With All Of My Heart

motorboating

/attached pic of JoJo/

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The sun beat down on us as we stepped out of Xena, my jeep. JoJo and Rhys jumped out and started running towards the beach. They were already shirtless and in their swimming attire. I was wearing mine under a T-shirt and shorts.

I sprinted towards Carl's Shack, our usual hangout out here. The owner of the shack was Carl, my cousin ; a part-time worker and a full-time flirt. Technically my uncle owns it, but you get the drift.

As I neared the two monkeys, who were applying excessive sun lotion to their chests, I wrinkled my nose and got out of my casuals. I shoved my clothes at Carl, who was, I noticed unpleasantly, gaping at me. Snapping my fingers at his face I said,
"Hey Carl, those are my favorite Levi's. You better not lose them."

Carl, seemingly coming out of a fantasy, shook his head and said,
"Huh? Sure, anything for you Lady Gaga."

I paused. "I see you've been hanging out with Brandon. Well next time you call me that, I will punch your intestines out." I said in a threatening tone.

He leaned forward, tucking his chin under one hand and said dreamily,
"Physical contact. One step forward in our relationship."

I turned away in disgust.
"Hey Jojo you coming to the shore?"

Rhys was hydrophobic. In the early years of our friendship I'd tried to push him in the water, so that he'd overcome his phobia. I succeeded once, only for Rhys to almost drown in a pool 5 feet high. Legit, I ain't even kidding. Ever since I'd stopped bothering him. The sole reason for his excitement at beach trips was girls. (Shocker! Not).

"No, I think I'll watch Rhys getting socked today. Way entertaining." Jojo grinned, then gasped.

"What?" I asked alarmed.

"Omigosh Princess, where are your clothes!!" Jojo exclaimed looking genuinely shocked.

I rolled my eyes. Elder brother instincts activated. I didn't bother to reply and sprinted to the shore. Vanessa was already there with Blake. As I approached, Van excitedly called out,

"Where are the others? We're having a motorboat race. I need to show him who's the boss." Van smirked gesturing towards Blake, who was looking at her with a strong emotion in his eyes. An emotion that pinched at my heart with nostalgia and sadness.

No. I shook my head. I'm not going to ruin this trip because of a person who I just began getting over. I'm not going to ruin this trip because of him.
Willing a smile on my face, I said,

"Uh, Rhys is flirting up girls as usual and Jojo also decided to join him, so I guess its just us."

"Oh, okay then, let's get going. The boats are already here." Vanessa said.

Motor boating. My favorite water sport. In his college years, my Dad used to work here as a lifeguard. I guess that's where I inherited the enthusiasm from. He taught me to swim at the age of five. When I turned fifteen, he taught me to ride the motorboat. Although its not exactly legal for minors to ride on the front seat, the owner of the rental shop hardly cared. As long as you paid him, you could be 8 or 18 and he wouldn't mind. With 2 years of practice Dad eventually allowed me to ride on my own.

"I'll take this one." I said pointing to a red motorboat. The guy in charge turned to hand me my life jacket with a bored face, but I refused it. It was way too hot for thick layers of synthetic fabric to smother my skin. He shrugged and proceeded to push my boat deeper into the water.

As soon as we were ready, Blake yelled, "Alright, ladies. Get ready to lose at the count of 1, 2 and 3!!!"

The revving of engines filled the afternoon air, sending a wave of good ol' adrenaline through my body. There was no winning line, we simply had to turn around a tourist boat that was about half a mile away and return back to the starting point. The first to get here, naturally would be the winner.

I had a lead when suddenly a child appeared in front of me. Thankfully, I was on a controllable speed and the kid passed by unharmed and unaware of what happened. But as fate would have it, I was left behind as Van and Blake had gotten far ahead of me. I accelerated, my competitive streak showing up. The two had already reached around the tourist boat when I got there. As I veered around it with a safe distance of 30-40 feet from the tourists, a black, shiny motorboat showed up in front of mine out nowhere. I panicked. This time the shock of adrenaline that ran through me was out of pure fear. Numbed, I lost my balance and fell into the blue ocean.

Years of swimming had developed one instinct in my body, and that was if your drowning, hold your breath, open your eyes, relax, and swim in the direction of light. But before I could react, a pair of strong hands caught ahold of my bare waist and effortlessly pulled me up to the surface.

I gasped for air, my hands going up to my face. I didn't realise it then, but when I opened my eyes, I was actually looking into the dark grey orbs of a man who was going to dominate, fix, yet mess a vital part of my life within the period of a few months. A man who was presently holding me by the waist and grinning at me like a five year old in a candy shop.

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And the pick up lines have got nothing to do with my hopeless creativity. They're all from
Master Google.

IMPORTANT:
You CANNOT ride front seat on a motorboat without a licence. WAOMH is a work of fiction, so my characters very well can. Please do not go to some beach and try this. Thank you.

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