Pretty Girls Make Graves

I tried phoning Allegra a fair few times over the next week but every time the phone rang out. I'd get so frustrated I'd tell myself that she wasn't worth it, that she would just end up driving me to insanity, but then I'd sit by myself on my bed and think of all the things she did that pissed me off and realize that I loved them. Then I'd try getting in contact with her again and the same thing would happen.

"Mikey! Phone!" Gerard hollered up the stairs, a week after Allegra had stayed the night.

I lazily got off my bed, running excuses as to why I couldn't hang outside of the 7-Eleven, thinking it was Frank.

"Yeah?" I sighed down the phone as I leaned against the wall, bracing myself for my friend's hyper-activeness.

"Mikes?"

I stood up straight and gripped the receiver tighter.

"Allegra? I've been trying to phone you all week-"

"I know, it was stupid of me to give you my number. Can you please not call it anymore?"

I felt like I had just been punched in the stomach. I noticed Gerard staring down at his comic at the table, his eyes unmoving, and realized that he was listening in on the conversation. Frowning, I stretched the chord as far as I could and went into the pantry, closing the door after me. I felt like a damn teenage girl not wanting her mother to hear who she had a crush on, but I didn't care. Once Allegra was involved, all I cared about was her.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, not at all! Just...just don't phone here again, okay? I got your number out of the book, I'll phone you instead."

"What's going on, Allegra?" I squeezed my eyes shut as I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.

Were all eighteen-year-old girls this insane, or did I just manage to find the most fucked-up one in all of New Jersey?
I swallowed back my slight anger when I heard her light breathing on the other end grow slightly heavy, concern washing over me.

"You know you can tell me anything, yeah? And you know I would never breathe a word of it to anyone."

"Do you want to go to the lake today?" she asked out of the blue.

I blinked rapidly at the sudden turn of conversation, my brain taking a few seconds to comprehend what she was saying. I knew she was just trying to change the subject, and a part of me did want to probe her further, but I was just so happy that she had gotten in contact and still wanted to hang out with me. It was pathetic, but I was going to take whatever she would give me.

"Sure, when do you want to go?"

"Now?"

I smiled gently and nodded my head, even though I knew she couldn't see me.

"I'll call over in-"

"I'll call over to you," she cut me off.

I opened my mouth to ask her what the fuck was going on before she cut me off again.

"My dad doesn't like me dating. You'll be causing a whole world of trouble if you call over."

My brain was screaming that something wasn't right, but then she started yammering on about it being so hot outside and how she wanted to go swimming and my hormones replaced all rational thought once I pictured her in a bathing suit.

"I'll be over in about twenty minutes."

"Okay, I'll-"

She hung up before I could even say goodbye. I stood staring down at the receiver for a few seconds, wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew. I exited the pantry and was greeted by Gerard still sitting at the table, but this time he was staring at me with his eyebrow arched.

"Top secret business?"

"Allegra," I mumbled,
"I'm going to the lake with her. Stop listening in on my conversations."

"Alright, princess. Don't get your panties in a twist."

I flipped him off as I made my way to my bedroom, quickly changing into a pair of swimming trunks and then throwing a pair of jeans and a tee shirt on over them. I grabbed a towel and my house keys and walked back downstairs. I frowned slightly when I heard the doorbell ring. That was a lot quicker than twenty minutes.
Allegra was standing on my doorstep in a white tee shirt and a pair of dark denim shorts, her cheeks flushed and sweat beading on her forehead. I was about to ask her if she had run over, but then she threw me that million dollar smile.

"You wanna throw your towel in my rucksack?"

She took the towel off of me and stuffed it in her backpack as we started walking down the driveway. The heat wasn't quite at that disgusting suffocating stage, which usually rolled in come August, but it was still pretty hot out. I could feel the sun scorching my back as we walked in silence to the lake and I was looking forward to getting into the water.

"So," I started, not sure of what I was going to say next, but I needed to break the silence.

I always felt awkward when we weren't talking, always afraid that she'd come to her senses and run a million miles away from me.

