by B. R. Myers
I stepped back, worried Devin might lay a big wet one on me while everyone watched over their scrambled eggs. “So…I’ll talk to you later? Okay?” I ducked away and made a beeline for the food.
Staring down at my plate of bacon and toast, I listened to the boys snicker about the size of the boobs two tables over.
“Would you please save it for the cabin?” I asked.
This request was followed by Duff continuing to sign as Liam whispered to the others. Of course they were still talking about boobs! Lacey’s table looked like the polar opposite to my crew. All her girls had ponytails exactly like hers. They used forks and knives…and napkins! A belch to my immediate left brought me back.
I glanced at their plates. Spencer had coated his eggs in ketchup, Liam was shoving a third Rice Krispies square in his mouth, and Duff was mashing his food into an unrecognizable slop. Only Scotty seemed to have some manners. Already feeling like the day was going to be horrible, I took my tray up to the front.
“Just Jesse,” Kirk said, slinking up behind me. What is with this guy and his surprise attacks from behind? Hadn’t he ever heard of face-to-face combat? “Cabin 4A didn’t burn down last night.”
“Nope.” I straightened up and steeled my nerves. We began our Wild West showdown again, ignoring the kids that walked around us. It was hard not getting lost in those milk chocolate eyes. But after his remarks the night before, I wanted to prove how tough I was.
He raised one eyebrow. “Ready to quit?” he teased.
Dad used to ask me the same question when he could tell I was exhausted during training. And since this job was becoming more gruelling than any long run I’d ever done, I gave Kirk the same answer I always gave my dad.
“Hell no,” I said. “I’m seeing this through to the finish.” And with that super awesome, sassy retort, I strutted out of the main hall without even looking back.
After two hours of archery under the blazing sun though, I wasn’t quite sure. Spencer thought it would be hilarious to reenact The Hunger Games by randomly shouting “squirrel” every five minutes and aiming for the nearest tree. Thank god the forest wildlife had quick reflexes. He never actually shot into the woods, but still, why did they even let the freak show near a bow and arrow?
We trudged back to Cabin 4A sweaty with our arms aching. There was an audible groan and mumbles of boredom when I announced our activity for the afternoon. According to my clipboard, we were taking water safety training with Lacey’s group. I changed into my sporty black two-piece suit and went down to the dock with the boys. Alicia was already there, so I helped her get out the equipment for the lesson.
“This blows,” Spencer whined. “I hate water safety.” He was about to launch into another complaint, but stopped mid-sentence. Walking—no, gliding—across the green lawn was Lacey in a polka-dot bikini followed by her ladies-in-waiting, or as I recently began to think of them, the cupettes. It was like a mini sorority of ponytails and pink lip gloss. They oozed confidence and style. My messy ponytail waved in the wind like a feeble welcome.
Greetings. I acknowledge your superior fashion sense.
I stole a glance at the boys, who were standing a bit taller, combing their fingers through wild hair. The girls lined up on the dock opposite us.
Welcome to the bathing suit portion of our competition.
Alicia began the lesson with the usual spiel. I recognized the rescue PFD, or Personal Flotation Device, with the long rope and Velcro strap. She also had a CPR dummy.
“And what’s the first thing you do when you realize someone is in trouble?” Alicia asked.
Spencer winked at one of the cupettes. “Mouth to mouth,” he said.
“No,” Alicia said. “You call for help. Or in our case, you ring the bell.” She pointed to the brass bell at the end of the dock.
“Maybe we should just practice mouth to mouth?” Spencer joked again. All the girls rolled their eyes, except for one who held his gaze before looking down at her pink polished toenails. Clearly, she liked the rebel-without-a-cause type. I said a silent prayer for her parents.
As Alicia continued, Lacey focused on fixing one of the cupettes’ braids, and my own creatures were beginning to shuffle.
“Hey, Liam,” I suddenly said, interrupting the lesson. “Shouldn’t you be signing this for Duff?”
