by Bri Izzo
As I change into dry, clean clothes, I brainstorm ideas for things we can do this weekend that will require the three of us to be a team again. We just need to remember what it’s like to be carefree kids, us against the world.
“Is it supposed to rain all day tomorrow, too?” I ask when I walk downstairs into the basement where all the kids are watching TV and playing cards. I actually love that we don’t have wifi at the cabin because it forces us to do things. The cable TV is for rainy days like this; otherwise it’s hardly ever used.
“I don’t think so,” Tiffany answers chipperly.
“Then we’re doing a summer olympics. Two teams of four,” I announce. “Me, Alex, Savannah, and Buzz are one team. Benny, Baylee, Sam, and Tiffany are another.”
“Swarrocket Olympics!” Tiffany exclaims, clearly just as excited as me to get out of the house and do something fun. Her combining our last names is a little ridiculous, but I figure it must be a fucking girl thing because Baylee, Savannah, and Buzz all share in her laughter.
“Great. Go make a sign to alert the media,” I suggest sarcastically.
Then I feel a nudge into my side. I turn around to find Buzz wandering around the room behind me, and she whispers, “Be nice,” with a motherly glare. That’s the vibe she’s trying to give off at least. But I think her devilish eyes are sexy as hell. As she bends over to rummage through a stack of movies, I have to look away or else I’ll be caught staring at her ass. She totally did that on purpose.
“We’re watching this,” Buzz decides, configuring all the electronics to watch a movie. When the menu for Final Destination starts playing, all the girls but her groan.
“Why do we even have that movie?” Baylee whines, bringing her quilt tighter around her body. She’s the youngest one in the Ferrari family, two grades younger than Buzz, but she isn’t the baby of our group even though she acts like it sometimes. My sister Savannah is the youngest one. To Baylee’s advantage, Benny happens to be sitting behind her on the couch, and as soon as she expresses being frightened he slides behind her and wraps his arms around her. She instantly releases her tense shoulders and leans back into him.
And the weirdest part is that no one fucking says anything. I can’t be the only one who saw that, can I? He’s four years older than her. He’s going to be a sophomore and she’s going to be in fucking seventh grade. How the hell is Alex totally cool about this but he can’t fathom me and Buzz together when we’re only a year apart? Also, Benny totally looks like Alex, Baylee’s fucking brother. This is disgusting on so many levels.
“Benny will protect you,” Tiffany affirms, moving closer to Sam. What the hell is going on? Why is she condoning this soon-to-be-illegal couple? Also why is everyone pairing up because we’re watching a scary movie? Whatever. Tiffany and Sam together is a typical pairing since they’re in the same grade; no one ever questions them. They always bicker at each other, but when it comes time to pair up for things, they’re each other’s go-to’s. Benny and I never thought it was significant enough to fight over, unlike me and Alex regarding me and Buzz. Which now that I think about it makes total sense since neither of us are in the couple at hand. Obviously I’m going to fight for something that I want.
Alex is comfortably sitting on a recliner while Tiffany and Sam are on the floor below the foot of one of the couches. Savannah sits next to Benny who has Baylee between his legs. Savannah is even younger than Baylee, but the look Benny has in his eyes when he looks at Savannah is much more brotherly and nonchalant than when he looks at Baylee. Alex needs to watch the fuck out for this. But I can’t worry about it at the moment. They aren’t my siblings, and I’m not even sure what I’m seeing is really what I’m seeing. I’m too worried about the last person finding a spot to sit for the movie: Buzz. With everyone else pairing up the way they are, they’re leaving me and Buzz to be together. And I’m pretty sure everyone in the room knows it. I know she isn’t scared to watch the movie; if she was she wouldn’t have picked it. But it’s storming and everyone else is fucking paired off, so after she hits play on the DVD player and is walking back to find somewhere to sit, I silently glare at her in hopes of her reading my mind. I’m sitting on the smaller couch behind the view of everyone else in the room panicking that I’m going to miss out on this golden opportunity to be close to Buzz without being reamed out later.