"What's your favourite band?"

"Oh...I have a few. Like Radiohead. And Smashing Pumpkins."

"Me too," she replied before I could say anymore,
"I love how someone can write a song about one thing, and you can listen to it and interpret it fully in one listen. It makes you feel not so alone."

I stopped in my tracks and watched her walk a few steps ahead of me before she realized that I was no longer beside her. She turned to face me, squinting against the sun. I swallowed thickly when I noticed how mature she looked when she wasn't laughing or smiling. She had worry lines on her forehead when she frowned. She was only eighteen, she shouldn't have furrows that deep.
I was going to ask her to tell me what was going on in her life, but I saw her expression change slightly. She knew what I was going to ask and she shot me a somewhat pleading look with her eyes. I shook my head gently before walking again.
Majority of people were on holidays or off visiting distant relatives at this time of year, so the lake was pretty quiet. I recognized a few people from my year that waved at me and shot Allegra and I funny looks, probably all wondering when she had got back in town. We picked a spot at the far end and started to strip down to our swim gear. I pulled my tee shirt off over my head and rearranged my glasses as I turned to face Allegra, a little part of me wanting to watch her undress. She was already gone at that stage, her clothes in a messy pile beside me, almost as if she had melted. I quickly spun around, my eyes frantically searching the water. I honest to God would not have been surprised if she had run off, leaving me tearing my hair out for another week before gracing me once again with her presence.
I smiled in relief when I saw her head come up to the surface, her thick hair pooling behind her. I kicked off the rest of my clothes and got into the water, my body sighing in relief once it came in contact with the relatively cool water. I swam a little ways in, in the direction that Allegra went. Once I was about half way in, I looked around me, trying to spot her. I cursed my bad eyesight as I looked around, not being able to find her. I must have stayed in the one spot for about five minutes, blindly searching for her. I was beginning to grow panicked when I felt something latch around my foot and pull me under. I frantically pushed my way back up to the surface, being greeted by Allegra's laughter.

"Goddamn, Mikey, your eyesight really that bad? I was only a few feet ahead of you."

"Pretty bad," I grinned back at her.

She was close enough, but all I could really make out was her eyes and red hair. She moved onto her back and floated on the water, gently moving her hands to make herself move slowly.

"The water's really nice today. And hardly anyone's here."

I made a humming noise in agreement as I moved onto my back, too. We stayed like that for all of the time that we were in the water, just talking about books and movies and music. I had asked her about college three times and I had yet to get a straight answer from her, but I didn't push the matter.

"It's starting to get dark," she said quietly and we swam to shore.

She got there ahead of me and handed my glasses when I got out of the water. I slipped them up the bridge of my nose and continued to just stand behind her, watching her as she pulled the towels out of her bag. She was wearing a dark blue two piece, and I had to bite down on my lip as I let my eyes do a quick sweep of her body. Why the fuck did she want to lose her virginity to me? I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and snapped my eyes up to hers when she turned around to face me. The last thing I wanted to do was have her catch me perving on her.

"It's still pretty warm out and everyone's gone. Do you wanna just lie on the towels for a bit and dry off? I hate walking home when I'm still damp."

All I could do was nod with a tight smile when I got a full frontal few of her. I could see the outline of breasts in her bikini top and I had to turn my face toward the trees and focus on those to prevent myself from pitching a tent and making an absolute fool of myself.
We lay down on the towels and watched the early stars come out, even though the sun was only setting. When I trusted myself not to lose it completely, I turned my head to face her. The strap of her bikini top had shifted slightly, revealing a white line from where the sun had missed, and she had a light spread of freckles dotted across her nose.

"You're getting freckles," I smiled at her.

"Factor fifty my ass," she grumbled as her hand shot up to her face.

I had wanted to tell her that I liked them, that they somehow made her eyes look more green than brown, but refrained. We were quiet again as we both looked up at the sky, the only two by the lake.

"Hey, Mikes?"

"Mhmm?" I hummed as I watched fireflies slowly come out.

"Have you ever skinny dipped?"