The Year I Almost Drowned (5 page)

He

laughed.

Meg

poked

me

in

the

back.

“What?”

I

snapped.

“Who

is

he?”

she

whispered.

“Jesse’s

friend,”

I

answered

in

a

quiet

voice.

She looked him over, bit her lip and raised her eyebrows. “Introduce me.” Her

fingers

jabbed

me

in

the

back

more

than

once.

I

sighed

in

annoyance.

“Noah,

this

is

my

friend,

Meg.”

“Hi,

Meg.”

Noah

smiled.

“Hi,”

she

said

in

a

giddy,

girly

tone.

Meg liked hot, muscular guys and he fit that description. Once she found out he

was in firefighting school with Jesse, she’d be ready to run off and elope with him.

Meg had a weakness for men in uniform. Anytime Army guys passed through the

diner,

Meg

insisted

on

waiting

on

them.

Noah and Meg continued to talk to each other, forgetting that Jesse and I were

standing there. Tired of their two-way conversation, Jesse and I left them to carry

on

without

us.

They

didn’t

even

notice.

We grabbed one of the blankets and sat close to the fire. I leaned back against

Jesse’s muscular chest and listened to the music playing in the background.

Jesse ran his fingers through my hair. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Yeah,”

I

answered.

“Be right back.” He kissed the top of my forehead. I watched as he went inside

Matt’s house and then turned back around staring into the fire.

Meg’s

squealing

broke

my

relaxed

trance.

“Everett!”

I turned my head in her direction. It was the cop–the one who had given me the

ticket–and they were hugging. Hannah ran over to them and embraced him with

just

as

much

enthusiasm.

Hannah beamed. “I’m so glad you came! Matt, look who made it to the party.”

Matt

shook

his

hand.

Meg glanced in my direction. “Finn, come here.” She gestured.

I shook my head and mouthed “no,” but she wouldn’t budge.

“Come on.” She motioned. I sighed, stood up and went over to them

apprehensively. “This is our favorite cousin, Everett. Everett, this is my good

friend,

Finn,”

Meg

said.

“Hi,” I said, feeling embarrassed because he had witnessed my ridiculous

breakdown.

“Hey.” He smiled. He was playing it cool, like we hadn’t met earlier, or maybe he

didn’t

remember

me.

I

wasn’t

sure.

“Everett just graduated from the police academy. He was in the Marines for six

years

before

that,”

Meg

announced.

“We’re

really

proud

of

him,”

Hannah

added.

Everett rolled his eyes. “Cut it out.” He playfully punched Meg in the arm.

“What? We can’t brag about our favorite cousin?” Hannah said.

“I get it from Mom. I don’t need it from y’all, too,” he said.

“Fine,” Meg said. “We’ll leave you alone then, won’t we Hannah?”

“Yep, no more bragging from us,” she said. “You should go socialize. There’s

plenty of single girls here, Ev.” Hannah nudged him and smiled encouragingly.

He laughed and shook his head. “Now you’re match-making for me. Do they

harass

you

like

this?”

he

asked

me.

“Um,

no,”

I

answered,

feeling

really

awkward.

“We just make fun of her for being all googly-eyed over Jesse,” Meg said.

Everett

nodded

his

head.

“He’s

a

nice

kid.”

“Kid?”

I

questioned.

“Well, I guess he’s not a kid anymore.” He corrected himself. “I keep forgetting

everyone

grew

up

while

I

was

gone.”

“Oh, I guess it’s hard to come back after being gone so long.”

“No, not really. I’d rather be here than where I was,” he said with a pensive

expression.

It was like it was just the two of us talking and no one else was around. The eye

contact he made with me was intense. All I could see was the dancing flames

from

the

bonfire

reflecting

in

his

warm-colored

eyes.

“Here’s your drink.” Jesse handed me a Coke–interrupting the unspoken tension.

“Hey, Everett,” Jesse said. His tone was not overly friendly, more reserved, and

his lips were semi-pursed. It wasn’t the usual way Jesse greeted people.

“Jesse. Good to see you,” Everett said and shook his hand.

“Yeah, you, too,” Jesse said. I could tell by his voice and body language he didn’t

mean

it.

“Everett, come on, there’s lots of people here you haven’t seen in a long time.”

Hannah

pulled

on

his

arm.

“Okay.” He laughed. “Well, it was nice talking to you,” he said, looking directly at

me.

“I’ll

see

you

both

around.”

***

It was the type of day to spend outdoors instead of being cooped up inside. The

temperature was perfect–not too hot or cold–just right. I had another day off of

work and wasn’t going on my special date with Jesse until later that night. But I

wanted to see him again, even though we had hung out the night before. With his

school schedule and me working all the time, any time we had together was

precious,

and

I

missed

him

so

much.

I

pulled

my

phone

out

of

my

pocket

and

texted

him.

Me:

“What

are

you

doing?”

Him:

“Studying.

What’s

up?”

Me:

“Let’s

go

hiking.”

Him:

“I’ll

be

there

in

fifteen

minutes.”

