Laughing Fate

by Roxy Emilia Means

  Potter looked around for Puck and saw her sitting on the hood of his car, wearing her hoody over that sexy body, and chatting with a bunch of guys. Potter cursed when he saw it was his gang that she was talking to. His friends were womanizing bastards, what was she doing with them?

  "So what are you wearing underneath that hoody?" asked one very dead friend.

  Potter pushed his way thru the circle of guys flirting with Puck and put his arm around her waist, pulling her close.

  "Now, Brad, didn’t your mother teach you not to ask girls that?" Potter said as nicely as possible. What was screaming in his head was "Back off! Mine!", but Potter was more civilized than that.

  Potter flinched as Puck elbowed him in the ribs and jumped off the car. She glared at Potter and then turned to smile at the boys who were laughing and nudging each other.

  "Why are you guys friends with him again? He’s such a bore! For your information Brad," Puck leaned in close and whispered loudly in his ear, "I’m wearing a bikini that makes me look dang hot." Puck smirked at Potter and opened the passenger door, "Are you ready to leave?"

  Puck watched as Potter’s face turned red with satisfaction. Stupid men were all the same, once they’ve kissed you they think they own you. She’d been waiting for Potter to come back from his last minute dunk in the sea (the reason for it had not escaped her notice, it had taken all of her will power just to cool herself down) when all of his friends came up. She had been getting to know them better when Potter shoved his way to her and put a possessive arm around her. He might as well have peed on her and marked her as his territory. Even that, she could have forgiven for the sake of keeping the peace, but then he’d barked at Brad, "Back off! Mine!" and tightened his hold on her, practically dragging her on his lap. She was no man’s possession! Besides, the stupid man had a girlfriend! Had he forgotten that little fact?

  Potter jumped into the car and slammed his door. There was a nerve in his jaw twitching...interesting. Puck waved good bye to the gang and blew a kiss in Brad’s direction. The twitch in Potter’s jaw was definitely more noticeable, and it seemed as if his whole face was clenched. Maybe she had pushed him too far? She hadn’t meant to start a fight, just make a point. She noticed a vein popping out of his forehead and grew a little afraid. He wasn’t just jealous or angry, he was pissed.

  They drove in silence for awhile, Puck shooting Potter nervous glances. Just how mad was he? They were almost home when Potter turned on the radio. He surfed around a bit until he found an alternative rock station. He seemed less tense, so Puck breathed a sigh of relief and started chatting with him. She had been so afraid that she had pushed Potter too far. She smiled up at Potter, so grateful that he’d done all of this for her. He was really a great man.

  Potter glanced at Puck to find she was smiling up at him, hero worship in her eyes. What was that all about? He’d been a prick to her, and here she was smiling at him? She did not make any sense. He had been so jealous when she’d whispered in his friend’s ear. He had no claim on her at all, but he definitely didn’t want another man touching her or smelling her. She was his, damn it!

  "What?", he asked incredulously.

  "Thank you for the surf board, the lesson, the adventure...it was awesome. Thank you, Potter. I’m sorry I got so mad at you the other day. It was just a kiss, I shouldn’t have made such a big deal about it. It was a mistake, mistakes happen. I’m sorry about the kiss too, you have a girlfriend and I …I’m not available either, so we had no business kissing like that. Truce?" Puck stuck out her hand and smiled at Potter.

  Potter shook her hand, while still driving, smiling at Puck. It looked like they could still be friends then. "I’m sorry, too. I’m stupid, what can I say? I just know that I really like you. I want to be friends with you. It was killing me to think that I might never talk to you, play with you. I’m sorry, too, for overreacting today at the beach. My friends are womanizing bastards ...I just don’t want them to bother you. I’ll act better next time, I promise. As for Baby, It’s over between us, we both know it. We just don’t get along, you know? You’re right though, me and you are good as friends, I’d like to keep that. "

  Puck grinned and sat back in her chair. Potter liked her. She closed her eyes and listened to the happy humming inside of her brain, the world was good. They could be friends again and play. He liked playing with her. Puck was so happy she couldn’t stop grinning. She kept replaying what he’d said: he liked her, liked playing with her, he wanted to be friends, he was sorry. It was the most beautiful speech he could have said, because he had meant every word of it.

