There was a smug look on Carter's face from where they stood in the pool. That, combined with the evil glint in her eye, made Vee's heart skip a beat. Carter was going to get her.
Cole leapt from the sidelines and tackled Carter back under the surface. When the two reemerged, Cole was tightly wrapping his arms tightly under Carter's ribs. She laughed, and kicked the water while trying to pry herself free. "Vee! Run!" Cole called as he held back her friend.
Vee dove underwater and kicked off the wall. She had another plan-- and instead she darted towards Cole. She used her weight to pull Cole's legs out from under him, and when she did both he and Carter fell into the water.
Vee kicked off the bottom of the pool and broke the surface, throwing her head back and whipping her hair from her face. Cole came up a moment after, and before he could recognize his surroundings Vee grabbed his arm and wrestled him. "You punk!" He laughed, "I saved you!"
Suddenly, Carter grabbed Coles other arm, saving Vee from being pulled off. "Not fair!" Cole wheezed, flailing his body to try to break free from the joint attack.
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Laughing and hollering, the trio ran down the dirt road and back to Vee's house. It was almost eight, and the air was almost cold. But despite Carter's soaked clothes icing her skin, with her pounding heart, she felt warm. The massive moon above filled the forest with gentle light.
Carter's cheeks hurt. The awkward spell that had fallen between her and Cole was over. She felt relieved, and her smile widened.
As the kids got closer to the house, they slowed their pace down to a trot. They ran most of the way home, and they leaned on the porch for a moment as they caught their breath.
"Come inside," Vee said, taking Carter's hand and pulling her into the house.
"I'm soaked," Carter said, "And I should go home, it's late."
Though she wanted to stay, and she'd never felt so tempted to take the invitation, she knew better. Mark was bound to snap eventually- Carter can't push her luck. Though the longer the peace went on, the more comfortable Carter was beginning to feel. At the end of the day, it was hard to ignore that Mark has made massive strides in self-improvement over the last few weeks.
But it was past curfew, and she needed to go.
"You can't go home soaked," Cole told her, "that's hypothermia 101."
"Come on, we'll throw your clothes in the dryer and you can go home when they're done." Vee pressed.
"Okay," Carter responded after some consideration. She decided that she can come home dripping wet in fifteen minutes, or dry in thirty. Vee's eyes lit and she released Carter's hand. Carter pulled off her sloshing shoes and left them on the porch.
The kids went inside, and acarter changed in the laundry room. She threw her wet clothes in the dryer and turned on the machine.
She stepped out of the laundry room in a light grey sweater and a pair of black and white basketball shorts. Cole had just heated three mugs of milk, and was adding hot cocoa powder.
Vee was wrapped snugly in a large red blanket on the couch, searching for something on TV. Carter set on the second couch, bundling herself in a fat blue blanket. Cole handed his friend and his sister their mugs of cocoa before taking his place on the chair with his own thin green blanket.
