━━━ 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘

𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

Joaquin was the first one to try the tire swing, mainly just to prove to me that we won’t die. I mean, I guess we won’t die but all of us are definitely going to face the consequences of having to walk back home soaking wet at night.

He swung himself steadily and eventually let go, causing a loud splash from the river. After a moment or two, his head popped up with an expression of utter thrill and fun as he swam back to land.

“Did I die?” he asked me mockingly.

I rolled my eyes and muttered. “No.”

“So you won’t either.”

Then it was Louis’ turn and it went fairly well. I handed him a towel which he took gratefully.

He looked at me and said “Now, your turn.” and dragged me to the swing.

I hesitantly sat down as he took the courtesy to swing me. I tried not to blush.

Knowing that I didn’t really have a choice, I jumped into the body of water in front of me. Whilst in the air, for the mere seconds those were, I felt an adrenaline rush. Never had I done anything like this and the feeling of thrill was new to me, you could say I liked it.

But that all went away as I hit the water. I was never really a fan of being submerged under cold water, especially at night. I was more of the type to gently run my hand through the stream or even dip my feet in, but not in being completely in it. So my landing wasn’t all that fun, as Joaquin’s had been.

I tried my best to swim out of the cold water immediately but Joaquin’s laughter didn’t help. At least he got a towel for me. I wrapped the material around me, clinging on to it for warmth as it was Issie’s turn.

Joaquin prepped her up and I saw Louis edge closer to me from the corner of my eye.

“Not a fan of the cold?” he said, still looking forward as not directly at me.

“No,” I replied. “Not really.”

“Neither am I.”

I looked at him. “Then why did you vote yes?”

He shrugged. “Thought It’d be fun.”

“Then your definition of fun is way different than mine.”

“Yeah?” He looked at me as well. “What’s your definition of fun?”

I took a moment to think. “An evening playing the piano, I guess, or learning it actually. Perhaps climbing trees. I’ve gotten quite proficient at that these past few months.”

He smiled. “You want to play the piano?” I nodded slightly. “I could teach you, you know. I’ve been playing for a while now.”

“Really?” I lightened up. I’ve always wanted to play the piano. Maybe I could not completely suck at it anymore.

“Yeah, you know what, why don’t you come over later. Next thing you know, you’ll be the new Ludwig Van Beethoven.”
“Do you expect me to know who that is?”

He chuckled. “I guess not then.”

We were interrupted by Issie’s shriek as she jumped into the water with a loud splash. I couldn’t help a giggle for when she realised how cold the water actually was, but came out of it laughing anyway.

As I had predicted, everyone had started craving warmth moments later so we decided to head home. But it was the walk back that proved to be the most amusing to me.

Joaquin, who was sure he couldn’t be cold, was now clinging on to his small towel as if it were his life. Although it was summer, the nights here still got pretty cold.

As for me, who knew that I’d be freezing my ass off, didn’t really have a choice other than try to huddle with the rest of them for some heat.

Louis apparently noticed this. “C’mere.” he said to me and wrapped part of his towel around me. I was glad that it was kinda dark so he couldn’t see me blush but Joaquin surely had and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes at Joaquin but smiled realising I was much warmer huddled next to Louis. And we walked the way back in silence, comfortable silence.

It was a nice feeling, hearing the rhythm of his heartbeat as we walked. I found myself blushing more than usual when he made sure I stayed warm, and even more so when Issie kept giving me a thumbs up.

Finally, we gave each other a hug and parted ways.

That night. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, for some reason I kept replaying the evening in my head. I’d never really felt something like that before, it was hard to put into words. I looked forward to tomorrow. This summer was going to be fun.