Luckily Buzz and I are always on the same game plan even without speaking, so she comes and curls up next to me. To have a friendship like this at age sixteen, I’m incredibly lucky. It doesn’t even matter that we aren’t dating; we fucking understand each other and like to just be together. It sucks that I have to hide any signs of happiness from my facial expression just in case anyone turns around to watch us; it almost kills me. She gives me a small close-mouthed grin as she leans into my side, and I feel her mold perfectly into me like we’re wet clay. Needing to give her something else besides just the invitation to sit by me, I reach around her body and clasp my hand over hers, intertwining our fingers and using them to pull her top half closer to me. I just can’t get her fucking close enough. Within minutes she’s resting her head on my shoulder and nuzzling into me to get more comfortable. I’m pretty sure she isn’t even watching the movie with the way she’s lying on me. I’m trying to watch the stupid movie so that I will be distracted from the heat she’s making me feel, but I’m failing. I can’t tell you one person’s name in the movie. All I know is that Baylee fucking hates it and has been practically wailing into Benny’s chest for the first fifteen minutes. I try to convince my body to forget Buzz is pretty much sitting on me but then she moves slightly, reminding me of how much I want her in that exact spot. When her head eventually drops to my lap so she can lay down, I grab the pillow beneath my arm and quickly throw it under her head so she can’t feel me get excited. Damn her. I lean over her and grab the nearest blanket that’s on the floor to fan out over her legs. When she looks at me with those amazing baseball field green eyes, God I just want to kiss her all night. But I can’t, so I just silently look back at her while running my fingertips along her back and feeling her flinch when I hit a certain ticklish spot. I’m not trying to tickle her, but she doesn’t know that and it’s fucking cute to watch her feel my touch.
By the time the movie ends everyone is passed out. Savannah lies next to Tiffany since her and Sam split partway through the movie so they wouldn’t end up sleeping next to each other. Benny has an arm around Baylee, which is just slightly fucking weird to me, but Alex is sprawled out on his chair and doesn’t notice. He also doesn’t witness me slide down on the couch with Buzz squeezed next to me. We barely fit on the width of it, but it just means she has to sleep half on top of me, which is fine with me. She pulls the blanket up to her neck like a cape before resting her cheek on my upper chest, creeping onto my shoulder.
“Sky, I’m not sure this is a good idea,” she whispers ever so quietly and glances in Alex’s direction across the room. I barely even heard her, but apparently my arousal heard her loud and clear. There’s nothing I can do to stop it; the girl I’ve been falling for and have been best friends with for years is lying on top of me about to fall asleep with me. It doesn’t get much better than this.
“Are you comfortable?” I ask her firmly in a deep, quiet voice.
“Yes,” she answers.
“Then it’s a good idea,” I argue, wrapping an arm across her back. Feeling her body touching mine and her hand graze my chest and abs makes it impossible to fall asleep. I just want to lie awake like this for a few hours. Finally I decide to kiss the top of her head and hint to her to stop moving and go to sleep. “Good night, B.”
“Good night,” she mumbles, and I watch as her eyes slowly close while her body grows heavier into a state of rest.
When I wake up in the morning everyone is gone. Looking around the giant room, all I see is the sun shining in as it rises over the lake. I’m the only one in the basement, and I know the moment I go upstairs for breakfast that I’ll receive
evil glares. I put on my “fuck you” face and approach the kitchen where a buffet of food is scattered on top of the counter. Alex is still grabbing food, so I hop in line behind him and await my punishment.
“How’d you sleep last night?” he asks me. I can’t tell if he’s fucking with me, waiting for me to say something about Buzz sleeping with me on the couch.
“Fine,” I reply. I don’t want to risk anything by giving more details than necessary. Maybe Buzz woke up before him and he didn’t even see us.
“I can’t believe you chose the smallest couch. You should’ve moved onto the floor,” he states. Did he really not see Buzz sleeping with me? When did Buzz leave me and how did I not notice?