  Potter smiled to himself. He must have said something right, because Puck couldn’t stop grinning. She had her head resting against the seat, her eyes closed, with a huge grin pasted on her face. She was doing the cutest thing; she was humming happily to herself. Dang, she was cute! Potter pulled up into her drive way and nudged her shoulder.

  "Ok, get out."

  "Bye Potter, I’ll see you later right? Oh! And thank you again! I really mean it, I had a great time." Puck jumped out of his car, still smiling, and ran into her house.

  Chapter 6: Meet Mr. Penguin

  Puck decided that today was going to be a great day. Summer was now officially over, but the good weather hadn’t went away, thank god. The sun was shining, she didn’t have to work, and best of all Puck had a plan. She’d wanted to go for a hike for a month now; but since the mishap with Potter where she had almost gotten ran over and died, Perri had been overly protective.

  What Perri didn’t know, however, would not hurt her. Puck grinned as she packed a backpack full of essentials. She was taking bottled water, trail mix, a romance novel, Swiss army knife, and a camera (Just in case she ran into bigfoot). She threw in a power bar and then zipped up her pack and slung it over one shoulder.

  Perri was still asleep in her room. She had been sleeping in later than usual, so she wouldn’t notice Puck gone until close to noon. By then Puck would already be hiking thru the woods, enjoying her day off. She scribbled a note to Perri saying, “Don’t worry- went for hike." She left the note on the counter and walked out the door.

  One little concussion months ago and Perri thought she had to look after Puck. Who was the elder sister here? Puck had always looked after Perri, so having her little sister watching her every move was grating on her nerves. This hike was exactly what Puck needed. She had always relied on nature to calm her nerves.

  One hour later Puck was parking her jeep in the Elk Horn Trail’s parking lot. She locked the doors, waved at the wild animal warning signs and headed out at a brisk pace. Puck loved hiking. Occasionally she wished she had a hiking partner, but most people disliked going with her. So she had left Sandy behind a few times halfway up the mountain? Big Deal! And so what if there were bears and mountain lions all around, it was Sandy’s fault for wanting to turn back. Puck did not quit, it just was not in her to turn back around and admit defeat. Once Puck hit a trail, she let her inner drill Sergeant have full reign and became entirely focused on conquering the mountain.

  Puck smiled as she inhaled the fragrant mountain air. It was truly a beautiful day. The birds were chirping, the brook was babbling, and the trees were dancing in the wind. The trail started off easy, and then started climbing up the mountain. About an hour in, the trail all but disappeared as you pushed your way through over grown bushes and climbed up the side of the mountain.

  She loved the feeling she got after she pushed thru the initial feeling of exhaustion and got her second wind. It was an amazing feeling, making Puck feel like she could hike forever and not tire out. She paused to catch her breath and sip her water, she’d been hiking now for almost three hours. She was covered in sweat and burning up, it was definitely time for Skinny Meadow. It was just up ahead, a nice secluded swimming spot off the trail.

  It was Drea who first took Puck skinny dipping here. When they had first met, Puck had been slightly conservative, but Drea had quickly drawn out her wild side. They ha
d been like fire and gasoline. They had had such awesome adventures, some of them quite stupid and dangerous. Puck shook those thoughts away and concentrated on her surroundings.

  The sun was shining down on the swimming hole, making the water sparkle. Puck set her back pack down and started stripping off her clothes. It was a beautiful day and Puck refused to ruin it by dwelling in the past. She pulled off her underwear last and then skipped to the water’s edge. It was glorious to be naked in the sun, to feel it’s warmth against her skin. She peered into the water and put a toe in to test the water. It was cold, but refreshingly so, without the bite of early spring water.

