I Caught Myself

Sitting cross-legged alone by the lake in a pair of denim shorts and a beat up black jumper to mask the cool morning breeze, humming a cheerful tune while I appreciated the stunning view of the sun beginning to rise is how Zack found me the next morning. Being his typical mischievous self he took advantage of the peaceful state enveloping me by sneaking up behind and shaking my shoulders frightening the wits out of me. A yelp escaped my mouth before I could groan “Merrick, you rascal!” he laughed as I pushed him while he began to crouch down and sit beside me causing his balance to falter and his bum to hit the ground quickly. Zack was still laughing at the initial scare he caused unaffected by the thud to the ground. “Why are you so chipper? Better yet why are you up early?!” he enquired suspiciously after recovering from his amusement and settling down to cross his legs likewise. Honesty, I wasn’t sure myself why I was up so early… After spending a good few hours talking to Ben last night all I could do was lie wide awake restless resulting in a walk alone to the lake to watch for dawn to approach.
“No reason” I shrugged unable to stop myself smiling, “It just seems like it’s gonna be a good day.”

“You’re so weird sometimes” Zack shook his head perplexed by my jovial mood.

“I’m a girl, you’re not supposed to understand me or my moods.” I laughed.

My smile was contagious spreading onto Zack’s face, “Let’s rope swing into the water.” his eyes wide with excitement.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll finally try it today…and of course we’ll jet-ski again. It’s all we seem to be doing these days while staying here…” I informed him though he was shaking his head with a crooked smirk and a wild look in his eyes.

“Not today, Cass. Now.”

Immediately shaking my head opposing his crazy idea I pulled my knees to my chest to curl into a ball, “No way. It’s too cold.”

He scoffed to himself so I pleaded my case further, “The air is so chilly so imagine how cold the water would be?!”

“That’s half the thrill, Cass.” he arched his eyebrow challenging me.

“I don’t have my swimmers here.” I raised both my eyebrows back waiting for his next challenge.

“Neither do I.” his smirk growing wider.

I sat there staring at him for a moment watching his stupid smirk and the hunger for adventure evident in his eyes. Just like my smile his eager thrill for adventure was infectious, the daring act tempting me. I chewed on my bottom lip before looking down at my attire, underneath the hoodie I wore a plain white singlet; I hesitated while Zack pulled off his T-shirt placing it beside him, his chest now bare revealing his washboard abs. He stood up in his pastel blue boardies extending his hand offering to help me to my feet. Sighing, I studied his hand while trying to make a decision. The thought of Zack witnessing me in my underwear made me slightly nervous; I knew he wouldn’t care though I couldn’t help but feel self conscious. It was stupid seen as he had seen me in a bikini though underwear felt that much more personal and private; there was something unnerving about the idea.
In the end it was that unnerving feeling that drove my mind impulsively to accept Zack’s extended hand, an exhilarating rush of blood pulsing through me as my heart rate quickened. A mixture of nerves and excitement sat in the pit of my stomach as Zack pulled me up to my feet. The black jumper was easy to pull over my head and toss to the ground, the brown flip flops were simple to slide off my feet but the denim shorts I was wearing…not so much. Taking a deep breath and not daring to make eye contact with Zack I slowly unbuttoned and unzipped the pants sliding them down my legs until they fell softly to the ground with my jumper and shoes. Goosebumps instantly formed on my skin as the cold air came into contact with the now unprotected surfaces of my body; my teeth began to chatter as I felt the chilly bite. Swallowing the hard lump of nerves I raised my eyes to meet Zack’s folding my arms across my chest feeling uneasy standing in front of him in my skimpy black underwear and thin white singlet top.

“You ready?” he grinned, his eyes wandering over my body before reaching my eyes again.

I nodded taking in a deep breath “Yep”

We began walking up towards the cliff where a large, sturdy tree was planted; the trunk of the tree thick and bulky with secure branches stemming from the tree dangled over the lake. The smooth, slender dark green leaves dancing and swirling above the lake in a rhythmic pattern with the cool, gentle morning breeze. Stepping over the large solid tree roots poking out of the ground Zack began to climb the tree effortlessly, grasping onto a branch to pull himself up onto the next. Taking baby steps a little past the tree I moved to the cliff’s edge looking down at the lake realising the extent of the height I’d be jumping. Trying to avoid allowing my rational voice talk me out of doing this or the fear I was feeling dominate and paralyse my body I moved my eyes to the clothes laying remotely on the ground below. It was too late for any doubt or to back out now because Zack had already reached the tyre hanging from a thick rope off a branch of the tree. He grasped on tightly to the tyre pulling it up to the rest on the branch he was sitting on easily with perfect balance before looking down at me, “Hurry up, Cass! Don’t be a chicken!”