“I passed out as soon as the movie ended. I was too lazy to move,” I tell him. We move to the table with everyone else where Baylee is still talking about how scared she is of the movie. Benny keeps playfully responding to her as if they have all these inside jokes from watching it and no one else was there. I look at Alex to see if he’s picking up on the same flirtatious vibe as me, but his head is down focusing on his food. After nudging him ever so slightly, I turn my head and bulge my eyes out for him to pay attention to Baylee and Benny.
“The villain in the movie was death; how stupid,” Benny laughs, flashing his bright smile in the clear direction of Baylee.
“That’s terrifying! They dodged the plane crash yet all end up dying anyways in the weirdest ways,” she exclaims.
“I’m never watching another scary movie with you, Bay-bee,” he smirks. And then he winks at her. He fucking winks at her in front of me and Alex and everyone as if it’s just totally normal for an almost-sixteen year old to be hitting on a twelve year old with a gross pet name.
Alex twists his neck and glares at me, and for the first time in a while it isn’t because he’s mad at me. “Did you just see that?” he whispers to me as Baylee, Benny, Sam, and Tiffany keep the conversation at the table going.
“Yes. That’s why I hit you,” I tell him. On the other side of me, Buzz taps my leg, which makes me jump slightly in surprise. “What?” I ask her quietly.
“You two saw that, right?” she asks me, looking at me for a second and then her brother for backup. Obviously she missed Alex asking me the same thing a second ago. She was probably so shocked that it delayed her response.
“Yeah, unfortunately,” I mumble. Alex and Buzz are giving me the exact same look. It’s almost creepy because it makes me see their resemblance that has grown away after hanging out with them so much. But I’m pretty sure it’s the same face I made last night when I saw Benny wrap his arms around Baylee, which means one thing: Alex, Buzz, and I are finally all on the same team again.
11 Bianca Ferrari
After almost throwing up at the breakfast table watching Benny and Baylee go at it like nobody else is noticing them, Skyler and I attempt to clean the inside and outside of his Jeep. We give up after an hour and then run down to the lake to set up the Swarrocket Olympics that will include kayaking, jet-skiing, swimming, and running.
“So, you realize you put Benny and Bay on the same team today, right?” I sneer at Skyler as we carry a kayak out of the shed. Everyone else is still inside changing into their swimsuits and putting on sunscreen.
“That was before they started this shit,” he snaps. He’s just as unhappy about seeing them flirt with each other as Alex and me, maybe even more, which is weird.
“What are we gonna do about it?” I wonder, thinking that he probably has a plan stirring in his head like always.
“We can’t split them up now,” Skyler shakes his head as we drop the kayak on the edge of the grass before the water line. “We just have to catch them and make sure they know we see them.”
“That’s very passive of you,” I note, brushing the dirt from the kayak off my hands and into the water before walking back towards the shed to grab another kayak. My eyes are on my dirty hands, so I barely see in time that Skyler hasn’t moved his feet. Towering over me, he devours me with his eyes like I’m a giant bowl of mac and fucking cheese sitting in front of him. I probably have the same look on my face with his abs perfectly showcased below his pecs and bulging arms. His smolder isn’t helping my cause either. “What?” I shakily ask. He can’t kiss me right now… someone will definitely see us.
“Do you want the focus on them or us?” he questions me in a passionate tone. He’s going to make me melt right there, just steps from the cool lake water. My breath catches for a moment, so I can’t respond. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You take my breath away, too.”
Ahhh. I just can’t handle him looking at me that way or calling me sweetheart or being shirtless and starting to sweat. Before I even know what I’m doing, I run the opposite direction from him onto the dock and dive off the end of it to swim out into the lake. I want to stay underwater for as long as possible, but my heart is racing, and I already can’t breathe. It isn’t long before I poke my head out. Luckily I swam far enough that I’m on the other side of our water trampoline and Skyler can’t see me. I grab onto a handle on the side of it as I take deep breaths.
