Holly rubbed suntan lotion on herself, every now and then and glanced down the beach, wondering if Mav was ever going to show. Maybe he’d changed his mind about coming, perhaps he considered it too much like a date, rather than just friends hanging out.
Her head was a mess. It didn’t help that she was lightheaded from the screwdriver either. She hoped she didn’t say or do anything stupid like she did the last time Jacqui had convinced her to drink that RTD. What really troubled her though was that she couldn’t get Mav out of her mind and it frustrated her that she couldn’t. Sure, he had always been her friend, but now she yearned for something more. She couldn’t figure how one slightly heroic act could change her so much. And now all she could worry about was that he didn’t feel the same way about her.
She reached for her cup of Screwdriver. If it wasn’t for her worries she would have been very reluctant to touch it at all, but right now she needed something to soothe her nerves so drank some more.
Fifteen minutes ticked by and in that time, she drank another two cups of Screwdriver. It relaxed her, but at the same time made it even harder to think straight. The group who had been swimming came back and one of the boys sad down beside her and tried to engage her in conversation. ‘So Holly, what do you think of Te Arawa so far?’
She knew she’d heard his name mentioned but for the life of her couldn’t recall what it was, although wasn’t even interested in finding out. ‘It’s fine, Ronald’ she said, without enthusiasm.
‘Umm, my name is Herman.’
She nearly spat out a mouthful of Screwdriver. ‘Herman?’ Then she remembered her and her friends laughing about his name earlier that week. ‘Oh yeah. The guy whose parents really hated him.’ She laughed. She normally wouldn’t have joked about a person’s name like that in front of them but just couldn’t help it. Perhaps it was the alcohol in her orange juice, which had broken away some of her inhibitions?
‘Umm…’ Herman’s cheeks reddened. ‘I don’t think they hated me. They just liked the name for some reason. You’re old friends of Jacqui, right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I’ve never seen you around. You live in Akato, right?’
Holly couldn’t help but giggle when she thought of something else funny. ‘Is your last name Munster?’
‘No, it’s not.’
‘Oh.’ She released another fit of giggles.
‘Ha ha,’ said Herman and smiled wryly. ‘There’s always someone who comes up with that joke.’
‘Oh no, I made an old joke.’
‘I’m afraid you did.’
‘Damn.’
Herman studied her for a few faces, the wry smile still on his face. ‘I gotta say, Holly… you look really hot in that bikini.’
Holly didn’t reply. Even the desire to joke and make fun of him died. She suddenly felt like putting a towel around herself so that he wouldn’t be able to gawk at her.
‘So err…’ the boy continued.
Two other figures appeared, walking along the sand towards them. When Holly saw who it was she gasped in delight. ‘Mav!’ At last, he was here. She was about to rise to her feet, but paused when she saw Jacqui peer over at her with contempt. It reminded her to stay cool. She didn’t want Jacqui thinking she was going all ditzy over a guy. ‘You’re here!’ she said as he drew closer, Pete alongside him.
Herman sighed and went back to his towel where a couple of the other boys sat. Holly was glad to be free of him.
‘What did you say?’ Mav asked, on reaching them.
‘I said, you’re here!’
His jaw dropped and eyes widened. He jerked his head from one direction to the next. ‘Well, what do you know? So I am!’ He grinned. ‘I was wondering where I was there for a moment.’
‘Why did you bring him?’ Jacqui pointed at Pete.
‘I don't know. Why did you bring your personality?’
Jacqui glared at Mav, but didn’t reply.
‘Join the party,’ Ginge invited them in a friendly tone.
‘Bit of a risk for you isn’t it, Cook?’ Sheep said in a rather surly tone of voice.
‘Why?’
‘A shark might mistake you for a lump of seaweed.’
‘I thought sharks were meat eaters, Sheep?’ Ginge said.
Pete didn’t seem too concerned with the ridicule. He sat with Mav beside Holly and smiled broadly at her. ‘Need some lotion rubbed on your back?’
Holly delivered him a weird look and was about to say “Not likely!”, but then noticed the disgusted look on Jacqui’s face, so figured something a lot more harsh was in order. She narrowed her eyes. ‘Rack off, Pete! Why don’t you go get a life? Why would I want a weasely idiot like you touching me?’
She immediately felt bad about it, so looked away so she wouldn’t have to see his reaction.
‘Yeah Cook, get a life!’ Jacqui added, with a scowl on her face. ‘Why you’d ever think that a class act like Holly would want a dork like you rubbing suntan lotion on her, I have no idea.’
Holly still felt bad having spoken so meanly to Pete, but pushed the feelings of guilt aside and turned towards Mav who studied her carefully. She figured he must have thought she was awful, talking to his friend like that. ‘Actually, Mav...’ Holly said suddenly feeling very bold. ‘I was hoping that – you know - you’d do the honours.’
Some of the other girls oohed and aahed and friendly teasing came in the form of encouragement.
‘Go for it, Holly.’
‘Way to go, Hol!’
‘Robinson vs… what’s his name again?’
Holly definitely couldn’t look at Mav now and covered her face with her T-shirt.
Jacqui snickered. ‘What’s the big deal? It’s just sun tan lotion.’
Holly felt the T-shirt pull gently from her head and her eyes met Mav’s as he nestled down beside her and smiled warmly.
She couldn’t help but giggle. ‘God, I hate them sometimes.’
He just laughed.
‘So come on then, Mavvy.’ She handed him the bottle. She felt empowered as she did it and the embarrassment she’d felt a few seconds earlier disappeared. ‘Or are you afraid you might get girl germs?’
