Summer

Chapter 02 - Awakening the Boat Keeper

Chapter Two

It's morning. My phone is buzzing. Hannah's id flashes on the screen. I sit up and reluctantly answer my phone.

"Hey Hannah what's up?" I ask croakily.

"Sky! It's the first day of summer holidays and the Gang wants to go swimming" I laugh when she refers to our friendship group as 'The Gang'.

"Yeah I'm in" I answer.

"Good. Do you know any good swimming spots?" She asks, my heart beats a little faster. I'm not ready to reveal my special thinking place to her just yet. Although she is my best friend, some things just need to be kept to yourself. Then my mind sparks as an idea begins to form.

"Uh, I know this boat dock we can go to, I read about it in a history book for an assignment" relief flows through me, I don't understand why but I am really secretive about this beach. I figure it's because everything in this town has been known about for years, except for this beach where nobody goes.

"Oh yeah I remember that one, I got a C on that assignment" I laugh at her bizarre memory.

"I'll meet you at your place in an hour" I say before hanging up.

I grab my backpack out of my closet and pack my things. I shower, clean my teeth and brush my hair. Neatly braiding long, wavy, dirty blonde strands over my shoulder. I put my black bikini on, carefully tying it behind my neck. I wear a blue sundress over the top and slide my feet into white sandals.

I run downstairs with my backpack slung over one shoulder and an earphone in one ear. I head out the front door and grab my light blue penny board. I skate along the road listening to one of my favourite bands: Alt J. I enjoy the ride and the rhythmic buzzing of the wheels on the hard bitumen.

I quickly reach Hannah's beautiful house. A sandstone beach house with two large palm trees looming in the front yard. It wasn't much yet more than most houses around here. More than my home. I lean my penny board next to her bike, shiny and new.

I run up the stairs taking two at a time. Hannah's cat Lizzie is sleeping in a cute love seat on the porch. Her tail flicks back and forth occasionally. I am slightly startled when Hannah bursts out of her front door and embraces me. I hug her back.

"Hey" I start as she pulls away.

"I missed you so much!" She exclaims.

"Hannah, calm down I saw you at school yesterday" I say in between giggles at her bubbly nature.

"I know but you didn't stay the night and I couldn't find you!" She says slightly sad. Realisation hits me, all our friends stayed at Hannah's house last night. Except me, her best friend. Instead of being with my best friend I was watching salty water and getting sand in my shoes.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Life just got so hectic, I just needed a chance to think. I'm really sorry!" I apologise. She hugs me again.
"It's ok. I understand" I hug her tighter. We break apart when the door swings open and 'The Gang' files out shouting greetings over their shoulders.

Jasmine hugs me, her fiery red hair covering her shoulders. She's wearing a green sundress matching the green in her intelligent eyes. She jumps down the stairs and grabs her bike.

Ruth waves at me before jumping onto her long board and skating down the road, her mousy brown hair whipping out behind her in the wind. She never has much to say.

Spencer nods his head in my direction and wheels his bike out onto the road. Brown hair and brown eyes. His intelligence somewhere between scientific and stating the obvious. He wears a dark shirt and board shorts. He's new to 'The Gang' and I haven't quite figured him out yet. Hannah met him on the bus she takes to and from school. She insisted that he should join; although I don't trust him I believe he's a good guy, slightly boring yet a gentleman nonetheless. 

Daniel jumps down the flight of stairs yelling a greeting over his shoulder. I laugh as he almost falls on his face. He skates out down the cement driveway on his old long board he's had for years. His dark hair almost reaching his jawline and his cute nerdy glasses make him different. He's popular and a bad boy but sometimes you can see right through it and see a picture of someone who is shattered on the inside.

Hannah walks down the stairs. Her short dark brown hair complementing her features. Her long legs giving her an air of authority. She gets on her brand new silver bike she got after Daniel broke both his arm and Hannah's old bike in half when he raced down a hill. She paid for this one with two years' worth of Christmas and birthday money. In the long run it was worth it.

I run after her and jump onto my penny board. We all skate and ride our bikes as we have our entire lives. It's the only way to get around in this town. By midday the sun is hot and we are restless to get in the water. When the dock comes into view Daniel and I have a race.

He's winning but stacks it and lands in the grass. He did it on purpose, to let me win. We've been having the same race ever since we were little. He always bails at the last second and as a result has ended up with multiple casts. I don't know why but he always lets me win. We treat each other differently. When we hang out together we strip ourselves of the fake charades we put on at school.

I do the same with Hannah and Jasmine but it's different with Daniel, he's like a brother to me and he's always stood by me and I've always stood by him, in the good times and bad. We are the two in The Gang who are stupid enough to try anything.

He gets up and looks down at his grass stained shirt, shrugs his shoulders and pulls it off and throws it at me. I dodge it and grab his old board. He's had it since he was a kid; his father bought it for him before he left. Daniel can't bring himself to buy a new one.

I pass it to him and he thanks me with his eyes, on the outside he's 'too tough to show affection' but on the inside he has a lot of emotion.

Behind me I hear a loud splash. I pull my dress off to reveal my skinny, pale stomach. I leave my things with Daniel's in a messy pile. He tickles me sending me into a fit of laughter. I grab his strong arm and pull him after me. I run across the dock and jump in, pulling Daniel in with me. I giggle when he resurfaces.

"What?" he asks confused.

"you look so different without your glasses" I answer honestly, he reminds me of a lost puppy with big affectionate chocolate brown eyes. Well, a puppy with glasses. He rolls his eyes and dives into the murky water.

After a while I start to get tired of swimming and I join Hannah and spencer on the dock. They sit back to back each reading novels. I sit on the end of the dock with my feet dangling in the cool water, shading myself with a towel. Daniel  suddenly jumps up onto the dock and grins at me. 

"No! No, Daniel I know what you are about to do" I say giggling as i stand up and discard my towel. He runs towards me and grips my waist, he hauls me over his shoulder. I'm shouting at him to stop but he only laughs. When he gets close to the water he spins me so that I'm hanging upside down only suspended by his arms. I scream but something else makes him stop. Behind him a short weathered man running towards us with a boat paddle.

"Get out the lot of you!" he points a finger in Daniel and sadly also my direction. I blame Daniel for awakening the boat keeper. Daniel puts me right side up and runs down the dock. He knows I'm blaming him. I run down the dock alongside Hannah and we make our way home.

Sorry for the long chapter, I needed to introduce the characters though. Vote. Comment. Follow. LostInThisUniverse