Quiet Boys.

“Get up! Get up! Get up, Get up, Get up!” Parker yelled at the top of her lungs.
I felt something hit my face, and opened my eyes. It was a pillow.
Parker’s huge grin and shining eyes were staring down at me. The July sun was hitting her face in a very nice way. I gave her a little smile.
“What time is it?”
“Nine twenty seven.”
“Why are we up so early?”
“We’re only early for being late. Come on, I want to go to the beach!”
She grabbed my hand and yanked me off the ground. I was barefoot on her wood floor, and almost slipped. She giggled at me, then walked out the bedroom door.
“Be ready in ten minutes!” She called as she skipped down the stairs.
I sighed, a heavy feeling in my chest and my stomach in all these weird knots.
This was a great feeling.

I got downstairs with the same shorts and shirt I had been wearing the day before, the only difference I had made really was to splash my face with water and brush my teeth.
She grinned at me as she sat on the kitchen counter, drinking orange juice from a straw, hair in a pony tail to keep the heat off her neck. She looked so little, and her eyes so large.
“Let’s go!”
The walk to the beach was a short one, and one filled with Parker trying to step on the back of my feet to trip me. She made me laugh and I tried not to let her know how happy I was because I knew my eyes would show it.
It was still early enough that the sun was low in the sky, making the blue water shimmer. With her feet in the sand she pulled me with her.
“Wasn’t this worth getting up early for?” Parker questioned.
“It really, really was.”
“That’s why you should always trust me.”
“I do trust you,” I said, and I knew I meant it. It also scared me.
“Hey Ivan, you think I would make it if I swam across the whole lake?”
“I think that’d be a really bad thing to try.”
“But could I make it?”
I didn’t really know how to respond. I didn’t think anyone could make it, but I believed in Parker more than anyone else.
“I think if you really wanted to, you could.”
“And what if I didn’t make it? Would you come save me?”
“Parker, don’t even talk like that,” I said, feeling a little uneasy.
“No, I’m being serious Ivan. Would you come save me?”
“I’d do all that I could to save you if you were out there in that big lake.”
She didn’t really answer, she just gave me a huge smile and ran to the shore. She took her shoes off and walked along the shore with her feet in the water. I joined her, my toes getting caught in pebbles as I tried to keep up with her. Really I was always dragging a few feet behind Parker, in every sense.
Suddenly, Parker dropped her shoes in the sand and splashed me. I was dripping wet with water and all I could do was let my jaw drop as I laughed. I splashed her back and soon we were both soaked and a few feet into the lake.
She walked over to me and kissed me, then made her way back to the shore and sat in the sand. I just stared at her and sat next to her. Her hand made her way on top of mine.
“I wouldn’t worry about the water, the sun will dry it up,” she told me. I only nodded.
“I wasn’t worried about the water. I wasn’t worried about anything.”