Lights on the Lake

Hey, you’ve reached Trey. Sorry I couldn’t get to the phone right now, but just leave a message and I’ll-

“Damn it,” Alana muttered and snapped her phone shut before Trey’s answering machine could even finish. She angrily opened her phone back up again and dialed his number, but it went straight to the machine again. What was she expecting? That he would magically answer his cell phone while he’s gallivanting with his old friends and family in Germany? No. He probably wasn’t even thinking of his girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend, or whatever the hell she was to him.

Alana sighed and plopped herself down on a small chair in the corner of her aunt Ker’s living room. Her cousins were all avoiding her, not inconspicuously by the way, moreso they’d walk into the same room she was, stare at her and then slowly walk away as if she was the bubonic plague. She tried her hardest not to feel like a complete outsider here, even though no matter what she did, it became more and more evident that she was, especially by Leo.

It was hard to believe that it was only a few hours earlier that he had stepped inches from her face and told her what a bad person she was. She wasn’t expecting him to say how amazing she was and how much they all missed her, but she wasn’t expecting him to verbally push her to the ground, and using words that otherwise meant “die, bitch die!” She didn’t know what she was expecting coming back here, but all she knew was that her flight was leaving tomorrow morning, and she’d never have to come back to Lake Vedleu ever again.

There was a soft knock on the front door of the house that burst Alana out of her thoughts and she immediately looked through the back window to see her aunt and uncle playing with their kids outside. She sighed and got up off of her loner chair and walked to the front door and swung it open to see Mackenzie standing in front of her, her freckles looking even more evident in the sun that was shining off of her strawberry blonde hair.

“Hi, Alana,” Mackenzie said with a sweet smile on her face as Alana just stared blankly at her. “Don’t look so surprised!” She added with a small laugh.

“Oh, sorry! I just didn’t think you’d be coming by, especially after what happened this morning,” Alana replied, her hand still on the door. She then stepped forward and the two girls stood on the porch as Alana closed the door behind her. The sun beamed down on both of them and Alana swatted a gnat that flew dangerously close to her face.

“Look, I just wanted to come by and say sorry for the whole… Leo experience that was earlier today,” Mackenzie said hesitantly.

“Yeah, I forgot how great he was with his words,” Alana said bitterly and leaned against the door.

“Well, he had no right to say what he did,” Mackenzie said quickly. “And we definitely let him know that. Deep, very deep down inside, I know he feels remorse.” Alana laughed and Mackenzie smiled in return. “Look, I know you’re leaving tomorrow, so that’s why I came by. The group of us are meeting down by the lake, Weezer’s dad is letting us use his boat and he wants to try out his wakeboard. You should come!”

“Uh. no, I don’t really think that’s a good idea,” Alana replied.

“Oh please Alana, remember when you drove Weezer’s dad’s boat when Leo was wakeboarding and almost maneuvered it so he’d fly off and hit a tree? That was hilarious.”

Alana smiled at the memory of that. It was four days after the Fourth of July incident when she was still upset with Leo. They all went out on the lake and she tried everything in her power to injure him without making it seem like it she was doing it purposefully. Unfortunately, what he came out of it was a grin on his face and a badge of honor for how awesome of a wakeboarder he was for avoiding the large tree and landing a 360 in the process. Alana could remember his smug face perfectly as he walked back on the beach and high-fived his friends.

Alana didn’t realize she stayed silent until Mackenzie punched her in the arm.

“Dude, look alive,” Mackenzie said. “Grab your swimsuit, you’re going with us.”

“Oh darn!" Alana said animatedly. "I didn’t bring a swimsuit. I guess I can’t go. You go have fun though!” Alana put her hand on the door handle to go back inside but Mackenzie grabbed it just in time.

“Not so fast, Lan,” Mackenzie retorted. “I’ve got a million swimsuits I can lend you. You’re going, you’ve been out of our lives for so long... it’s the least you can do.”

Alana looked over at Mackenzie, who’s brown eyes narrowed back at her. There was a somewhat sad smile on Mackenzie's face that automatically made Alana feel guilty.

