Page 13

"Five, four, three, two, one!" She counted down quickly and I pulled in a deep breath.
We both went under at the same time and I almost immediately lost it because I wanted to laugh again.
She looked like a puffer fish under the water with her cheeks puffed out like that.
After a minute, her cheeks slowly painted from a blush to deep red. I knew it would only be a few more seconds until she would run out of breath. But I liked it here with her. I didn’t want her to leave me. Grabbing her shoulders, I pulled her to me.
Her eyes widened in surprise and the air in her lungs burst out of her mouth, the bubbles rising to the surface. She clasped my shoulders, her fingers digging into my skin painfully, trying to get away. Pressing my lips to hers, I pushed some of my air through hers, and she breathed it in with a gulp.
Eyes clashing, we stared at each other for a long moment, the muted sounds under the water making it feel like we were in some strange world, with only each other for company.
Then abruptly, she jerked back and clawed her way to the surface. I stayed under, showing off. I could probably stay under here for like, ten more minutes.
After a long time, I swam back upwards, not even needing to breathe in a bunch of air.
"Wow!" she exclaimed when I broke the surface. "You're good at that. You lasted so much longer than me.”
"I know, right?" Even I was amazed at how long I could hold my own breath, but I glanced away. She was a much better loser than I was.
"I'm getting tired. Can we get out now?"
"Sure," I began to swim towards the surface and she splashed noisily behind me. I made sure to go slow enough so that she could easily keep up with me until we finally made it to where we could stand.
"Oh, I know what we can do." I perked up after we were standing on the rocky shoreline. "I can take you to the fair.”
"I don't have any money." She looked down. "Or any shoes. I lost them in the water."
Now I really felt bad. “You can have my shoes."
"I can?"
"Of course! It's my fault anyways that you lost your shoes." Taking her hand again, I led her back to the dock where I'd kicked off my flip flops. "And I can get us into the park, no problem."
"But your money's probably wet." We picked our way through the rocks, with me showing her the best spots to step.
"I don't need money. They always let me in for free."
"Why would they do that?” Once again, she sounded like she didn’t believe me.
I pulled her up to the top of the hill then led her down the dock, tightening my hand on hers when we reached my shoes. I was suddenly afraid she wasn't going to believe me and run off.
"I don't know. They just do." I shrugged, my own cheeks pinking.Wasn’t it like that for everyone?“Maybe Lita pays for it later.”
“I wish my parents had money like that.” She suddenly looked shy again, not looking at me as she slipped on my flip flops. "Sometimes we don't even have money to get me new clothes." She looked down at her water-drenched shirt and I realized now why it was tight and her pants a little bit short.
"It's okay." I took her hand, staring into her eyes with a fierceness I’d never felt before. "Whenever you're with me, I'll make sure you get everything you want.”
“Everything?” Soft star-blue eyes stared into mine, vulnerable and open. As if she believed me this time.
As if she was trusting menow, when before she hadn’t.
Lots of people trusted me but the way she was looking at me, it was like I was a king, bestowing my favor on her.
I sucked in a breath, feeling the weight of that responsibility like a crown on my head.
I suddenly wanted to kiss her.
I'd kissed a few girls in my class but their mouths had been too wet and squishy. I justknewthis girl's lips would be perfect.