Both twins glared back at me. “No,” Liam hissed. “He can read lips.”
All the girls turned to Duff. A few of them wrinkled their noses and stared at him like he was a new exhibit at the zoo. The rest quickly averted their eyes and fidgeted with their ponytails and bathing suit straps.
“Sorry,” I murmured, but the damage was done. Duff slumped. Red-faced and feeling like an idiot, I stepped away from the group. Twenty metres from the dock was a small float. Beyond that a few groups were having canoe races. I squinted into the sun, thinking I had spotted Devin.
“Jesse?” Alicia asked.
I turned around. “Yeah?”
“You said you were a lifeguard. Have you ever had to do CPR on anyone?”
My stomach twisted. “Um…not at poolside,” I said.
Alicia split us up into groups. Spencer and his admirer immediately found each other. The twins, of course, stayed together, and Scotty knelt by the dummy with me.
“If they’re not moving,” Alicia said, crouching down by her own dummy, “you have to determine if they’re unconscious.” She slapped the wood with her hand and called out, “Are you okay? Are you okay?”
Dad? Dad?
“…then call for help. Ask the first person you see to call 911. This is crucial.”
Spencer smirked. “What if I’m, like, in the desert, and no one else is around?”
Alicia answered straightforwardly. “Keep doing compressions and breaths.”
“Well, for how long?” Liam asked.
Forever.
“Until someone else comes,” she said. “Or until you’re too exhausted to continue.”
I tuned out the rest of the conversation. My finger touched the silver disc of my necklace. Feet and lungs, Jesse.
The dock seemed to tip to the side. I stared at the patterns in the wood, trying to fight the dizziness. A band tightened around my chest.
They were moving around me, starting to practice. I forced myself to walk to the end of the dock, concentrating on taking deep breaths. Alicia took my place with Scotty. Spencer’s asinine remarks kept poking through the noise. I could hear the impatience grow in Alicia’s voice as she constantly redirected him.
“Oh man,” he said. “How long is that eel?”
The class gathered at the edge, looking into the water.
“I don’t see anything,” one of the cupettes said.
Spencer pointed into the water. “Right there,” he said. “Look!”
I followed, and stood behind them, then bent over the side, but the black bottom made it impossible to see anything.
“There it is again,” he cried out.
For the next few minutes even Alicia was eyeballing the dark water. “It’s rare for them to be in this close,” she said. “How long do you think it is?”
“I don’t know,” Spencer said, “maybe four feet.”
My insides squirmed. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Duff’s signing. I looked for Liam to interpret but he wasn’t with us. In fact, he wasn’t even on the dock.
“Where’s Liam?” I asked. Duff tapped me on my shoulder, and then pointed out to the lake.
Liam was almost to the float. He was splashing and flailing his arms. And then he disappeared. I didn’t bother waiting for Alicia. I grabbed the rescue PFD and wrapped the Velcro strap around my ankle. Holding the flotation bubble in one hand, I dove into the lake, eels long forgotten.
TEN
I dove down, letting the buoy mark my spot on top of the water. The
deeper I got, the colder and darker the water became. I swam back up, sucked in a few gulps of air, then dove again. Through a veil of bubbles, I saw him, and grabbed his arm.
Struggling under his dead weight, I managed to wrap my arms under shoulders. I kicked toward the dock, hearing Ben’s words echo through my memory. “Don’t let the kids drown.” Please, please, please, I prayed.
Alicia leaned over and helped pull Liam onto the dock. A crowd had gathered after hearing the cupettes’ screams.
I put my ear next to his mouth, but there was no air. I pinched his nose and sealed my lips over his. My first breath went in. Alicia placed two fingers on the side of his neck. I gave another breath.
“There’s a pulse,” she said, her voice shaking. I gave another breath but this time my head was forced down, mashing my lips against Liam’s. Then I tasted sweet marshmallow. It took my brain a few seconds to piece it all together. I screamed into his mouth and pushed away.
