In Too Deep

Once they arrived back at the Leopold house, Max was out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop. He slammed the door with force and stalked around to the back. As Mr. and Mrs. Leopold ignored him, Jackie hurriedly hopped out of the car and followed.

When Jackie found Max, he was sitting on the edge of a lounge chair by the pool with his head in his hands. Jackie sighed and took a seat next to him, staring up at the gray sky.

“How can they just say that?” Max muttered angrily. “They can’t just tell me I’m off the paper. They can’t just call it worthless. They can’t just do stuff like that.”

Jackie didn’t know how to comfort him, so she remained silent. Sometimes the best comfort a person can receive is simply someone to listen to them.

“I’m sorry I’m not as good as my brothers,” Max rambled on, gripping his hair in his fingers. “I’m sorry they’re perfect and I’m a big, fat disappointment. God. I hate them all so much.”

A light rain began to sprinkle down on the pair, but neither one of them moved. Jackie inwardly smiled to herself. Rain is always comforting, she thought, taking a deep breath.

“Come on,” Max said a while later, sounding defeated. He stood up and pulled Jackie with him. “I guess we should go in before we get soaked.”

“It’s barely sprinkling,” Jackie said with a slight laugh, but they nevertheless began to make their way toward the back.

As they passed the pool, Jackie paused and gazed at the ripples being made by the raindrops. Max turned at look at her. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t you love the rain?” she asked, smiling.

Max shivered and shook his head. “Not really. Come on, it’s cold.”

“Oh my gosh!” Jackie exclaimed suddenly, not moving from her spot. “Is that Spongebob?”

Max looked at the pool and saw she was referring to a large, inflatable version of the chipper sea sponge floating near the middle. “Um… yes,” he responded, a little embarrassed. “I got that when I was ten. It was awesome at the time.”

“It’s awesome now!” Jackie said, grinning.

Max shook his head. “You are so weird,” he muttered.

“A little,” Jackie responded, shrugging.

They stood in a silence a few moments. Jackie continued to watch the rain hit the surface of the pool, and Max continued to stare at Jackie’s profile. He felt a little stalker-ish, but he didn’t want to stop.

“I called you weird,” Max said finally, breaking the silence. “I made fun of you, and you didn’t fight back. Are you sick?”

Without tearing her eyes away from the pool, Jackie said, “You’re a jackass. I hate you. Blah, blah, blah… you know the rest. You’re ruining the moment. Stop talking.”

Max groaned. “It’s cold!”

“Then go inside,” Jackie suggested. “But I like the rain.”

“No,” Max said firmly, moving forward and grabbing her arm. “You’re coming inside too. I am not facing my family alone.”

“Let go,” Jackie said, trying to yank away. “How can you want to go in when it’s so comforting and peaceful out here?”

“Why are you being so deep?” Max asked with a laugh. He tugged on her arm once more and took a step back with it, cause him to step on a large diving toy. He lurched forward, grabbing Jackie’s shoulders in an attempt to keep his balance, and ended up sending them both flying into the pool.

Max and Jackie came up simultaneously, gasping a little at the sudden sensation of being under freezing water In the rain. Jackie brushed her soaked hair out of her face and looked at Max. “Good thing we were already pretty wet,” she said, smiling.

Max, despite the drop in temperature and comfort, couldn’t help but smile too. “God, I’m sorry,” he said.

Jackie laughed. “Don’t be sorry. Now I can play with Spongebob! Yay!”

She instantly made her way to the large float and jumped on it. “We match!” she exclaimed, pointing between her yellow dress and the pool float. Jackie stopped when she realized that Max wasn’t where he’d been a moment before. In fact, he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

With a splash, the Spongebob overturned, and Jackie was thrown back under the water. She came up to see Max leaning against the float, a smirk on his face.

“Jackass,” she said, pushing his chest with both her hands.

“A little,” Max responded, mocking her. “Hey, your hair isn’t as poofy when it’s wet.”

She rolled her eyes. “Imagine that,” she said. Max only smirked in response.

Jackie leaned against the float and dropped her head back, allowing raindrops to fall lightly on her face. She closed her eyes and smiled serenely.

“What are you doing?” Max asked, laughing.

“I’m having a moment,” Jackie mumbled, remaining in her position. “Stop ruining it.”

Max snorted. “You look dumb.”

Jackie’s eyes popped open, and she instantly shot up in pain. “Ah! Raindrop in my eye, raindrop in my eye!” she exclaimed, clutching one side of her face and squinting.

Max tried to control his laughter as he moved toward her. “Are you okay?”

“I can tell you find this amusing,” Jackie said darkly, her eyes still shut in pain.

“Yeah, kind of,” Max replied. Now directly in front of Jackie, he reached forward and pulled her hands away from her face. Her eyes slowly opened, and Max saw that one was red from where the salty raindrop had landed.