  Puck dived into the water and played like a little kid. She came up for air and laughed out of pure joy. It had been more than a year since the last time she’d skinny dipped. As a teenager it had seemed so scandalous and exciting, but now Puck just found it to be relaxing. It was refreshing to feel the cold spring water against bare skin and the warmth of the sun on your back. Puck twirled and splashed water into the air, laughing as it rained down on her. Really, skinny dipping was about freedom, and what glorious freedom it was!

  She felt a nagging sense of sorrow at being here alone, but she pushed it aside. She focused on the beauty all around her, the singing birds, buzzing bees, the happy clouds floating in their own blue waters... who could be sad in such a happy place?

  She swam on her back, lazily making arm strokes, as she stared up into the sky. She started to hum softly under her breath, which quickly led to her singing at the top of her lungs a silly song about a magic toenail.

  She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear anyone approaching. One second she was all alone, singing happily, the next the meadow was filled with male laughter. Puck shrieked and sank down to her chin in water. She turned to glare at the intruders, and winced when she saw Potter’s lousy surf gang.

  Did that mean that Potter was here? Puck’s breathing became fast as she struggled to breath. Was this what hysteria felt like? She’d had hypothermia, frostbite, once she’d thought she had lyme disease, burns, concussions, but this was a first. Why were they here? No one ever hiked up here, WHY WERE THEY HERE? How much had they seen? Was it too late to duck and swim away?

  She opened her eyes, (when had she closed them? Oh, must have been during her minor freak out) and saw four laughing idiots. They had seen everything, she just knew it. She took a deep breath and decided that some false bravado would save the situation.

  "I don’t suppose one of you idiots could throw me my clothes?"

  The men just laughed and elbowed each other like little kids enjoying a good joke. THIS was why Puck hated men. She looked past them, but didn’t see Potter anywhere, thank god!

  "Ha ha ha... Puck are you naked?” called out one very stupid man. She glared at Brad, she wasn’t sure if he’d been the one to actually say it, but he was the most likely candidate. Brad was a fun loving, loud mouthed idiot, who thought that he was hot stuff. He had a nice body, thanks to genetics and surfing, dark hair that was too long and slightly messed up, and eyes the color of warm chocolate. He was good looking, but young and stupid.

  Next to him was Steve, Perri’s friend, James, the mechanic who had won some points with Puck when he’d offered to fix her jeep, and Luke, who was Dave’s cousin. All of whom were good looking, young obnoxious friends who would most likely brag about this afternoon for the rest of their lives. She yelled again for her clothes, this time adding a few choice words to add emphasis.

  "And if we don’t?" called out Brad. He was such a prick! He was the cockiest of all the men present.

  "I’ll kill you bastards! Now give me my clothes before I murder the lot of you!" Puck’s threat was met with even harder laughter , making her face turn beat red. She would have killed them right then and there if only she wasn’t naked!

  "By the way, interesting tattoo you have, Puck," called out one extremely stupid young man.

  Puck immediately saw red and any embarrassment she had once had, quickly evaporated and was replaced with anger.

  "I do not have a tattoo!"

  "But we all saw it! It’s on your butt and it’s a penguin! Wearing a top hat!"

  That was it! Puck was killing them all, naked or not! She dunk beneath the water and searched for the largest rock on the bottom of the lake that she could find. She came up, gasped for air, and hurled the rock at the group of moronic men. She allowed herself a brief moment to gloat when it hit Brad’s shoulder. His yelp of pain was like music to her ears.

  "GIVE ME MY CLOTHES NOW!", she yelled with as much death in her voice as she could manage. If they didn’t throw her clothes to her and leave in ten seconds then she was going to, so help her god, murder-

  Her train of thought was interrupted when her worst nightmare came true. ‘Oh God, kill me now,’ she thought as she dunked underneath the water. Maybe he hadn’t seen her, maybe they would all just decide to leave with out saying another word, maybe her prayers would finally be answered and a gigantic tidal wave would come and sweep her away to safety...

  "What’s going on here?" came a voice that Puck recognized too well. She heard him question his buddies about what was going on. She mentally counted in her head the seconds...ten seconds...twenty seconds...would they never go away? Puck lost count of the seconds, unable to focus on anything but the need to breath.

