“I don’t see Sean anywhere,” whined Tammy. She collapsed into the sand, her face crumpling with sorrow.
“Shhhh,” I said, as I waved her words away. “Be cool!”
“I am never going to get to talk to him, am I?” she asked, looking as if tears would start dribbling down her cheeks at any moment. “Never, never, never.”
I blocked out her incessant complaining and kicked into friend mode: I needed to find Sean. I squinted my eyes at the sea of bodies dotted around the beach.
I spotted Alex Keegan; he was friends with the Onslow Boys, surely he would know.
“Hey, Alex!” I called out, stumbling a path to him. He turned, surprise dawning on his face as he saw me.
“Past your curfew, isn’t it, Amy?” he asked as he looked me over.
Rather rich, I thought, coming from Alex who was only a year above me.
In a cocky move, I swiped his beer from his hand and took a long swig. I smacked my lips in appreciation.
“I won’t tell if you won’t.”
Alex shifted uncomfortably, like so many of the boys did. Dad had threatened half of Onslow with very bad things if they so much as looked at me.
It was absolutely mortifying.
“Where’s Sean?” I asked with my best smile and then lifted the can to my lips again.
Alex frowned and snatched the beer back from me. “Who wants to know?”
I rolled my eyes, snapping quickly out of the sweet-girl act. “Just tell me!”
He eyed me sceptically, weighing up whether to tell me or not. After a long pause, Alex tilted his head to his left. I followed his gaze out onto the lake.
“He’s on Stan’s boat with a few others.”
In the darkness, I could make out a distant light on the water.
Okay, that was not part of the plan. I didn’t want to be the one to break it to Tammy, but she was right. It seemed she wasn’t finally talking to Sean tonight. Ugh!
I coaxed Alex into giving me a few beers and he begrudgingly obliged. As we drank together, he noticeably relaxed, which was made obvious when his hand snaked out and settled around my waist.
My eyes flicked out towards Stan’s boat, much to the annoyance of my new BFF, Alex.
“Hey, what’s he got that I don’t got?” Alex pulled me into him; I could smell the alcohol and cigarette smoke on his breath against my neck.
Gross.
I pulled away and smiled at him sweetly before leaning in to whisper in his ear.
“A boat.”
I walked backwards, away from Alex, beers in hand, and made my way back to Tammy who had passed out on the sand.
I knew what would wake her up: It was time to put this Sean matter to bed once and for all.
Dumping the beer stash next to Tammy’s corpse, I walked towards the edge of the water, peeling my top over my head and tossing it onto the shoreline. Cat calls sounded from behind me.
“Yeah, baby! Take it off!”
I flipped my middle finger at no one in particular as I flicked off my shoes and struggled to unbutton my denim cut-offs, shimmying out of them while trying not to fall over.
The warm water lapped at my toes and a thrill shot through me as the sensation tingled around my ankles, my calves, and then my thighs as I walked into the lake in just my bra and knickers. My feet sunk into the muddy bank, slowing me down as I made for the light of the boat and the distant laughter offshore. I was going to swim out to them and give them a piece of my mind – those anti-social pricks!
“Oops,” I giggled, losing my footing.
A breeze blew and gooseflesh rippled along my skin; all of a sudden the water didn’t feel so warm anymore. But I had to do it. Tammy needed to talk to Sean and she needed to do it tonight.
I heard distant calls from the shore as I dived into the lake. I resurfaced, gasping at the unexpected chill of the water. I pushed forward, breast stroking towards the light. I couldn’t tell if the noise of people talking and yelling was from behind or in front of me, but it wasn’t like it mattered; they weren’t talking to me. I could only kick into the oblivion. It wouldn’t take long to get to the boat. I was a good swimmer and Chris would soon be dragging me onboard giving me a lecture. Then I’d tell them all off for ditching the party and Sean would come to shore and meet Tammy, whom I was certain he didn’t even know existed. He would see how amazing she was and they’d fall in love and Tammy would finally leave me in peace. I would never have to hear the name Sean Murphy again.
My breath laboured. I blinked against the water that splashed in my face with each stroke. I couldn’t see the light anymore; my arms were cold now, heavy, and refused to work. I wanted to stand up and head back to shore, but there was no bottom.
A surge of water crashed over my face and filled my throat. I choked on the unexpectedness of it. It lapped again and my head bobbed under the surface. I bobbed up again, a panic spiking through me. This was not fun. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. I wanted to get out now, but there was water everywhere. I was being swallowed up by the night; there was just black sky above and black water all around.