Watergirl

by Juliann Whicker

I sighed and fiddled with my shoulder strap. “I feel like an idiot. I wish I knew what to do around guys like Sean and Oliver.” I shook my head while Flop laughed.

  “Sean’s easy. He’ll think you’re an idiot no matter what you talk about, so you don’t have to worry about making an impression. You can’t. With Oliver, I don’t know. He seems to be the opposite—easily pleased by everyone. Have you seen the parade of girls he’s been going through? Who knows what he actually likes.”

  “Yeah.” Apparently not me. Ah well. At least I wasn’t obsessed with someone who liked other girls.

  After I was as cute as possible, I got a ride with Bernice. She looked cool and sporty in the tunic she wore over her suit, so maybe I looked okay too, only more frilly and bright, since it was Flop’s outfit after all.

  “Thanks for inviting me,” I started awkwardly.

  “Thanks for coming. It’ll be much nicer to have someone there besides the swim team. I kind of like this guy, Ben, but no one on the swim team will admit to liking anyone, because of Sean, you know. Just because he thinks that relationships are a distracting waste of time doesn’t mean that other people can’t think differently.”

  “Maybe you should tell him that.”

  She laughed. “Right. Well, I would be if I dated a guy on the team, wouldn’t I?”

  “Going up against The Captain? Bernice, you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

  “He’s not that bad…”

  I laughed while she rolled her eyes.

  Sean’s house was awesome, all glassy and architectural when we pulled up. I’d seen the house before, of course. Our town wasn’t that big, but I’d never thought I’d actually go inside or know the people who lived there.

  “Sean lives here?”

  She nodded. I gave her a sympathetic glance because coming there when you didn’t know people had to be hard. It almost made sense that I was there.

  We were lucky to get a parking spot only half a block from the house. We followed the walk to the open front door then we were there. It was imposing enough from the front but inside was even more mind blowing. There was a pool in what would be the living room of a normal person’s house. It went from inside the living room to outside in the backyard. It was the kind of thing that I would have fallen into within fifteen seconds before, but now that I could swim there didn't seem to be the same pull. On the balcony above the pool, beautiful people lounged around in really fancy looking swim tops, the kind that looked like real dresses, carrying fruity drinks and laughing. Every pretty person from high school and some from college seemed to be there with the notable exception of any and all cheerleaders.

  So this was what a real party looked like. I felt gawky and stupid. I didn’t belong there, but I could tell that Bernice felt the same way. It was good that I could make up some of those early morning swim lessons she’d given me.

  “So what do we do?” I asked her as I dodged a laughing girl running away from a guy who splashed me when he tackled her into the pool.

  She shrugged. “I don’t really know. There is a lot of showing off, diving, in the water dancing, food, drinks, and cute guys to flirt with. Do you see that guy over there by the Aquarium?”

  I looked over at the wall and what I’d first taken as an elaborate wall-paper job I now realized was an enormous aquarium that took up the entire wall beneath the balcony. It was impossibly cool. I blinked, trying to get over the shark behind glass, and saw the guy she was pointing at, a normal looking guy who I’d vaguely noticed on the swim team before.

  “Yeah. He looks nice.”

  “Will you come over with me?” I nodded. There was no way I was going to stand there by myself.

  “Oliver, there you are.” I heard a voice, all sultry and cute and looked in the pool where a really pretty girl floated with a coral colored drink in her hand. Who could float and drink at the same time? I hated her at once. The girl gazed up at the balcony. When I looked up, I saw Oliver perched on the railing with his arms spread eagled. There was no way he would jump into the pool full of people. It would be suicide. It would be homicide, but there he went, headfirst in a series of rolls and twists that ended with him in the pool with hardly a splash.

  “He’s crazy,” I muttered, and Bernice nodded.

  “Sean’s actually worse. Of course they live here so they probably practice all kinds of stupid all the time, but that doesn’t stop the other guys from having to show off.”

