by B D Grant
We stand outside stage three waiting on both of them for way longer than we should. Boston says he’s just as impatient as we are but insists only a dumb man would leave them. “This is how girls feel important,” he tells us. Anne shows up first followed by Zoey who strolls out of stage three and directly into Boston’s arms. He winks at us as they hug.
“I’m so excited we finally get to have fun,” Anne says as we walk to the pool.
Mick can’t take it. He asks the girls what took so long. Anne rolls her eyes. Zoey looks at Boston, who shrugs at her. “We know where the pool is. None of you had to wait on us,” she says coolly.
Boston takes her hand as we walk. “I would have waited a lot longer for you,” he croons.
“You won’t catch me waiting around again. I was about to need a Tempero to keep me from breaking something,” Mick says.
“I was pretty chill the whole time,” I tell him. “That means you were doing a great job keeping me in line.” My attempt at a compliment does nothing for Mick. He’s still on edge. He thinks the mysterious invite is some kind of a setup.
The music is going and students are already splashing around and cutting up in the pool by the rock wall. Stage two students are by the rock wall side of the pool while the threes are on the other side.
Glensy is walking on the side of the pool where he joins Mase. He walks around the pool with him and waits until they are close to the girls sitting on the side of the pool to push Mase in. Abby, Lena, and Jessica start complaining loudly about getting wet. I throw off my shirt and flip-flops, and jump in intentionally making the biggest splash I can muster next to Glensy. He gives me a high-five when I surface.
Something soft hits me in the back of the head. It’s a volleyball one of the girls I splashed threw in retaliation for soaking them. They laugh and high-five each other mimicking Glensy and I. Mase laughs along with them while giving me a less than friendly look.
Boston and Mick join me in the pool. Zoey introduces Anne to Lena, Abby, and Jessica. The girls get drinks from the food table then return to their seats beside the pool, gossiping and getting mad at us every time water splashes in their direction. Mase is able to goof around with us without having much to do with me.
We decide to set the volleyball net up and play a game. That’s all it takes to finally get the girls in the water.
Anne joins the other stage twos by the rock wall that jets out the other side of the pool. A couple of guys are racing up the wall. It curves back toward the water making it harder to climb the higher you go. They have harnesses to wear so when one person goes up another person is holding the rope to help them down.
My volleyball team consists of Mick, Boston, and Zoey. There are more people on the other team with Jessica, Lena, Abby, Glensy, and Mase thanks to Mick refusing to allow Jessica on our team.
“We’ll take this side,” he says going to one side of the net so that our backs are to the rock wall across the pool.”
“What are you thinking? If the ball goes out of bounds behind us we could be swimming the length of the pool to get it,” Zoey tells Mick.
“They’re climbing the wall,” he says looking at the loud stage two guys racing up to see who can climb the fastest. “It’s a distraction for anyone facing them.”
Zoey takes a position close to the net. Boston takes the other position at the net. Mick and I get in the back. I take the serve and hit it too hard. The volleyball goes flying over Glensy's outstretched hands and hits the cement outside the pool. It bounces around before stopping by a stack of towels. Glensy and Mase are in the back with the girls at the net. There isn't a ladder on their side so Glensy has to lift himself out of the pool to get the ball. Zoey looks at Boston, "Maybe this side wasn't such a bad idea."
As our game goes on we do a good job holding our own even with fewer numbers. The racket from the rock wall gets louder as the game progresses. Mase hits the ball and it comes flying fast. Zoey can't back up fast enough to get it so I dive forward just barely making it. I hit it up but it goes to the left. Boston jumps up and spikes it down over the net. Abby doesn't stand a chance. The ball flies down too fast.
"Yes!" Boston screams. Zoey gives him a high five then he turns and chest bumps Mick. Zoey gives me a high five.
"Good job!" She cheers. "I knew I was on the right side!”
Jessica interrupts the celebration, "Earth to Kelly.”
"Don't even try to call foul on that one,” I tell her turning to look at her across the net. She smirks and points behind me, "Um, no, I think your little friend is having some trouble."
