We cut through the trail between our properties, emerging from the woods a few meters from their dock.
“Isn’t it great?” Sam beamed at me from the boat.
“Isn’t she great,” Charlie corrected.
“It’s awesome!” I said, and meant it. The boat had a rounded nose with brown vinyl benches in the front and room for six more in the back.
“Totally retro,” Delilah enthused as we walked onto the dock.
“Whoa, whoa, Pers.” Charlie held his hands up. “Your bathing suit plus this boat? I was going to take us for a drive, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to see.” I scowled at him.
“Hilarious,” Sam said, then ran his eyes over me. “That suit’s really cool. Matches the orange in the bracelet. Hop in.”
Sam reached out his hand to help me, and a hot current of electricity buzzed from my fingers to my neck.
What was that?
“We call it the Banana Boat, for obvious reasons,” Sam said, unaware of the zap he’d sent up my arm.
“We haven’t even shown you the best part.” Charlie pushed down on the wheel and a loud aaaah-whoooo-gaaaaah sounded from the horn. Delilah and I jumped and then cackled with laughter.
“Oh my god! This is a horny-sounding boat!” she cried.
“Gives new meaning to the name Banana Boat, huh?” Sam grinned at her, and the electricity that had been running up and down my arm faded.
Once we got the okay from my parents, who were already sitting on the deck with glasses of wine in hand, Charlie drove us south to a little cove and cut the motor.
“This, ladies, is the jumping rock,” he declared, dropping an anchor into the water and removing his T-shirt. I was trying very hard not to stare at his new stomach muscles. I was failing.
“It’s totally safe to jump,” Sam said. “We’ve been doing it since we were kids.”
“Who’s in?” asked Charlie.
“I’ll do it!” Delilah said, standing to unbutton her shorts. I had been too distracted to notice the rocky cliff we’d pulled in front of. I blanched.
“You don’t have to,” Sam said to me. “I’ll stay in the boat with you.”
I stood and took off my shorts. I would not be a baby.
We dove off the end of the boat and swam toward shore, Delilah and me following Sam and Charlie up the side of the cliff. I screamed when Charlie sprinted toward the edge and jumped over without warning.
We crept up to the edge to see his head bobbing in the water, his dimples clear even from this height.
“Who’s next?” he called.
“I’m going,” Delilah announced, and Sam and I stepped back to give her space. She moved back from the edge and then took three huge strides before jumping off. She came out of the water laughing.
“That was amazing. You’ve gotta try it, Percy!” she yelled.
My stomach twisted. It seemed a lot higher from up here than it did from the boat. I looked behind me, thinking that maybe I’d just walk down.
“Want to go back the way we came?” Sam asked, reading my mind.
I scrunched my mouth up. “I don’t want to be a chicken,” I admitted, looking back over the lake and down to Charlie and Delilah.
“No, I get it, it’s really high,” Sam said, surveying the water below. “We could go together. I’ll hold your hand, and we’ll jump on the count of three.”
I took a deep breath.
“Okay.”
Sam threaded his fingers through mine.
“Together, on three,” he said, squeezing my hand tight.
“One, two, three . . .” We dropped like concrete, our hands separating when we crashed through the surface. I was pulled down, down, down like an anvil was tied to my ankle, and for a fraction of a second, I worried I wouldn’t make it back up. But then the downward momentum stopped and I kicked, swimming up to the light overhead. I came out gasping for air at the same time Sam emerged, spinning around to look for me. He wore a full toothy smile.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I gasped, trying to catch my breath. “But I am never doing that again.”
“What about you, Delilah?” Charlie asked. “Want to go again?”
“Definitely,” she said. As if there would be another answer.
Sam and I swam back to the boat, using the little ladder at the back to haul ourselves up. He passed me a towel and we sat on the benches at the front across from each other, drying off.
“Delilah’s not as bad as I thought,” he said.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, she seems kind of . . . silly? But I still have my eye on her. If she says one mean thing to you, I will have to exact my revenge.” His hair dripped onto his shoulders, which didn’t look quite as bony as they used to. “I’ve been plotting it since you told me about her. It’s all planned out.”
I laughed. “Thanks for defending my honor, Sam Florek, but she’s not like that anymore.” He eyed me silently, then moved to the bench beside me, our thighs pressed together. I wrapped my towel around my shoulders, very aware of how my skin prickled where it met his. I barely registered the splashes of Charlie and Delilah’s second jumps.
“What’s in your hair?” he asked, reaching for the section I had wrapped in embroidery floss.
“Oh, I forgot that was there,” I said. “I did it to match the bracelet. Do you like it?” When he turned his focus from my hair to my face, I was caught off guard by how stunning the blue of his eyes was. It wasn’t like I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe it was that I hadn’t seen them this close up? He looked different from the last time I saw him, his cheekbones more prominent, the space below them hollower.
“Yeah, it’s cool. Maybe I’ll grow my hair out this summer and you can do it to match my bracelet, too,” he said. He searched my face, and the prickling where his leg pressed against mine became a campfire blaze. He tilted his head and pursed his lips. The bottom one was fuller than the top, a faint crease bisected the pink crescent. I hadn’t noticed that before.
“You look different,” Sam murmured, squinting while he examined me. “No more freckles,” he said after a few seconds.
“Don’t worry, they’ll be back,” I said, looking up at the sun. “Probably by the end of the day.” One corner of his lip rose slightly, but his brows remained furrowed.
“No more bangs, either,” he said, giving the embroidered section of hair a gentle pull. I blinked back at him, my heart pounding.
What is even happening right now?
“No, and they won’t be back—ever,” I replied. I lifted my hand to tuck my hair behind my ear, realized it was shaking, and wedged it safely under my thigh. “You know, you’re the only boy I’ve met who pays such close attention to hair?” I tried to sound calm, but the words came out wearing a straitjacket.
He grinned. “I pay attention to a lot of things about you, Percy Fraser.”
* * *
THE CANADA DAY fireworks were an impressive display for such a small town. They were lit from the town dock, explosions illuminating the night sky and glittering on the inky water below.
“Do you think Charlie’s friends are as cute as he is?” Delilah asked, tossing clothes all over the floor while we got ready. The plan was for Charlie, Sam, and Charlie’s friends to pick Delilah and me up in the Banana Boat at dusk so we could watch from the lake.
“Knowing Charlie, I think his friends are probably all girls,” I replied, pulling on a pair of sweatpants.
“Hmm . . . then I’ll have to go all out.” She held up a red halter top and a black miniskirt. “What do you think?”
“I think you’ll be cold. It can get chilly when the sun goes down.”
She gave me a devilish grin. “I’ll risk it.”