crazy guy doing a chair dance, to the utter shock of the local
hens, and I decided he might be okay. Travis is pretty cool. He
reminds me a little of my friend Jade back in Ohio. A delightful
troublemaker. Having Travis’s buddy Brandon tagging along,
however, has proved to be an unwelcome change of plans.
It’s late, but humidity still hangs in the air. Not as oppressive
as during the day, but enough to make the hair against my neck
damp. Crickets chirp loudly in the surrounding brush, which
makes me uneasy somehow, as if their incessant noise will draw
attention to us. As if they’re crying, “Look! Look! Look! Look!”
to some unseen guard. Brandon’s nerves must be contagious.
Luckily, I spy the edge of the fence before I can dwell on my
uneasiness for too long.
“We made it,” I say.
Gripping the bars, I look for a good spot to grab midway up.
Travis helps me with the inspection.
“Right over here,” he says, motioning. “The ground’s a little
higher on the other side, and those bushes will break your fall.”
“Nice,” I say, impressed. “You have a lot of experience breaking into private property?”
“Yeah, except we usually go for cash and high-value items.
Breaking in to go swimming should be a nice change of pace.”
I smirk and he gives me a Mr. Teen USA wink.
“All right then,” I say. “Hoist me up.”
Brandon steps in between us. “Are we seriously doing this?
You know, your stepdad’s house has a huge private beach. If
you want to swim so badly, can’t we go there?”
“You’re missing the point, Brandon.”
“You never explained the point.”
“Only a fool asks to understand that which cannot be
grasped,” I say, pretending to quote some ancient philosopher.
Travis blinks. “Dude. That was deep.”
“I know, right?” I turn back to Brandon. “See? He gets it.”
“This is really stupid,” Brandon says, unamused.
I pull out my phone. “So, I guess you don’t want to be in the
group shot then?”
Travis comes to my side and puts his arm around me. “Sweet!
Selfie time.”
I hold out my phone, and he and I make an overly enthusiastic thumbs-up pose.
Brandon folds his arms impatiently across his chest. “Can we
get on with this?”
“Well, look who’s eager to have some fun,” I say, giving him a
hearty slap on the back. “About time you came aboard.”
Brandon shakes his head and holds out his interlocked hands.
Travis stands across from him. Together, they form the perfect
ladder. Pushing off of their shoulders, I reach for the top of the
fence. One push and my leg tips over the edge.
“Got it!” I shout. Perched on the top of the wall, I survey my
target. The pool is lit, even with the Andersons away for the
week, and it gleams an appealing turquoise blue in the dark
night. If I had time and my stuff, I’d paint the scene. For now,
however, an immersive, performance-art type of scenario will
have to suffice.
“Let’s do this,” I say, hopping onto the grass below. I land
firmly on my feet and unlatch the side gate.
Brandon remains frozen at the threshold. “Cass…”
“Let me guess. You don’t think this is such a good idea.”
Travis laughs. “Seriously, dude, don’t be such a pansy.”
He starts through the gate when Brandon grabs his arm.
“Trav. You know why we can’t.”
Travis says nothing, but a shadow crosses his expression. I
frown. “What?”
When Travis doesn’t reply, Brandon exhales. “We could go
to jail.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic—”
“No, seriously. We’re both…kind of on probation.”
He officially has my attention. “Explain.”
Travis shakes his head. “It’s not that big of a deal. Brandon’s
freaking out.”
“Then tell me,” I say.
His eyes shift away from mine. “It was me and Brandon and
some of the guys from the lacrosse team. One night a few weeks
ago, we were a little drunk. It was late. And we sort of…broke