Liam sat up. “It’s a miracle!”
“You little shit!” I screamed.
Alicia took control, dispersing the now shocked and chuckling campers. Several of the cupettes still held hands over their hearts.
Liam joined Duff and Spencer. The three partners in crime stood there snickering. I felt a volcano of emotion ready to erupt. Clever demons, I thought, creating a diversion, giving Liam enough time to swim out far enough and making sure Alicia was busy, so I would be the one to jump in.
“This was the best class ever!” Spencer exclaimed, earning a few giggles from his admirer.
Duff signed.
“Oh, you’re right,” Liam said. “Duff mentioned that J.J. forgot to ring the bell.”
I glared at them.
“Yeah,” Spencer said, giving me a disappointed look. “Weren’t you listening?”
Lacey examined one of her painted fingernails. “Apologize to Jazzy, please,” she said. As if they were a bunch of primaries that used too much glue by mistake.
“Sorry, Jazzy,” they boys sang.
I dripped on the dock, hating them all.
“Hey, Duff,” I said. “Read my lips.” I mouthed a few words that would mortify Mom.
Kirk appeared behind the boys. “Say again?” he asked.
Crap.
He did a quick inventory of my shivering body in the two-piece, then he raised his judgmental eyebrow. Are you ready to quit? It said to me.
I stood my ground and folded my arms across my chest.
“You guys have earned an afternoon in the cabin,” Lacey told them. “You can come out for supper.”
“What?” Liam cried out. “It was just a joke.”
Kirk only had to give a quick motion toward the lawn. Not daring to voice another complaint, they shuffled away with their shoulders slumped. But as they ran up the slope to the cabin, I couldn’t help but wonder if getting out of the activity had been the goal all along. Humiliating me was just a bonus.
I heard a cough and noticed Scotty. He ran a hand through his black hair, then stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“You too, Scotty,” Kirk said, nodding in the direction of the other three.
“But he didn’t have anything to do with it.” I looked down at Scotty. “Did you?”
“No,” he said, his voice rising at the end. “Course not.”
“Go,” Kirk ordered again. Scotty silently followed the others.
“That’s not fair,” I blurted out. But Kirk was already walking away. Alicia and Lacey continued with the lesson, probably grateful for our removal. “Wait!” I ran after him, my bare feet hitting the smooth wooden surface of the dock.
Kirk kept walking, barely glancing at me. “You can’t just punish the other three,” he said.
“Why not?” I asked, following him across the lawn.
“It’ll make it harder for Scotty to fit in.”
“Who wants to fit in with those little shits?” I reached for his arm. “Hey, hold on for a second.”
He finally stopped and looked at me. Damn those eyes. I gulped.
“All afternoon the guys will be trash talking everybody,” Kirk explained. “That’s what guys do. And if Scotty isn’t there, they won’t think of him as part of their clique.”
“Clique?”
“Trust me.” He gestured toward the cabin. The four of them were now walking together.
“Four against one,” I said under my breath.
“Ready to quit?” He teased me, raising one eyebrow. I hated that eyebrow.
I pushed my shoulders back and made my way to the dock, only because Cabin 4A was apparently a boys’ club at the moment. My feet left the grass and found the smooth wooden surface again. Kirk called out my name. I purposely walked a few more steps, thinking it was his turn to chase after me. I put a hand on my hip and slowly turned to face him.
He ran up to me but didn’t say anything right away. His eyes fell on my throat. “Your necklace,” he finally said.
“Yeah, I know, it’s distracting.”
“No…it’s gone.”
My hands flew up and felt my naked neck.
ELEVEN
I retraced my steps, scanning the grass, but it wasn’t there. I ran to the dock, searching for a glimmer of colour on the bleached-out wood.
Alicia stood up when I came back. “What is it?” she asked.
“She lost her necklace,” Kirk said. He’d followed me.
