The Shattered Surface {5}

'You can do it, Noel. You'll be fine.'
'You won't fall, I promise.'
Uh-huh.
Sure.
Stupid boys.
"Gah!" I resurfaced from the lake's glassy surface sputtering water.
Again.
I really wasnt cut out for this.
At all.
Caleb jumped right in after me as I wiped wet hair from my line of vision. This had become routine. I get on the skis, hit a non-existent wave, and tumble off in an ever-so-graceful manner into the water, with the dumbass that made me do this in the first place in suit apologizing every time.
Laughing at me, of course.
I glared at him through wet eyelashes. "Remind me never to trust you again, Caleb Griffin. You are one hell of a monster," I grumbled half-heartedly. He offered a lopsided smile in return. "Monster? Ouch, Noel. That was low." I rolled my eyes playfully. "Thats right, poochie- I said it."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Stupid." Ha. Some comeback.
"Stupider."
"Stink-o."
"Lazy bum."
"Homo sapien."

I squinted my eyes into slits. Poking at my species was not okay. This meant war.
"Bitch."
"Mortal."
"Fido."
"Hominid."
"Mutt."
"Human."
"" Grr. He had me there. Why couldnt I think of another one?!
I crossed my arms over my chest.
There was only one choice left. This had to be settled by a sudden death.
A staring contest.
He crossed his arms and glared- defiant and never blinking.

"You guys gonna stay the night in there, or what?" I squinted into the sunset to see Davids smile from the speedboat, closing the distance.
"I can just leave you here if you want, but I wanna head back and I've heard its getting pretty cold tonight."
"No thanks, S-s-spence. Im going to pass on th-that. I'm getting c-c-c-old alr-re-ready," my teeth started to chatter. Only now did I realize how chilly the water had become.
He pulled the boat a bit closer and let down the ladder with a chuckle. I worked my way up and sat on the side seat, hugging myself. I was wearing an old pair of David's too-big basketball shorts and an over-sized gray-blue tee that belonged to Spencer. Both were soaked, and even the slightest wind made the biggest difference in temperature at the moment. My jaw kept up it's persistent clacking when Caleb sat by me and the boat motored forward. He laughed and threw me a towel from under the bench. I took it gratefully.
Spence cranked up the deck radio, and David's off-key screeching to Jack's Mannequin serenaded us all.
I curled my legs under me, cringing to the noise and tightening my towel's grip.
"WHERE ARE YOU NOOOOWWW??? AS I REARRANGE THE SONGS AGAAAIIINNNN, THIS MIX COULD BURN A- OW!! WHAT THE HELL, CALEB?!"
Caleb gave a wolfy grin beside me.
I tried to stifle my laughter. I was failing.
"GAH! YOU HUSSY! THAT HIT ME IN THE EYE!!" He whined, covering the right side of his face.
"Shut up, stupid. It's just a life jacket," Spencer chortled, steering the boat towards the dock.
"Yeah, one with BUCKLES! Jeeze, I can take a hint, you know. Subtle does it, Caleb," he glared with his now-red and watery eye.
Laughter bounced off the lakes surface as we slowed to a stop and hopped out onto the deck. I shuffled across the lawn to find the rest of the guys. Spence and David were beside me- Caleb mumbled an 'I'll be right back,' and walked off somewhere. I scanned the crowd for Eli or Gabe. No such luck. There were just too many people here. The crowed had doubled since I had gotten into the water.
"Noel! David! Spencer!" Holly chirped in my ear, right at my side. "There you are!" and she led us to the group of familiar faces. Gabe burst out laughing when he saw my wet, shaken, quivering frame, wrapped in a huge towel. He spotted me before anyone else did. "Hey, kid. Go for a swim?" He tousled my dripping locks playfully. "Meh." I growled. Eli gave a chuckle. "It would probably be best if you change, Noel. You'll catch a cold." "Yeah," David agreed. "And I dont want to be in the line of fire when she gets sick. I just got over the flu, man." I barely heard the last part before Holly linked and arm through mine to set out for the truck. "I have an extra pair of jeans in my bag," she said. The grass tickled the tops of my feet, over my flip-flops as Holly reached into the backseat of the truck to rummage for her bag.
The smell of barbeque still hung strongly in the air- making me realize just how hungry I was. "Hey Holl, lets go get food after this, yeah?" "Mk," came her answer from inside the cab. "Aha! Here we are!" She thrust a pile of denims at me, and I quickly changed into them behind the truck. It was way up past the party, so it wasn't like anyone would see or anything. I spotted my sweatshirt from the passenger side, grabbed it before I forgot, and pulled it over my head. Nice and warm, now, we stopped by the snack table and grabbed hot dogs and chips. I stood by Holly, of to the side of the table to view the party while eating. I was sure I didn't know even half of these people.
Then I recognized someone- the tall dark haired boy that was in the school parking lot on Monday. He seemed familiar, though I didnt even know his name. He was talking to Rachelle, a girl in my chem class. Well, more like ignoring her while she chattered non-stop in his ear. I would have to ask her about him later. Discreetly, of course.

Then I spotted Caleb and Eli off to the side of our group. Eli leaned in to hear something that Caleb had to say, something I knew that the others couldn't hear. His body language told me that it was something that the others shouldn't hear.
And then I knew something was up.
And I was going to find out what it was.
I would have to do that later, though, because at the moment, we were on our by to the center of the yard to start the bonfire and s'mores.
Mmm.
Yummy, yummy, s'mores.

The city as my witness.
It's firefight and I won't run.