Broken Bottles

Broken Bottles: chapter 9

"We? I think you mean you're going swimming." I replied. There was no way I was going swimming.

"Oh, come on, Paxton. I said you were going to experience a real high school party tonight and that includes actually living like a teenager." Danny said.

"I don't swim." I tried.

Danny's face softened slightly, "You don't know how to swim?"

"I mean, I know how to swim, but—."

"Great, then you're going swimming." He threw one of the swim trunks at me. It was a light blue color and the one he was still holding was maroon.

"Danny, I really don't want to." I said. Something about being in a murky lake in the dark with a bunch of people I didn't know wasn't appealing to me.

"Please, Paxton. I promise you'll have fun." He pleaded.

I looked at the swim trunks in my hand and then back at Danny, "Fine."

"Okay, good. Now go put those on." He instructed. I glanced around the parking lot and didn't see any restrooms.

"Where?" I asked.

"Find a tree." Danny shrugged at me.

"You're kidding." I could practically feel my eyes pop out of their sockets.

"Nope. You gotta become one with nature, Paxton." He chuckled and pushed me in the direction of a tree.

I groaned and hid myself behind a big tree. I quickly changed out of my pants and into the swim trunks. Danny and I had similar builds, he was just the tiniest bit taller than me, so his swimsuit fit me pretty well.

"Ready?" Danny asked when I emerged from behind the tree.

"No." I muttered, but followed Danny back towards the lake anyway.

"Took you two long enough to join us." Kathrine said as we approached the water.

"Good, we'll finally have enough for chicken. I call Anthony as my base." Ava said as she splashed Anthony with water.

"Oh, you did it now." Anthony threatened. Ava shrieked right before Anthony lunged at her and pulled her under the water.

Danny started to walk into the water, but stopped when he noticed I wasn't following.

"Come on, Paxton. The water's warm." He told me.

When I didn't move he reached his arm out. I looked at his hand and then into his eyes. They were sincere and patient. They told me he was going to stand there and wait until I went in with him. I took a deep breath and connected our hands. He tugged me forward lightly and my body followed willingly. I was soon standing right next to him and we walked deeper into the water together. The water was a comfortable temperature and I could feel the rocks beneath my toes. Danny didn't let go of my hand until we needed our arms to stay above water.

"Welcome to being a teenager, Paxton." Danny whispered in my ear.

"Danny come be my base for chicken!" Kathrine yelled. We swam over to Anthony, Kathrine, and Ava. Kathrine climbed on Danny's shoulders and Ava did the same to Anthony. I watched in amusement as they pushed and screamed, trying to knock each other off. Anthony and Ava won after Danny lost his footing.

"A and A for the win!" Ava cheered and gave Anthony a high-five.

"Let's go jump of the ledge." Kathrine suggested after resurfacing. On the side of the lake was a big rock ledge. I watched earlier as people jumped off doing cool flips and tricks. We swam over to below the edge and looked up at it. Once we were right under it, the height intimidated me. I decided I wasn't going to jump off.