Smooth Sailing

June 12, 2018

June 12, 2018

A week passed by, and slowly but surely, Véro Arkoun learned how to sail. By the weekend, she could steer the boat on her own, and by the beginning of the next week, I was considering making her the skipper. The boat only tipped over once that week, and when it did, Véro panicked, but she knew exactly what to do. We practiced every single day, but the two of us never tired of sailing.

Despite our successes on the water, Véro and I still couldn't compete together in the regular season. She wasn't in the Clearwater Lake Yacht Club, and she had no intention of joining. "Why would I join a yacht club?" Véro asked when I brought up the subject to her. "I am leaving in two years."

I tried to conceal my disappointment when I heard that. A part of me still wanted Véro to become a real part of Clearwater Lake, and that meant joining the yacht club. Besides, I had to race alone in the regular season if Véro was going to keep being stubborn about joining the yacht club. The real reason for my disappointment, however, had nothing to do with the yacht club at all. I hated the idea of Véro leaving me, as selfish as it was.

Even without Véro, I still won the race that weekend. It helped that I was one of the oldest sailors there, but I was still proud of myself when I glided across the finish line. I only wished that I could have shared that feeling with Véro. She would have enjoyed racing, but she insisted that she didn't want to join the yacht club.

On Tuesday, Véro and I went sailing again. I found her laying on her hammock that afternoon, but when I approached, she bolted up and grinned. "Sylvie, are we going sailing again?" Véro asked.

"Of course," I said. "Let's go." Véro and I both ran onto the pier and hopped into my sailboat. We then set sail, and the two of us worked together to steer the boat away from the pier and towards the center of the lake.

The boat effortlessly moved around Clearwater Lake, creating waves as it sliced through the water. I looked towards Véro as her purple hair dangled into her face and her deep brown eyes stared into the water. "What are you thinking about right now?" I asked her as I steered the boat away from shore.

"Nothing," Véro said. She paused for a moment, looking at her reflection in the water, and then asked, "Sylvie, do you want to come over to my house after this?"

"I'd love to," I said.

"Great," Véro said. She was still looking at the water, but I could see her smile slightly. Seeing that smile made my heart melt, and I resisted the urge to move over to the other side of the boat and kiss her. I still wasn't sure if Véro liked me in that way - I wasn't even sure if she liked me even as a friend - but it was moments like that one that made me wonder.

Véro and I sailed around the lake for a little bit longer, but as the sun began to set, both of us decided that we were ready to call it a day. "I'm starving," I complained.

Véro glared at me and then said, "I have been fasting all day," reminding me of how easy I had it. I may have been hungry, but at least I had eaten breakfast and lunch.

"Sorry," I said. "Maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration."

"I forgive you, Sylvie," Véro said.

I sailed the boat towards the pier and then tied the boat to the pier while Véro took the sail down. The two of us worked together to put everything away, and once we were done, I followed Véro towards what had once been the Ogdens' house.

Véro opened the door, and a man and a woman that I assumed to be Véro's parents greeted her in French. After some conversation that I didn't understand a word of, Véro said, "Maman, Papa, this is Sylvie. She is our neighbor. Sylvie, these are my parents."