Mav chuckled. ‘Not at all.’
She continued to stare into his eyes. He really did have nice eyes. They were hazel, full of life and he had the most alluring long eyelashes. She loved long eyelashes on a guy. He had certainly changed over the last year or so. He had always been a skinny kid, but now he had filled out a bit.
She relaxed as he got behind her and began to rub the lotion into her back. It felt so good. His hands were soft and gentle and she still had that lightheaded feeling from the drink. She swallowed some more from her cup. She couldn’t help but notice Pete sitting there a few feet away, peering at Mav. There was something in his eye that bothered her, a hint of malevolence. She would expect that he might look at her that way, the way she had spoken to her, but not Mav. Perhaps it was simply jealousy, that Mav had been picked to rub suntan lotion on her while he had been rejected.
She decided to ignore him and just enjoy the pleasure of having the lotion rubbed into her skin. She closed her eyes. ‘I’m glad you came, Mav. I was starting to get bored. That freak Herman Munster was trying to chat me up.’
‘Oh oh,’ Mav said in an amused tone. ‘Sounds like you don’t want to be talked to. I’d better shut up.’
‘Oh it’s ok, you hit on… you can talk to me.’
‘I’m honoured.’
‘Don’t be. It’s just me, Holly Robinson remember?’
‘Well how about some small talk then? They say it’s gonna be fine weather all day long today. It certainly is looking that way. I’m guessing the temperature must be somewhere around 26 degrees.’
Holly couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Mav, I do not want to talk about the weather. How about something more interesting? Like Mr Reaper’s office being trashed. I couldn’t believe it when they announced it in assembly yesterday morning. He must have left
it unlocked otherwise how would anyone get in there?’
‘It would seem that way, but of course Mr Reaper won’t admit that he left his door unlocked.’
‘I’d love to know who did it. They deserve a medal.’
Mav chuckled. ‘Well let’s just hope the Reaper doesn’t find out who it is. I’d hate to see those dudes get into trouble.’
Mav finished off his job and rose to his feet. Holly opened her eyes and gazed up at him wishing he could stay and continue massaging her.
‘I’m going over there to swim.’ He pointed to a more dangerous part of the beach, a part that was known for its strong undertow.
‘What?’ Holly peered across with concern. ‘By yourself?’
‘Yeah, nothing to worry about. Pete here completed a survival certificate in swimming a few years back. If anything happened to me, which it won’t, he’ll be there to help.’
‘That’s right.’ Pete smiled.
Holly found the claim very hard to believe and couldn’t help but feel Mav was being a little gullible. ‘But you know you shouldn’t go out there. It’s dangerous.’
‘I’m a strong swimmer,’ Mav assured her. ‘I’ve been out there before.’
‘I wish you’d stay in the safe area.’
‘Don’t worry about me. If I get caught in a rip... well, I’ll either get dragged out to sea or I’ll manage to swim to shore. If I get back to shore, there’s no need to worry. If I get dragged out to sea, I’ll either get rescued or drown. If I get rescued, there’s no need to worry. And if I drown... well then, it’s too late to worry, isn’t it?’ He rose to his feet and jogged off along the beach.
‘He’s mad!’ Holly stared after him, not sure what to do.
‘That’s old Mav for you,’ Pete said.
Holly couldn’t help notice that his hands quivered a little; as if worried he might really be called upon to rescue Mav, then it would soon become obvious he wasn’t as talented as he claimed.
Everybody watched as Mav dived into the water and swam out. Holly climbed to her feet, feeling very uncomfortable with Mav’s decision. ‘You know, I should go and make sure he’s all right.’ She stumbled for balance. The drink had really begun to affect her equilibrium and she decided she was definitely not going to drink anymore.
‘He’ll be okay,’ Sheep said. ‘It’s not that dangerous out there. We can always go in after him if he gets into trouble.’
‘I think I’ll go in too.’
Pete sat bolt upright. ‘Wait! I’ll go down. Just in case. After all, I’m the one with the survival certificate.’
‘No, I’ll go. I know first aid. Just in case he - you know -cuts himself on the rocks... or...’
‘Mouth to mouth resuscitation,’ Laura Stott called out.
They all burst out laughing.
‘The kiss of life,’ said Mandy Evans.
Holly ran down to the beach and plunged into the ocean. She gritted her teeth as the chill of the cool water engulfed her, but she didn’t waste time trying to become accustomed to the temperature, she simply pushed forward and swam out in the direction of Mav. He was out deep and it was hard to say whether he had seen her enter the water. She glanced back to see Pete walking across the sand and stones, heading towards the beach too. Turning her head back, she saw Mav wrestling with the waves, but he didn’t seem to notice she was there.
Her head felt dizzy. Things became a little blurred.
The water got deep very quickly and Holly began to regret following him out. The waves were rough and they pulled at her, trying to drag her under. She found herself paddling in the water, unable to touch the bottom and the current dragged her deeper. She could swim, but the waves continued to crash over her, showing her no respite.
Deciding she had bitten off more than she could chew, she attempted to swim back in, but no matter how much effort she put into her strokes, she wasn’t getting any closer to the shore. She caught a glimpse of Pete standing there on the shore line, but he just had a blank look on his face.
She struggled some more, in no way wanting to have to be rescued by someone like Pete, but again it was in vain. Another wave crashed over her and she got a mouth full of sea water, causing her to choke violently. Another wave bore down upon her.
She had no choice now. She knew she was in trouble. ‘Help me!’
* * *