I search the other side of the pool for Anne. I find her on the rock wall, over half way up. No big deal, except she doesn't have a safety harness on, and Evan and Doyle, who are close to the wall, look worried.
Mick is suddenly at my side with his hand on my shoulder. As soon as I feel him my concern for Anne triples. Mick says to me, “Go see if she needs help.”
I swim over and Evan meets me. "She won't come down."
"Why doesn't she have someone spotting her?" I ask, wondering why she would climb without help.
Evan looks up at her. “Doyle said the other girls dared her. She was doing good until she said she was coming down. Her foot missed a peg and when she got it back in place she froze."
There are two girls in the pool, beside Doyle, that are with the guys that were racing up the wall earlier. They’re the ones that dared her. They don't look worried like the others or really even seem to care about Anne’s predicament.
The water is shallow enough I can walk up to the rock wall. I call up, “Anne, you having fun up there?"
"A blast,” she says looking down over her shoulder at me. Her foot slips slightly when she moves and she fights to not loose her grip.
I can feel it as I slip into, "D mode." It’s what I call it now when I lose control from the onslaught of strong feelings; in this case I think that feeling is concern. My adrenaline is unleashed like an ocean wave crashing into a sailboat. I'd like to say I know what I'm doing when I start to climb. Anne’s just below where it begins to bend backward toward the water. I get to her quickly. She hasn't looked down at me but I’ve kept my eye on her the entire climb besides checking my hand placement. "Are you okay?"
Her arms are shaking but I don't see any goose bumps to indicate that she's cold. Her eyes are wide in disbelief when she sees me next to her. "What are you doing?"
"You look like you need some help."
"I don't need YOUR help. Do you know how high up we are?"
That's when I do something dumb; I look down. Whatever adrenaline I had dissipates. I suddenly feel like I could pass out. How did I get this high? I didn't climb this far up. Harnesses are laid out, untouched, on the side of the wall. Why didn't I grab one? "Uh, Kelly are you alright? You're pale,” Anne says cautiously.
"I'm okay, but I faintly remember a certain someone having no fear of heights when we got here,” I say low in hopes that no one in the pool will hear.
"It's the water,” she admits.
"There was water on our obstacle course and you did fine."
“Yeah, but it wasn't deep water,” she whispers harshly. "I'm not a good swimmer. If I fall off this thing it's not like I can just stand back up. I don't want everyone to know I suck at swimming." Her arms and legs are shaking really bad.
"You can't stay up here. They'll figure it out one way or another.”
"I know,” she says readjusting her grip. “My arms are starting to cramp.”
I look down again against my better judgment and see just about everyone is watching us. Boston and Lena are the only ones not staring. They’re busy talking amongst themselves by the snack table, away from everyone.
"Cannon ball competition,” I whisper.
"What?"
"Hey, Evan,” I call down.
"Yeah?" he asks below us.
"Back up, out of the way. Anne and I are going to see who can do the best cannon ball."
"Are you crazy?” A
nne snaps in a hushed voice. “I just told you the water’s too deep."
"I hate heights but I'm up here because of you. I'll go first and when you go I'll be right there to get you. If anyone notices you can blame it on leg cramps."
I don't give her time to respond or me time to chicken out. I jump back the best I can and tuck my knees to my chest. I take a deep breath and hold my knees tightly as I close my eyes and wait to hit water. In no time I'm in the water coming back up for air.
“8.9,” Doyle cheers.
“9.5,” Evan yells over her.
I look up and watch as Anne mumbles something to herself and shakes her wet hair away from her face before pushing off the rock wall. I'm right beside her when she resurfaces. I support her under her armpit while I tell her she didn't stand a chance at beating me.
“7,” Evan calls out.
“6,” Doyle says, less enthusiastically.
We get to the side of the pool by the ladder. "What kind of cannon ball was that?" The blonde, stage two girl sarcastically asks. Her and the other girl smirk. The guys with them are now daring each other to a cannon ball contest.
"How about you boys?" I ask the two guys.
"Who do you think made the biggest splash?"