Jesse was prompt. Exactly fifteen minutes later, he was at my grandparents’

house. I ran outside to meet him and literally jumped into his idling car.

“You’re

hyper

this

morning,”

he

teased.

“I

am,

aren’t

I?”

“It’s cute.” He pinched my cheeks. I leaned against him and placed my hand on

top of his. This was what I wanted–him and me together–like it was in the

summer.

Jazz music played on his radio; the windows were all the way down. I stuck my

head out the window, allowing my hair to blow in the breeze, trying to capture the

last of autumn as the leaves fell and flew away never to be seen again.

Dixon State Park was our favorite place to hike. It was also the first place we

kissed. It would always hold a special place in my heart. Jesse grabbed his

backpack from his back seat, and we exited the car. “Which trail?” I asked, looking

at

the

three

trail

signs

posted

in

front

of

us.

“Let’s

do

the

lazy

man’s

hike

today,”

he

said.

We started up the trail, holding hands. We weren’t in a hurry and took each step

slowly, enjoying the silence that surrounded us. The park was isolated and the

trail was empty of people–it was just the two of us taking advantage of its

spectacular views. On every turn and every bend, there were gorgeous, majestic

mountains with patches of orange, yellow and red leaves on the trees that would

soon

go

dormant

for

the

winter.

“I’m glad you called,” he said, still holding my hand, our arms swinging back and

forth in motion. “I needed a break from studying. Don’t expect me to go too fast

today, though, I’m pretty sore from school.” That was a first for him. Anytime we

went on a hike, I was always the one that had to keep up. I was the one who

struggled.

“Maybe a hike wasn’t a good idea.” I worried, moving at a slower pace.

“No, it was.” He stopped and faced me. “Carrying a heavy ladder day after day

with all your bunker gear will wear you out. There’s even one instructor who likes

to hang onto the end of the ladder while we’re carrying it.”

I

scrunched

my

face

and

formed

a

scowl.

“That’s

mean.”

“Yeah, well, he’s kinda a jerk that way. I guess he figures we need to be strong

so we can carry a two-hundred and fifty pound body. If we can’t do that, someone

could die,” he said seriously. “I’ve never been in better shape, though.”

That was true. His arms and chest had bulked up since the summer, and his

stomach was as flat as an ironing board. “I don’t know how you do it,” I said.

“It’s what I want.” He looked directly into my eyes. “When you want something

bad enough, you find your inner strength to do it.” Sometimes Jesse could be so

deep and philosophical that I felt completely inept around him.

We reached a point in the hike where a creek of water flowed directly in the middle

of the trail. I bent down and stuck my finger in the water. “It’s cold,” I screeched,

instantly retracting my finger. Jesse began to take off his shoes and socks. “What

are

you

doing?”

I

asked

him.

“Here,” he said. “Carry these.” He handed me his shoes and socks. “Get on my

back, Finn.” I got behind him, and he lifted me into a piggy back. “I can’t believe

you

eat

as

much

as

you

do

but

still

weigh

nothing.”

“I don’t eat that much.” He chuckled under his breath, and I wrapped my hands

around

his

neck.

“Take

it

back,”

I

demanded.

“No way.” His feet pounced onto the water and created a splash.

“Jesse!

You’re

getting

me

all

wet!”

I

groaned.

He laughed as he continued to tread through the water and moved to the dry

land. I jumped off of his back and gave him a dirty look.

“I’ll

get

you

back

for

that,”

I

threatened.

“I’m

really

scared

right

now.

Can’t

you

tell?”

I held up his shoes and socks and taunted, “I bet you’d hate it if I dropped them

in

the

water.”

He folded his arms against his chest and said in an arrogant, challenging tone,

“You

don’t

have

it

in

you.”

“Watch

me.”

I

stomped

off

toward

the

creek.

He suddenly came from behind me, securing his muscular arms around me, and

kept me at an absolute stand still. He took his shoes and socks out of my hand

and

whispered

in

my

ear,

“Got

you.”

“Humph,”

I

mumbled

angrily.

He kissed me on my earlobe and laughed. “Come on, Finn, let’s finish this hike.”

I pulled the cobalt blue dress over my head and grabbed my brown leather belt,

wrapping it around my waist, inserting it into the last loop. I zipped up Meg’s brown

leather boots, sprayed my hair with hair spray once more, and applied my light

pink lip gloss to my lips. The dress probably wasn’t the smartest thing to wear in

cold weather, but I wanted to look nice for Jesse. I reached for my coat and turned

off

the

light

before

I

left

my

room

to

head

downstairs.

Jesse was sitting on the couch talking to my grandparents. He was dressed in

dark denim jeans, a black t-shirt and a charcoal-colored Henley sweater and

looked like one of those models from a J.Crew catalogue. With his dark wavy

hair, sea blue eyes and olive complexion, Jesse was absolutely beautiful. I know

it’s strange to describe a boy as being pretty, but that’s what Jesse was. I couldn’t

take

my

eyes