Play it Again

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“Just jump!” I cheered on Bailey who was hesitant to jump off the boat into the lake.

She looked down at the clear blue water below her and closed her eyes. With a scream, she plugged her nose and jumped in. I clapped my hands above my head waiting for her to surface the water. 

The day was so beautiful. Hot like usual in a southern summer, but the refreshing feel of the lake on our warm skin was wonderful. Our land had a man made lake on it, pretty large at that. We had started up the boat and tailgated in the middle of the lake so we could jump in and swim. I watched as Bailey came up from under the water and let out her breath she was holding. She smiled and ran her hand through her hair to pull it off her face.

“Wow that felt amazing!” She admitted.

“I told you!” We laughed and I heard noise coming from the boat. “Hunter, you going to get in or what?” I saw Hunter come out from the little cabin of the boat with a beer in his hand and a girly sun hat on his head. Bailey and I started cracking up and he put his hand on his hip and posed.

“What? Y’all don’t like my new look?” We splashed him with water and he gave in. Putting his beer on the table and throwing the hat behind him, he ran and jumped off the boat making a huge splash as he did a cannon ball.

Bailey and I both got splashed and went under water, watching Hunter surface. I started swimming away from them, briefly pausing to tell them I was going to go on a quick swim. They waved to me making me smile as I dove into the water and started to swim away. I loved the lake so much, it was good for swimming, fishing, and catching frogs at night.

I swam and swam and when I stopped and looked around me, the boat was just a spec in the distance. I love swimming, it lets me think in a quiet place under the water and I also get to see the fish swimming underneath me. I block out the rest of the world when I swim, I focus on my steady heartbeat and my thoughts that swarm around. Feeling tranquil, I headed back towards the boat after taking a minute or two to breathe.

When I stopped, I was a few feet from the boat when I heard Bailey and Hunter talking from the deck. “They would make a cute couple. What was his name? Brian?” Bailey asked Hunter as she watched him take a pull of his beer.

“Something like that.” Hunter answered when he set his beer on the counter.

“His name is Brett.” I spoke up from inside the water down below. They looked my way and became silent.

“Kennedy! We weren’t just talking about you or anything.” Bailey put her hands up and shrugged innocently.

I rolled my eyes and held on to the ladder on the side of the boat. Pulling myself up I saw the inquiring smiles of Hunter and Bailey but decided to make them wait a little. I grabbed a towel and wrapped up my slender body, towel drying quickly so I can lie on the side of the boat and tan. They watched, still silent, as I laid the towel on the boat and got comfortable on top of it then sprayed my skin with sunscreen. Once I slid on my sunglasses I looked at them.

“So?” I asked. They looked confused, sneaking glances at each other to see if the other knew what I was referring to. “What were you guys talking about Brett for?”

“Oh. Well we were just saying you guys looked really cute together when you were dancing with him at the party.” Bailey explained. She was avoiding something she was dying to ask me.

“Thanks.” I chuckled. “He’s a really sweet guy and has amazing manners that makes me believe he treats women right. He always smells really good, and he has a frikin’ nice body.” I felt myself talking out loud and letting my emotions and feelings speak for themselves. I quickly stopped talking when I heard Bailey giggling.