"Dude, hers looked like a baby splashing around next to yours."
"For sure,” the other agrees. “But she gets an A for effort.” He says giving her an impressed smile.
I look at the girls, "Either of you want to have a go at beating me?"
The girls exchange looks. "I don't have time for silly games like that,” the blonde says propping her arm on her side of the pool like she's bored.
"I didn't think either of them had a spine,” I confide loudly to Anne, who giggles despite the ugly looks the girls are giving us.
"Our turn!" Glensy says swimming up with Mase. "Get ready for a perfect 10, ladies and gentlemen,” Glensy announces to the pool.
Mase splashes Glensy, "I'll show them what a perfect score looks like."
Anne and I get out the pool. Boston joins us saying, "That was pretty sweet."
I offer to get her a drink while Glensy and Mase start climbing. Mick swims up to the ladder.
"She's pathetic,” one girl tells the other, like we can't hear her.
Anne looks at the ground, "I'm not thirsty. I..I need to go to the bathroom." She dashes off. Anger starts to blossom in my chest as Mick gets out of the pool.
"Calm down, Kelly,” he says. It gets harder to stay mad. I can tell Mick’s doing his Tempero thing even as I glare at the little harpies.
The stage two boys with them see me. "I'm going to grab something to eat,” one of them says to the other and they start swimming across the pool. The girls follow, voicing their need to get a better view of Mase and Glensy.
Ms. Shannon, the swim instructor, a Tempero walks up. "That's enough heroics. No gear, no rock wall." A relaxing breeze seems to come over me. Mick needs to take notes from her. "Don't make me shut this party down,” she says, making Glensy and Mase get off the rock wall. They swim to the side of the pool and get out grumbling.
"You didn't stand a chance anyways,” I tell Glensy, throwing him a towel.
He looks between Mase and I, "I would have put all of you to shame."
Boston offers Mase a towel. He takes it, and almost friendly-like says to Glensy, "The only way you would have beat anyone is if Mr. Veritatis here would have competed.”
I want to get mad but Shannon is still working on me and probably everyone around her. I make it a point to ball my fist that isn’t holding a towel. Boston is cooler about it than I am. He smiles and throws off his towel.
"You lie, sir,” he says as he walks to the edge of the pool, “and I intend to prove it." He looks down to our abandoned volleyball net where Lena, Abby, Jessica, and Zoey are playing their own game. "Zoey, tell us who gets the best splash.”
"Sure,” she laughs.
Boston turns to face us. His gaze passes over Mase and me. He points to Glensy. "I challenge you."
"That's what I'm talking about,” Glensy looks at his frowning friend."and Mase gets the winner."
"Oh, I will, will I?"
"Unless you’re scared of losing,” Glensy says before taking off in a run for the pool. He yells as he jumps, “Glensy!” He grabs his knees to his chest like I did. He makes an impressive splash. Boston does the same, giving it a good try, but I would have to give it to Glensy on sheer water displacement alone.
Mick walks up to me as Mase and the others vote on the winner. "Good job. I don't think anyone will be giving you a hard time about heights any time soon."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
He looks at the rock wall. "You trying to save the day. I can't believe Boston or I didn't think about using the rock wall sooner. I mean, what better way to prove you don't have a fear of heights?"
"Oh, right. But I wasn't really thinking about that. Seeing Anne like that pushed the right button to where I wasn’t thinking about anything. I'll take it, if it gets Mase off my back."
Mick gives me a sly look, “I may have helped you a little with that.”
"So, are you scared of heights?" A voice asks coming up behind us. I turn quickly not realizing someone was behind us to see Howard. He’s in his swim trunks, with a plastic cup in his hand.
"How did you get in here?" Mick asks, as annoyed by his ease dropping as I am.
He looks down at his cup as he swirls his drink around. "I was invited, of course. You are looking at one of the best Veritatis this school has ever seen. They couldn’t not invite me.” He takes a gulp from his cup so smug and sure of himself. I could probably punch him in the nose and he wouldn’t lose any of his smugness. Mick rests his elbow on my shoulder. It looks like a friendly gesture but the unnecessary pressure he's putting on my shoulder lets me know he's trying to break my focus from Howard.
