Lily's Summer of Precarious Happenings

Chapter Five

Kennedy and I swam in the ocean for about an hour, enjoying the relatively calm waves and warm water. The combination of constant sun and my lack of swimmer's stamina made us drag our bodies away from the current and onto our blanket under the shade of an umbrella. It had been about thirty minutes, and Kennedy was fast asleep to my side, while I was finally enjoying some peace with my novel.

I was thoroughly invested in the plot, and just as the main character was being swept up into the arms of her pirate lover, a flying projectile landed in my lap and knocked the book out of my grasp.

I looked up to find where this mysterious football had come from, and possibly to fight whoever dared dishonor my copy of Arrrriana and the Black Pearl (I'm a sucker for puns, okay?).

"You were supposed to catch it!" Wesley shouted, jogging towards us with a wide smile stretched across his face. His blonde hair flopped and shimmered in the wind, and in that moment I didn't blame Kennedy for having succumb to the "I'm in love with my best friend" stereotype.

"Ah, yes," I motioned towards my book that was now laying face-first in the hot sand, "I know how prepared I looked to catch a football."

"Sorry," He offered sheepishly, bending down to grab my novel and shake out all the invasive sand. Wesley placed it daintily at my feet, an action that looked almost comical coming from such a large boy. "Although after last night, I would have expected some more finely-tuned reflexes... O'Sullivan."

I scrambled to my feet, frantically looking from the towering boy in front of me to Kennedy who, God bless her, was still in a deep sleep. So, naturally, I grabbed the football from the ground and slammed it into his chest. "Don't you dare call me that."

He coughed and sputtered, grabbing the ball from me and offering a half-impressed and half-confused expression. "Dude, chill." Wesley took a step back as I unconsciously squared my shoulders.

"Nobody here knows, okay?" I let out a deep breath and tried to tame my hair with one hand, "This is supposed to be my summer away from everything. To forget it all. Including my father."

"Hey, your dad was a dick," Wesley visibly relaxed, "That doesn't have anything to do with what he does."

"Yeah, well, I'm not so convinced," I muttered, regarding the churning waters behind him.

"Listen, Lily. I won't tell anyone," He held up a couple fingers, "Scout's honor."

"Thank you."

"But... after what you did for Kennedy last night... which, by the way, was freaking sick," He motioned towards the sleeping girl in the sand and something unreadable flashed across his face, "I wouldn't be so surprised if some people got curious, like I did, and put two and two together."

I bit my lip, looking away from Wesley again. He was right. Defending Kennedy was the right thing to do, and if I had to repeat last night, I would've done it again in a heartbeat.

However, I was stupid to believe that people wouldn't start asking questions and eventually find out the truth. After all, the internet did exist.

"Hey, asshole!"

We both snapped our heads to the right, just in time for me to see a soccer ball hit Wesley square in the forehead. I doubled over in laughter as Wesley groaned and rubbed his head, a string of expletives leaving his mouth.

"Yeah, that's what you get for running ahead of me and making me carry all our stuff," The new boy grunted, dropping a couple bags, towels, and an umbrella.

I looked at Wesley, and shrugged my shoulders, "It's what you deserved."

Wesley crawled over to Kennedy, who was somehow still sleeping through all the commotion, and poked her side. "Kenny," He whined, "I need you to kiss my forehead."