Waters of Disillusion

Tyler was sleeping at our little spot near the lake when I found him. We'd hung up a hammock a few summers ago between two trees and there he was, swaying back and forth with the breeze. The first question I thought was, do I really want to wake him up? But I didn't dwell on that for too long.

I climbed right next to him on the rickety old thing. It's going to fall apart any day, I swear. "Hey, you," I slap his cheek lightly. "Tyler."

He groans. "Whaaaat?"

What am I supposed to say, anyway? Do I spill out my feelings and pledge my undying love? Do people even say 'undying love' anymore? So I settle with a "Your fly's undone" to break the ice.

His hand goes to zip it up right away and I swear he almost blushes. He grins instead. "What're you lookin' at my fly for, Nic?"

"Shut up, Ty," I slap his shoulder. The playfulness leaves his face as quickly as it came.

"What're you doin' here, Nic? I thought you were mad at me."

"I was," I say.I chip away at the blue nail polish on my fingers to avoid looking at his eyes. "But I can't stay mad at you, y'know." And it's true. Tyler's ma and my ma used to always joke that whatever one of us feels, the other feels it to. Like when Tyler's little brother died just a few hours after he was born, I felt really sad, even though I was in school and Tyler was at the hospital. Or when I fell off a wooden fence and fractured my elbow, Tyler said his arm was hurting too. And now that Tyler feels upset, I feel just as bad for being the cause.

"I'm sorry for makin' you mad. I ain't gonna apologize 'bout hitting him, though," he moves so that we're not laying shoulder to shoulder anymore, but face to face. "The bastard deserves it."

"You're never gonna like him, are you?" I sigh. Boys.

"I'd rather shoot myself in the eye with a BB gun."

"Y' know, it's real difficult to love you sometimes," I say without thinking. Oh shoot.

Tyler's eyes go wide and incredulous looking. "What'd you say?"

"What?"

"You jus' said you love me, Nic," he half grins-half smirks. "Nicolette Leigh, you love me."

"Don't flatter yourself," I say. But the damage is done. I feel the heat rushing to my face at a million degrees.

"That's not a very nice thing t' say t' the man you love."

"If you don't stop I'm gonna-" a low, groaning creak of the hammock suddenly had us falling on our backs.

"You a'right?" he asks me. I nod and sit up. I think my neck landed on a tree root.

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm actually in pain, Nic," he rubs the back of his neck. "Y' know what would make me feel better?"

"What?"

Tyler hasn't moved since we fell. His hand reaches out to my own and he pulls me so I land sideways and top of him. "If you'd tell me you love me again," he whispers in a way that's probably meant to be seductive.

I groan. I'm never going to hear the end of this. "I hate you."

"Love an' hate in the same day? Those are the two most passionate feelings! How'd a guy like me get so lucky like this?" he smirks.

"Yeah, yeah. Let me go now, Ty." I try to get up but damn his football player muscles.

"You didn't let me finish, Nic," he grins. "I love you too."