Mick smiles at me, unimpressed, "Even if he was the king of the world he still wouldn't be much to look at."
Howard throws his, now empty, cup down on the ground. "You'll see. One day you'll brag about being in school with me.”
I laugh at him I can't help it. He's so serious and determined for people to be in awe of him. He turns his eye from Mick back on me. “You can laugh all you want but you didn't answer my question. Are you scared of heights, Kelly?" I take a second to think about answering him. I want to lie but that’s what he’s waiting for.
"Howard Ledet," Ms. Shannon calls out, walking around the pool. She closes in on him. “Is that your cup?" Howard jumps at hearing his name. He grabs the cup as quickly as she asks.
“My bad,” he says to her and looks back at us. With the cup safely in Howard’s hand she continues her path to the small group of teachers sitting by the pool. We are both smiling at him for the sudden cowardice. If I’m not mistaken he sticks his chest out a little before turning back to Ms. Shannon. “Hey, uh, is watching over this party part of your job description, or is it a form of teacher punishment?” She stops mid stride. She slowly turns around. She looks over her shoulder at the other teachers but none of them are paying attention to us. They’re too busy watching over the cannon ball competition going on.
“Did I hear you correctly?” She asks getting a lot closer to him than before.
He begins sliding one foot back to move away but stops himself. He stays in that position, one foot ready to move back or rejoin the other. “I believe so, but I can’t be sure. What did you hear?”
I look at Mick. Surely Howard didn’t just act as a pompous, to a teacher as he does to us. Mick doesn’t return my look. He’s staring at them like this is the most entertaining thing he’s ever seen.
Ms. Shannon’s eyes narrow and bore into Howard. “I heard a disrespectful young man asking for trouble.”
This time he does move back. “I was just curious,” he says, meekly.
She doesn’t relax her intense gaze. “You really should be careful with whom you decide to be ‘curious’ around. A smart kid would
n’t have gotten in the trouble you’re already in.”
He looks down in defeat. “I’m sorry,” he tells her earnestly. She doesn’t respond as she turns with a look of accomplishment, and walks to the other teachers. “It was just a question,” he mumbles when she’s half way to her seat. She looks back at him over her shoulder like she heard him. He quickly looks away, acting innocent.
Howard turns his attention back to us. “What were we talking about?”
“You not minding your business,” Mick says.
“Oh, that’s right,” Howard says, ignoring Mick and looking at me. “We were discussing Mr. Tough Guy and his weaknesses.”
“I’m over this,” I tell them. I’m not going to answer him. I don’t care how smart he thinks he is. He can’t say I’m lying if I don’t say a thing about it. “Mick, you want to join the fun we’re missing?” He looks as relieved as I am as we turn on our heels, leaving Howard by himself holding his empty cup.
“He has it out for me,” I tell Boston after we’re all done jumping every which way in to the pool. No one is named the official winner in the cannonball contest. Boston claims it was rigged, and Glensy and Mase give each other a hard time about the other being the loser.
“He has it out for everyone. I’ve come to the conclusion that he simply lacks the ability to be nice,” Boston tells me. “It’s not in him.”
The music cuts off and a voice comes over the loud speaker, “Howard Ledet to the study center.”
The teachers tell Howard to change before going to the study center. “You should shower, too,” Ms. Shannon tells him as he leaves. Anne stays quietly by us after reappearing from the bathroom. She occasionally looks over at the students her age still playing around the rock wall.
“Maybe it’s an interview,” Abby tells Zoey.
“If it is, hopefully they need him now, but it could just be a family thing,” Boston says.
Zoey smiles, “We’ll hear about whatever it is. He’ll either brag about it if it’s good or someone else will get the scoop if it isn’t.”
When the burgers are ready for lunch we all crowd around the table making our plates. “What’s wrong with you?” Mase asks Glensy, who isn’t in line. He’s lying on one of the pool loungers with his eyes closed, massaging his temples.