"No. It's hot and I want to swim. Besides, I'm already tan." And I was. I was turning the color of dark toffee. I looked like a whole different person in the summer, which might have been the best part of it.
Taylor on the other hand was pasty and bright like biscuit dough. I had a feeling she'd catch up with me fast, though. She was good at that.
I took off my glasses and set them on top of my clothes. Then I walked over to the deep end and jumped right in. The water felt like a shock to the system, in the best way possible. When I came up for air, I treaded water over to the boys. "Let's play Marco Polo," I said.
Steven, who was busy trying to dunk Conrad, stopped and said, "Marco Polo's boring."
"Let's play chicken," Jeremiah suggested.
"What's that?" I said.
"It's when two teams of people climb up on each other's shoulders and you try to push the other person down," my brother explained.
"It's fun, I swear," Jeremiah assured me. Then he called over to Taylor, "Tyler, you wanna play chicken with us? Or are you too chicken?"
Taylor looked up from her magazine. I couldn't see her eyes because of her sunglasses, but I knew she was annoyed. "It's Tay-lor, not Tyler, Jeremy. And no, I don't want to play."
Steven and Conrad exchanged a look. I knew what they were thinking. "Come on, Taylor, it'll be fun," I said, rolling my eyes. "Don't be a chicken."
She made a big show of sighing, and then she put her magazine down and stood up, smoothing down her bikini in the back. "Do I have to take my sunglasses off?"
Jeremiah grinned at her. "Not if you're on my team. You won't be falling off."
Taylor took them off anyway, and I realized then that the teams were uneven, and someone would have to sit out. "I'll watch," I offered, even though I wanted to play.
"That's okay. I won't play," Conrad said.
"We'll play two rounds," said Steven.
Conrad shrugged. "That's all right." He swam over to the side of the pool.
"I call Tay-lor," Jeremiah announced.
"No fair; she's lighter," Steven argued. Then he looked over and saw the expression on my face. "It's just that you're taller than her is all."
I didn't want to play anymore. "Why don't I just sit out, then? I'd hate to break your back, Steven."
Jeremiah said, "Aw, I'll take you, Belly. We'll take those guys down. I think you're probably a lot tougher than little Tay-lor."
Taylor walked down the steps and into the pool slowly, cringing at the temperature. "I'm very tough, Jeremy," she said.
Then Jeremiah crouched down in the water, and I scrambled to get onto his shoulders. He was slippery, so it was hard to stay on at first. Then he stood up and righted himself.
I shifted and balanced my hands on his head. "Am I too heavy?" I asked him quietly. He was so wiry and thin, I was afraid I'd break him.
"You weigh, like, nothing," he lied, breathing hard and gripping on to my legs.
I wanted to kiss the top of his head right then.
Across from us Taylor was perched on top of Steven's shoulders giggling and pulling his hair to hold herself steady. Steven looked like he was ready to pitch her off of him and across the pool.
"Ready? "Jeremiah asked. In a low voice he said to me, "The trick is to just keep steady."
Steven nodded, and we waddled over to the middle of the pool.
Conrad, who was treading over by the side, said, "Ready, set, go."
Taylor and I stretched our arms out to each other, pushing and shoving. She couldn't stop giggling, and when I gave her one strong push, she said, "Oh, shit!" and they both fell backward.
Jeremiah and I burst out laughing and high-fived each other. When they resurfaced, Steven glared at Taylor and said, "I told you to hold on tight."
She splashed him right in the face and said, "I was!" Her eyeliner was smudged and her mascara was starting to run. She still looked pretty, though.
Jeremiah said, "Belly?"
I said, "Hmm?" I was starting to get pretty comfortable up there, so high.
"Watch out." Then he lurched forward, and I was flying into the water, and so was he. I couldn't stop laughing, and I swallowed about a jugful of water, but I didn't care.
When both of our heads popped up, I went straight for his and took him by surprise with a good dunk.
Then Taylor said, "Let's play again. I'll be with Jeremy this time. Steven, you can be Belly's partner."
Steven still looked grumpy, and he said, "Con, take my spot."
"All right," Conrad said, but his voice said he didn't want to at all.
When he swam over to me, I said defensively, "I'm not that heavy."
"I never said you were." Then he stooped in front of me, and I climbed on top. His shoulders were more muscular than Jeremiah's, more weighty. "You okay up there?"
"Yeah."
Across from us Taylor was having trouble getting onto Jeremiah's shoulders. She kept slipping right off and laughing. They were having a lot of fun .Too much fun. I watched them jealously, and I almost forgot to be aware of the fact that Conrad was holding on to my legs, and as far as I could remember, he had never so much as accidentally grazed my knee before.
"Let's hurry up and play," I said. My voice sounded jealous even to my own ears. I hated that.
Conrad had less trouble moving into the center of the pool. I was kind of surprised by how easily he moved around with my extra weight around his shoulders.
"Ready?" Conrad said to Jeremiah and Taylor, who had finally managed to stay put. "Yes!" Taylor shouted.
In my head I said, You're going down, Jewel . "Yes," I said out loud.
I leaned forward and used both of my hands to give her a hard push. She swayed to the side but stayed on, and said, "Hey!"
I smiled. "Hey," I said, and pushed her again.
Taylor narrowed her eyes and pushed me back, hard but not hard enough.
Then we were both pushing at each other, only this time it was so much easier because I felt steady. I pushed her once, firmly, and she tipped forward, but Jeremiah was still standing. I clapped loudly. This was pretty fun.
I was surprised when Conrad held out his hand for a high five. He wasn't a high five kind of person.
When Taylor resurfaced this time, she wasn't laughing. Her blond hair was matted to her head, and she said, "This game sucks. I don't want to play anymore."
"Sore loser," I said, and Conrad lowered me into the water.
"Nice job," he said, giving me one of his rare smiles. I felt like I had won the lottery from that one smile. "I play to win," I told him. I knew he did too.