Project Archangel Book One: The Conspiracy Project

Chapter 5

Michael picked me up early on Saturday, but I was digging through my drawer when he arrived, so my parents let him in. I already had two tops and three bottoms lying on my bed, but I couldn't seem to find the other top. Eventually, I found it and turned around to lay it with my other two when I froze. Michael was leaning against the door frame with a smirk on his face.
“That one's cute,” he teased.
“Michael!” I exclaimed, cheeks bright red. “How did you get in here?”
He laughed. “Your parents let me in and told me where you were.”
“Of course they did...” I grumbled.
“Seriously though, I like that one.”
“You haven't even seen the other two!” I scolded.
“So? I still like that one.”
“Well then, it's a good thing it's not up to you.”
He shrugged. “Fair enough. I'll go so you can try each one on and make the same decision.”
I rolled my eyes, but he left anyway. I picked up each bikini and compared them in my dresser mirror. When I finally narrowed it down, I had to accept that Michael had been right. The one he had only seen half of looked the best to me too. It was a black and white plaid bikini with a cute little skirt on the bottom and a small red tie on the top, between the cups. I put it on underneath a tank top and jean shorts and headed downstairs to find Michael talking to my parents in the living room.
“Nah, we're just friends,” he was explaining.
“Why?” my mom demanded. “You don't like her?”
“It's not that. My life is just too complicated for a relationship right now.”
“Why? Are you already married?” my dad asked.
“Um... I'm seventeen... So no.”
“Mom! Dad!” I cried in horror. My face was on fire.
Everyone looked at me.
“Leave him alone! Jeez, he said we aren't dating, so stop interrogating him!”
“Sorry, Honey,” my mother apologized.
“We're just trying to look out for you,” Dad added.
“Well stop. You guys are being ridiculous. He's just here to pick me up so we can spend some time with our friends while the weather is still nice. Then Brenda is taking me back to her house to spend the night.”
“Okay, Kelsey, but you better be home, awake, showered, and dressed in time for church tomorrow morning,” Dad reminded me.
“Yeah, I will. I know the rule. Bye, you guys!” I grabbed Michael by the wrist and pulled him out the door.
---
One by one, everybody showed up at Michael's front door and was escorted to the pool in the back yard. Brenda arrived last, with her boyfriend, who we weren't surprised to see was dressed in all black with tons of tattoos and piercings and black painted fingernails.
“How old is he?” Alyssa whispered to me.
I shrugged. “At least 18.”
“She's only 17!” Sarah exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
“It's only a year,” Sammy joined in the discussion. “Besides, you know how Brenda likes older guys.”
Shawn cut in. “Their age doesn't matter. She likes him because he looks like a kinky sex god.”
We all laughed as Brenda danced over, leaving Liam talking to Bradley and Cameron.
“I know you're talking about me.”
“When aren't we talking about you?” Sammy teased. “You're just so interesting.”
“So what's the story with this one?” Alyssa asked. There was always a story of some kind to go along with anyone Brenda was interested in.
“Well,” Brenda started. “He's nineteen, and he drag races... He has his own place and two dogs.”
“Does he vote too?” Sammy laughed.
“Shut up, Sammy.”
“And you met him at a club?”
She blushed and shrugged sheepishly. “It's better than online.”
I tried to steer the topic away from Brenda and her drag racing boyfriend. “Come on, guys. We're here to swim, right?”
“Is that okay? Michael isn't out here,” Sarah said quietly.
“He will be. He's getting some drinks and stuff.”