  I nodded at her and we had a girl bonding moment where we acknowledged how stupid guys were then we walked around the pool to where the guy, Ben, stood with a drink while he talked animatedly with another guy who didn't look like he was from the team.

  He greeted Bernice, said a very nice hi to me, and then he and she start talking about team stuff while I watched the fish and coral behind them, really, it was the coolest thing. Apparently that was my thing to do at the party. I would have stared at the aquarium, the pale pink and turquoise pulsing anemones as mesmerizing as the pearlescent fish that fluttered by them, all evening except that I heard Oliver’s voice to my right. When I looked up, I saw him walk out of the living room.

  A week without my bike was more than enough. I hurriedly told Bernice I had to use the bathroom and that I’d be right back. She nodded but didn’t really hear me. She was really into Ben.

  I followed Oliver; I had no choice. The him avoiding me thing, which I swore was what he had been doing, was getting really old. His shirt dripped as he walked. I followed the watermarks and felt all Nancy Drew when he was out of sight and I was walking down a hall with rows of doors until I finally came to one where the watermarks stopped.

  I knocked and waited, nothing, then the door opened, kind of fast so it startled me, and there was Oliver without his shirt on with a towel around his waist. His eyes were really dark and full, moist looking with only a little bit of green around the edge of his pupils.

  “Hi,” he finally said and stepped back. I followed because there had been something I had to talk to him about. Right. My bike. Funny how seeing him in a towel made that seem less important.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked me after he shut the door behind me. The click of the door kind of made me jump. Did I really want to be in his bedroom with the door shut when he only had a towel on? I’d never been in a boy’s bedroom before. I couldn't help but give it a quick curious glance to see what marks of ownership he’d left on it. There was a pile of dirty laundry but other than that and some shells on a corner of the dresser, nothing really showed personality.

  “I was invited,” I said with a shrug.

  Oliver frowned at me and I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “I really need my bike back, but I haven’t been able to talk to you all week.”

  His eyes get even darker, and the way he stared at me made me wonder if he could focus on all of me at one time.

  “You’re in my bedroom. Did you think I’d be sleeping with your bike?”

  I fought the blush. He’d made it clear at school that he was not interested in me. That he thought I’d cornered him in his bedroom for something besides getting my bike had my teeth clenching together.

  “I thought it might be better to talk about my bike and the lake without other people around. I’m not really excited about admitting that I’m stupid enough to fall into a lake. It seems like you’ve been avoiding me, which is fine except that I really need my bike.”

  He shrugged. “It must still be in the trunk. You’ll have to ask Sean to get it for you.”

  “Seriously?”

  He raised an eyebrow and for a second the smile slipped and he looked colder than Sean.

  “Wow. Thanks for that.”

  I turned to the door but he stepped directly in front of me. “Sean isn’t giving me access to his car anymore. Otherwise I would have brought it back some time during the week. He’s being a jerk.”

  “He’s being a jerk? All week you could have mentioned that to me. I saw how busy you
were, but still, I need my bike.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t see you very much.” He smiled, but it was a twist of his mouth that didn’t have anything to do with the rest of him. He didn’t see me, but not because I wasn’t there. I felt a wave of humiliation that had me crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Whatever. I’ve got to get back to the party.”

  “Genevieve,” he said in a soft voice while he reached out to stroke my cheek or something but I jerked back before he could touch me.

  “The only thing I want from you is my bike. If you don’t have it then there’s no reason for me to be here with you in a towel,” I said keeping my eyes firmly on his face.

  “I want to be your friend, but sometimes friendship gets complicated,” he said while his fingers curled and uncurled. It reminded me of tentacles, squid or octopus, unconsciously flexing, searching for prey even in their sleep.

  “No, friendship is simple. It means that even if you’re dating other girls you still talk to me and let me know what’s going on. Now move before I move you.”

  He smiled, cocking his head. “Is that a threat?” but he stepped aside as he said it, opening the door for me. “Sean’s in the kitchen.”