“Is it bad?” Jackie asked, looking down at her hands, which Max still held.

“I can’t believe you just got hurt by a single raindrop,” Max said, his voice low and quiet.

Jackie rolled her eyes. “I hate you, Maxwell.”

As Max looked intently downward at Jackie, she removed one hand from his grasp and brushed some wet hair from his eyes. Max’s eyes closed briefly as Jackie’s hand moved slowly across his face and settled at the back of his head, her fingers tangling in his wet hair. Max didn’t need to interpret this gesture, because Jackie was already leaning forward, her eyes locked on his.

The rain quickened, falling harder on the already soaked teenagers standing in the pool, but they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice anything at that moment. “I hate you too,” Max breathed out, just before Jackie’s bottom lip grazed his own.

“GET OUT OF THE POOL!” A voice screeched through the air. Just as contact was made, both Max and Jackie jumped apart and looked toward the house to see Jessica sticking her head out the window. “Your mother says the pool boy will be here any minute to clean! GET OUT.”

She slammed the window shut, and silence filled the backyard. Max and Jackie stood awkwardly in the pool, now a good five feet away from each other, avoiding the other’s eyes.

Jackie shivered, just now realizing how freezing she truly was. “It’s cold,” she muttered, before hurriedly wading to the side of the pool and hoisting herself out.

Max stood there blankly, watching her. What the hell just happened? He was shocked by the way Jackie had initiated the almost-kiss after having pushed him away since January.

“Jackie…” he began, following her and climbing out of the pool. The rain slowed down considerably, until it was once again just a slight drizzle, but it didn’t matter. They were both soaking wet anyway.

Just as Jackie turned to face him, a boyish, excited yell rang out through the backyard. “Max Leopold!” Max and Jackie snapped their heads to the side of the house, where a young man in his early twenties appeared. Despite the freezing weather and the slight rain, he was shirtless and wore only a pair of khaki shorts and flip-flops.

“Carter!” Max yelled back, smiling. The young man approached them and gave Max a high-five.

“Dude, it’s been a long time!” Carter said.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve seen you since last summer,” Max responded. He looked genuinely happy to see Carter, and Jackie noticed it was the first time he had been so since arriving in Albany. “What have you been doing?”

Carter shrugged. “Oh, you know. College, the band, cleaning your folks’ pool… how’s your senior year going?”

“It’s been…” Max paused, glancing at Jackie. “It’s been different.”

Carter turned and suddenly noticed the girl standing next to them. “Well hello,” he said in a bizarre attempt at a British accent as he gave an over-exaggerated little bow. “And who might you be?”

Jackie chuckled at his behavior and held out her hand to shake. “I’m Jackie… Max’s friend from school.”

Instead of shaking it, Carter grasped her hand in his own and raised it to his lips. “Nice to meet you,” he said, grinning.

“Yeah… I…” Jackie said, glancing at Max. He was staring at her hand, which Carter was still holding. “Aren’t you cold?” she asked Carter suddenly, pulling her hand away.

Carter laughed. “I’m not the one who’s soaking wet in a flouncy dress,” he stated, raising an eyebrow playfully at her.

Jackie looked down. “It’s not… flouncy…” she muttered to herself.

Carter laughed again. “What were you two doing, anyway?” he asked, looking at Max. Jackie followed his gaze and couldn’t help but notice the way Max’s wet shirt clung tightly to his body.

“We… fell in the pool,” Max answered, staring straight at Jackie, who was too busy looking at his torso to catch his eye.

“Oh…” Carter said slowly, looking between the two. “Dude, sorry. I didn’t realize.”

“What?” Max asked distractedly.

“I didn’t know she was your girlfriend. I wouldn’t have kissed her hand and all that if I’d known,” Carter explained.

Jackie’s eyes snapped up. “I’m not… I’m not his… I mean, I don’t think…” she trailed off uncertainly, her gaze once again resting on the ground.

Max’s mouth opened and closed several times. “I mean… she’s… we were… uh…. She’s my editor,” he finished lamely.

Carter frowned. “Editor?”

“On the school paper,” Max said, fidgeting with his fingers.

All three of them were silent for a moment, Carter being obviously confused by the two people in front of him, both of whom were staring determinedly at the ground.

“I’m cold. Nice to meet you,” Jackie said finally, turning on her heel and practically running into the house.

Carter turned to Max, eyebrows raised. “Dude, want to explain?”

Max sighed. “It’s a long, weird story…”

“Those are the best kind. The pool can wait. I’ve got time.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jackie wrapped the towel tighter around her shoulders and stared out the upstairs bathroom window. Max and Carter had moved to a poolside table and were talking.

Why did I do that? Jackie asked herself. What was I thinking almost kissing him like that?

And why am I so upset that it didn’t happen?