Justin
“Best five out of seven?”It’s the first question out of her mouth when she resurfaces from the water. You’d think she’d be tired after being taken down three times. “I can’t let you and Audrey beat me. I’m queen at this game.”
“Obviously not,” Audrey snorts and slides off my shoulders, barely making a splash in the process. “If you were then we wouldn’t be undefeated.
As much as it drives me crazy when her cousins are always around, I love seeing Audrey like this. Confident and unafraid to speak her mind. It’s these glimpses that give me hope this will be the year she stops taking shit from some of our classmates and tells them off. I could keep speaking up on her behalf, but I know that bugs her, too. “Aren’t y’all tired of being in the sun?” It should be setting in a couple of hours, and I don’t really want to be out here when all these drunken idiots start leaving the lake.
“Oh crap,” Audrey shrieks. “Tiffany, when is the last time you put sunscreen on? You’re going to be hurting tomorrow.”
“I’ll be fine,” she shrugs. “I don’t burn as easily as I used to.” She’s looking at her shoulder to determine how sunburnt she is.
Stella laughs, “That’s a load of shit. You are already getting red and you won’t really be able to see how bad it is for a few hours.”
“Maybe we should head out,” Audrey points in the direction of the makeshift parking lot we’ve all created. “I’m pretty thirsty, anyway.”
“You know what,” Tiff nods in agreement. “That sounds like a great idea.” She rushes out of the water and slips her coverup over her head. Not like it’s much help now. That girl is going to be in a world of pain tomorrow if it doesn’t hit her tonight.
The rest of us get out of the water and slip on our shoes. My tennis shoes are tight as I try to pull them over my wet feet. Next time I’ll wear flip flops, but I don’t like the way they feel. Especially when your feet are wet and the friction rubs your skin raw. At least it’s a short walk to the car, and my extra pair of shoes.
“So,” Stella breaks into the silence as we walk. “What’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?”
I look to Audrey to see if she has plans for all of us. “What are you thinking? Bowling? Watching a movie?”
“Actually,” she pauses and stares at the ground. “I was thinking y’all could take my car back and I could hang out with Justin for a bit.” When she does look up, her eyes bounce around the scenery, doing everything to keep from looking at her cousins. “If that’s okay with y’all?”
“Yeah, that’s,” Stella starts, but Tiffany is quick to cut her off. “But Audrey, Stella is only in town for a couple more days. You get to see Justin whenever you want for the most part.”
“What if I promise to have her home early?” I try to calm down her outburst. “That will still leave plenty of time with y’all” I also plan on stopping to get ice cream, that will make sure Tiffany won’t be too mad at me. I’m not sure about Stella, though. I’ve known her for a while, she’s hard to read. “What do you say?”
“Fine,” Tiffany stomps toward their car.
“Thanks Justin,” Stella sighs. “I’ll try to keep her in a good mood for a while.”
“You’re the best,” Audrey rushes toward Stella and wraps her arms around her cousin. She digs in her still damp shorts picket and tosses keys at Stella. “If my parents ask where I’m at, tell them I’m with Justin.”
Stella is pretty cool. She’s a couple of years older than us, but you’d never be able to tell. She knows when to be serious and when to cut up. She’ll definitely be someone awesome to have around when we head to Hilltown next year. For now, I need to figure out what exactly Audrey and I are going to do for the rest of the day.
* * *
“You realize we just went from one deserted area to another, right?” Audrey is sitting in the passenger seat digging through the fast-food bag for her curly fries and taco sauce. It’s a weird combination, but I’m sure I do things she finds odd. I’d like to know how she even thought to try that combination.
“True,” I nod, pulling down the makeshift dirt road by Mrs. Murphy’s farm. “But here, we are alone.” I waggle my eyebrows at her as I pull off the road and shift the car into park.
“Don’t think you’re getting car sex,” she laughs. “That totally isn’t happening. I’m not that type of person.” Fluttering her eyelashes, she continues searching for the packets of taco sauce.
I gasp in mock surprise. “I, madame, am a gentleman.” Turning the car off, I pop the trunk, open the door and head to the back of the car. I keep spare blankets and pillows back here for occasions such as these. I scoop them up in a bundle and bring them around to the hood of the car. Setting everything down, I try to straighten out the blanket without letting the pillows fall to the ground. I don’t want to chance Audrey getting grass in her hair and her parents think something else happened.
“Justin, I already told you that isn’t happening.” She rolls her eyes and gets out of the car. I know she’s giving me a hard time. The small smirk playing at the corner of her lips is all the proof I need. We’ve done this so many times before. The bag of food is still in her hand as she joins me at the front of the car. She’s not letting that thing go no matter what happens. She sets the bag down and I help her get settled on the hood before I join her.
“Has anyone told you that you’re a smartass lately?” She shakes her head in answer as she pulls a curly fry out of the bag and tosses it in her mouth. “Well, this is your reminder.”
She slides her free hand into mine and we sit in silence, staring up at the stars. It’s something we do when we want to get away from everything. She got the idea after watching a movie where two best friends sit outside an airport and talk about life while airplanes land. “Will you miss this when we go to college?”
“Miss what?” I look over at her and her eyes are still focused on the sky.
“Being able to see the stars without anything obstructing the view. Parking on a road like this and nobody thinking anything of it.” She glances at me and scoots closer until her head is on my shoulder and her food is forgotten. “As much as I loathe living in this town, I think I’ll miss these moments.”
“We’ll figure out a way to make it happen while we’re at Hilltown.” I pull my hand out of hers and wrap my arm around her shoulder. It may still be in the nineties, even though the sun has set, but I need to hold her close to me. “It may not be exactly the same, but we’ll make due.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket and vibrates against the hood of my car. There’s only one person it can be, and I don’t want to answer it. I don’t want him to ruin our moment. It stops and there’s silence for a whole ten seconds before it starts again.
Audrey winces at the noise. “I guess that’s our cue to leave?” She pulls away from me and starts gathering the blankets in her arms.
While she rounds the car with the blankets, I shoot off a quick text letting my dad know I’ll be home soon. This is the other thing I can’t wait for. Not having to answer to him because I’ll no longer be under his roof.