  I scowled at him. “I would never have taken that ride if I’d known it was Sean’s car.”

  “Why not? Sean has a good car.”

  “It’s perfect, just like him. The problem is that he’s really particular about his perfect things not coming in contact with me. Oh well. Thanks.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I noticed his hands coming into close contact with you in the pool. It wasn’t, how do you say it, professional?”

  “He must have thought I needed help desperately.” I scowled then forced myself to walk past him irritated instead of charmed by his smile, at least mostly.

  “If you are you sure you don’t want to take advantage of me, I suppose I’ll see you after I put on some pants.”

  I shook my head but couldn’t fight the blush as I went back the way I’d come. I really had pretty much stalked him. Muscles, tan, the perfect shoulder to hip ratio, it had been seriously hard not to notice that stuff. Good thing I had so much practice not noticing hot guys.

  I wandered through the house until I found myself in an enormous kitchen, all hard edges, metal and glass, where Sean stood at the blender pureeing something.

  He glanced up at me, and I felt half as cute as I’d felt right up to that point. Beside him was the girl, the one who could float and drink.

  “Hi,” she said offering me her hand. “I’m Brenda. I’ve never seen you at one of Sean’s parties before.”

  I took the hand limply and felt crushed by her awesome grip. “I’m Gen. I came here with a friend.”

  “Oh?” she said in a way that made me feel like I shouldn’t wander around without the friend in case I destroyed something. “Did you need something in here?”

  “I wanted to talk to Sean.”

  She glanced up at him, inviting him to share her disbelief, but he was focused on shredding strawberries to a pulp.

  “Go find Oliver, Brenda,” he told her.

  She raised her eyebrows, but just like everyone else, she obeyed The Captain and left the room. We stood there for a time, both of us staring at the whirring machine.

  “You wanted to talk.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I think my bike is in your trunk.”

  “And?”

  I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “And, I want it back, so if you could take a minute away from your awesome and way too cool for me party to get it, I’d be ever so grateful.”

  “How did it get in my trunk?” This time he flipped off the blender and looked at me, leaning against the counter in a way that I shouldn’t have found threatening.

  I shifted to crossing my arms over my chest. “Oliver gave me a ride. I’m sorry about the mud and the water on your seat.”

  “What happened?”

  Exactly. I’d known he’d make me feel like an idiot. Of course he would. What else did he live for?

  “I was an idiot. Big surprise, right? I went to the lake to sing, lost consciousness when I know that when I sing too loud I can’t breathe, fell off the rock into the lake and then floated for however long until Oliver dragged me to shore. So, sorry about the mud. I would never have taken the ride however hypothermic I got if I’d known it was yours and I’d taint it. If you’ve finished humiliating me, can I get my bike back?”

  He frowned the longer I talked until by the end he was scowling. “So that’s why Oliver wanted my dad to drag the lake.”

  “Oliver… your dad…” I rubbed my hand over my forehead and felt the beginnings of a headache. I was ready for Sean’s contempt, braced for it, but he seemed interested in all the wrong parts. “So, your dad’s was the boat I saw? Oliver said there was something in the lake.” I laughed, more of a wheezy thing while Sean stared at me until the laughter choked and died. “I take it there was no toxic bacteria. What did your dad find?”

  “The boat you saw?” Oliver’s sexy accent sounded accusing. “You promised me that you wouldn’t go back to the lake without me.”

  I jumped as I turned around, bumping into Sean in the process. He didn’t budge. “Yeah, well, you were busy. I didn’t even have your number. Also, it was a promise made in a moment of uncontrollable shivering weakness. Those don’t count.”

  “Don’t they?” Sean asked, looking down at me with his eyes of slivered chips of ice.

  I swallowed as I stared up at him. He stood way too close for comfort.

  “Good to know.” He shifted his attention to Oliver, which was a huge relief. “What did you see?”

  Oliver shrugged casually as he moved to take an apple from the fruit bowl that had been perfectly symmetrical. “I didn’t see anything. Your dad hasn’t found anything either. For all we know, Genevieve is able to float while unconscious.”

