Oh, hell. I had to throw up.
That’s what happens when you steal a six-pack from your dad at the age of sixteen. You act stupid, puke your guts out, and thoroughly embarrass yourself. I was about to run for the bushes to heave up my guts when my buddy patted me on the back. “Who’s that?” he asked.
“That’s the squirrel I’m going to marry,” I said.
He laughed. “Squirrel?”
“Girl,” I corrected, but it came out on a belch. “I meant girl.”
“When did she get here?” Fred asked.
“Today, I guess. Cabin 114 got rented for the summer at the last minute.” My parents owned a bunch of cabins on a lake, and we lived in our year-round house next door to it. The people who visited the campground referred to our house as “the big house.”
From the end of May to the end of September, we catered to all sorts of people, from the rich to the poor, from those who slept in tents to those who drove in hundred thousand dollar luxury cars. Money never mattered when you were at the lake. The only thing that mattered was how much fun you could have, and I was having way too much fun.
“You need to throw up, man?” Fred asked.
I bit it back. “No, I’m good.” I shook my head, wishing like hell I hadn’t drunk that last beer. “I’m going to go talk to her.”
“You might want to wait until tomorrow,” he said, his brow furrowing. “You’re not in the best of shape.”
“I’ll be fined,” I said. “Fine,” I corrected. My tongue felt like it was too thick for my mouth.
“If you say so.” Fred took a step back so I could walk past him. He chuckled and shook his head, lifting his beer, which was wrapped in a coozie so his parents wouldn’t catch him, to his lips. “Have at it, man.”
I walked toward her and began to plan exactly what I’d say. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. No, that was lame. I could invite her for a walk. Or I could offer her a beer. Wait. No. I drank them all. Looking at you makes me feel happy. No, that was stupid. Do you want to take a walk with me? I scratched my head. Did I try that one already? I couldn’t remember.
As I stepped closer to her and her group of friends, I stopped to look up at the stars in the night sky. They winked at me and I did the only thing I knew to do. I winked back.
“Do you have something in your eye?” a voice said.
“What?” I looked down into the prettiest blue eyes I’d ever seen.
She pointed to my face. “Do you have something in your eye?” she asked again.
“I got my eye on you,” I said.
She giggled. “Have you been drinking?”
I held my finger and thumb an inch apart and stared through the opening. “Just a teeny tiny bit.”
She laughed. “I never would have known.”
“You’re really pretty.”
Her eyes opened wide. “Thank you.” She reached out to touch my arm. “Do you need to sit down?”
The dock started to tilt beneath my feet. She caught my elbow and gave me a push, kind of like the time somebody knocked the mailbox crooked and Pop shoved it with his palm until it stood up straight again.
Only that wasn’t what happened with me. There was no one to tamp the dirt around my shoes to hold me solid and straight. I didn’t stand up straight at all. I went crooked.
And right off the dock. Straight into the ice-cold water. And I took her with me.
5
Katie
I laugh so hard that I make myself snort, and then I laugh because I snorted, and it makes me laugh some more.