“Well what about Leo? I’m sure he’ll be less than thrilled that I’m accompanying you guys on your little boat trip.”

“Forget Leo, he’s a little bitch, he’ll get over it. We want to spend time with our old friend we haven’t seen in three years. He can deal with it,” Mackenzie replied and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Alana fidgeted back and forth on her feet and Mackenzie sighed.

"I..." Alana fumbled.

"Alana," Mackenzie said quietly. "It's the least you can do."



The lake was very much crowded, but it was later on Saturday afternoon and the sun was falling a little lower in the sky, causing the weather to be almost perfect, so Alana wasn’t very surprised. She tucked her auburn hair behind her ears as Mackenzie led her to a small dock on the more desolate side of the lake. Soon enough, the sound of laughter from the children and friends splashing in the water and blasting music on the beaches that Alana first heard, now disappeared and all that could be heard was the slight breeze rustling through the trees, and Weezer singing along to “Man I Feel Like a Woman” on the radio playing from his boat. Leo stood next to him, fiddling with some of the controls on the front of the boat with a concentrated look on his face. A sharp breath caught in Alana’s throat as she saw him, and she knew that this whole encounter wasn’t going to be the easiest.

When they approached the boat, Weezer immediately stopped singing and grinned when he saw Alana.

“You made it!” He exclaimed. “I always knew Mac had amazing persuasion skills.”

“Speech and debate, three years in a row in high school, wassup!” Mackenzie replied and hopped on the dock. Suddenly, a head popped up from the floor of the boat and Abigail’s face was in view. She sat up from lying down and broadened her smile.

“Man, I feel like this is déjà vu from high school!” Abigail said and her smile got even wider. “Hop on in, guys, we’re just about ready for take off.”

Mackenzie and Alana walked along the dock and stepped in the boat. Leo was now done fiddling with the controls and was staring at Alana. She was honestly surprised that he even agreed to show up when he found out that his friends were going to persuade Alana into coming, and for a quick second, the fourteen-year-old inside of her thought that possibly, maybe, he wanted to be there. But the scowl on his face proved the now twenty- year-old Alana very wrong.

“Who wants to go first?” Weezer asked.

“I will!” Mackenzie offered. She put on a wetsuit top and then a life-jacket and hopped into the shallow end of the lake. She strapped herself to the board and gave a thumbs up to Weezer, and then they were off. Mackenzie stayed balanced on the board, doing a few average tricks while Abigail and Weezer cheered her on. Leo even clapped a few times, and grinned in Mackenzie’s direction, making Alana remember the times when he used to grin in her direction. It seemed so long ago.

The boat came to a stop and Mackenzie unlatched herself and swam toward the boat.

“So, awesome!” She exclaimed over gasping breaths. “I haven’t done that in so long.”

She got on the boat and plopped down next to Weezer and Abigail up at the front.

“Leo, you go next,” Weezer suggested.

“Sure, man,” Leo replied and stood up, he then dived straight into the water and attached himself to the wakeboard and gave a thumbs up as Alana watched in the corner of her eye. His wet brown hair was sticking to his forehead and there was a slight smile on his face as the boat gained speed.

To say that Leo was good at wakeboarding was an understatement. Everyone knew that Leo was great at it, Leo was great at everything, so it never came to much of a surprise to anyone. He was naturally athletic and always did well in sports, he had that type of grace to him that made it look like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Weezer nodded back at Leo and pushed the boat faster than he did with Mackenzie as Leo did multiple tricks against the waves. Alana scoffed, he was such a show-off, and she knew that he was very aware of this as he basically flew in the air, holding the handle with only one hand.

After about fifteen minutes, Leo signaled that he was finished and everyone on the boat cheered loudly for him as he made his way back into it. Alana sat back bitterly, Leo would always have his followers.

“Dude, you’ve gotten amazing!” Weezer said as he grabbed Leo’s hand to pull him in. Leo did his signature lopsided grin, and then what surprised them all, walked over and sat right next to Alana. She tensed as plopped down next to her and ran his fingers through his wet hair as water droplets fell off of his face.

