The Summer I Learned to Breathe

sixteen

☼ sixteen ☼

The next day, Gabe and I realize we have the house to ourselves for the night. Our dad left for work in the morning as he typically would, but we haven't heard from him since. We're just assuming he's spending the night with Marie because it's already past nine, and he would for sure be home by now. Therefore, Gabe and I decided to have a sleepover with Sam and Mads.

Madison and Sam randomly show up at my house sometime mid-evening. I was excited to see them as I spent most of the morning sleeping, and I did nothing but relax outside reading John Green's The Fault in Our Stars all afternoon. The house grew loud with jokes and chatter once they arrived, and we immediately decided to play hide and seek in the dark basement.

Madison is the first one to search for the rest of us. She counts backwards from twenty, rather quickly I might add, while Sam, Gabe, and I search the entirety of the basement for an acceptable hiding place. My eyes dart around, looking behind the couch, under the desk, in the bathroom, in the closet, and in the garage.

"Seven!" Madison yells, her voice echoing off the walls. She's sitting at the top of the staircase so she can't see where we are trying to blend in and hide from her sight.

"Shit!" Gabe exclaims as he frantically glances around for a new hiding place. He nearly runs right into me as he heads toward the door leading to the garage.

"Watch it!" I mumble before heading in the opposite direction. He's awfully loud, and I don't want to hide near him during a game like this. I didn't notice where Sam disappeared to, and finding him won't be easy because he's very quiet.

"Six!"

I scramble past Gabe and into the bathroom, and I run right into Sam as he's attempting to climb into the cabinets below the sink. "What are you doing?" I whisper as he suddenly stops and looks at me.

"Five!" Madison says.

"Trying to get in here," he whispers back as he continues to attempt to squeeze into the tiny space. I roll my eyes, and I grab his arm and pull him out of the cabinet and to his feet.

"Four!"

"You're not going to fit in there!" I tell him as I close the cabinet door.

"Three!"

"Damn it," he mumbles. He turns around, and he notices the shower.

"Two!"

He reaches for my hand and drags me behind him into the empty shower. I nearly trip over the edge of the tub because it's so dark, but I catch myself before I fall. I can make out Sam's figure standing against the back of the shower. He tugs lightly on my hand, and I step closer to him so I'm hidden behind the shower curtain. "One! Here I come!" Madison says.

Sam takes a step back to press his back against the wall of the shower, and he wraps his arms around me to pull me against him as he leans back. I inhale sharply at our sudden closeness, but I try to keep my breathing quiet so Madison doesn't find us before Gabe. My heart starts racing, and I struggle to control it. The last time we were this close to each other, we were enjoying our first kiss.

I lean my head against Sam, and he moves back a little bit more. He accidentally bumps the handle into the on position, and water suddenly rushes from the shower head. It rains down on us and gives away our hiding spot. "Fuck," he mumbles, releasing his grip on me and rushing to turn the water off.

The room is suddenly illuminated, and Madison pulls the curtain back to reveal Sam and I. "Found you two!" she says, her eyes taking notice of how wet both of us are. She sends me a wink before exiting the bathroom to find Gabe.