I poked my tongue out at him, the trepidation of the height expired as suddenly determination surged through me to prove to him I could do this. Hastily I griped the thick tree trunk, the rough bark harsh against my soft skin, using all my strength I pulled the weight of my body onto the branch ready to climb the next one. Finally, I reached the branch Zack was now comfortably sitting on, each leg hanging either side of the branch to steady him as his feet dangled in the air above the lake. The boy had no fear, a quality I was highly envious of at this current moment. Zack smiled at me as I sat behind him on the same branch puffing after the physically demanding climb half way up the tree. He then pushed the tyre back directly below him letting it sway until it was motionless and steady before using the rope to carefully lower himself onto the tyre. When he was on the tyre he rocked it back and forth swinging before diving into the water. As Zack collide into the water a splash was made and a few moments later he surfaced from the water flipping his hair from his eyes looking up at me with a wide grin.

“Come on, Cass. You can do it!” he encouraged as I sat in that same spot on the branch not planning to approach the tyre.

Zack had made it look so easy and effortless though I wasn’t so sure or confident of myself. I made the mistake of looking down again feeling sick at the sight of the water underneath me. The distance between the branch I was perched on and the water was nauseating, watching my feet dangle made the situation worse. Looking back down at the tree I understood the complexity of climbing back down knowing the simplest way down was to jump; there was no escape. I let out a shaky breath and advanced forward towards the tyre, sliding my body along the tree branch extra slowly until the tyre was below me. Cautiously I followed Zack’s actions to lower myself onto the tyre, when finally on the tyre I couldn’t help but sigh with relief knowing the tricky part was over. Now I had to dread launching myself off the tyre and free fall through the air into the cold water. My body was tensed tightly as I gripped firmly to the tyre in a way a child scared of losing their mother grasps onto her hand when weaving through a sea of people. Mustering up the courage I swung the tyre back and forth before launching off into the air. My eyelids snapped shut in fear as I descended from the tyre feeling the cool air brush past me. It wasn’t until my skin came into direct contact with the cool water did I paddle to the surface and dare open my eyes again. I pushed my now damp hair out of my eyes still paddling to keep my head above water. Zack was swimming towards me with a big goofy grin that I couldn’t resist returning to him.

“See it wasn’t that bad?” he began to swim towards the shore.

Following him towards the shore I glided through the water, “It was pretty scary, Zack.”

Suddenly he stopped swimming turning around to face me, treading water, “For a second I thought you were going to chicken out and play the whole princess act of the water being too cold!” he teased.

I splashed him with water, “Hey! I’m not a chicken or a princess!”

“Oh really?” he arched his eyebrow while I confirmed I was of no such nature, “Well you’re definitely a loser because I’ll beat you to the shore!” He rushed while racing back to shore, his feet kicking hard while he took long, fast strokes through the water.

I put all my energy into racing him back to our clothes, having giving a pretty solid effort in closing the distance and catching up to him. Zack was emerging from the water breaking into a sprint towards the pile of clothes as I finished my last stroke out of the lake. He reached the clothes bending over with his hands on his knees puffing as he tried to catch his breath, the water dripping from him to the ground. When approaching him I did the same thing, feeling breathless from the sudden physical workout. Our heart rates and breathing eventually steadied causing us to straighten up. Zack’s eyes began to delve over me from head to toe, absorbing my appearance. Usually I would have been extremely self conscious, even more so than before our swim considering my white singlet was now transparent, but the way Zack’s eyes were wandering over my body felt nice. His look was not a perverted stare nor a hungering lust but one of admiration. We stood there for a beautiful moment looking at each other, my eyes riveted to his finely tuned body then grazing over his tattoo before settling on his lips. An odd sensation surged through me as we both stood there while water slowly dripped off our damp attire; I loved the electric feeling and impact Zack had on me. He always pushed me outside my comfort zone to take a leap of faith pushing those boundaries I once feared further and further away until I felt invincible. I felt confidence, unveiled, completely revealed and honest with him while finding what stands before me, a half naked Zack, appealing.
Interrupting Zack and I from our deep and intense silence was a distant voice yelling at us “Yo, guys?”
Zack and I broke the stare from each other simultaneously as we surfaced back to the present moving our heads towards the voice calling us. A silhouette was approaching us, too distant to recognise the dark out line of the figure; knowing the figure couldn’t see us we quickly threw on our clothes as the person drew near. Closing the gap and coming closer, with the help of the sun rising, Zack and I could identify the voice matching it with the body’s outline realising the figure was Ben.