  “But you think there’s something there.” Again, not a question.

  Oliver shrugged again. “I think a lot of things. Genevieve, this song is very good. You should dance with me.” He abandoned his apple and reached for my hand.

  “I don’t dance,” I mumbled as he pulled me away from Sean and across the kitchen.

  Sean frowned after me.

  “Wait I need…”

  “I’ll bring your bike to your house tomorrow," Sean said giving me a cool nod. “Enjoy my too cool for you party for as long as you like.”

  I pulled away from Oliver as soon as we’d left the kitchen. “Seriously, Oliver, I’m not going to dance with you.”

  “Why not? I didn’t think you were so bad the other night,” he said, moving his hips back and forth while he leaned towards me. After all the other girls, I still found his smile utterly charming. It was a good thing that he’d reminded me of the week before when I’d thought he’d actually liked me. I did not need more heartache.

  “If I dance with you then other people will think we’re serious.”

  “One dance? Come on. Who cares what other people think?”

  “Not you, apparently,” I said, trying to ignore the innocent confusion in his eyes. “You lead girls on, Oliver, and it isn’t nice. Every time you sit with a girl at lunch she thinks she’s special, that you like her.”

  “I do like her. I like lots of people.”

  I glared at him, but how could I hold onto a glare when he looked so bewildered and adorable with a black curl falling over his forehead. “Everybody can’t be special, or that’s not special, it’s something else. I don’t dance with anyone, ever. If other people see me dancing with you they’ll think something serious is up. They’ll think you’re my boyfriend.”

  He frowned. “Would that be so bad?”

  I was saved from answering when Brenda came up and threw her arms around him to give him a hug. When he turned to smile at her, I slipped away. Maybe it wouldn’t be bad for him but it would certainly suck for me. I shrugged it off and found Bernice who was still talki
ng to Ben.

  I stood beside her for a few seconds until Oliver came into sight, dancing with Brenda like he was having the time of his life. It felt good to know how quickly I could be replaced.

  “Bernice, I’m going to walk home.”

  She looked up at me as if surprised I was still there. “Oh. If you want to go, I’ll drive you.”

  “It’s early still,” Ben said, putting a hand on her arm. She blushed and I stepped away.

  “No, you have fun. I like walking, and it’s not far.”

  “You can’t walk in your suit. It’s too cold out.”

  “Can I come?” Ben asked.

  She beamed at him. We piled into her car with Ben in the backseat leaning up to talk to Bernice and me by default. I changed at my house then headed to Flop’s where I could watch the last half of a horrible movie with a hideously happy ending. I didn’t have to tell her about Oliver and what a jerk he was, not like I’d have had to tell her about Cole, so maybe my obsessive tendencies were fading in my old age. One could hope.

  Chapter 18

  Work the next day was good. I was organizing the meditation music—I always found that extremely meditative—when Tuba, er, Aaron came in to talk about the likelihood of the tuba becoming the new alternative instrument. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I nodded my head.

  He turned to go then stopped and looked at me, kind of nervous. “Do you think Junie would go out with me?”

  After a few shocked seconds I forced my mouth to shut. “I have no idea. She went after The Captain for no rational reason so who knows? She should though. I mean, any girl would be lucky to date you.”

  He nodded but his face kind of fell.

  I nudged him. “You could date me if you wanted some practice first.”

  He smiled but shook his head, kind of sad. Why did Junie have to be so… like her? If she got it into her head to date him, then nothing other than complete annihilation of her ego would stop her. Then again she could take up with Jim, the male cheerleader. Who knew?

  Not me.

  The long trek home after work made me even more angry at Junie for no rational reason. When I made it to the walk, there parked beside the porch was my bike. At least I thought it was my bike. While it was still rusty, it had what looked like new brakes, and the tire pressure was perfect in the brand new tires. I stood there staring at my bike as giddiness built. I had to see how she rode.