter how much I begged.

"Can you at least tell me how far away it is?" I asked.

"We're almost there," He said, looking over at me.

"Keep your eyes on the road," I snapped.

We drove for thirty minutes, and the sun was starting to get low in the sky. Finally, there was a small break in the trees, and I spotted a large body of water. It only lasted for a second, but it was long enough for me to recognize that it wasn't the lake our cottages were on.

"Was that Lake Michigan?" I cried.

He just smiled, not taking his eyes off the road. Lake Michigan was like an hour away from our cottages. How had I not realized he was headed in the opposite direction?

Another five minutes passed by, and the line of trees ended, giving us a full view of the lake. It was huge; so big that you couldn't see the other side. The beach was beautiful, stretching on for miles, and their was a long Pier extending into the water. There was nobody else in sight when John parked his car, and I quickly jumped out, digging my toes into the warm sand.

He walked around the front of the car, and held out his hand.

"Shall we walk?" he asked.

I smiled, taking his hand,"Well, aren't you quite the romantic?"

He laughed as he led me across the beach and down the peir. I glanced over at him, noticing how the sun turned his dirty blond hair golden.

Even though it was already 7 at night, it was incredibly hot out still. We sat down halfway down the peir, dangling our legs off the side.

"If only you would've told me where we were going," I teased,"We could have brought bathing suits."

"I'm regretting it a little bit," He laughed.

"You know what?" I said after a second,"It is way to hot just sitting here."

I stood up, and I could see the confusion on his face. Have fun, I thought to myself, I need to just let loose. I took off my tank top, thanking god that I had put on my polk-a-dot bra, and ran and jumped off the side of the Pier.

As soon as I was in the air, I freaked out. It was a much bigger drop than I had thought. What if the water wasn't deep enough? What if I got hurt? I broke through the icy water, and braced myself for the collision that never happened. The water felt so good compared to the hot and humid air.

When I resurfaced I saw that John had stood up, and was looking down at me with a look of awe.

"Well," I yelled,"Are you coming?

He laughed, then stripped his shirt of and dove in after me.

"Holy crap," He cried when he came up,"it's cold!"

"No," I corrected him,"It's refreshing."

He climbed the ladder back up onto the Pier, and shook the water out of his hair. Following him, I started to climb the rungs of the ladder. They were wet and slippery, and I had almost made it to the top when my hand slipped and I started falling backwards. I immediately felt Johns hand grab my arm and haul me up onto the Pier.

"Thanks," I said, somewhat breathless. We were standing face to face, and there was only inches between us.

"No problem," He said. Before I knew what to do, he was leaning in closer. I could smell his minty breath, and see the water beading on his hairline. It was our second chance at a first kiss...

and I chickened out.

I turned my head at the last second, and he kissed my cheek instead. In one moment, I ruined the whole night. I didn't know what to do, so I took a step back, and went over to grab my shirt.

"It's getting late," I said,"Maybe we should head home."

"Yeah," He said,"That's probably best."

We put our shirts back on, and headed to the car in silence. I didn't know what to say, and he obviously didn't want to say anything. And we had an hour car ride in front of us. This should be fun.