Be My Life Jacket

“I’m so glad you could come.” Sam gushed as I helped her pack her stuff into the back of my truck.

“Well I didn’t have any chores, so the choice was obvious.” I said, wording my sentence carefully so I didn’t technically lie.

“So…,” she started, before lowering her voice. “I don’t know if you drink, but one of the guys is bringing beer. And I’m just warning you: we’re all probably going to get pretty wasted.” She giggled.

“Oh.” Was all I could say. I shut the back door of my aunt’s truck that she insisted I borrow, before getting into the driver’s seat.

It took twenty minutes of receiving directions from Sam, until we reached a sign that read ‘Heritage Lake’ and in smaller print underneath, the was a warning that read ‘no pets allowed’ with a dog in a red circle with a line drawn through it.

“We’re here.” I told Sam, somewhat pointlessly.

“I can see that.” She laughed, gazing out the window.

I parked and jumped out, my converse clad feet hitting the ground with a ‘thud.’ Slamming my door shut, I went around and helped Sam get all her stuff out of the back of the car and carry it to a near by picnic table.

It wasn’t long before I was being dragged toward a group of semi-familiar people and people I didn’t know. Exactly what I was dreading.

“Hey Mick.” One girl said, batting her eyes annoyingly at me. I returned the favor with a simple ‘hi’ and as big of a smile as I could muster.

“Come on Mick.” Sam said, pulling my arm vigorously. I let myself be dragged to our table of stuff like towels, inner tubes, and other flotation devices, where Sam started undressing. She revealed her bathing suit, and my breath went back to normal as I realized she wasn’t going to just change out in the open.

“You turn.” She said with a cheesy grin.

“I’m good.” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest self-consciously. There were all these buff guys with us that probably possessed enough strength within their finger alone to break my arm. “I wasn’t really planning on going swimming. I was just going to work on my tan.”

“Well you still need to take your shirt off. Unless you want a farmer’s tan.” She said, starting to yank at the bottom of my shirt.

I pried her hands away. “Why do you want me to take my shirt off?” I challenged.

“Because.” She giggled. “You’ve seen me in my bathing suit. Now it’s your turn.” She reiterated.

“Fine.” I sighed. I couldn’t resist her bubbly giggle.

I tugged my shirt off, mentally cursing myself for giving in so easily. I set my shirt next to her clothes while she looked me up and down.

“Stop checking me out.” I whined, crossing my arms again.

“Shut up.” She said as she dragged me toward the water.

“Wait.” I said, but she kept going. “I just wanted to tan.”

“Too bad.” She said with an evil smirk. Next thing I knew, I was being pushed face first into the water.

I was trying to yell at her, but instead of air filling my lungs, water starting filling my mouth and then went down my throat. I started panicking and that was the last thing I remember before blacking out.

“Come on Mick!” I heard a familiar voice yell. “I’m so sorry.”

I felt a pair of lips connect with mine, blowing air into my mouth. Then I felt strong hands on my chest, pushing down. This process repeated, and I actually started to like the crush of the lips. Once I started coughing up water, I opened my eyes to be absorbed in a pair of mocha coloured eyes. They were beautiful and full of determination. But…they belonged to a guy. I couldn’t help the blush that rose to my cheeks with a vengeance.

I sat up and he left, back to his lifeguard chair. I couldn’t tell if he was blushing or not, but when I looked around me I realized that everyone was giggling. That was, except for Sam. Tears were streaming from each regretful eye.

I got up and wrapped my arms around her, letting her know I was okay.

“I didn’t mean to-,” she sobbed into my shoulder.

“I know.” I chuckled, stroking her hair. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

She looked up at me with red eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” I replied, resting me head on her’s while I thought of the lifeguard’s lips against mine.

It felt so wrong, but it felt so good at the same time. It left my lips tingling and my heart was thudding. Although, that could have been the fact that I’d just had a near death experience. I wasn’t supposed to like other guys. I was supposed to like girls like Sam. But I didn’t like Sam. That was the thing. As close as we’d become in the last few weeks, anyone would expect us to be dating by now. That’s what happened in the movies.