When Michael came outside, everyone was swimming and splashing around, but I was just sitting at the edge with my feet in the water. He came over and sat down next to me just as Cameron called “Hey, Michael! You’re gonna swim with us, right?”
Michael smiled faintly. “Yeah, I will.”
“Told you you'd fit in with my friends,” I said with a small smile.
Michael nodded. “They're alright, I guess.”
“Alright?”
“Pretty cool?”
“That's better.”
He smiled and shook his head. “You're not gonna swim? I'm curious which bathing suit you chose.”
I shrugged. “I really don't like water much.”
“Why not?”
“Traumatic childhood experience.”
“I've got plenty of those,” Michael muttered. “What happened to you?"He paused and then quickly added "I mean, if you’re okay with me knowing. If not, it's cool. I understand.”
I gazed into the blue water in front of me. “No, it's fine. It's just that, when I was seven, my friend's dad pushed us out of a boat without a life jacket or anything, that's all. He thought he was teaching me how swim. My friend already knew how.”
“Did you learn?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I just developed a fear of water.”
“So what? He just let you drown?”
“I managed to dog paddle back to shore with my friend's help."
“I'm a good swimmer. I can teach you, if you want.”
“I don't know...”
“I promise I won't let you drown, and I won't make you dog paddle either," he assured me with a grin.
I smiled. “I think I'd be more worried about you.”
“Why?”
“You may be a good swimmer, but you can still drown when you have 140 pounds clinging to your body and dragging you down.”
“You'd be surprised,” he laughed. “I'm a lot stronger than I look.”
“Come on, you guys! Stop gazing into each other's eyes and get in!” Sammy fussed.
“Shut up,” I giggled, splashing her.
She splashed me back. “Its bad enough having to watch Brenda and her boytoy making out in the corner.”
We looked over at them and shook our heads in amusement. Liam was holding her up against the wall with her legs wrapped around his waist, and their tongues were so far down each other's throats that I was amazed they could still breathe.
“And she's known him how long?” I asked.
“Not even a week.”
Michael shrugged. “Some people fall fast. Who knows? Maybe she's found the one.”
“Nah. It's Brenda," Sammy explained. "There isn't just 'one' for Brenda. If she could, she'd have them all.”
“It's true,” Alyssa cut in as she and Cameron swam to where Michael and I were sitting. “She was drooling over you on the first day of school.”
Michael raised an eyebrow. “Me?”
Cameron nodded. “She thinks bad boys are sexy.”
Michael laughed. “I'm no bad boy.”
I nudged him. “You smoke cigarettes and skip school. What do you call that then?”
He shrugged. “I can't help it if I already know all the material they teach here. As far as the smoking, it's a habit. A nasty one, according to you.” He nudged me back.
“Stop flirting, you two!” Alyssa fussed. “We're here to swim.”
“And drink!” Shawn laughed as he backstroked over. “Where's the drinks, my man?”
“In the mini fridge on the patio,” Michael answered.
“Get me one,” Cameron said.
Shawn swam to the side and used his arms to pull himself up, out of the water, and onto the deck. After he got out, he proceeded to shake off his long dirty blonde hair in exaggerated slow motion.
“Go get your beer!” Sammy scolded him. “No one here thinks you're sexy!”
He gave her an irritated look and walked off in the direction of the patio.
“I do...” Sarah muttered, swimming over to us.
“Why don't you just tell him you like him?” Cameron asked. “You've liked him since middle school.”
“Because he has to make a move!” Alyssa argued. “Everyone knows, now he has to show her that he likes her too.”
“That's kind of sexist or something, isn't it?” Cameron wondered.
“Not for Sarah,” Sammy replied. “She's too shy.”
Shawn came back over with two bottles in his hands and sat down on the other side of me. He handed Cameron a bottle and popped open the other one.
“So you guys gonna swim or what?”
Sarah blushed.
“Kelsey doesn't swim,” Sammy smirked. “She's scared of sharks or something.”
I rolled my eyes. “If there were any sharks in this pool, they'd be coming after you.”
“Why me?”
“Because you smell like fish!” Shawn laughed.
“Shut up, Shawn!” Sammy retorted, splashing a big wave of water at him that hit me a little bit as well.
“You know what?” I said smugly. “I'll get in the water just for you, Sammy.”
“You're gonna get in the water?” she asked in disbelief. “Board up the windows, it's the zombie apocalypse!”
“I'll even swim.”
“Do you even know how to swim?” Bradley asked, finally joining the group. “I've never seen you.”
“I'll learn.”
“In one day? How?” Sarah wondered.
I looked at Michael. He got up, took his shirt off, and jumped into the water, right in the middle of the pool. When he came back up, his hair was flattened against his face by the water. He flipped it out of his eyes, making water droplets fly in all directions.
I felt my face flush. It was much more attractive when he did it than when Shawn did.
“Boy is he dreamy,” Shawn muttered sarcastically.
“Show off,” Sammy chuckled. Then she saw my face. “Oh my god! You like him, don't you?”
“What are you talking about?” I demanded. I could feel my face heating up.
“I've seen that look before. I see it every time Brenda meets a new crush. You totally have a crush on Michael!”
“I do not!” I hesitated, staring hard at him for a moment. “He's just kinda pretty, that's all.”
Sure, he was attractive. And nice, now that I knew him a bit better. He was a little weird though, but I was able to overlook that. I was flattered that he used to have a crush on me, of course. Who wouldn't be? And he looked good in nothing but black swim trunks with wet hair and water droplets glistening off of his chest, arms, and face. But I didn't like him. Not like that anyway.
“Climb down the ladder and walk over to me!” he called to me. “The water isn't deep here!”
I hesitantly took off my tank top and shorts, leaving them on a nearby chair, and began my descent into the water. Michael held out his hand to me as I made my way to him, and the second I was within reach, he took my hand just as the bottom of the pool began to slant. He was standing in the beginning of the deep end. I slipped, but he caught me, and my free hand went up instinctively and grabbed his shoulder. He looked down at me with a smile.
“It's okay, I've got you.”
I looked back up at him, and I could feel my face heating up to the point that I was surprised it wasn't steaming. It was weird, being this close to him. “Do I really have to do this?”
He chuckled softly. “You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but don't you want to prove you aren't scared of imaginary sharks?”
I smiled sheepishly. “I'm not.”
“Then learn to swim.”
“Teach me.”
He nodded his approval, his smile never wavering. “First, you should learn to tread water. That'll keep your head above the water.”