Summer Nights | Lams

June 7th

"Lunch doesn't start for another 15 minutes," George said to the teenagers who were standing outside of the cafeteria. "It's 90 degrees, you don't have to be out here."

"We want our schedules," Alex told him. George furrowed his brows.

"You aren't going to get them any sooner by waiting out here, son."

Alex raised an eyebrow and said nothing. After a minute of standing outside with all of the kids, George sighed.

"Fine, just go in," he said, caving. Alex grinned and walked into the cafeteria, followed by his friends.

"Works every year," Alex whispered to John as they got in the line for food. John laughed as he held out his plate for a slice of pizza. Martha was waiting at the end of the food line with everyone's schedules for the next couple of months.

"Are you kidding me?" John whined as he sat down at the table and looked over his schedule. Alex glanced at him.

"What's wrong?"

John shrugged. "I just.. don't want to do swimming on Tuesdays."

"Why not? It's not like, super intense or anything. It's basically just swimming around in the lake every other week," Alex told him.

"I'm just really bad at swimming."

"Well they aren't gonna make you do like, strokes or anything, it's seriously just splashing around for a couple hours." Alex looked at John's schedule. "Plus, I have swimming with you, so I'll make it extra not-miserable."

"Yeah, I guess so," John said.

"Speaking of swimming," Alex started, talking to the others at the table now, too. "Do you guys wanna go swimming today? I feel like it's too hot for anything else."

Eliza nodded. "Yeah, I think swimming sounds good."

The group all agreed and Alex looked at John. "You gonna come?"

John sighed. "Yeah, sure."

And technically he did.

"This isn't really what I meant when I asked you to come," Alex complained, looking up at John from the water.

John shrugged, sitting on the dock. "Well, it's what you got," he said. "Better here than under the tree, right?"

"You're seriously not gonna come into the water at all?" Alex asked.

"I have my feet in the water!"

"That doesn't count!"

John rolled his eyes. "It's enough to keep me cool, so I think it does count. Now go swim with the others." John gestured to their friends who were further into the lake.

Alex looked over at them, then back at John. "Y'know what? No, I'm not gonna go swim with them." Alex pulled himself onto the dock next to John.

John cocked an eyebrow. "What are you doing? You're getting me all wet!"

"Well, that really sucks, then," Alex said. "If you aren't going to go have fun in the water than neither am I."

"You're ridiculous," John said.

Alex shook his head. "Nah, I just like you too much to leave you all alone."

John felt his stomach flutter and he desperately thought of a subject change. "So, are the guys you hated the last couple of years not here or something? I feel like you haven't talked to them or anything."

"I've more just been actively avoiding them, they're here this year," Alex said, looking around. "Okay, do you see the guys over on that picnic table over there?"