End of the Line

“Lake! Please, oh please, Lauren, let’s go swimming!”

  Sean was to the point of whining as he tried to get Lauren to ally with him and go swimming on this somewhat warm fall day. He let his eyes grow big as he tried the puppy face on his sister.

  “You can’t swim!”

  I had let out a snort of laughter at this. Lauren turned to glare at me. She really knew how to narrow those eyes of hers.

  “Come on, Lauren, please!” Paige begged as she joined forces with Sean.

  They were quite a tag team.

  “We don’t know what’s in the water!” Lauren reasoned.

  “I can tell you what’s in the water,” I nearly chuckled.

  I whipped off my shirt as I ran out toward the water and threw my pants to the side. I attempted to not to trip as I jumped out of the leg holes. I made sure I created the biggest splash as I could as I hopped into the water. When I came up for air I had a grin on my face as the two were jumping up and down pleading even more to join me.

  “I’m in the water! That’s what!”

  “You’re a bad influence,” she muttered as she rolled her eyes.

  “Hey, I’m no Prince Charming.” I laughed. “They never get to have any fun!”

  I swam closer to her so I could splash her. She squeaked as the water hit her.

  “What was that for?”

  “Come in.”

  “You’re not helping!”

  “You have to have fun every once in awhile.”

  She put a foot in the water.

  “It’s freezing!” She squealed, withdrawing her foot out of the water the second her toes touched the water.

  “You’re such a girl!”

  “If you haven’t noticed, I am a girl!”

  She placed her hands on her hips as she debated whether to go in or not. I saw the flicker of challenge in her eyes. I was more than aware of the fact that Lauren was a girl. There wasn’t a moment that I could forget that.

  “I’m not wearing a bathing suit,” she added, grasping for excuses.

  “And that’s a problem?” I asked with a smirk.

  “There are kids here, you pervert!” yelled a fuming Cole.

  “Put my shirt on then if you don’t want yours wet.”

  “They can’t swim,” she added another justification.

  “We can stay in the shallow part or have them on our backs. Come on, just come in and swim!”

  She rolled her eyes as she thought.

  “Hold on a second.”

  She grabbed my black sleeveless shirt then went behind a tree. Shortly afterward Lauren came out with the shirt ending a little above mid-thigh. I walked out of the water and grabbed Sean’s hand as he was already in his bathing suit. Holding both of his hands, I swung him around so his feet were in the water and he giggled.

  “Me next!” Paige shrieked, excitedly jumping in the ankle deep water.

  I helped Sean climb on my back so his arms were around my neck. I held out my hands for Paige who hopped up and took a hold of mine. Her hands disappeared in mine. I swung her around a little then put both down. I was a human jungle gym.

  “Why aren’t you guys coming in?” I eyed the rest of the group still standing on the bank.

  Lauren rolled her eyes, then jumped into the water. She swam over to where we were, but she made sure that she kept the water at her shoulders in a poor attempt to hide herself from me.

  Jill took off her shirt and pants just to show off that the two little ones weren’t the only ones with bathing suits.

  “Was I the only one who didn’t think of going swimming at the party?” Lauren shrieked.

  “Yup.” Jill smiled as she did a cannon ball, which caused us to laugh.

  Lauren put her arms over her head as a poor attempt of a shield.

  “Aaron what’s that on your back?”

  Paige started to poke the tattoo. I could feel her fingers tracing the black ink as her other arm still clung around my neck.

  “Um, that’s a tattoo.”

  “Cool!” Sean spoke with excitement seeping through.

  He jumped behind me to get a glimpse.

  Lauren raised an eyebrow at me as I kept my back from her. I loved my tattoo and it took up a good portion of my right shoulder blade. I didn’t want to show her because she’d ask what it meant and I still have absolutely no idea. I just thought that the design appearance seemed cool, so I got it done. My dad took me to get it. He said he’d prefer that instead of me going with my friends and risk using an artist who used dirty needles and stuff. I didn’t care as long as I got the tattoo. My dad said it would be our secret. Mom never found out. She would’ve buried us both in the backyard if she ever knew.

  The ink was black and shaped like a sideways wave leading up to a swirl. The whirl had waves connected to it that led away from the main part of the design. At the top, there were two wavy lines going up with three ends facing right and three ending left. There were bat-like wings on each side of the stem. My tattoo was odd, but rather interesting, and unlike anything I had ever seen before.

  Lauren started to swim around the water, pretending I wasn’t there, which made me wonder if she could see the tattoo as she swam around. She just kept her eyes on Paige and Sean the entire time who were still climbing on me, then quickly glanced to make sure Mandy was alright with the other two. Finally, we took a day off from reality and had fun in the water like normal kids.

  When the sky started to get darker, I decided that it was time to get out of the water. “It’s time to get out, I think. So we have time to dry off before it’s completely dark. The nights are on the colder side now.”

  The two little ones started to whine, but we were stronger than they were and could lift them out. Everyone came out of the water, and when the air hit them, they began to shiver. We found pieces of wood from fallen trees. I put them in a pile and took out the glossy, black lighter from the pocket of my jeans. I set the wood near some rocks, then lit a fire, leaves quickly turning into ash; I wondered how much lighter fluid I had left in it. They all leaned near the flames as Lauren kept them from walking too close.

  I watched the blaze dance on Lauren’s face and I stopped myself from getting closer to her. I grabbed my jeans and tugged them on when my boxers were dry from the swim. I sat down near the fire as the others slowly changed into their regular clothes. Lauren was the last to arrive, since she was helping the younger two like an overprotective mother even if it was clear they didn’t need the aid. Then she, herself went to go change, leaving the little ones with us. When she came back, she threw my shirt back at me then sat not far from me as the two little ones behind us started to fall asleep.

  Lauren held her hands out near the fire to warm them as she laughed at something Jill said, her fingers wiggled.

  “You want to know what?” asked Jill.

  “What?” Lauren asked.

  “I guess I didn’t need to do the summer reading then freak out about it. I didn’t need to waste my time with all those stupid notes!”

  Lauren gave a weak smile. “I guess I didn’t need to spend my summer looking at colleges.” Lauren eyes seemed to be glued to the flames now.

  “I didn’t even bother starting either.” I chuckled.

  Lauren just shook her head. My insides jumped as a small smile formed on her pink lips that glowed with the moving lights. Right then and there, I made a pact with myself. I couldn’t let myself get close to her. I wasn’t going to let myself fall in love with the odd girl from school. She really wasn’t out of the ordinary. She was nice, caring and just about everything that was different from the majority of school (which were the fashion and society worshipers). Lauren didn’t care what others said about her because she liked herself the way she was.

  I turned to look at Lauren one last time for the night as the flames died down. Her blue eyes locked with mine. The goal was to survive—not to fall in love. There was a silence in the air minus the slight crackling of the fire. With a saddened heart I
knew I had to push her away in order for us to survive.