“You should definitely go next, Alana,” Leo said in an encouraging voice. “I mean, we haven’t seen you on a board in forever, and the last time I remember, you kicked some ass. Let’s see it!”

There was silence as Alana stared at Leo like he was absolutely insane, and she wasn’t the only one as the rest of the group stared at him like he had multiple heads as well. Mackenzie's mouth was agape as Leo kept the grin on his face, his eyes still on Alana. She awkwardly fidgeted in her seat and looked up at the others.

“Um, no, no that's okay…” She replied.

“Oh come on, show us what you got!” Leo urged again, almost genuinely, and Alana scrunched her eyebrows.

“Don’t worry Alana, if it gets too intense, I’ll slow the boat down and we’ll pull you in,” Weezer said reassuringly. Alana nodded awkwardly and put Mackenzie’s life jacket on, causing Leo to grin even wider.

Once Alana was out in the water and safely latched onto the board, she hesitantly stuck her hand in the air and gave a thumbs up. The boat moved slowly at first until it continued to pick up speed. Alana could feel the wind pushing through her long hair as she rode along the water, feeling almost like she was flying. A small smile escaped her lips and she felt the most free that she had since she could even remember. Her knees bent with the waves beneath her and she did a few simple, yet not substantial tricks. She heard Abigail cheering, which encouraged her to be a little more adventurous. She bent her knees more and flew over the waves and suddenly nothing seemed to matter. She didn’t care whether or not Leo hated her, or Trey, or anyone else for that matter. She didn’t care that the people in the town thought she was a terrible person. It was as if all the weight on her shoulders was released, where all of those things didn't matter. All that mattered was the water, and her, and that was it. It was a fleeing feeling, and Alana couldn't help but have a smile form on her face.

But suddenly, Alana looked up and saw Leo staring right at her. His handsome face was holding a small smirk. He turned his back to her and stepped forward to walk to the front of the boat, where she saw him coax Weezer into giving him the wheel. He put his hands in front of him, as if telling the group that he wasn’t going to do anything stupid.

Alana’s eyes widened as she clutched the handle in front of her even more, not sure what was about to happen. Helpless, she felt a tug on the handle as the boat got even faster. She saw Weezer try to take back control of the boat, but before he could, Leo jerked the boat to the left, causing her to jerk along with it and almost catapult into the water, but she regained her composure until Leo jerked it once again, even harder, and then Alana lost balance and the handle yanked itself from her hands and her body slammed against the water with a loud thwack.

Everything was suddenly still as the boat immediately stopped and Alana felt almost dizzy as the whole left side of her body erupted in pain. She stayed in the water until a few moments later when she felt someone’s arms cautiously snake around her. She looked up to see Weezer swimming next to her, leading her back into the boat.

Mackenzie and Abigail helped her up into the boat and Alana clutched her side. She took off the lifevest and her whole left arm and leg were bright red and her skin was burning.

“Leo, what the hell is your problem!” Mackenzie screamed venomously, staring at Leo like he was the scum of the earth.

“Oh come on guys, I didn’t know the boat was that sensitive, I just thought we could see if we could step up the game a little and see if the old Alana could bust out some old tricks of hers,” Leo defended. Alana narrowed her eyes at him, her breathing still hard and the side of her body still hurting, and she knew for a fact that that was bull. He knew exactly what he was doing.

The group got silent as the boat rocked back and forth on the lake and Alana stood up. They all watched her as she made her way up to Leo, who was eying her somewhat cautiously, but yet had a glint of amusement in his eyes, waiting for what she was going to do, waiting for some type of reaction from her. She walked close enough that their faces were inches away from one another, her body almost trembling with anger.

And then, smack.

She had lifted her hand up and slapped Leo straight across the face as hard as she could. Abigail gasped as Leo’s face yanked to the side from the blow. He immediately grabbed his face and looked straight back at her, shocked.

“Fuck you, Leo Cronin,” Alana spat and then turned to her old friends. “I’m done. Take me home."