Just to Live

During the time of the winter months, Tabitha came to realize Matthew acted a bit more cordial to her. He even smiled whenever he saw her. She shook her head, flipping towards the next page of her book.

For the longest time, women acquired the trait of being complicated creatures. Well, so were men.

Conversely, there was nothing complex about the men standing in front of the grill spewing mountains of smoke. The fragrance of grilled meat attracted the men’s attention, luring them in nearer to the source of the aroma.

Matthew was at the operating bay, flipping burger meat, steaks, sausages, and chicken pieces. He laughed at his friends’ excited chatter of an upcoming surfing contest. The general feel of the day put him in a felicitous frame of mind. Even the pool was clean and in use after nearly a year of abandonment.

“Want me to finish cooking the food?” Zacky asked, handing Matthew a cup of pink lemonade. He blew off Zacky’s offer.

“Nah, it’s alright. I’m almost done anyways.”

“Are you sure? Someone’s over there all by herself,” Zacky hinted, punching Matthew’s arm.

Unable to resist Zacky’s suggestion, Matthew examined near the pool area. His friends and the girls conversed with one another, seemingly having fun. He noticed they were all flirting with each other. It was a strange sight to see.

The only person out of sync was Tabitha. She sat all by herself in a lawn chair engrossed in a book. For some reason, Matthew felt angry that she was unaccompanied by anyone, yet relieved none of his friends caught her eye.

Exhaling, Matthew walked towards to Tabitha and took a seat next to her. “Why are you all alone?” he inquired.

She looked up from her book at him. “I want to be,” she explained, acting very distant.

“That’s a bad excuse,” Matthew smiled, expecting that would bring the tension down.

“I’m not used to having fun so I’d rather just read.”

“The water isn’t that bad,” he egged on.

She didn’t enjoy the fact that he was taking away from her reading. She only had a day a week of leisure time and she wanted to spend it going through all her books.

She looked at him. “I can’t swim…”

He grinned fully. “Then I am definitely teaching you.”

“Please don’t,” she said, but put her book down on the grass.

“Tabby, come on.” She didn’t have a choice but to adhere since he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the pool.

The chlorine water swallowed the bottom half of his body while his upper body was still visible. He cupped some of the water in his hand and flicked it towards Tabitha. She squealed and kicked water back in his direction. She wouldn’t budge from her spot at the edge of the pool, though.

Rolling his eyes, Matthew waded over to Tabitha and yanked her arm so she dropped into the water.

“Oh my god!” she gasped. Goosebumps raised on her arms as she shivered, not used to the temperature of the water. Gradually, she moved around a 10-foot radius, adapting to the cool water.

After some coaxing and persuasion, Matthew had one arm supporting the back of her neck and the other beneath her knees. “The hardest thing to do is to float,” he explained, letting her enjoy her time floating above the water.

“It’s not so bad,” Tabitha came to realize.

“Not at all,” Matthew agreed. “So how do you feel?”

“Good,” she smiled. “Please don’t let go.”

“I won’t.”

Tabitha smiled again and splashed in the water. She loved the contrasting feel of the cool water and warm sun rays against her face.

While she finally liked the day, Matthew waited for the fitting moment to release his hold on her so that she could float by her own self. Like ripping off a band-aid, Matthew let her go without any warning.

“What the fuck!” Tabitha shrieked, hooking onto Matthew’s neck.

“Tabitha, it’s not that bad!” Matthew tried reasoning.

“Shut up! I thought I was going to drown!” she spat, pushing him away when she was the one holding onto him for dear life.

He sighed. “That’s being dramatic.”

They climbed out of the pool and traveled back to the lawn chairs. Unnoticed by the both of them, everyone else watched the two of them argue over something so silly.

“NO it’s not,” she growled, spinning around to poke him in the chest. “I’m going back to my book.”

Brian waited until Matthew walked near enough before he hung his arm over his friend’s shoulder. “You suck at talking to her.”

“Fuck up,” Matthew grumbled.

“Aww Mattie, it’s okay. I’ll teach you how to talk to a girl properly.”

Matthew punched Brian’s chest and stalked away to where the food was.