“You better not wear yourself out so bad that we lose today!” I hear Skyler yell from the dock.
“I have to pitch on Monday; I can’t kayak,” I tell Skyler, Rex, and Savannah as we huddle to decide our game plan for the Olympics.
“We can’t change the rules for you, princess,” Skyler snarks. “Everyone has to do everything.”
His little sister next to him giggles at the ridiculous nickname; she’s totally fangirling.
“I’ll be sure to tell my coach that it’s your fault then,” I object.
“You’ll be fine. Fucking relax,” he sighs. Even through his reflective sunglasses where I see my clear reflection I feel his playful glare.
“Bianca, you go first in kayaking and then last in swimming. You can rest in between,” Rex decides, glancing over at the huddle with Benny and Baylee.
“Stop looking at them. They’re a distraction,” I demand of him. “Wait until they do something, then get mad.”
“Do what?” Savannah naively asks. Unfortunately this isn’t the time or place to explain their disturbing relationship. Maybe in two years at Benny’s court hearing would be more appropriate.
“I have to watch them to see if they’re going to do something, genius,” he snaps, rolling his eyes.
“Both of you, stop!” Skyler exclaims. This makes Benny and Baylee glance over at us, but I know Sky is just talking to me and Rex.
“See? Proof,” Rex points out that they’re not innocent and they know it.
“Okay, I agree. But we still need to focus on our game plan if we want to beat them,” I lower the tension in my voice.
“The jet-skis only ride two. You and Skyler are a good pair, so you guys can go first. Then me and Savannah will go,” Rex directs us. You and Skyler are a good pair. I peek to see Skyler’s reaction, but all he does is lick his lips. There isn’t even a slight hint at them turning upward or his eyebrows moving. I question why he isn’t more surprised than me considering he is the one pushing this on Rex so much when he isn’t even close to budging on his stance.
We easily beat Benny, Baylee, Tiffany, and Sam in each event that takes place, and it feels good to be a team with my two boys again. Just when I think we’re going to be bored all afternoon, Skyler suggests we play Capture the Flag as the final event. Playing only in the lake makes the game more interesting, but in reality we’re just sweating from running around all day and want to be in the water. Rex hides a bandana near the edge of the lake on a tree branch, and we split off into our Plan A: every man for themselves to try to find the other team’s flag - not very strategic if you ask me. Swimming on the surface is easily heard and gives us away, so I dive below and swim towards the water trampoline. Smoothly I pop my head up when the trampoline is directly above me so essentially I’m inside of it.
And apparently Skyler has the same idea.
“What are you do
ing?” I mouth to him so no one can hear me.
“Waiting to save your ass when you mess this up,” he whispers angrily. I’m appalled he would say such a thing; if anything his little sister will mess it up.
“In case you forgot, I’m pretty good at being invisible and sneaking around,” I banter, rolling my eyes at him.
“B, I’m fucking kidding,” he tells me, his sigh echoing under the trampoline. He quietly swims over to the opposite side to tread water next to me.
“What are you doing now?” I whine. And I feel a hand caress my side. “Sky,” I say nervously.
“What?” he replies obliviously. If he’s not touching me, then who’s hand is this? I swat it away and watch Skyler’s eyes grow in concern. “What was that?”
“I don’t know; something touched me. I thought it was you,” I explain. It’s too dark to see anything in the water, so for all I know a piece of seaweed grazed my skin.
“You’d know if I touched you, sweetheart,” he states, allowing no emotion to shine through. He likes to let his words do all the work while his face remains stern. This time though I know it’s him who grabs around my waist because all of our bodies are touching. His wet lips intrigue me into leaning closer but then I pull back once I realize what I’m doing. And he follows me.
“Sky,” I acknowledge timidly. I love that he's holding me, but we're in the middle of a game with our siblings who are not fond of us being together. If one of them finds us like this, we'll screw up the whole weekend after we finally have Rex back on our team.