I lifted up the CPR dummies and opened every bag. I ignored their questions and searched every piece of equipment Alicia had brought down for the lesson.
“Did you have it on before you went in the water?” Lacey asked.
I froze. Yes, I did. I remember standing in this very spot touching the charm. Without a backward glance at the group, I jumped into the lake.
I swam ten metres out, halfway to the float. Now that Liam was alive and on dry ground, I could play back the rescue scene with more details. When I struggled to get his head above the water, my hands were thrashing around grabbing anything. I was sure that’s when it came off.
I dove down, pulling at the water with my hands. It was impossible to see clearly. I swam a little deeper, until there was complete blackness. I resurfaced for a few mouthfuls of air then dove again, but this time I wasn’t going to stop until I hit bottom.
Surrounded by darkening water, I searched, desperate for a flash of silver. Something hit my hand. Eels! I screamed bubbles into the water and started to kick. Wisps of eelgrass wrapped around my ankles. All I could see was blackness. I thrashed around, not even sure which way was up. My lungs burned like crazy, trying to force me to inhale.
Arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me up to the surface. The first gulp of air made me cough. It took a few more tries before I could breathe normally.
“Are you all right?” Kirk was still holding me around the waist, treading water for both of us. He pulled me over to the float. We clung to the side, catching our breath.
His hair was plastered against his face. “What were you thinking?” he asked. His chocolate eyes were huge as they searched my face, looking for any kind of sanity.
I closed my eyes and pressed my head against the ladder. “It’s very special.”
“I wouldn’t think a piece of jewelry is important enough to drown over.”
He had no idea. No one could understand how special it was. “Then you don’t know me,” I said, between breaths. “Listen, I can do this myself, I just need a flashlight and a mask.”
He shook his head. “It’ll be impossible to find.”
I let go of the ladder and tried to dive again, but he grabbed my arm. “Don’t be stupid,” he said. “It’s gone.”
I wrenched out of his grasp. “I said I don’t need your help!”
“You need to be back on shore, taking care of your cabin, not pulling death s
tunts.”
My eyes scanned the dock. Sure enough, my four boys were lined up on the porch of Cabin 4A, watching—as were most of the camp. I imagined what they must be thinking.
Kirk’s hand slipped around my elbow, and he pulled me close to the ladder again, watching me carefully. I couldn’t even look him in the eye; instead I studied the dimple in his chin. Not a lot of guys have that. “Besides,” he said, his voice became softer, “you’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you go.”
I stared down into the dark water below my feet. Somewhere down there was my necklace, resting in the eelgrass forever.
“Come on,” he said, motioning toward the beach. “You’re shaking.”
I swam ahead of him without talking. I trudged out of the water like a zombie and kept walking, ignoring everyone around me.
“Wait.” Kirk was running beside me in his soaking wet clothes. He must have jumped in after me without hesitating, not even wasting time to take off his shirt.
“Leave me alone,” I sighed. When I reached the bottom of my cabin’s steps, the boys had gone back inside. I could hear them laughing. My hand gripped the railing. I raced to the door and flung it open.
Their heads swivelled in my direction. I stood in the doorway, dripping and breathing hard. Silence fell on the room.
Finally, Spencer spoke. “Did you get in trouble too?”
They exploded with laughter.
“My necklace is gone,” was all I could say. My voice quivered at the last part. “And you little shits are to blame.”
Liam walked over to me and held his hands out by his sides. “J.J.,” he said. “I’m really sorry.” He gave me a small hug. A bit of my anger melted away; then I realized he was hugging me a little too long and that his head had found a nice place to rest on my chest right between my boobs.
“Pervert!” I pushed him away and stormed to my bedroom, slamming my door on their new bout of laughter. I ached all over and my head felt like it was full of sand. I changed into dry clothes and crawled into bed, pulling the blanket up to my chin. I guess we were all grounded to the cabin for the afternoon.