The Boy With The Motorcycle

0.7

Monday, September 7, 2015

Labor Day

The last night of vacation

I hadn't anticipated how quickly the summer would pass. I still can barely fathom going back to school. Will Patrick and I be friends at school? Though it is technically a school night, I will not be getting much rest. There is too much on my mind. Just one last midnight swim? I ponder the idea. I want to go for a swim one last time, before the only water I can be in is in a bathtub. Confined to a shower instead of a lake. The idea scares me. It's not like I'm tired anyway.

I change into my bathing suit, and sneak quietly into the basement of the old cottage. In the basement, a rusting screen door to the backyard sits. My parents are on the second floor of the house sleeping, they surely won't hear me from two floors away.

I split through the water, cold enveloping my body. I kick my legs hard, holding in my breath as I make my way to what I think is the half point to the raft. Before I surface, what feels like a hand grips my shoulder. I scream, but it comes out as a colony bubbles. I kick to the surface, preparing to attack. I begin splashing water in front of me blindly.

"Tess!" Patrick yells over the splashing, "Cool it!" I stop splashing, and my frantic kicking, and begin calmly treading water.

"Do you think you could have gotten my attention any other way?" I take a deep breath and let it out, letting my heartbeat slow.

"Nope." he pops the 'p' on nope. "The was the absolute, only, possible way." I splash him, this time knowing it is Patrick . "Hey, calm down," He splutters through the water.

"What are you doing out here?" I ask him, in an irascible tone. This is my time to swim, at midnight, alone. I wanted a chance at solitude for twenty minutes.

"What are you doing out here?" He mimics me. I roll my eyes, exaggerating annoyance. Without responding, I dive under the water and head towards the raft, kicking water into his face as I leave.

When I surface, Patrick is already standing atop the raft, triumphant for beating me in what I did not know was a race. I climb up onto the raft in defeat, upset for losing a chance at victory.

We sit on the raft, side by side, kicking our feet slowly back and forth in the water. The lake is silent, and neither of us dare to break it. But finally, a burning question that I have to ask now or never is thrown from my tongue, "Patrick ?" I pause a moment, taking a deep breath, "Why did we stop hanging out when ninth grade started?" His gaze does not meet mine immediately. For a while the two of us just stare at the ripples in the water. They seem to be on a never ending loop.

"Good question." I can hear him gulp from next to me in the pitch black, and I nudge him.

"Patrick ." I whine, "Seriously."

"I wanted things to be different than middle school. I wanted to be known and liked. So to go from nerdy to sportsy, which means ditching the nerd, or I guess I mean you." The silence returns.

"Wow," I say, kicking my feet slowly in the water, and watching the small wave it creates crash.

"That sounded really mean. What I meant is, I wanted a fresh start." The two things Patrick just said both sound very different. But I decide not to comment on it. We're friends now, that's what matters.

"Patrick ?" I whisper in the night, still not glancing up at him.

"Hmm?" He responds.

"We'll be friends at school now, right?" He hesitates to respond for a very long time.

Then he turns to me, and for once I look into his eyes. But this time he doesn't turn away from me. He is closer than I thought he was. His eyes look darker than before, cloudy, full of mystery. It makes me wonder what he is thinking. Then he kisses me. It happens so quickly, and he draws away so fast, that I don't even have time to decide whether or not I want to kiss him back. I smile at him when he pulls away, to let him know that I didn't mind it. Forgetting completely about my unanswered question.

"Come on, let's swim." I dive in after Patrick , but he leaves me wondering his answer. Maybe he didn't hear me...in the silence of the night...on a lake...where the only sound is my voice...which echoes four times when I say something. I have till tomorrow to find out. I'm sure everything will be okay though, everything with Patrick seems to be recently.