  Puck could feel her heart beat, surely not a good thing, her chest hurt with the need to breathe, her head feeling like it was going to pop. Her whole body was filling with the urgency to take in air, but Potter was out there. There was no way she was going to let Potter see her like this. Surely in just a few more seconds they would leave...how long had she been under? ‘Just a few more seconds...,’ Puck told herself, ‘and everything will be just fine.’

  "Puck for God’s sake! Come on out before you bloody well drown yourself!"

  ****

  Potter and Dave had fallen behind because Dave had dared him to climb a tree. It had been a tall tree with skinny branches that didn’t start until about six feet high. They had both stopped to climb the tree just to prove that they could, letting the group go on up ahead of them.

  Potter had called in sick today because of the nice weather. He smiled as he inhaled the clean mountain air. He loved hiking; it made him feel like an explorer- mapping out undiscovered territories. Of course, he’d been on this hike many times, but a fellow could still dream. He was an adventurer at heart and hiking spoke to his soul, allowing him to be an intrepid explorer.

  The best thing of all was that there were no seagulls up here, only bears and mountain lions! Potter grinned when he saw his friends gathered around the lake, laughing. What had gotten into them?

  "I told you I could climb that tree!," crowed Dave, who was just a step behind him.

  Potter frowned as he drew nearer. Something was wrong here; his spidey sense was going off as if there was a (gulp) seagull...or Puck around. Something was wrong, he knew it.

  "Did you hear me? Or are you growing deaf in your old age?" Dave joked as he nudged Potter.

  "What’s going on here?" Potter asked ignoring Dave. His friends were gathered together laughing hysterically and Brad was holding his shoulder as if it hurt. He glanced around just to make sure it wasn’t a freak sea gull attack. Nope, no seagulls. Although he did sense something...

  "Hey, are these clothes? Who’s are these?," asked Dave, holding up a pair of tiny superman underwear.

  The men turned to face Potter and started to talk all at once. They sounded like boys in a candy shop.

  "She’s in the water!", "She’s buck naked!", "She hit me with a rock!", "Threatened to kill us all!" "Did you see her tattoo?", "She’s got a penguin on her butt!", “It really hurt!”, "SHE"S NAKED!"

  Potter was starting to get a bad feeling about this. Who else would be crazy enough to skinny dip in broad day light, threaten to kill people, and throw rocks at people? Potter sighed. It was always Puck. Besides he recognized those underwear. Potter walke
d to the side of the lake, and sure enough there was a silhouette of a girl underneath the water.

  "Come on, Puck, come on out of there." He frowned when he saw her shake her head under the water. Dang fool woman was going to drown herself in order to save her pride. He had at first thought that out of irritation, but the more Potter thought about it the more it seemed a possibility.

  Puck was accident prone, foolhardy, and stubborn...all of which made Potter believe that she could actually drown today. The thought terrified Potter and he wondered how long she’d been under there. Stupid girl was going to give him a heart attack! He could feel his blood rushing with adrenaline and his hands get sweaty with panic. What if she was drowning right now?

  "All of you! Leave now!” he barked at his friends. He glared at Dave and yelled, "You’re a bloody married man! Stop staring at Puck!" He physically pushed his friends towards the trail, ignoring their wounded expressions.

  "Puck, for god’s sake! Come on out before you bloody well drown yourself!" Potter yelled as he gathered her clothes and set them on a rock within hand’s reach of the water. He waited until he saw her head pop up and then turned around to give her privacy. He could hear her gasping for breath; the sound chilled his blood as he thought of everything that could have happened to her.

  "You won’t turn around?" she asked once she got her breath back.

  Potter felt a tick in his jaw. There was something about Puck that made him want to strangle her...

  "No, now come out before anyone else comes by here. What made you think this was a good idea? If the wrong sort of man stumbled upon you swimming naked you could have been hurt!"

  "Your stupid friends wouldn’t throw me my clothes!"

  "Why were they off in the first place?!"

  "I don’t have to explain myself to you! I was just fine until your friends came along!"