Parfait

18: Black Espresso Pt. 2

I'm walking in the cold water, hoping I'll find a spot where the sun hits it more and it's warmer. I can barely see where I left my things from this distance and, still, I have made no progress. Olivia and Kate are chin-deep in the water, encouraging Kal and me to dive in as well.

"Does it feel warmer later?" Kal asks cautiously.

"No, but if I stayed out I'd get such a bad sunburn I'd be redder than a fully riped tomato," Kate says, which explains why she's hugging her body.

"You won't be cold if these two decide to dive in and we all go swimming," Olivia says, splashing some water on us.

I splash some water on her. "Don't be fucking rude!" I say in my best Kim K voice.

Kate doesn't miss a beat. "Kim, there are people that are dying!"

I glance at Olivia. "She does Kourtney better than you."

"Fine, I'll be Khloe," she replies. "KK wants to swim, are you coming with?"

Kate glances at her. "I think I'm going to go outside. I'm starting to feel numb."

Olivia sighs. "Fine, I'll swim on my own. If you decide to join me you can have a contest about who finds me first."

She swims away, splashing water everywhere, moving fast as if her limbs don't have a frostbite by now. Kal and I continue walking slowly into the water, taking our time before diving in. Maybe by the time we do it's going to be warmer.

"Ouch!" Kal yelps.

My eyes widen. "What happened? Did a jellyfish sting you? Where is it? I don't want to be stang again!"

"No, nothing stang me. I don't see any jellyfish, here at least."

"Then what?"

"Lucky scratched my thigh and it hurts now."

That's my girl.

"Maybe we should dive in," Kal says.

"Maybe we should go out and eat the sandwiches Alex made for us."

As if my suggestion isn't ideal, Kal dives headfirst in the water and comes back in the surface immediately. He doesn't even try saying it's not that cold. His trempling jaw does all the talking.

"It's so warm, right?"

He half-smiles. "See for yourself," he says and splashes water at me.

My skin gets goosebumps in every place it touched me.

"That was the second strike," I say through clenched teeth. He looks at me confused. "The first was when you pushed me in the sand when I didn't wear shoes."

"That wasn't on purpose," he explains.

I cross my arms, mostly to warm myself. "I am the judge of it."

Kal nods. "Okay. What happens at the third strike?"

Not having any nice comeback, I splash water on him with both my hands.

He chuckles. "Okay, I can handle some water."

"Cool, then you won't mind if I..."

And I grab him from the shoulders and push him in the water, making him submerge into it. For a few moments I look down at the spot, smiling for my belated but nice comeback. Who knows? He might even turn into ice and I'll get rid of him.

The thing is, he doesn't come up as quickly as before.

What if I just drowned him? What if they figure out I killed him and go to prison before I even go to college?